Eulogy for Andy

Andy was a field-trial dog
All-age category
Four-time champ
In six short years
In toughest competition

Andy was a field-trial dog
But much, much more than that
He hunted quail
For Ted and John
The one put down
When birds abscond
Andy could still find them

Andy was a field-trial dog
But first, Joe Hick’s best friend
From weaning on
They thought as one
Bonded by affection

Andy was a field-trial dog
As pup, derby, and all-age
He beat the best
In the toughest tests
At Chinquapin and Hoffman,

West Tennessee and Paducah

Twice Andy won the Florida
Four placements in the Sunshine
Tar Heel Champ and first
In the West Tennessee All-Age

Then in the test
For the twelve best
Andy had no equal
Eight clean finds
In his nuclear race
Eight finds in his four hours

The Invitational
Held meanings deep
For Andy’s two fond owners
Ted had given T. Jack half
To celebrate their National Champ
Ole Boy, Builder’s Addition

The partners loved
The four-hour test
Had judged it once together
Their Boy had won in ‘77
Come runner-up twice after

They’d sent a trophy
To the trial
In memory of J.D. and Arthur
Crusty curmudgeons and
Invitational refounders

Yes, Andy was a field-trial dog
Bred in deepest purple
Sired by Jadie Rayfield’s Chief—
State Line Showdown
Runner-up at Chinquapin
Andy’s dam was Judy Shadow
Ronnie Maxwell’s good one
She by Joe Shadow
Chinquapin Champ
Two years back to back

Chief’s sire was Slam
By Miller’s Chief
Slam’s dam was Chinquapin’s Flirt
Flirt by Chinquapin’s Addition
Tying Andy back to Boy

For years Slam’s litter filled
The Baker hunting truck
And won in trials to boot
Bo, Ben and Jen
Patch, Bark, and Judy
And Slam, the best of the lot

When Joe Hicks came
To Chinquapin
In 1984
He set his goal
To make a dog
To win at Ames for Ted

Joe thought he had that dog in Slam
But prairie heat took Slam
In Andy Joe knew
He had the one
To win the Big One for Ted

The Invitational proved
Andy was right
For the grueling Grand Junction Classic
But fate slipped in
And stole Joe’s plan
Took Andy to grounds without limit

Now many mourn
But still hope lives
Andy’s get can get the job done
Maybe Spec or Eve—
Or one yet unconceived
Fruit of Andy’s frozen semen

Yes, Andy was a great one
A dog that had it all
Power and nose
Speed, style, and range
A compass
And the sense to come back

Yet of all Andy’s traits
The one sure to endure
Andy’s undying love for Joe Hicks

Chinquapin’s Andy 1571030
By State Line Showdown—Judy Shadow
Ronnie Maxwell, breeder
E. L. Baker and T. Jack Robinson, owners
Joe Hicks, handler
2004–2011

Tom Word
January 2011

Chinquapin’s Andy with scout David Johnson at the 2010 National Championship.

January 2010. Chinquapin’s Andy (on the right with Slade Sykes) winning the Florida Championship for the second year in a row. There were 89 dogs entered.

Note: Mazie and I had the great pleasure of judging Andy’s littermate son and daughter, Chinquapin’s Spec and Chinquapin’s Eve in the John S. Gates Memorial Derby Classic and the Pelican Derby this past fall in Broomhill, Manitoba. Spec won the John S. Gates, and Eve the Pelican.

Florida Championship photo courtesy of The American Field Publishing. The photo of Andy and David Johnson was taken at the 2010 National Championship by Jamie Evans.