| Keith Erlandson - A retrospective view. |
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-3- In Cocker Spaniels that quality was most consistently manifested in the Elan line. But only the most preternatural of seers could have anticipated FTCh Speckle of Ardoon. In the early-Sixties working cockers had been "struggling for survival". In the early Seventies Speckle's exploits helped trigger a process of transformation which became a renaissance during the next decade. The best cockers now share the "gung-ho" hunting quality of the springer and the breed has hauled itself clear of what Keith, in his 1974 assessment of the breed for The Complete Book Of Gundogs In Britain, characterised as its "cliff-hanging position''. Bred in Ulster, Speckle was one of two pups out of a sticky Elan bitch which, because the only other true working cocker in the country was her own brother, was put to an old show cocker which happened to be in Will Sloan's area. As Will was quick to discern, the outcome was formidable, a force of nature whose raw power could be harnessed because it was allied to an excellent brain. In conformation she was like the classic thoroughbred, short-coupled and with enough daylight under her without any hint of stiltiness. She was sent to Keith Erlandson for training. There proved no deception about such precocious talents and she put together a spectacular record. A Field Trial Champion at 17 months, having had 18 head of Game shot over her, she won the Cocker Championship on three successive occasions without ever having to be involved in a run-off. Before she was four-and-a-half years of age she had added to her Championship record and nine Open Stake wins the remarkable feat of winning the Spaniel Tests at the 1972 CLA Game Fair at Raby Castle in Durham. Cockers are notable for coping in the heat and a blazing final day saw her run the springer opposition into the ground to increase the lead she had carried forward. Speckle did not produce any brilliant dogs herself but her progeny have been behind those stoking up the cocker revival, the 1992 year's Championship winner, for instance, carries four lines to her. Crucially, the example of Speckle was an inspiration which encouraged practical shooting men to take on the breed and set themselves high standards. |
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