Northwoods Charles wins prestigious national award
5X CH / 5X RU-CH Northwoods Charles (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013)
5X Champion / 5X Runner-up Champion Northwoods Charles is the recipient of the 2020-2021 Elwin G. Smith English Setter Shooting Dog Award. This accolade is bestowed on the nation’s winningest English setter in open shooting dog horseback field trials, based on wins during the previous trial season.
Charles, call name Charlie, is owned by Bill Owen of Santa Barbara, Calif. As an amateur, it’s even more impressive that Bill won this award handling Charlie in open stakes.
Charlie was whelped in 2013 by CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay. Cody (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008), a famous dog in his own right, was co-bred by Paul Hauge and Northwoods Bird Dogs and is likely the most prominent sire of winning setters of the past 20 years. Chardonnay was a blue hen producer of many field trial winners and top-flight hunting dogs.
Charlie’s field trial achievements exhibit his versatility; he has won on the West coast, on the Canadian prairies and in the piney woods of the southeast. He has won on several species of wild, released and planted game birds.
On a training run in Saskatchewan, Northwoods Charles is backed by Northwoods Rolls Royce (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013).
This award is one of the annual English Setter Fund Awards. They were created to promote the breeding and campaigning of English setters in All Age, Shooting Dog and Cover Dog categories. There are also awards for Derby-aged dogs in each category. Each award is named after a prominent setter devotee of the past.
This is the fourth time a Northwoods-bred setter has been honored. Betsy and I won the 2002 Michael Seminatore Cover Dog Award with our 4X CH / 4X RU-CH Blue Streak. Cody won twice: the 2009 Bill Conlin Derby Award and, in 2012, the Elwin G. Smith Award, the same award as Charlie.
Like fine wine, English setters tend to get better with age. Just-turned-eight, Charlie should have many more wins in his future.
Congratulations to Bill and Charlie!