CH Westfall’s Black Ice (2003 – 2012)
Jerry and I are heartbroken to pass along the news that 5XCH/7X RU-CH Westfall’s Black Ice died in December. Even though Ice was healthy when I saw him in June, he had recurring cancerous growths that finally overtook him.
Ice was always impressive in the field and racked up championship win after championship win. But we liked Ice perhaps even more because of his temperament. His beautiful brown eyes were intelligent and displayed a calmness and good disposition. Ice was handsome, too. He was black-and-white with an evenly marked head. He was lightly ticked and had no body spots.
Ice was owned by Bill and Ryan Westfall of Liberty, Missouri. Jerry and I got to know Ice when we trained on their farm in Tennessee.
Ice is a multiple shooting dog champion with a pedigree to back it up. He is out of the very successful nick of Rock Acre Blackhawk x Elhew Katie Lee whose progeny included many field trial winners and even more outstanding wild bird dogs.
Even though Ice himself was bred sparingly during his lifetime, he had the pre-potency of his sire and produced an impressive list of field trial winners. His numbers are 34-24-213.
When we bred him to Northwoods Prancer in 2011, the entire litter of eight females was outstanding grouse dogs—natural, keen, easy to train, loved to retrieve and even liked the water. Plus, most importantly, all were well-adjusted with happy personalities.
Thankfully, we can carry on with some of Ice’s talented daughters, including our own Northwoods Vixen.