Hunters English
Springer Spaniels
Breeder of English Springer Spaniels
Dakota
Dakota has 25 Championships plus two Reserve National Championships, one in the National Upland Classic Series the other in the United Field Trialers Association, Dakota is also in the Hall of Fame. Dakota excelled at a young and was winning competitions at 8 months against adult dogs of all breeds. Dakota has had been health tested and his OFA Health certificates are posted on the pedigree page. Dakota is the smartest dog of any breed I've known with extremely strong hunt prey drive and at home is personable loving attentive. Dakota is about 18" tall weighing about 46 pounds, born April 2016.
To win Ohio Pheasants Forever State Hunt Challenge is a very nice accomplishment for any dog especially given the line up of excellent upland bird dogs competing. For an eight month old puppy to win it like Dakota did is very impressive and I've never heard of any pup ever winning it. |
At only 10 months old Dakota gets another win at Ohio Rifle & Pistol Association 2017 Upland Hunt Challenge held 03/02/2017 at Brier Oak Hunt Club near Bellevue OH. |
There were 40+ entries dogs of all ages and out of State competitors and Dakota beat them all for another 1st place at only 11 months old. Dakota has competed in three Hunt Challenges and has three 1st place, his first win at 8 months old and this one at 11 months old against dogs of all ages. |
Dakota at less than 1 year old and he has been at 4 competitions and has won at every event. |
May 2017 a Hunt Challenge with the Ruffed Grouse Society Le Grand Traverse Chapter with 34 entries. Different rules at this Hunt Challenge and still an excellent performance by Dakota at only 12 months old a 2nd place. Chukars were used for the event and Dakota quickly winds them with his nose. |
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Dakota pictured above at Pine Crest 12/30/18 All Age 2nd place ribbon, 9/09/18 Dakota 1st place Derby at Cuyahoga Coon Hunter & 9/23/18 2nd place Silver Dollar Sportsmen's. |
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United Field Trailer's Association National Bird Dog Competition February 2019 in Alabama with Dakota we took placed 5th, Dakota had the 2nd best run time but my shooting dropped us to fifth place. |
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| Dakota made it into the United Field Trialer's Association Hall of Fame February 2019 with his 8th Championship title | |
03/16/19 Dakota gets 1st place at O.R.P.A. Hunt Challenge |
4/06/19 Dakota has such strong scent recognition that makes finding upland birds too easy he can run right to them. |
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4/27/19 at the Allegheny Bird Dog Chukar Challenge Dakota wins both Singles Flushing and Team Flushing. Pictured right is Dakota's daughter Cheyenne, Eli and competed her in the Puppy Flushing and then I ran ran her, and Cheyenne had the two best runs in Puppy Flushing. Dakota and Cheyenne won all the top spots in the flushing events. |
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Dakota placed 5th at the 2020 National Championships in the United Field Trialers Association held in Alabama. Over 75 dogs were entered from across the US for UFTA's flushing competition, Dakota excellent nose finding quail made his run one of the fastest times. |
Dakota was inducted in the United Field Trialers Association Hall of Fame and was also awarded this buckle. |
Ohio Rifle & Pistol Association's 2020 Hunt Challenge was held in March Dakota won the Flushing Division. There were a total of 36 entries that day with half in flushing and half in pointing. Four pheasants placed through out the field time starts upon entering the field and ends when the hunter has the 4th pheasant, Dakota had the fastest run time of the day with a time of 3 minutes 15 seconds. |
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Dakota has acquired numerous Championships and in UFTA he has 11 Field Championships |
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Dakota makes Grand Champion in the National Upland Classic Series |
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December 5, 2020 Dakota wins the Flushing event at Cedar Creek Kentucky |
December 6, 2020 Dakota had another great performance and wins the Flushing event again at Cedar Creek Kentucky. |
January 3rd 2021 Dakota won the Flushing event in the United Field Trialers Association at Cedar Creek KY the day before he had a respectable run placing 3rd. |
January 2021 at the Lincoln Trail Quail Forever club in Kentucky Dakota placed 2nd and Albert 3rd bringing some nice trophies. |
Dakota had an excellent performance on the pheasant hunt challenge, quickly finding pheasants and retrieving shot birds right to hand. |
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March 2021 Dakota in Missouri for the National Upland Championship Series. Four days of competition totaled together and we took 4th place. |
Dakota had a very smooth run presented me with nice shots and readily found the chukars on a warm August day in green grass & weeds. |
Dakota had two days in a row with very smooth runs presenting me easy shots and he readily found chukars on a warm August day in green grass & weeds. Dakota's retrieves to hand were excellent straight line to me stopping directly in front of me, presenting the chukar to hand. |
Dakota had a two days in a row very smooth runs presenting me easy shots as he readily found chukars on a warm August day in green grass & weeds. Dakota's retrieves to hand were excellent straight line to me stopping directly in front of me and presenting the chukar to hand. |
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Dakota competed at a Upland Classic Series event near Statesville NC February 4th & 5th he did well. In this picture he's not enjoying the ribbon around his neck, LOL |
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Dakota did very well competed against excellent upland bird dogs May 21, 2022 |
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Dakota competed at a Upland Classic Series event near Statesville NC February 4th & 5th he did well. In this picture he's not enjoying the ribbon around his neck, LOL |
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Competed in a few Upland Classic Series events this summer and Dakota's great runs put him in top placements and wins to earn his 8th Championship in NUCS. |
Dakota earns his "Started Hunting Retriever" title in UKC, each test was a morning and afternoon test, one would be marking two water retrieves with ducks the other would be marking two land retrieves with ducks. Each day was one test, each day test locations changed and it required 4 test to pass. |
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Dakota and Dave's lab Skye paired up as a double flushing team in the Upland Classic Series and made a strong showing in a down pour winning the event. 9-25-2022 neat Clyde, Ohio |
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| Columbia Game Club near Sullivan Ohio held there first Upland Classic Series event and Dakota & Skye won the Double Flushing event. Doubles Flushing the dogs do best when they thoroughly cover area without competing or missing areas and when a bird is flushed & shot the dog that flushed the bird retrieves and the other dog does not interfere with the retrieve. | |
Dakota has been doing very well at competitions, and guiding on pheasant hunts. I just need to make time to travel to more National Upland Classic Series events to gain ten championships and for Dakota to from a Grand Champion to be recognized as a Super Grand Champion. |
Dakota at 6 years old has three wins and in the top three, 7 out of 7 years. Champion - 2017, 2019 & 2020, Runner up - 2021, 2023, 3rd place - 2018, 2022 |
Dakota and Knight did a great job as a doubles flushing team competing in the Upland Classic Series finals for the National Championship March 11th in Missouri. They had the best score Monday and the best score in the Finals and tied for National Champions but the other team's time on Tuesday was faster which was the tie breaker. |
Dakota is being recognized for being a truly great bird dog by the Nation Upland Classic Series. Dakota competed against all breeds of flushing dogs to get the wins & championships needed to qualify for this award Super Grand Champion. April 2023 |
September 2nd 2023 a large number of flushing dogs at this Upland competition. Dakota had an excellent performance rapidly finding flushing game birds and retrieving shot birds right to hand. |
03/04/2024 Dakota & Knight competed in the Doubles Flushing qualifiers for the National Upland Classic Series in Talbot Missouri. For the Doubles Flushing two quail, two chukars and two pheasants were placed in a several acre field, we got our quota of birds in a fast time and advanced to the finals. Saturday 03/09/2024 was the finals the National Championships we placed down another good run and was able to take home a 3rd place for the Dakota & Knight Doubles Flushing team. Nick Portentoso is owner and handler of Knight. |
March 2024 The National Upland Classic Series held their national Championships in Missouri. Doubles flushing consisted of 2 dogs and 2 hunters our team was Dakota and Knight owned and handled by Nick Portentoso. Released in the field are two quail, two chukars and two pheasants, you can bag any combination of those birds. Once you have 6 bags, your time ends. Monday, the fields were very dry and hot, Dakota and Knight did an excellent job finding and flushing quail, chukars and pheasants. Any and all birds were promptly retrieved the hand by the dogs giving us good scores both days. Giving us an overall 5th place, with top dogs from all over the country competing. |
Dakota's speed and ability to know where and how to locate birds is a true pleasure to watch. |
Dakota at ten weeks doing retrieves at the breeder in Minnesota |
Dakota at 12 weeks old calm assessing things |
At five months old Dakota retrieving pheasants. |
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Video of Dakota at 10 weeks old |
Video of Dakota at 2 months old |
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Most of the pheasants were flushed & shot out of cattails. Sometimes we got lucky as they were flying out the birds dropped in a field but most of the time the pheasants dropped in the cattails making them difficult to find. |
Those eyes say it all "hunt prey drive". |
Dakota licking his chops after a retrieve. |
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I believe this retrieve Dakota has a partridge. |
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Some repositioning apparently was needed as Dakota gets a better hold of the rooster before completing his retrieve. |
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| Dakota finds any upland birds to include Grey Partridge they were fast flying as the grabbed the South Dakota winds. I was only able to drop one and Dakota so easily finds and retrieves he makes it such a pleasure to watch. In all the years hunting out west this was the first covey of Partridge that the dogs ever flushed and Dakota will ensure any bird shot goes into the game bag. | ||
Pictured left Dakota an awesome English Springer Spaniel with his nose down checking the days harvest of pheasants. |
Dakota 5 1/2 months surveying things on the Cheyenne Sioux Indian Reservation in western South Dakota, he did a great job on hardy wild pheasants finding, flushing and retrieving. |
Dakota at 7 months old on a Thanksgiving Day pheasant hunt, he has an extremely strong hunt prey drive he loves to get them birds and is big on retrieves. |
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| Dakota at 7 months old on a Thanksgiving Day pheasant hunt, he has an extremely strong hunt prey drive he loves to get them birds and is big on retrieves. | ||
Pheasant hunting December 24, 2016 Dakota enjoying holding a pheasant. |
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| In the 6 pictures above Dakota is on a late December pheasant and continued to find, flush & retrieve every shot pheasant, he is quite the upland bird dog. | ||
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| On Dakota's first ever quail hunt March 2017 he easily scented the quail finding them, flushing and retrieving shot quail. Dakota proudly holds a quail in the photo. | ||
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| April 2017 Dakota pictured retrieving a Chukar, Dakota so readily scents any upland game and finds and flushes them. Dakota was training for an upland Hunt Challenge out of State that used Chukars and since Dakota has never been hunted on Chukars I thought it would be wise to do so at least once before the competition. Also pictured above is a Chukar. | ||
Early May 2017 cold, raining and very windy did not matter to Dakota he was excellent in the field. |
Dakota and I waiting our turn to compete at a Ruffed Grouse Society Hunt Challenge. |
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| Dakota holding two Chukars in his mouth in the picture where he is standing. The picture where Dakota is sitting he is holding three Chukars in his mouth. | ||
Dakota at a United Field Trailers Association Hunt competition September 2017 |
Dakota is a strong swimmer loves doing water retrieves Oct. 2017 |
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Dakota making a retrieve with a Chukar Oct 2017 |
Dakota in western South Dakota at 18 Months old Nov of 2017 and his ability to find and retrieve wild pheasants is second to none. |
Dakota finding pheasant after pheasant on the Indian reservation in Western South Dakota. |
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| Dakota was truly the go to dog on retrieves, excellent marking a bird going down quickly getting to the spot with an excellent nose and drive, downed birds didn’t stand a chance of escaping him. Our springer spaniels made this South Dakota fun by limiting out on wild pheasants and rarely ever losing a bird. | ||
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Dakota in between runs at Buck Valley near Marshall Illinois December 2017, and Dakota pulled off another win that day. |
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December 2017 Dakota placed 3rd that day and qualified for the winners circle in April which Dakota won the winners circle. |
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3/10/18 Dakota brought home more hardware after an excellent run at the Ohio Rifle & Pistol Association State Hunt Challenge. |
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| The Hunter's Trial was a series of qualifying events held at various club through out N.E. Ohio from September through March. The top dogs from those Hunter's Trial events then competed at the Winner's Circle April 2018. Dakota had another great run and won the event Dakota pictured with me shortly after his run and the trophy he won. | Allegheny Bird Dog Club in Pennsylvania held a two day Chukar Challenge Aril 21 & 22, 2018. Dakota had a solid performance, making it look easy locating the Chukars and his retrieves on shot birds were right to hand winning another 1st place. | |
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| Late April Dakota was doing what he loves retrieving, including water retrieves time after time he boldly jumped into the water retrieving the bumper right to hand. I'm hoping to get him on some ducks and see his waterfowl retrieves. | ||
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| Top dogs in the United Field Trialers Association were there and Dakota pulled off another win. In February Dakota wins got him two additional Championship titles making him a three time UFTA Champion. | At a live quail training day May 1st 2018 Dakota was all about bringing the birds to me and putting them into my hand. I stood there and Dakota stood up on his hind legs to put the quail into my hand and make a full retrieve he is quite the upland bird dog. | |
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| Dakota was on fire May 5th when he won at the United Field Trialers Association competition. | ||
Dakota during a July 2018 bird training session exceptional bird dog. |
Dakota after a complete summer trim. |
Dakota finding and flushing quail then retrieving them to hand. |
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| Water retrieve training | A training session 9-2018 on live birds using quail with Dakota, 3 times a month all summer he worked on quail or chukars. In September & October he competed at some hunt challenges and added on more wins. hunt competitions in September & October | |
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| November 2018 Cheyenne Sioux Indian Reservation, Dakota is truly a power house he has such a good nose and strong drive that he finds downed birds in even the toughest cover and retrieves pheasants right to hand. Not only did our group limit out every day but quickly thanks to Dakota and dogs like him in our group. Dakota knows to hunt in range providing better shots on pheasants by not having to whistle or call any dogs helps allow us to get in closer on pheasants before they all flush. | ||
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| Thanksgiving 2018 Dakota is quick to find and flush pheasants and even quicker at marking and retrieving upland birds to hand. | ||
October 2019 Dakota at his first ever European hunt he intently watched the tower as pheasants flew and waited till on was dropped marked and waited to he was told to fetch. |
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October 2019 hunting in the Upper Peninsula first time for Dakota hunting the woods for Ruffed grouse, woodcock AKA timber doodles and any shot bird Dakota quickly found and retrieved to hand. Our springers enjoying swimming in Manistique Lake after a day of hunting woodcock and ruffed grouse. |
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2019 I've started guiding some at a near by Hunt Club / Preserve. Dakota from the very first pheasant that came out of the tower, Dakota intently watches the tower. Any bird that is hit and comes down in Dakota's vicinity he is on it and he likes to put his pheasants in a pile as pictured above. |
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November 2019 this pheasant was shot and fell on the ice, two other dogs including a lab were sent to do the water retrieve but failed to reach the pheasant. Dakota quickly swam out and broke the ice to get to bird completing the water retrieve to hand. |
November 2019 western South Dakota, Dakota's ability and drive to find downed pheasants had a 100% recovery rate can't ask for anything more. |
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| Dakota flushing a chukar on a morning in July 2020. Training continues year round there are two shallow ponds that our springers use to cool off at our private dog training grounds. | ||
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| An October & December 2020 picture of Dakota retrieving pheasants to hand while guiding at a hunt preserve. Dakota is extremely good finding & flushing upland and highly successful at finding shot birds and retrieving them to hand. | ||
Late March 2021 Dakota doing a water retrieve on a bird, he swims through the water smooth and he loves doing it. Dakota's retrieves are right to hand I don't need to take a step to receive a bird from him. |
August 2021 Dakota at a UKC event that tested dogs for marking ducks and completing water retrieves. You can see the duck splash and then on command Dakota swam directly to the waterfowl and retrieved it right to hand. |
This rooster pheasant went down in a pond and Dakota loves retrieving birds to hand whether a water retrieve or land retrieve. |
Dakota has an extremely good nose and is fast. |
November 2022 hunting Western South Dakota, for pheasants mostly in cattails. This year was another great year not only limiting out but every pheasant that I was able not down my springers were able to find and retrieve. |
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Dakota hunted western South Dakota he was very athletic, constantly hunting fast & hard. This picture is after we returned and he was healed as he caught his side on barbed wire. Dakota hunted hard but we went back to the vehicle treated his injury and he did not hunt for almost two weeks till the cut was fully healed. |
October 15th 2020 We're hunting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Dakota easily transitioned to finding and flushing woodcock and Ruffed grouse, and he makes it look easy finding downed birds and quickly retrieving them to hand. |
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