Secretary’s Report – PJ Rose
Yankee Chapter Secretary’s Report: 8-21-2026
Since my last report in February, we have put on a multitude of events, and the calendar reads like someone lost a bet.
March 8 brought a Canine Sports Medicine and Rehab Seminar. March 27 through 29 we spent three days at the Maine Sportsman’s Show, where the pictures don’t do it justice. April 10 kicked off another extremely successful Women’s Apprentice Hunter Program (find these ladies and invite them on a hunt, you won’t be disappointed!). We ran clinics in Dresden on April 25 and May 16, followed immediately on May 17 by a test prep workshop with a judges’ panel; a genuinely useful few hours for new and experienced handlers alike. May 30 was our pre-test clinic.
Then the spring test, June 5 through 7 at the Green Point WMA in Dresden, with dogs running the 6th and 7th. Sixteen dogs ran, fourteen of them in Natural Ability. Our judges were Bob England, Tyler Bruce, and PJ Rose on Saturday, and Tyler Bruce, Misi Knutson, and Rich Gay on Sunday — Tyler pulling both days, which we’ll come back to.
Nick Racioppi ran the whole thing as Test Secretary and did a tremendous job as always.
And about that cavalcade of Merrymeeting puppies. Nine of the sixteen entries carried the Merrymeeting name, and eight of them were whelped on the same day: March 4, 2025. Gracie, Tica, Henry, Crockett, Hazel, Josie, Tucker, and Shyloh, one litter, spread across two days of scorecards, fifteen months old and full of opinions. If you were there, you already know. If you weren’t, ask someone who was.
July 11 took us to Sugarfoot in Burnham for a water clinic. And as I write this, we are one day out from the August 22 pre-test clinic, with the fall test right behind it.
The fall test runs September 11 through 13 at Wildes Point in Bowdoinham. Eighteen dogs are entered. One Natural Ability, five Gun Dog Test, twelve Utility, six running each day, with four more on the waitlist.
The entry list runs the whole arc of a dog’s life. Holly comes in at eight months old, all legs and enthusiasm, for her NA. Ziva runs the Gun Dog Test at eleven and a half, which is its own kind of impressive. Tuck, Fern, and Chase are littermates entered together in GDT. And the Champagnes are running two Utility dogs out of one household, presumably out of a very tired ¾ ton Ram pickup.
Add it up and thirty-four dogs will have been tested by this chapter in 2026. All of which means a couple of things. Blaine and Patti are ready for a nap. Handlers are putting the finishing touches on their testing dogs. Some lucky volunteers are going to be paddling around Merrymeeting Bay with ducks in their boat. And pretty soon it’ll be hunting season.
With the fall test imminent, we are putting out an APB for volunteers. Eighteen dogs over three days does not happen on its own. It happens because people give up a weekend to plant birds, run boats, keep time, and haul gear, and because people like Tyler judge two full days in June and then turn around and organize the volunteers for September.
Everyone who has given time, or has thought about it, is welcome to reach out to Tyler Bruce at tyler_bruce@hotmail.com.
Our volunteers are the lifeblood of this organization. Please give back if you can.
And if nothing else, come cheer on your fellow Yankee members while they run their dogs or support their humans.
Until next time, viva la October.
-PJ Rose
Secretary
Addendum: The Fall Test
Lobsters, burgers, and red snappers. Rain, wind, and sun. NA, GDT, and UT. Low tides, high tides, and midday siestas. This fall test had it all.
Eighteen dogs ran at Wildes Point in Bowdoinham across September 11, 12, and 13 — one Natural Ability, four Gun Dog Test, thirteen Utility. Our judges were PJ Rose, Ted Wentink, Blaine Carter, Jason Carter, Tyler Bruce, and Rich Gay.
As always, the Yankee crew hosted our Minnesotan away judge, Ted Wentink, with all of the hospitality we’ve come to be known for. Nick Racioppi helped keep things running smoothly, as always. Tyler Bruce coordinated our away judge’s arrival, then judged, then marshalled (triple duty!).
Justin Dodge arranged and oversaw our gunning team, and I am telling you, it is hard to overstate how good our gunning team is. Go elsewhere and you’ll see. Birds are located, put on the ground, and backs turned to retrieves. It’s all part of the backdrop of a good test day, and it’s easy to go unnoticed. Consider it noticed.
Nancy Anisfield arranged the judges’ and handlers’ gift bags, took photographs, and put together the programs, which are as much keepsakes for the weekend as anything else is. Patti and Blaine ran a dog, hosted a judge, ate their weight in lobsters, and helped bring us all together. Brian Pike marshalled a well oiled test.
And along with many others: UTVs and trailers were hauled, birds were planted, lunch was cooked, and dogs were treated to an amazing weekend.
Many puppies came to cheer everyone on. So did a newborn baby. Next spring and the years that follow should be full of loaded tests and bird planters-in-training.
A note on the numbers: the entry breakdown in the report above was accurate as of its writing. Entries shifted between then and test weekend, and the counts here reflect the dogs that actually ran.
