Ch Gordon Hill Alabama Slammer JH WD "Slammer"
Whelped: 02-24-1981
Breeders: Susan DeSilver & Muriel Clement
Owner: Cindy Fitzgerald, Susan DeSilver and John Bandes
DVM
Sire: Ch
Gordon Hill Run For Daylight
Dam: Ch
Gordon Hill Zephyr WD |
As
a youngster, Slammer was like the boy that your mother
tried to get you to date... "But he has a wonderful
personality, dear". Gangly and out of proportion,
Slammer was indeed a charmer, but world class show dog
was looking like a pretty distant achievement. We often
described him as the 7th place dog in a 5 dog class.
But one day, when no one was looking, that ugly duckling
turned...
In the days when top winning Gordons were few and far between,
Slammer’s charm and charisma pushed him into 'top
show dog status'. Slammer and his handler, Erica Bandes
(then McCurley), had a true love-hate relationship, a test
of wills that often turned into a draw. It became a contest
and oftentimes, when they entered the breed ring, other
handlers stopped what they were doing to watch the "Slammer
and Erica Show".
If Slammer felt like having the upper hand, he waited until
the judge looked at him for the last time and then moved
his left rear foot. If it was Erica’s turn to win,
Slammer left all four feet in place.
In comparison with today’s winning records, his might
seem insignificant, but Slammer usually only showed 10
to 15 weekends a year, never went farther west than Ohio,
never flew on a plane and was basically shown from the
couch his whole career.
He won specialties from the Breed, from the Field Trial
dog class and from the Veteran class. He won the National
Specialty under well known breeder/judge George Pugh and
an All Breed Best In Show under a judge that none of us
knew. He was only the third Gordon Setter to ever win the
Group at Westminster.
We were invited to participate in the AKC's premier demonstration
of their newly instituted Hunting Tests and he was named
to Blackie Nygood's "10 Best of the Century" list.
He won in spite of us. I remember losing my scissors before
his best in show win and trimming his tail with my grandmothers
'pinking shears'. I remember another handler pulling a
piece of bush out of his coat as he walked into a group
ring. I remember having him lay down in the tub to soak
before a show in order to loosen the leftovers of his romp
through the horse pasture.
He sired multiple All Breed Best In Show daughters, multiple
specialty and group winners, dual champions, the first
female Gordon Master Hunter and countless best friends.
He hunted his whole life with my husband, with or without
show coat, played in the backyard pool with my kids (all
three of them naked), chased the falling leaves in the
backyard for hours and, in his older years, escorted my
grandmother as she tended her rose garden.
Without Slammer, there would have been no Woodsmoke Gordon
Setters.
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