Pirate's Bonne Run was born to Coveyruns's Russian Tsar and Run Pirate Run on November 22, 2000.  The name Bonne (pronounced "Bonnie") is taken from the notorious 17th century female pirate Anne Bonne.  Aptly named, Bonne was picked from her litter because of her bold and adventurous spirit.

Bonne's first autumn afield demonstrated her dependability as a hunting dog.  She has a reliable nose and is successful on wild quail, pheasants, grouse, chukar, and gray partridge.  She is faithfully staunch, remarkably tenacious locating and retrieving downed birds (including blind and water retrieves), and reliably honors other dogs' points.

Bonne loves to hunt and tempers her boundless enthusiasm with finely-tuned skills.  She is experienced and hunts to objectives (producing birds where other dogs are less successful); and, obediently hunts where instructed.  Bonne is extremely agile and easy for a foot hunter to manage.  Naturally a moderate-range hunter, she responds readily to commands and terrain which require her to stay closer to the hunter or to range out further from the hunter.

Bonne's first exposure to NSTRA field trials followed her second full hunting season at about three years of age.  As a consequence, she and her handlers "unlearned" some successful hunting behaviors and learned "trial-appropriate" behaviors.  She responded admirably to this challenge, earning placements in a number of events, and substantially improving her wild bird skills.  For you who have not experienced such events, the supreme benefit of these events is to lengthen the "season" in which dogs and owners have the privilege of working together in hunting situations!

Bonne is a clean, loving, and easy family companion.  Although all pointing breeds are blessed with tremendous energy, Bonne settles easily as a house pet and "plays nicely" with others.  She cuddles and loves being the center of attention, but also is content to be in her own company on the sidelines.

Bonne is the gift of a wonderful lineage.  On her mother's side, she sports blood from Ch./Hall of Fame Grouse Ridge Will and Ch. Grouse Ridge John (sire of Ch. Hall of Fame Tomoka), Ch. Cash Master, Ch. I'm Oscar, and other founding bloodlines for today's greatest English Setters.  An out crossing to the novel Russian Llewellin, little known in the U.S., enriches the gene pool with a mild "companion" disposition, intense drive for game, and fantastic resourcefulness.

Bonne is fit and eager.  Her hips were tested at Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital via breed-specific Penn-hip procedures and her results placed her in the 90th percentile or in the top 10% of all English Setters tested.

“True” is an exceptional animal by any standards.  Fast, strong, graceful, and tenacious, he is a marvelous example of what 100 years of selective breeding can produce.  True began his hunting career before he reached 5-months of age and it is his great passion. Still, he is a wonderful, well-mannered family pet who brings a smile to all who meet him.

True is the product of dam Maggie’s Bend and sire Flashy Southern Arrow.  Maggie is daughter of Hall of Fame/11xCh Tekoa Mountain Sunrise, the all-time leading producer of setter champions and winners. Her mother was the leading living dam of setter winners, and a full sister to three champions, including Hall of Fame/9xCh Hicks Rising Sun.  Arrow is grandson of Tekoa Mountain Sunrise and Sunflower Sunset, and also hails from Ch. Johnny Crockett and Ch. Cash Master lines.  True's hips scored in the 90th percentile for all English Setters tested by the PennHIP protocols.

True was entered in his first NSTRA field trial as a bye-dog at 10-months of age because we needed a replacement for our female, Bonne, whose season had arrived.  Although he did not earn a placement (he was only 10-months old, after all) his ability was demonstrated.  It has taken time for True and his novice handler to learn to work together.  The initial challenge was the dog’s ability to locate birds at great distance, and a handler who was not sufficiently experienced to look for the birds at so great a distance.  We have been working through that though, with True establishing point a little closer, and me searching a little wider.  At 11 months True earned his first 1^st Place and by 16 months (after only 2 ½ months of periodic trial competition) he added a 2^nd, 3^rd, and two 4^th Place wins to his sheet.  True is a remarkable dog who has impressed judges sufficiently with his style and skill to have earned multiple perfect scores for “finds” (100 points) and “honoring” (75 points), and near-perfect scores for retrieves in very difficult situations (98 and 97 points awarded).  This dog is a genuine pleasure to watch and to handle.

True has continued to display incredible stamina in the field.  It is no surprise for a hunting dog to continue to run long after he has passed his effectiveness threshold, but True has yet to reach that point.  The dog covers mile after mile, hour after hour.  Virtual hunting? He can keep up with any dog. At 14 months, True was one of the only dogs available to fill in (after his scored braces) on the third day of a particularly demanding trial, where many dogs were unable to perform because of the rugged terrain wearing on their feet.  True’s agility and grace somehow allowed his feet to maintain top condition.  At just over a year of age, his performance as a non-scoring bye-dog was remarkable, and he ran 5 complete braces (amassing 15 finds) on that day alone.

True completed his first Championship title on October 1st, 2006.  A remarkable 27-point season in 2006-2007 (15th of all dogs, nationally) led to his second Championship, which he completed on May 6, 2007.   Since then, True has continued to be highly competitive.  By the end of the 2008-2009 season, he had earned four Championships.  During that season, True was the high-point dog in the Northwest Region and was again in the top 20 dogs, nationally. We are looking forward to a very enjoyable hunting season this Fall, and hope for some success on the Trial circuit, as well.

Shady was whelped January 22, 2006; out of Pirate's Bonne Run (Dam) and Ch. Tomoka's Mendy Shades (Sire).  Shady seems to have inherited many traits from Bonne including her agility, tenacity, and spirit.  From Shades, she has acquired excellent speed and range.  Shady's nose is exceptional, leading us to agree with the adage that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Shady experienced her first hunting season beginning at 9-months of age.  Her enthusiasm and success have led us to believe that January is the perfect time to whelp a litter.  Shady found a lot of birds her first season, but we consider that she officially entered into the world of bona fide hunting companions on a trip to hunt chucker in southwest Oregon; rock-solid finds, scaling cliffs for retrieves, and keeping pace with the experienced dogs.  In addition to several trips for chucker, Shady's first year included quail in Arizona and southwest Idaho, and chucker and pheasant in northern Idaho.

During fall of 2007, Shady won three amateur trials, and was entered into a few trials in spring of 2008. In fall of 2008 she placed 4 times in  three weekends of open trials.  And, when hunting season began, Shady really came alive with tenacity and intensity.

Shady began the 2008-2009 NSTRA season as a two-year old, and competed in her first season in the open class at 3¹/2 .  Her performance was wonderful, qualifying for Regional trials not only in the Northwest, but also in the Big Sky and Northern California-Nevada regions.  In all, Shady earned 21 points during the season, earning herself a tie for 34th on the national list of high performance dogs. 

Her hunting in fall of 2009 was spectacular.  She was so solid on  her wild birds that we anticipated another terrific trial season.  As it turned out, shady became a little too comfortable with released birds through the spring, and has received some regular "coaching" through the summer.  We have been especially pleased with how she has learned to work on the whoa barrel. We fully expect her lessons to pay off, not only in field trials, but through the 2010 hunting season, as well.

Tygh (pronounced "Tie") was whelped on July 30, 2008 out of Thunderhill's Trooper and Tomoka's Rainey.  Tygh has a very strong pedigree for a shoot-to-retrieve hunter; 11 NSTRA Champions and 10 open field Champions in five generations.  His natural abilities have been readily apparent since a very young age, as has his stylish presence in the field.  Tygh is destined to become a fine bird dog.

Tygh is an exceptionally affectionate dog, even for a Setter.  He is well socialized with other dogs and people.  Tygh has been more than eager to learn commands and to perform those behaviors that please his humans.  He lives to run, hunt and play!  

Tygh was too young to hunt by himself in 2008, but was able to chase around after the others and to learn how to scent birds.  He was hard working and quite dependable in 2009, his first real bird season. He joined us during weeks of hunting for pheasants, chukar and gray partridge in Idaho, and he pointed the trifecta of quail in Arizona.  After spending much of the summer learning manners at "camp", we are sure that this fall will be a joy for all of us.

"Rise" is the most recent addition to our family.  Whelped in November, 2009 out of Arrow's Chukar Dog and Windridge Shasta.  Rise is a nephew of True, as Shasta is his littermate.  Rise, at 8-months is fairly large, and may well reach 55 pounds at maturity, or perhaps a little more.  He runs as hard and fast as the big dogs, with no apparent end to his stamina.  The MPG rating of this puppy is incredible (as have been all of our puppies).

So far, Rise' passion is limited to wrestling with the others, and to running.  However, he has a great interest in game birds and should prove more than entertaining this coming fall during his first hunting season.