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 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 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 earn 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.

Perhaps it is his youth, but this dog has stamina to spare.  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.  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.   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 spring, Shady was exposed to shoot-to-retrieve trials as a standby dog.  She had just enough success that we are hoping for a strong showing this fall (at least until hunting seasons open)!