2021 Inductee – “Roxy”
Owner/Handler: Ron Ricks
748 Champion Points
Legendary Status Champion
37x Champion
2 Super Major Championships
7 Major Championships
It was August of 2012 when I got Roxy. She was about six months old. A couple of good friends, John Nieubuurt and Rob Spencer, were getting some pups from a kennel in Kalispell, Montana. They drove up there to pick them up and I was telling John that I could not believe that he was driving all the way up there just for a couple of puppies. About four months later I was talking to Rob and he said he had spoken with the breeder and one of the puppies was being sent back to him because the owner was being sent over seas and the wife could not handle the dog herself. Rob said that he didn’t think that the breeder wanted much for the pup so I gave the breeder a call. After talking to the breeder and a $1000.00 later, I was on my way to Kalispell to pick up an out of control, six month old puppy.
She was quite the job at first but she caught on really quickly and was a fantastic natural retriever with a great nose, really dominating the puppy division, qualifying for Puppy of the Year two times for region 5 and winning Puppy of the Year the second trip around.
She was just a little under two years old and competing at the BDC Invitational when she won Runner Up in doubles and third in the Top Gun. She was on her way!
In 2014 she was High Point Puppy, High Point Top Gun, High Point Doubles, and Pointing Dog of the Year for region 5.
Then in 2015 she won the Top Gun Invitational which was one of her biggest achievements. That same year she won Top Gun at the Big Meadows Super Major.
By the end of this same year I started to notice a little shorter stride in her so I took her to a specialist in Sun Valley, Idaho to try to get to the bottom of it. We could never pin point exactly what was going on with her but she definitely was not the same Roxy. She had a heart so big but her shoulder was getting the best of her. She continued to compete and loved every minute of it, continuously getting into the finals but just could not pull off the wins.
This dog was ONE OF A KIND. When she was healthy she was a force to be reckoned with but it was very short lived. It was not much more than four years before she began having some health issues.
Going into the field with Roxy was an incredible feeling. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments. She will always have a special place in my heart.
Today, March 11, 2021,Roxy enters the BDC Hall of Fame as a Legendary Status Dog with 37 Championships, 748 career Champion points, 2 Super Major Championships, 7 Major Championships and multiple championships in other organizations. Roxy’s was an amazing dog and her achievements were so many and so great…..she will never be forgotten.