About Jack
When we looked after a name for our dog, we thought "Jack" would be a good name. We had to consider, because is was the F-litter, that the name should start with "F…", but it was the wish of our breeder, that the callname should appear within the kennelname. This was a tricky problem to solve, but we finally succeeded, choosing "Flying Flapjack", which we think fitted very well to our liver boy "Jack", who could really fly. Jack means "God is gracious" and he truly was, by giving us such a wonderful and talented dog! He lived up to his name from the beginning to the very end.
Jack was a charming and clownish dog and full of flatcoat temperament. When he was happy or awaited us to come home, he grinned, his whole body danced and he had to carry something in his mouth, whatever was available around. Nothing was sure from his wagging tail on the coffee table – we had to buy new dishes from time to time. But our “blustery blizzard” could also be very gentle. In the morning, when we woke up, he came and layed his head beside us and in the evening after a long training day, he wanted to be cuddled all over.
Jack loved swimming, playing, tossing and turning in snow, grass and sand, going on trips and visiting friends and family. But the greatest thing of all was, of course, working and he couldn't live without it. He always had this certain sparkle in his eyes, which he never lost. On his last day he gave his everything to retrieve two marsh beavers which Kristof had shot for him. On our way back to the car he broke down out of nowhere. We thought it was maybe his age and drove him to the vetenary clinic where they found out that he had a cancerous mass on his heart. This was devasting news but the next day there should follow further diagnostic so we left him in the clinic. We did not say goodbye but told him that the vet would look after him and that we would come back tomorrow. The vet promised to us she would call us immediately if his condition would get worse. At 00:31am on January 7th we got the phone call we did not want to receive. Jack had had another collaps and his heart had stopped beating. We drove to the clinic right away while they tried to get him back to life, frightened but not hopeless yet. But when we arrived, the vet could only tell us, that Jack had not come back. We couldn't hold back our tears, our always happy boy had left us. The farewell came so unexpected, too soon. But looking at it in retrospect, this exceptional dog had to have an exceptional death, he deserved nothing else. He will always have a special place in our hearts and we are forever grateful for everything he taught us and all the memories he left behind. We love him and we miss him dearly! He was the best first dog we could have ever had.
Songs: Hall of Fame (The Script feat. Will.i.am), Believe (Whitney Huston), Der Weg (Herbert Grönemeyer), Everglow (Coldplay), Why so serious (Alice Merton)
Nicknames: Jackman, Jaques the crab, Affenkopf, Haihappen, Graubart
-
Health
Hips: A1
Elbows: 0/0
Patella: 0/0
OCD: free
Eyes: clear (November 2012)
Gonioscopy: undetermined
Bite: complete scissors
Heart: clear
Thyroid: clear
Colour: liver (bbEE; carries only liver)
DNA-profile: registered
Jack died unforeseen on 07.01.2019 of cardiac arrest, caused by a tumor on the aorta basis.
-
Show
Jack was a very elegant male. Even though he was tall guy, he is very well balanced all over and presented a really nice profile. He had a lovely moulded head with a long muzzle and nicely shaped eyes, which gave him a kindly soft expression. His eye-colour was a bit light when he was young, but his eyes darkened with time. For a liver, he had an excellent pigmentation. His bone fitted his structure, he had a super topline even in old age, a correct tailset, an excellent reach of neck and a long ribcage. He was well angulated behind, in front he could have had a tiny bit more angulation. His feet were strong and tight. His rich dark liver coat was truly a delight and we were often asked about it. But like all livers he bleached a little bit in the summer sun. He moved soundly and effortlessly with excellent reach and drive, just floating across the ground, sometimes a fraction close behind.
We had shown Jack since baby class and although he was a late bloomer, he became “German Junior Champion VDH/DRC” and won several junior titles. In July 2011 he became "Luxembourg Champion" under judge Phil Goodman and in September 2011 he completed his "German Champion VDH" just under 2 1/2 years. Shortly after his third birthday he won his last certificate for the "International Champion with Working Certificate (C.I.B.)", writing German flatcoat-history by being the first liver dog to achieve this title, just one month later he completed his "International Champion (C.I.E)", writing German flatcoat-history again for being the first German liver dog winning this title. In November 2012 he completed his "German Club Champion with Working Certificate" being the fifth liver flatcoat achieving this title. At Crufts 2013 he became RES in Open class which we think is a super achievement for a liver dog from the continent. Jack could finish his "Swiss Champion" in June 2013 and finally in September 2015 his "Austrian Champion". In 2017 he added the two german Veteran titles to his name and in 2018 he won the Swiss Veteran Champion and became Best Veteran in Show at the German Retriever Club Show. Although Jack was never the real big winner, his achievements were amazing, regarding his colour! -
Work
Jack was a very enthusiastic, attentive worker and a strong swimmer. He worked with lots of style and he was very fast, but you could still handle him very well in distance. Jack had a superb marking and game finding ability and a soft mouth. He was very spontaneous with every sort of game, also live game. Jack worked as good on dummies as on game and you culd see that he really loved what he did.
He passed his Certificate for Workingtests (APD/A) at the age of 14 month and had some nice placings at workingtests in Novice class. In October 2010 he passed his Junior Hunting Test (JP/R) and from then on accompanied us during the shooting seasons, where he did a very good job. In June 2011 Jack passed his qualification to start on Field Trials (Epreuve B) and in September 2011 his Hunting Ability Test with 400m blood-track (JEP/S). In October 2011 he got his Retriever Award of Merit (BLP/R) and can now start in Gundog class on shows. Since March 2012 he starts in the Intermediate class on workingtests and in April 2012 he won a Cold Game Test (class C) in Switzerland. In October 2012 he passed a 2-day hunting test for German gundogs (VPS) and in November a 2-day hunting test for retrievers (RGP) with CACT. Since May 2013 Jack starts in Open class. In August 2013 he became 2nd on a Cold Game Test B with RCACT. 2014 he started at the German Cup with two Golden Retrievers in the team. In March 2015 he passed his Retrieving Constancy Test and in July his Good Citizen Dog (BHP/A). In 2016 he won the Austrian Retriever Work&Show Event and the German FCR Trophy. In November 2016 it was not granted to him to pass the St. John's Retriever Test. In 2017 he was placed 2nd in the FCR-Trophy overall standings and in 2018 with nine and a half years he could repeat this result again by winning the Beautyfield Trophy on top the second time. Jack had an outstanding career and he was passionate about retrieving until the very end. It was his life!
DRC-GStBNr.: 2012-F/046
DGStBNr.: B1013
-
Offspring
Breed Standard Qualification Certificate: Excellent
"a tall dog (62cm), excellently built up, masculine head, midbrown-coloured eyes, very expressive, long neck, excellent topline and underline, very good angulations, room-taking movement, good coat and temperament."
Frozen semen stored. Available on limited basis, only for aproved bitches.