The FindRetrievers 2009 Dog of the Year Award goes to John and Mary Stracka’s FC AFC MERCY MERCY MERCY ME with a total of 41 Open and Amateur points combined!

2009 Dog of the Year

What a great year for any dog, but the amazing thing is that Mercy was only 4 years old and began the year without any All-Age points at all! She not only attained her AFC title last year with one Amateur win and 12.5 additional points totaling 17.5, but also attained her FC title with four wins and 3.5 additional points totaling 23.5 Open points.

With such a stellar year there is also a stellar pedigree to go with it. Mercy’s sire is Charlie Hines’ FC AFC Nick of Time Lone Ranger, 2005 High Point Open dog and Doubleheader winner, and her dam is none other than Lori Oliver’s FC AFC Tequila Sunrise IX. Keila has produced many great dogs herself such as FC AFC Weezer Retreezer and Truline’s Walla Walla Sweet, 2008 High Point Derby Dog.

Paul Sletten told John that he would pick a pup out of the litter for him with his special Puppy Picking Test. Paul eventually told John that his special test was simply closing his eyes and pulling the first pup out of the crate that his hand touched!

Paul and Sara Sletten then raised her as a pup in their house. Jess Bentley and Paul began training her at 8 weeks, and Kip Kemp helped with her yard work her first winter in Mississippi. She even does a little pheasant hunting which began early in her career at around 8 months of age. She has pheasant hunted every fall since.

John and Paul didn’t focus much on a derby career with Mercy. They focused her training mainly for All-Age competition. Mercy won her first Qual right after her second birthday and went on to jam a couple of Amateurs that fall. She ran into a ‘sophomore slump’ as a three year old, but by year 4 she came out with flying colors! Mercy and Paul won two Opens that Spring at Golden Retriever and Middle Tennessee. Early that fall Mercy won the Open with Paul and Amateur with John at Central Wisconsin’s Muddy Waters and finished the year with another win at Black Warrior in Alabama. What a phenomenal year!

Mercy was qualified for the 2009 National Open last fall and is qualified for the 2010 National Amateur this spring. She is also High Point female Open dog for 2009, number 3 in overall Open standings and number 9 in overall Amateur standings. Quite a year! Quite a dog! That is why FindRetrievers has selected her as our 2009 Dog of the Year! Congratulations to all!