Forrest

Back in April 2010, I lost my Darwin while Céleste was away in London to be bred with Roman. I was supposed to keep a female from the 'Great movie stars' litter but it was obvious, I had to keep little orange boy, he was simply the best puppy. This selection changed all my future plans as I had the feeling he was very special. He was the result of nearly ten years of hard work at the time. And I was right, he was very special.

Forrest was a very happy boy, very birdy too. At 9 weeks old, he was already playing in water with my other dogs. The more I look at him, the more I see his mother in him, which makes me very happy because I've always wanted another Céleste.

On May 8 2011 in Mont Joli (Québec), Forrest made a Group 4 placement and also a Best Puppy In Show! It was the first time for one of my dogs to win such an award. Forrest completed his Championship at 11 months old on June 4 2011 by doing another Group 4th placement ! Also in June 2011, at the US Specialty in Maryland, Forrest took third place in the sweepstake and second place in the regular show (in the 9-12 months puppy class).

Forrest earned his first hunt title ( WC ) on September 4 2011 in Maxville.

On November 18 2011 at 17 months old, he took BOW and BOB from the 'Bred By class' in Syracuse (NY) defeating 13 flatcoats, including two specials with professional handlers, for a 4 points major en route for his American championship!

At the Ottawa show on May 25 2012, Forrest took a Group 4th placement and a Best Bred By Exhibitor in Show. For a breeder/owner/handler, that was quite a special moment! On June 9 2012 in Oromocto (New-Brunswick), Forrest took a nice 'Second in group' placement, putting him in the Top 10 flat-coated retrievers in Canada at the time.

Forrest was training hard to get his Junior Hunter title ( JH ) in 2012 and after a slow start in the fields, he got his title on August 4th in Brooklyn (Nova Scotia) with four consecutive qualifications.

He earned his CGN title in North-Gower ON on March 30 2014 and his first obedience title ( CD ) on April 6 2014 in three consecutive trials. Funny thing about this is that he got his first leg in 2012, his second in 2013 and his third in 2014!

In fall 2017, I decided to show Forrest a bit more and what a good decision it was! In a few shows only, he completed his Grand Champion title on November 3 2017 taking 'Best of Breed' all the time.

Since April 2014, Forrest was the sixth Knightcastle ambassador. With all his multiple group placements and wins, he was a special boy to me! I did not count how many times he won the breed or made a group placement in his life but I knew I was going to win when he was in the ring.

Forrest was raised by his uncle Baxter, who taught him good manners and how a leader should behave. Baxter was simply his mentor and I saw Forrest changing after Baxter's death. He was looking for him, he was used to follow him like his own shadow. It was so nice to see my two boys always together. Until the arrival of his daughter Blanche in 2016, Forrest stayed about six years my youngest dog in the pack.

Forrest was a great dock diver. I did not have time to put a title on my old Baxter so in summer 2018, while very ill, I decided to enter him (and the whole crew) in dock diving events. He earned his 'Dock Diving Junior' title on August 22 2018 in five consecutive trials, very happy each time to do what he liked the most!

Fofo was also a daddy and grandfather. He sired the accidental 'Robin Hood' litter in October 2013 here at Knightcastle. He also sired another one at Unique Dutch kennel. I did a repeat breeding of the 'Robin Hood' litter, this time keeping the little red girl who became my Blanche (from the 'Star Trek' litter of January 2016). Blanche is a mother, delivering 8 puppies on April 20 2018 for the 'Peter Pan' litter, to start our fourth generation. In February 2018 he sired a litter with a beautiful girl from France, Eiger, but complications happened and the breeder lost all of the ten puppies and the mother as well only two weeks before de scheduled whelping date.

He never did anything wrong, except maybe one time, eating too much butter left on the counter top. My fault. But here is something funny I did with him once. In summer 2015 we were in Kars (ON), mainly showing Hopper to get points toward her Canadian Championship. Just a bit before entering the ring, Gordon (Hopper's co-owner) and I swap dogs and I was back holding Forrest instead of Hopper. So I entered the ring with Forrest while I was supposed to show Hopper, a female, to the judge. Funny thing is that she did not see anything odd, I had to go tell her after judging. Of course we were disqualified! Again, my fault! One more funny thing about Forrest was he was always holding his leash in his mouth in the show ring, like his own trademark, proud to show himself I guess! One of his personality trait was he was pushing the limits a bit, just to see how far he was allowed to go. But that was just to tease me a bit!

His legacy is a beautiful one, especially here with his daughter Blanche and his granddaughters Avril with whom he spent a few months with and now Petula. I see in Forrest probably the best male coming out of Knightcastle. He was a soft and serious dog, a real 'gentleman'. In my eyes he was simply perfect. Forrest passed away in my arms on September 6 2018, losing his short battle against lymphoma. His loss is terrible, way too young, seems that Forrest was just a flash in my life. I'll miss watching him running toward the chicken coop charging the birds like a knight, but waiting for me at the door for his daily fresh egg. I've been without a boy for the first time since 1989 until I decided to keep little César in February 2019.

I will love him forever and cherrish all the precious moments we had together. It was a privilege to have him in my life. Can't believe he's gone...

You can watch a video tribute here following this Youtube link.