Legacy of Champion Johnny Crockett Continues
By J. P. Reed | Feb 20, 2018
Three-time Champion Johnny Crockett, a precocious white and orange setter male weighing 34 pounds, but born with tremendous “bottom” and natural toughness, made history under the whistle of W. C. Kirk of Bowie, Tex., by winning the Holy Grail of the bird dog world: the 1970 National Championship, long dominated by great pointers.
This little dog with the heart of a champion was bred by Texan Claud Patterson with Wonsover’s Crockett Jed as his sire and Patterson’s Flying Lady as his dam and whelped July 20, 1964.
Johnny Crockett, callname Boy, was raised in Texas and was owned by John S. Fisher of Garland, Tex., through his Derby year and he was placed with W. C. Kirk at four months of age.
Harold “Hank” P. Sheely of Irving, Tex., obtained Johnny Crockett in 1966 and W. C. Kirk, his wife Mary and Hank Sheely guided Boy’s development, amassing twelve wins while producing 40 winners with 147 wins.
These numbers may be increasing!
Mr. Ed Soph of Houston, Tex., was the brains behind the development of the Crockett setters. Mr. Soph’s Crockett breeding was firmly anchored by Kid Crockett, producer of the well-known Eugene Crockett which passed his quality traits to Eugene Crockett II and on down the line to Johnny Crockett, a great dog that made bird dog history.
The Crockett history is replete with great dogs from the Eugene M family possessing the qualities sought by everyone who has ever owned a field trial competitor.
Ch. Johnny Crockett died July 24, 1972 at eight years of age due to a malignant brain tumor but not before he was “collected” for future artificial insemination. One notable early winning setter that came from artificial insemination using collected frozen Johnny Crockett semen was the setter male Crockett’s Deep Freeze, a 22-time winner.
It is ironic, but the very first litter of puppies by Ch. Johnny Crockett from frozen semen was raised by Dale and Cathy Bush in College Station, Tex., and that litter, referred to by Cathy as “pupsicles,” contained Ch. Crockett’s Deep Freeze.
Johnny Crockett was elected into the Field Trial Hall of Fame in 2008 and vials of his collected semen have been stored by the International Canine Semen Bank in Sandy, Ore., for future use since they were collected.
Hall of Fame member Mr. Dale Bush approached Mrs. Hank P. Sheely in August, 1995 asking for permission to access a vial of Johnny Crockett semen in the future should he have the opportunity to breed a good setter bitch.
Mrs. Sheely readily approved Dale’s request.
The second opportunity to breed a nice setter bitch to Ch. Johnny Crockett came in 2017 and a vial of Johnny Crockett semen collected November 1, 1971 was then shipped to Dr. James Bell of Castroville, Tex. On October 20, 2017, Dr. Bell was presented by Dale Bush with a daughter of 2x National Champion Shadow Oak Bo to be artificially inseminated with the Johnny Crockett frozen semen.
The procedure went well and an ultrasound was performed on November 20, 2017 indicating that six puppies were being carried by the dam.
Six (6) healthy white and orange setter puppies were whelped December 26, 2017 comprised of five males and one female!
Dale Bush has these Johnny Crockett setter puppies in his possession and they could not be in better hands. Time will tell if the pups from this “Hall of Fame” breeding will possess the range, drive, determination and bird-finding ability of the great dogs represented in the pedigree.
Where else can a setter enthusiast who knows the great lineage of Ch. Johnny Crockett go to pull in the strong genetics of Wonsover and the Eugene M family of great setters to blend with the strong genes of two-time National Champion Shadow Oak Bo?
This breeding brings greatness from the past into the present and it will be interesting to see if a great one emerges.
Editor’s Note: The December 4, 1971 Christmas Issue of
The American Field carried the first of two articles by Dr. Stephen W. J. Seager dealing with the use of frozen semen in breeding dogs. He followed with a second article in the December 2, 1978 Christmas Issue, and accompanying that article was the photo appearing here of Dr. Seager and Johnny Crockett.
Dr. Seager and his colleagues at the University of Oregon were able to successfully store canine semen for later use, a signficant breakthrough for the sporting dog world.
Dr. Seager subsequently worked with the propagation of endangered species.
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03-03-2019, 07:33 PM
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