Hidden Acres Atlas “Romo”

NA 108 / UT 204

There is a fantastic Disney movie from years past called “The Biscuit Eater” in which a young boy takes in a non-descript pup and trains him for field trials, in direct competition with his well-known father, and his champion English Setter. While the movie features the dogs, the real storyline is that with hard work a young boy is able to gain his father’s respect, and make him proud, as his pup “Moreover” becomes as fine of a bird dog as any in the land. In the 1972 version of the movie the dog depicted on the screen is a liver drathaar. In this, real-life, version of the story, the dog was a liver pudelpointer named “Romo”, his owner was seven year old Hunter Farris, and his grandfather is Bob Farris of Cedarwood Kennels. By any standard, the hard work, which young Hunter put in with his pup Romo, led them to achievements which not only made his grandfather proud, but also has benefited the greater pudelpointer community immeasurably.

Romo was born on April 15, 2011, in Florida, as part of the first litter for Dr. John Salassa’s Hidden Acres Kennel. Dr. Salassa had previously attained a Utility Prize II on Romo’s mother, Oxbow’s Bailey of Hidden Acres. He would choose to breed Bailey to the fantastic stud dog, Blackhawk’s Augustus McCray in an effort to create a very strongly linebred litter. This pairing created a power house pedigree which continues to be push our breed forward to this day. Romo’s father, Augustus McCray was a pheasant hunting specialist whose story of hunting alongside falcons was previously depicted in this series. His Utility prized mother was a littermate to the great Oxbow’s Big Gun (UT 204), also featured in this series. After weening the pups, Dr. Salassa brought several of them to the West to deliver them to clients. The first stop was reportedly in Boise, Idaho where Hunter first got to meet the litter of pups. Seven year old Hunter reportedly took the job of choosing the top pup in the litter very seriously. He set up a test whereby he took the pups to his grandparents’ in-ground pool and tossed a tennis ball. Only one of the pups took the leap of faith after the ball. “I want that one Grandpa!” Naming a pup is always a deeply personal choice and following Rocky Balboa’s lead, young Hunter named his pup after his favorite football player, Tony Romo.

Seven year old Hunter reportedly took the lead in training and handling young Romo for his Natural Ability Test, scoring 108 points and a Prize 1 under the watchful eye of Sr. Judge, Steve Kane. Hunter and Mr. Kane reportedly hit it off so well that “Big Steve”, as Hunter would christen him, agreed to return the following year if Hunter would run his pup in a Utility test. By that time Romo had grown into a two and a half year old thoroughbred who likely had more horsepower than an eight year old boy could handle successfully to Utility standards. As such, his grandfather, Bob Farris, assisted Hunter in handling Romo through his Utility Test. At that point in time, Bob Farris had successfully handled several dozen pudelpointers to Utility titles however only one had achieved a maximum, 204 point score (Cedarwoods Prince from Zoey). On October 4, 2013 Romo, with eight year old Hunter at his side, would also achieve a maximum 204. Hunter had matched his grandfather’s biggest accomplishment and had brought our Biscuit Eater analogy full circle!

For the next ten years Romo led the life which nearly all other gun dogs are envious of. While testing dogs is meaningful, these dogs live to hunt, and few dogs were given more opportunities to hunt than Hidden Acres Atlas. Year after year, Romo was able to hunt throughout Idaho and several other western states’ long hunting seasons for waterfowl and upland birds, all the while sleeping in bed with Hunter each night. That is certainly a life well lived.

Romo was a dog with an explosive water entry and his desire to pursue crippled ducks made him a brag waterfowl dog. This was true not only in October but straight through Idaho’s Snake River December and January hunts. However, as good as he was as a water dog, his real claim to fame was that he possessed as much natural point, steadiness, and style as any pudelpointer. He likely inherited these traits from his famous father, Blackhawk’s Augustus McCray, who was known to remain steady as his hunting partner, a free flying falcon, would knock birds out of the air in front of him. Bob is confident that Romo was so talented, so smart, and so cooperative, that he would have been able to run a Utility Test, on any given day, even when he was 12 years old, and likely would have received another Prize I.

While it would be natural for a breeder to promote dogs which carry their kennel name, Bob Farris is quick to say that Romo was as complete a dog as has ever graced Cedarwood Kennels. The willingness of a prominent breeder to give credit to another is a testament not only to Bob Farris but also to the cooperative nature NAPPA breeders foster with one another in an effort to pursue the dream of create the best hunting pudelpointers in the world. Recognizing that Romo was an exceptionally talented dog, he was promoted as a stud dog, often to the detriment of other top scoring, Utility titled, males who carried the Cedarwoods name. Romo would end up being utilized by seven separate kennels with simply spectacular results. As many know, in the NAVHDA Natural Ability Test a dog can score a maximum of 112 points. Romo’s progeny report shows that he had 70 puppies tested in Natural Ability with the average being 106.2 points. The top 69 scoring puppies averaged a truly amazing 107.4 points. As great as that is, it is likely exceeded by the fourteen sons, and daughters, who stepped up to run the NAVHDA Utility Test, where they averaged a remarkable 190 points.

There are very few pudelpointers who have ever contributed more to our breed, as a producer, than Hunter Farris’ Romo. Romo’s standout pups include two Versatile Champions, VC Cedarwoods Pi P R Texas, and VC Cedarwoods Kaykie’s Pard. In addition, current stud dogs, Cedarwoods Essence of Turk (UT Prize I), Cedarwoods Cowboy Oakley (UT Prize I), Cedarwoods Jethro Gibbs (UT Prize I), Hard Trigger’s Lone Star (UT 197 Prize II), and Cedarwoods Kaiser (UT 191 Prize II) are all being utilized to further Romo’s genetics. In addition to VC Cedarwoods Pi P R Texas, two additional Romo daughters have also left their mark upon our breed with Prairie Trout’s Rambunkous (UT Prize I) and Cedarwoods Fearless Diva (UT Prize I) producing multiple pups themselves that have achieved at all levels, including VC, in NAVHDA.

Looking back at Hunter and Romo’s journey, Bob Farris leaves no doubt that, just like the famous dog trainer in the Biscuit Eater, he is supremely proud of what his grandson, and his pool jumping puppy, were able to accomplish. Furthermore, the rest of the pudelpointer community owes a debt of gratitude to these two, as their efforts have made such a positive impact on our beloved breed that we should all continue to benefit from for years to come. As is always the case, a dog such as Romo, is the product of the genetics found within their pedigree, coupled with proper training. If you wish to learn more about the breeders who continue to work with these genetics please visit the North American Pudelpointer Alliance website at https://pudelpointer-alliance.com/breeders.