Ashbrooke Weimaraners

South Carolina trip

2012-02-12T23:11:00.000-05:00

January 27, 2012. We went down to South Carolina for several days of showing including a couple of specialties. Right before I left I came down with horrible cold but of course, the show must go on. It was a beautiful day in a gorgeous location but I just felt miserable. With all the cold medication I was just glad to remain upright as I ran around the ring. The weekend wasn't a total bust. Sawyer got Judge's Select and earned his first Rally Excellent leg after over a year away from Rally. He even took 1st place with a score of 99 out of 100 so that was really great! Prada did well also with a Judge's Select at the specialty and Best of Opposite.

With the way that I was feeling I wasn't up to my normal photography. Luckily Marc St. Jean took some pictures for me at the specialty. I almost forgot that I had these photos on my camera. What a beautiful location this was at Elena Lamberson's home!

Sawyer setting up at the first specialty of the day.

I'm so sick, I'm just hoping to make it through the day.

Made it around the ring, phew!

I think Sawyer knew something was wrong but continued on.

My man!

Miss Prada with Nadine.

Just under 2 year and Prada is a pro.

Prada.

The exam for Sawyer.

It was a beautiful day but coming from NJ in January, Sawyer was feeling the heat.

I was not prepared for the heat. The forecast originally called for it to be rainy and cooler. With my cold I wasn't thinking straight and didn't even pack ice and a cool coat for Sawyer. I had to improvise for the second show.

Prada and Nadine.

Specialty #2 later in the day. I think the meds are kicking in a bit at this point.

Sawyer showed much better in the afternoon. He must have felt my health improving.

Super Bowl

2012-02-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

February 5, 2012. This year was our 10th annual Super Bowl bash. It's always lots of work to prepare for but it's fun for all.

It's become tradition to make the Super Bowl cake. Both teams are properly represented. The Giants are in Blue.

The dogs were exhausted after everyone left.
Sharon, Brooke & Sawyer

Not sure how Daisy lucked out and got her own space on the chair.

Daisy helps out with the post Super Bowl clean up.

What to do with Super Bowl balloons after the game is over.

After Christmas Accident

2011-12-31T21:05:00.000-05:00

December 26, 2011.

The offender, Daisy...why couldn't she hit me with this toy???

The weapon, an elk antler.

The victim, me.

While sitting on the couch next to Daisy, she was enjoying her Christmas present, whipped her head around whacked me in the face. OUCH! Glad she missed my eye!

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T15:48:00.001-05:00

December 25, 2011. As per our normal routine we get up and open presents with our kids then we head to Scott's parent's house in PA for Christmas dinner.

This year the kids got Elk antlers. They all enjoy them and we like them because they are pretty indestructible. Unfortunately we can't get any soft toys because Daisy tears them up and eats them.

Sawyer thinks this is a great present.

Brooke and Daisy enjoy the antlers too.

Sharon is looking for more treats but settles in with her antler.

Time out from chewing for a photo op.

Back to work.

The girls in front of the fireplace: Daisy, Sharon, Brooke.

The single guy, Sawyer.

Daisy trying to eat the tree while it's temporarily out of jail.

Off to the Ostranders for the chaos of Christmas.

Love our niece, Kendalyn's new hat!

Scott loves his mother's cookies.

Kendalyn with her new mustache sweatshirt.

And hanging with my in-law's Sheltie, Mindy.

I think Kayla liked her concert tickets. She'll be going with me to see Kelly Clarkson in January.

That's a lot of trucks there Curtis.

And then we spent the rest of the day enjoying my mother-in-law's wonderful cooking and eating ourselves into food comas.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T15:12:00.001-05:00

December 24, 2011. After many hours of preparation and little sleep I think I'm finally ready for Christmas. Tonight we spend the evening at my Aunt Kathy's house with my fun (and crazy) cousins.

My cousin Timmy, his wife Sandie and daughter Madison. What's missing from this photo besides daughter Mackenzie who is home from college but with her boyfriend this evening...it's Scott. He always manages to get in their photo somehow but he missed this time.

Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Jim.

Self portrait of Scott and I. It's hard to take a picture of yourself.

Cousins Marcie and Michelle decide to try the self portrait with cousin Jennifer photo bombing (jumping in on someone else's picture). We had a lot of photo bombing this evening.

Normal photo of the beautiful sisters. Marcie is home for the month from Australia where she is currently on assignment with her family.

Marcie and husband, John.

Cousin Jennifer and boyfriend Lenny catching Marcie trying to photo bomb.

Cousin Michelle, her husband Chris and their son Willie.

The Webers: John, Marissa, Johnny and Marcie.

Marissa and Madison. Two very beautiful girls!

Aunt Kathy and cousin Michelle photo bombed by Michelle's son, Noah.

Scott and I with Johnny and Marissa.

The annual picture with Edward. He has quite the cool Santa hat. And this year I kept my hands to myself.

Edward belongs to Jennifer, this was her gift from last Christmas. Now it looks like they are holding hands. When I tried to do that last year it looked like I was grabbing his crotch!

The Cousins: Michelle, Michelle, Timmy, Marcie, Jennifer

The Cousin's other half: Scott, Chris, Sandie, John, Lenny. I didn't notice til today that Sandie and John are matching.

All together.

Now mixed up!

It was a fun evening and we had a lot of laughs!

Disney - we couldn't resist

2011-12-26T12:58:00.000-05:00

December 18, 2011. Our group was finished on Saturday but we were staying for the extra day of Eukanuba because our good friend Bobbie Wood was nominated for Breeder of the Year. She already had the honor of representing the Non-Sporting group for her years of commitment to the Lhasa Apso breed. That ceremony wasn't until late in the evening before best is show so we had the whole day free.

Sawyer looks like he wanted to sleep in.

We were so close to Disney it was hard to be in the area without actually going to a park. So we decided to spend the day at the Magic Kingdom. Kevin and Pat were staying at Fort Wilderness in their RV and they were kind enough to let our dogs stay there while we spend a few hours in the park.

Fort Wilderness is always all decorated for Christmas. It fascinates me that people bring all these decorations in their RV and deck out their camp sites.

This is one person's site! Where do they store all this stuff??

They even have blow up decorations on the roof!

We took the boat over to Magic Kingdom from Fort Wilderness. It was a little chilly but a beautiful day for a ride with our friends, Pat & Kevin.

It's nice to take the boat over. You get to see the Wilderness Lodge.

The Contemporary and the new DVC Bay Lake Tower.

The Grand Floridian.

We only had a few hours so we just tried to hit a few of our favorite rides.

Pirates of the Carribean.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Haunted Mansion.

Mickey's PhilharMagic.

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.

Stitches Great Escape

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.

They are in the process of building a whole new section behind Fantasy Land, which will double it's current size, and re-doing Toon Town. The new castle will be Beauty and the Beast related.

It was starting to get dark so we had to leave to meet Pat & Kevin, grab a bite to eat and head back to Eukanuba to watch the breeder of the year cermony.

The lights were all on at the campground.

This one is a truck with a whole compartment that's decorated with a tree and fireplace inside. I wish I had my good camera out for this one but this was taken with my phone.

They even decorate their golf carts. This one is Minnie, complete with waving hands.

It certainly gets you in the Christmas spirit!

A quick bite to eat and off to Eukanuba. Unfortunately the facility is so huge it takes us several minutes to walk from where we're parked to the ring so we caught the end of the breeder of the year ceremony. Bobbie looked beautiful. She wasn't selected but she's a winner in our book!

The next morning it was up early to start the drive home. We originally intended to stop overnight but decided to push through. We arrived home at 2am with only a few days to prepare for Christmas.

Eukanuba

2011-12-26T12:25:00.002-05:00

December 17, 2011. Weims were in the afternoon but I had Scott drop me off early so I could be there for Tibbie judging. Pat had wanted me to show Kelso but decided she was going to do it herself. There was a large entry so it was a lot of standing for Pat but she was a trouper and made it through the whole judging assignment.

Sawyer's swimming buddy, Djebel took Best of Breed and would go on to be in the Non-Sporting group. What a great win for Pat & Kevin!! It was a good day for the Wassong Tibbies!

Djebel and her handler, Ernesto.

The happy owners/breeders, Pat & Kevin. Djebel went on to win a Group 3!! We're were so thrilled for them.

Weims were in after lunch. Bobbie was nice enough to take photos for me today.

Sawyer looked good.

The judge kept looking but he didn't make the cut.

I was still proud to be in the ring handling a dog that I bred who is so versatile.

I just love this shot. I call it helicopter ears.

On the move with our heads held high.

Posing for the camera.

After judging we hopped on the shuttle for the long trek back to the parking lot.

Since we had some open time in the afternoon, we drove through Disney's Celebrations community.

Disney is always fun during the holidays. The sign advertises the nightly snowing as part of the festivities.

It's such a pretty town with a lovely town center.

Even the post office is interesting looking.

This holiday tram was running through town.

There's even a golf course with this antique car out front.

Scott's co-workers are in a building in Celebrations. Perhaps he can get transferred so we can move here?

Sawyer enjoying some down time after the long road trip and 3 days in the ring.

Daisy with Sawyer's pillow, aka 'his girlfriend'. We don't leave it out at home because she eats everything so this was special traveling woobie time.

Good night, it's been a long day.

Florida dog shows

2011-12-26T11:41:00.003-05:00

December 15, 2011. After driving all day on Wednesday we had an 8am judging time for our first show in Florida. Daisy was in Sweepstakes and decided she did not want to stand for the exam. The Sweeps judge was very kind and let us just move around the ring. She did a repeat in the regular class and we were excused. Not sure why she acted this way but we'll have to work with her as she's not done this before, but we also haven't been in the ring in several months. Sawyer showed nicely but we didn't get any placements. Scott wasn't able to get many pictures as trying to hold Daisy and a camera is always difficult.

In the afternoon Scott went to see co-workers at Disney and I relaxed in the room with the dogs.

December 16, 2011. Day two of the Florida shows had an afternoon start so we were able to take our time in the morning. I pulled Daisy since I needed time to work with her and only Sawyer showed today. Again he looked good but no ribbons for us today.

We went to the Tibbie ring first to watch our friends Pat & Kevin and their dogs.

Sawyer and I watched ringside.

Apparently it wasn't as exciting for Sawyer.

Scott had his hands full with Daisy so Pat took pictures for us. My camera did not seem to be taking the best pictures in this facility and the moving photos were blury.

Road Trip!

2011-12-15T17:35:00.000-05:00

December 13 - 14, 2011. We packed up the kids, well two of them, and headed to Orlando for the Eukanuba Invitational. My mother was kind enough to come up from her home in Florida to watch the two oldest girls so we didn't have to travel with 4 dogs. Sawyer, Daisy, Scott and I hit the road on Tuesday night after work. I took the first shift and actually stayed awake all the way to our first stop in Virginia. We'd rest here for the night and continue onto Orlando the next day.

Scott drove the second leg and insisted we stop at "South of the Border". What a hokey tourist trap! And last I checked, South of the Border meant Mexico. But this was a stop Scott remembered making as a child so we took a quick detour and lunch break.

You can't miss this place from I-95.

If you don't see that sign then you can look for the water tower with the giant sombrero.

They have fabulous attactions like the Reptile Lagoon. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit there...darn.

They have a wonderful gift shop. Who doesn't need a giant mug for margaritas? Wish I had one.

Good thing the bear wasn't for sale.

We didn't eat here, perhaps on the way home....don't get excited Scott, I'm not planning to stop here again.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-13T09:04:00.002-05:00

December 9, 2011. The cookies are made, well at least all the dough is. Half are baked and the rest will be done when we get home from our trip. The tree is up, decorated and behind an expen, or 'jail' as we like to refer to it, to protect it from Daisy.

Sawyer dreams about Santa as Scott and I decorate the tree.

All decorated.

And in jail

In the evening we went to the Turtle Back Zoo to see their Christmas lights. I hadn't been there since I was a little girl.

Happy Zoo Year.

It was really cold!

They had zoo themed lights rather than the traditional lights.

Giraffes and Flamingos.

Turtles, of course.

Elephants.

Prairie Dogs and Scotts

Even the humans grew tails while we're at the zoo. Ann's scarf seems to be a beard and a tail.

The wolves were there in light form.

and in person.

Cougars.

The petting zoo animals were in their stalls.

This was the biggest pig I've ever seen. It actually did get up and walk around.

Now this is a hair-do.

Someone needs an orthodontist.

Some of the animals were dangerous.

Steve seemed to be Dr. Doolittle and roused all the animals.

The whole gang in front of the penguin lights.

It was a fun night.

Good Dog U CDSP Obedience Trial

2011-11-28T01:28:00.001-05:00

November 27, 2011. Today we went to a CDSP Obedience trail hosted by Good Dog U in White Plains, NY. This is a wonderful host club and they always put on a great trial. I’m still trying to get Brooke’s Open title and this was two more opportunities to do that today. Sawyer was entered in Novice C to try to earn a few more championship legs.

Brooke was up first. She was upbeat and really seemed on today.

She was heeling with me and paying attention. She only lost 1 point on this exercise.

The running broad jump was great and she only lost half a point on this exercise.

We were having problems with the drop on recall when we were practicing Friday night. But she nailed it today. A little bit of a crooked front cost us half a point.

My throw for the retrieve on the flat was surprisingly straight. I was hoping I could do the same over the high jump. We only got half a point off on this exercise.

Luckily my toss for the retrieve over the high jump was straight and Brooke jumped both going out and coming back! Minus 1 point for this one.

One more exercise to go and we could get that elusive 2nd qualifying leg, but it’s the dreaded ‘Go Out Turn and Sit’ exercise which historically causes us problems. We practiced Friday, Saturday and outside the ring today with no issues. And once again, in the ring Brooke does not go out far enough so we do not qualify.

I still love her but boy is this frustrating. She’s never done so well on all the other exercises but we just couldn’t pull it off this time.

Sawyer’s Novice C run was good. He’s been pretty consistent and I’m less nervous since he already has his Novice title.

Sawyer had to participate in a runoff and ended up with 4th place with his score of 198 out of 200.

Try number two for Brooke.

Another great heeling pattern.

Broad jump was good. Drop on recall was good but instead of coming to front Brooke went around to heel position but that was only 3 points off.

Retrieve on the flat was good again.

The retrieve over the high jump was perfect with no points taken off.

And then the go out…she looks like she’s going out.

But then she turns too soon.

Oh well, we’ll have to try again at another trial.

Sawyer has another nice run in Novice, this time with a 198-1/2 and 3rd place, no run off necessary this time.

2011 Meet the Breeds

2011-11-27T22:48:00.001-05:00

November 20, 2011. We participated in the AKC Meet the Breeds event again this year which is held at the Javitz center in New York City. This time we had other volunteers so we only had to go one day. Since it was “Scott’s Birthday weekend”, he got the day off and I went in with Sawyer and Brooke.

Sawyer jumped right on top of the table to greet all the visitors.

Not wanting to be left out, I helped Brooke on table so she could enjoy the attention as well.

They were great ambassadors for the Weimaraner breed and I was very proud of them.

It’s a long exhausting day but hopefully we helped educate people and answered the questions they had about Weimaraners.

Sawyer was exhausted on passed out when we got home.

Turkey Toss

2011-11-27T22:12:00.001-05:00

November 19, 2011. Today we went to Healthy Bones for the first annual Turkey Toss. Participants stayed in the “roasting pan” (chalk outlined on the floor), then they toss the turkey for their dogs to retrieve.

Sawyer and Daisy anxiously await their turn, peaking over the wall to see what’s going on.

Sawyer’s retrieve is very formal.

Wait.

Toss.

Mark.

Send.

Retrieve.

Drop at my feet??…doh! Oh well, almost perfect. But it is a fake turkey and we’re doing this for fun.

Daisy can’t wait! Throw the turkey Dad!!

Yippee, Turkey Time!!

Daisy gets the turkey.

A little tour around the room.

She does eventually bring it back to Scott and is ready to go again.

Daisy felt the need to put herself in “jail”. I guess she knows how bad she can be.

Sawyer waits with Francine and looks on while I take photos of Daisy.

Both Daisy and Sawyer had a blast. Thanks to Healthy Bones for hosting this event!

Lisa, the owner, took this fantastic video. Sawyer and Daisy start about 1:10 into the video.

Bath Time

2011-11-27T22:11:00.001-05:00

November 16, 2011. It’s been awhile since the kids had a bath so we thought it was about that time.

We started with the easiest. I swear Brooke would like bubbles and candles for her bath time.

Brooke likes to go through your legs and wipe her wet head on your butt. She does this all the time when she comes in from the rain. Glad it was Scott’s butt this time.

Next was Daisy’s turn. This was Daisy’s first bath.

It was a lot better than I thought it would be.

Sawyer’s turn. While not thrilled with the bath he’s a good boy and doesn’t hold it against Scott.

Sharon says “No thanks, I’m good right here.”

She’s good once she gets in there. When she was younger she used to spread her legs out which made it really difficult to get her in the tub.

Salisbury, MD shows

2011-11-27T21:10:00.001-05:00

November 10, 2011. We arrived in Maryland Thursday evening. Sawyer settled in the hotel quickly, so tired after the long ride.

Wyatt also enjoyed hotel time and made himself right at home.

November 11, 2011. Wyatt showed well, which was pleasantly surprising because he usually needs a warm up day. He placed in his class. Sawyer was Best of Opposite Sex for a 5 point major in grand champion points. There was a match show after Best in Show so I entered Wyatt for more practice. He made it to the Sporting group but it was quite a long wait and he was tired and not in the mood to cooperate by then. He did have fun playing with puppy, Sophie...not sure she felt the same, but Wyatt did not seem to mind.

November 12, 2011. We started the day in Novice obedience. We should have enough time to finish before Weim judging starts. Sawyer did awesome! He passed with a great score and this earned him his novice obedience title (CD)!! And the judge complemented us on our color coordination.

I was so disappointed when we got our photo and my eyes were closed. Bummer! I'm hoping the photographer has another photo or Bobbie can work her magic and replace my head.

Off to Weim sweepstakes. Wyatt is still young so he’s eligible for puppy sweepstakes. And being young and inexperienced he did not feel like standing nicely today. He won his class but with no competition. His sister, Prada, was Best Bitch in Puppy Sweepstakes!

Wyatt did place in his class again today.

Sawyer won another 5 point grand champion major with his Best of Opposite win at the DC Club Weimaraner specialty!

We haven’t received the official photo yet but I’m hoping it came out OK....maybe I can use that head for the obedience photo...ha ha.

November 13, 2011. A repeat of yesterday without the obedience. Wyatt showed better but no Best in Sweepstakes for him or Prada.

Another placement today, just not first.

Sawyer went Best of Opposite for another 5 point major and at some point now has his Bronze Grand Champion status.

And another great prize of a tapestry dog bag you can see in the bottom left corner of the picture.

Safe Harbor

2011-11-01T15:10:00.000-04:00

October 31, 2011. Monday and we still have no power at home. But we are quite comfortable in PA at Scott’s parents house. The dogs are really enjoying it here. They seem to really love the couches with all the pillows.

They all fit comfortably on one couch.

Sharon says this is much better than the house with no heat or lights.

Sawyer enjoys the love seat all to himself.

Brooke has it really rough here.

Sharon thinks all these pillows are great!

We went out to dinner with Scott’s parents. It is our 13th wedding anniversary and we want to thank them for taking us in. Not the Melting Pot which we had planned for last Saturday night but we had some nice steaks and good company at the Outback. One the way home we pass this restaurant which always cracks me up. I don’t know why they are out of business but the name is probably available.

The Aftermath

2011-11-01T14:49:00.000-04:00

October 30, 2011. We had no power all night and it’s not looking promising.

Another big branch is dangling in the yard and will probably fall any minute. Hopefully the dogs won’t be outside when that happens.

These are our tall bushes between our house and our neighbors. When you look at them from above it looks like they are parted right down the middle from the weight of the snow.

Brooke does not like all these tree limbs cluttering her yard.

It was a rough night and we are all tired. Daisy tries to catch some zzz’s in the chair.

We had the cars running so we could charge our electronic devices. Scott spent some time in the car warming up and listening to the football game. The dogs wonder why he gets to be out in the warm car while we’re all in the cold house.

Brooke does not appreciate these living conditions.

Daisy thinks its fun balancing on the rocking chair watching what happens outside.

The temperature in the house seems colder outside. With no promise of the power being restored we decide to pack up and go to Scott’s parents. They are gracious enough to take us in with the dogs and they have heat, electricity, cable, phones, all the luxuries we’ve grown accustomed to.

We make one turn and we’re already encountering trees and power lines in the road.

Trees were actually uprooted.

It took us about 30 minutes to get to Rt. 78 when it normally takes us about 5 minutes. There were lots of detours.

Not the typical Halloween decoration but appropriate given the weather.

October??

2011-11-01T14:16:00.000-04:00

October 29, 2011. We were hit with a snowstorm, which is really not normal for this time of year. I don’t think anyone was expecting the impact of this storm. After the Healthy Dogs grand opening we came home and let the dogs run in the yard. They love the snow, especially Daisy.

But just standing outside a few minutes you could hear the trees cracking and I felt it was too dangerous to let the dogs stay outside. I took some video and more important than the picture is the sound. You can just hear the trees falling. It was scary.

A limb from our neighbor’s tree fell on our fence. Luckily it’s only a little damage.

You can see the tops of the trees where the branches have just severed off.

We thought this tree would finally fall given how bent it is but apparently it’s still standing.

This big branch fell on our back fence.

And not to be outdone, a branch had to fall on the other side of the yard from our other neighbor.

We lost power around 3:30pm on Saturday.

Healthy Bones Grand Opening

2011-11-01T13:35:00.000-04:00

October 29, 2011. Today was the grand opening of Healthy Bones Sports Center for Dogs. Sawyer and I would help with the ribbon cutting ceremony and obedience demos. An unexpected October snow didn’t stop the grand opening.

A little peanut butter helped the dogs to participate in the ribbon ceremony.

Yea, success! But Sawyer says there’s still PB on here that I must get.

A little warm up before the obedience demo.

The mirror makes for cool pics.

First up is Francine with Dazzle. Bobbie helps with teaching the dogs how to handle vet exams.

Next up is the obedience demo with Linda Sperco and Rye and Sawyer and I. Sawyer was a little distracted by the crowd. All of the sudden he was a ham and wanted to meet his people.

But we got through it. Yeah!

Then we did a retrieve demo. After Sawyer picked up is dumbbell he had to make sure all his fans saw his accomplishment.

But he finally returned it nicely.

So we celebrate!

We weren’t originally scheduled but Francine let us run through the agility demo.

Bobbie and Emmy did a fabulous job with the Rally demo.

Mary showed everyone the latest sport of Noseworks with Casey.

Puppy demo was up next. Bobbie has Airy out to try different surfaces, including a hula hoop.

Healthy Bones had the cutest human goodies for the celebration.

Parade of all the volunteers.

Our friend’s Glen and Helen stopped by with their dog Roxy.

What a long day for Sawyer.

Chaos

2011-11-01T12:50:00.000-04:00

October 23, 2011. I’m sure some people would think having 4 dogs in the house is crazy, but that is our norm. This weekend we had visitors so it was chaos. Wyatt was with us for the weekend since we were showing is South Jersey. Also visiting this weekend was my brother-in-law and nephews, who were enjoying game night with Scott. They brought their dog Frodo. Frodo and Daisy are good friends but I wasn’t sure how it would go with a 5 Weimaraner pack. We did let Daisy and Wyatt play with Frodo and the little guy held his own. It was funny to watch him go underneath the bigger dogs. Needless to say they had a lot of fun.

Wyatt is a handsome boy.

Daisy the lapdog.

Brooke is too sophisticated for this crowd.

After everyone left everyone was exhausted and catching up on well needed rest.

October 28, 2011. And not to let the chaos subside, Daisy decided to open up Brooke’s bed and spread it throughout the room. Of course her expression says she didn’t do it but we all know she’s guilty.

DVWC/GSWC Ratings Tests

2011-11-01T12:29:00.000-04:00

October 16, 2011. Today was the Delaware Valley and Garden State Weimaraner Clubs Rating Tests. While I didn’t have anyone entered today, I was a judge for the retrieving ratings in the afternoon and also unofficial photographer the rest of the day.

Dude had a good time but wasn’t able to return the bird. He had girls in season at home so had other things on his mind.

Nadine helped throwing birds in the afternoon. The first few birds decided to make a hard left towards the judges and lucky the gunners did not shoot.

Kim Petri’s Jammer still going strong at 12 years old. You go girl!

Barry, Sherry and Nadine with Jazzy.

Sue Ramspacher’s Pink swims just like Sawyer.

She got her duck but didn’t want to give it up.

This is Sawyer’s Aunt Sadie. She earned her NRD today.

Judging is a tough job but it was a good experience. Here I am with my co-judge, Brian Hess.

It’s not just dogs that do the pointing.

Judging ran so late we were using headlights to complete the water retrieves.

It was a great day with teams earning 2 NSDs, 3 SDs, 3 NRDs, 2 RDs, and 1 RDX which was very exciting!

Sussex County weekend

2011-10-23T13:22:00.000-04:00

October 15, 2011. This weekend was a 4-day circuit at Sussex County Fairgrounds. I had Sawyer entered 3 days because Sunday was the Ratings test. We won the Breed all three days. Sarah and Rayne were there on Saturday so she was able to take some pictures.

The day started out sunny but got cloudy, cold and windy. Rayne did not like the wind and the tent flapping so she was not at her best during the judges exam. She moved nicely and on the last go around got moved up to third place.

Sawyer in the Sporting Group.

It was really cold by the groups and windy (not a good hair day). I couldn’t wait to get back in the car with the seat warmers and head home.

2011 GSWC Fall Specialty

2011-10-23T12:45:00.000-04:00

October 9, 2011. Today was the Garden State Weimaraner Club Independent Specialty. And what a crazy day for me it was. I was showing 4 dogs in 5 classes, plus obedience.

First up was Wyatt in Puppy Sweepstakes.

He did much better today and won his class.

Then it was Daisy’s turn to be in the Puppy Sweepstakes.

She’s was having a good ol’ time.

At least she nailed her free stack.

She always seemed to pull it together at the end, after the judge was done looking.

Wyatt was back in for Best in Sweeps.

He was waiting for a long time with the large Best in Sweeps class and was getting bored and tired of standing there.

But he held it together and went Best of Opposite Sex in Puppy Sweepstakes.

Next in was Mamma Sharon. I think she’s so over showing and would just like the food and be done with it.

She can still move

No time for a break, right back in with Wyatt for the dog classes. He took 2nd in the Bred By Exhibitor class. Since he took 2nd we had to wait for Winners Dog because he may have had to go in for Reserve.

In the meantime I was supposed to be in the obedience ring with Sawyer. The judge was kind enough to wait for us and let us warm up a bit as I ran from one ring to another. Unfortunately the warm up didn’t help. Even though he did beautifully when we were practicing the day before, today when we got in the ring he seemed to be in hunt mode. His nose was to the ground during our whole heeling pattern.

We actually muddled through and he was passing (I’m sure barely) when we got to the stays. Sawyer was the only Novice entry and all he needed to do was the stays and he’d have his title. He completed the sit stay. During the down stay a bug bit him in the butt and bent towards his back, not getting completely up. If he lies back down we may be able to salvage it…but no, he got back up and it was all over. Oh well, I really didn’t want to finish his title with that terrible performance.

Time for the lunch break! Many thanks to Scott for making sure everything was put out while I was busy with all the dogs.

After lunch was the class bitch judging and Daisy’s turn again.

She was a bit more under control now. The more time she spends in the ring, the better.

The judge reordered us as we went around and we did move up but not enough for a placement. Not bad for a puppy in the with big girls.

Sawyer was the last one in of my crew for the Best in Breed.

He did well and make several cuts as the judge narrowed down the specials.

It was a very hot day so I did my best to keep Sawyer cool while we waited to go back in the ring.

We didn’t make the final placements but dad Dude was Best of Opposite Sex and sister Prada got an Award of Merit.

All in all it was good day but I was completely exhausted!

2011 WCA Eastern Futurity / Maturity

2011-10-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

October 8, 2011. Today was the WCA Eastern Futurity and Maturity shows hosted by the Garden State Weimaraner Club. Wyatt was entered today. His inexperience showed as he did not want to stack today. He’d get better as the days go on but the first day is always rough.

Kirsten was happy with Wyatt’s placement ribbon.

His official photo came out nice too.

There was a parade of rescue dogs in-between the Futurity and Maturity classes. It was wonderful to see all these special owners with their loved companions.

Luanne and Kirsten had fun attending their first show with Wyatt. Riding around in Nadine’s golf cart and seeing puppies was fun too.

Hatboro dog show

2011-10-22T20:22:00.000-04:00

October 6, 2011. Today I went to the Hatboro Dog Club show. I used this as a warm up for Daisy before the specialty this weekend. We traveled down to the show with Sarah and Rayne.

Daisy was up first and she was a goofball as usual. But at least she’s having a good time.

I didn’t know our friends Pat and Kevin were going to be there so it was nice to fans ringside.

We didn’t do anything but it was nice to get some practice.

Today was more about Rayne.

She looked great!

Rayne went Best of Winner and Best of Opposite Sex over a special for her 2nd point.

2011 Wine Country - Day 4

2011-10-21T22:11:00.000-04:00

October 2, 2011. Day 4 of Wine Country. The last day of the circuit, the day for us to pack up and go home. Weims aren’t on until the afternoon. Tibbies are on early but it’s been pouring all morning and I have to help Scott pack up the RV. I spoke with Pat and she decided to just pull John Henry. The weather was miserable and he was distracting Djebel anyway. So we spent the morning packing everything up. The rain stopped but it was just a mud pit. We got almost everything squared away and I was stepping out of the RV, slipped in the mud and fell right on my ass. Luckily no one saw but I was quite sore for the next couple of days.

Scott decided he was going to start heading home in the RV with the girls since our judging time wasn’t until 1pm and then I would drive home after showing with the boys. So I lost my photographer. Today was bad; Wyatt took 2nd place in his class and got no reserve today. Sawyer got dumped as well…why did we stay?? Oh well, there’s always another show.

I did get to snap a picture of this trailer / mobile dog house on my way out.

Pretty creative although I’m still trying to figure out where the people stayed since I only saw the Jeep.

It was a long drive home and even longer night as we had to unpack the whole RV and clean it so we could return it the next morning. But as always we had good food and fun with friends all week!

2011 Wine Country - Day 3

2011-10-18T22:49:00.000-04:00

October 1, 2011. Day 3 of Wine Country. The weather is getting worse. Today we’re on in the morning and it’s rainy, windy and chilly.

Wyatt practices stacking outside the ring with Sawyer’s coat on.

Sawyer watching mommy with another man, Waytt. Sawyer is such a momma’s boy!

Both dogs in our Bred By Class were being goofy while gaiting. The judge, Pat Trotter, was very nice and let us try again. She said she liked Wyatt stacked and he ended up Reserve to the major again.

Next up was Sawyer

Sawyer goes Best of Opposite Sex today.

As soon as we were done we ran over to the Tibbie Specialty to see if I would still be able to show John Henry. Tibbies really don’t like this weather.

Halle did not think running around in the wet grass in the rain was very fun.

Under the tent on the table was a much better place to be.

I think Halle’s face says it all on how she feels about this weather.

Me and John Henry waiting for our turn.

Movin’ those legs out…both of us.

Well we didn’t do anything again today but Djebel went Best in Specialty show and Pat won a beautiful chair!

Sharon, Jet’s fan...well it's better than the Cowboys.

Today was John’s birthday so we celebrated with a big cake and candles.

We got a big tent this year, thank goodness considering our typical Wine Country weather.

The chefs for the week: Frank, Phil and John. Scott helped with breakfast.

Denise and I, trying to keep warm and dry.

Caught! Scott really does love Daisy!!

Daisy thinks she is a lap dog.

2011 Wine Country - Day 2

2011-09-30T22:35:00.001-04:00

September 30, 2011. Second day of Wine Country, another grim forecast but it wasn’t down pouring yet. Tibbies were on in the morning.

John Henry was waiting for me when I arrived at the ring. Isn’t he cute!

Halle went Winners Bitch from the Bred By Exhibitor class with Pat for a major! I was thrilled for Pat.

Djebel went Best of Breed, went on to win the Group and was in for Best in Show. By then it was so windy that I thought the poor girl was going to blow right off the table! But she held on and looked great!

Luckily it still wasn’t raining when Weims went into the ring in the afternoon.

Wyatt is still getting used to this showing stuff.

He always got his gaiting together for reserve. Another Reserve Winners Dog for him today, reserve to a major this time.

No pictures of Sawyer today. Scott couldn’t take photos and hold Wyatt while I was in the ring with Sawyer.

Scott and the Daisy Doodle hanging out in the RV.

Wyatt suckling on a woodbie on our bed.

He’s making himself quite at home.

2011 Wine Country - Day 1

2011-09-29T23:20:00.003-04:00

September 29, 2011. Day 1 of the Wine Country show circuit. Weims weren’t on until the afternoon so I went up early to watch Pat & Kevin and their Tibbies. It was a drizzly morning so I dressed appropriately in jeans, raincoat, boots and a baseball cap. I didn’t bring the camera up to the ring because of the rain. I didn’t realize we’d be sitting under the tent watching so I could have taken some pictures. Halle placed in her BBE class with Kevin and then I took over and took John Henry in for BOB. I guess my dress was OK considering the weather but I felt funny, I did remove the hat. We didn’t get a placement but Pat’s bitch Djbel went Best of Breed and then went on to win the Non Sporting Group!

Weims were on in the afternoon and this would be Wyatt’s showing debut. I worked with him the few days we had before the shows. Wyatt didn’t have any training prior to this so he will need some time to get used to showing, stacking, being on a lead, and gaiting. Considering the short time we had I think he did a good job. He’s having fun and that’s most important. He got a bit excited when we moved so it was mostly a gallop instead of a nice gait. But there were a few moments of brilliance in there. I think slow and steady is going to work better for him.

I think he’ll do great once we can get some weight on him and get him some more ring experience.

Sawyer went Best of Opposite Sex

Pat must have had the camera since there’s a lot of Sawyer head shots.

2011 Wine Country - Before the Show

2011-09-29T23:20:00.001-04:00

September 25 – 27, 2011. This year we decided to come up to the Wine Country show circuit early so we could spend a few days relaxing before showing. Luckily we had a few nice days of weather but being Wine Country it was inevitable that the rain would come.

We arrived on Sunday. Of course Brooke rode shotgun with Scott. She still tried to get to her spot even after we were all parked.

On Monday we took advantage of the nice weather and took Sawyer and Daisy down to the lake. Sawyer swims but Daisy has not yet. They both had a great time down by the water.

Sawyer loves to retrieve in the water. He’s anxiously awaiting Scott to throw the tennis ball.

Daisy loves it too, she just needs to learn the swimming part.

Once she got the ball she didn’t want to give up her treasure.

Daisy went out to get the tennis ball and starting swimming without realizing it. Once she figured it out she turned around and headed to shore without the ball.

Sawyer loves retrieving and would have done this all day if we let him.

Throw the ball again Dad!

My favorite video of the day. It makes me laugh every time I watch it...I'm so bad.

Wyatt is making himself at home in the motorhome.

Until Daisy claimed the bed for her own.

September 27, 2011. Two more days until the shows start. The forecast was for rain so we went to the Waterloo Outlets. We ended up going back the next day as well and got lots of loot for both Scott and I.

Wyatt reminds me so much of Tiki.

CDSP Trial

2011-09-29T23:19:00.001-04:00

September 18, 2011. Today we went to a CDSP Obedience trial in NY. We’re still trying to get Brooke’s Open title and it’s been awhile since our first qualifying leg. Since we were going I put Sawyer in Novice C to try to earn legs towards his Championship title. I’m certainly glad I did that. There were two trials in the same day so we had two opportunities to pass.

Brooke’s Open run was first. She did a lovely job and she even saved the retrieve over the high jump when I thought for sure she was going to bi-pass it. And then we got to the last exercise, the Go Out, traditionally our downfall. Unfortunately Brooke did not go out far enough so we did not qualify.

Sawyer had a beautiful Novice run and I was shocked when we took 1st place in the class with a score of 199!!

My Blue Ribbon classmates took 2nd and 3rd place in the same class so we took a group photo to celebrate.

We ended up getting High in Trial!

The afternoon trial was almost a repeat of the morning. Unfortunately Brooke had the same issue with the Go Out so we did not qualify. Sawyer had another brilliant run, with another 199 score and 1st place in the Novice C class.

I don’t think Sawyer could have had a closer front after the recall over the bar jump. His nose went right up my vest.

CDSP has an honor exercise, similar to Rally, and Sawyer pays great attention during that.

We missed the afternoon trial by ½ point but I was still very pleased with our success.

Another bonus for the day was that Karey, Christian, Natalie and Ruby came to visit. Turns out the trial site was not too far from their house so they stopped by to see us. Ruby still looks great and we’re planning to take her out for UKC shows.

Princess Ruby rides in the rear of the car in her harness.

Later that night we went to see Roger Daltrey perfom the Who’s Tommy. That’s my favorite Who album. The show was great!

DVWC / GSWC Ratings Practice and Picnic

2011-09-29T23:18:00.003-04:00

September 17, 2011. Today the Delaware Valley and Garden State Weimaraner Clubs had a Ratings Practice day and picnic.

Sawyer hasn’t done any field work in awhile and we need to start training for the next level of hunt and ratings tests. Beginning in September of 2011, Weimaraners may now compete in AKC Retrieving hunt tests, prior to that they were only eligible for the pointing hunt tests.

Sawyer loves the field work. There’s nothing better for a Weim than running in a field hunting.

The fields were pretty high so it was hard to even see him let alone take pictures.

Sawyer and Stella find the bird right away.

For the Retrieve Dog ratings test, Sawyer has to bring the bird back to my hand. He did the first time but the next time he thought, well you took the last one from me, why should I bring it to you. So he went through the circle…something we’ll need to work on.

I also need to work on my catching skills and get my hands in there quickly so I can get the bird before it hits the ground.

Sawyer has to wait his turn while another dog trains. He's anxious to get back out there.

Sawyer and Daisy wait in the car while we have our picnic. I’m hoping to get Daisy out on some birds but had to pull her from the training day because of her stitches. She shouldn’t really be running wildly through fields yet.

This was the first time Sawyer tried to retrieve in the water with dummies. It took him a few tries to figure out what he needed to do.

He doesn’t have the most graceful entry, but he’s entertaining.

He does eventually even out and swims smoothly but those aren’t the real ducks.

He tries to grab this one but it’s not real.

He swims around for awhile but then comes back in. We’ll try again later. First we need to shake off this water.

Sawyer knows there are ducks out there so he’s going to try again.

Could he splash any more water?

No go in finding the real duck which is out past the dummies.

This next time out I have the guys throw the duck close between the dummies and not behind them. Sawyer finds the duck!

Daisy says “Look what I found!”

There’s a whole box of them right over there on the back of that car.

Now it’s time for Daisy to find birds. I let her off lead so she could run a little bit.

I think there’s one way under here.

Well she at least had fun! We’ll have to do some training before she’s ready to compete in anything.

Daisy Frankenbelly

2011-09-29T23:18:00.001-04:00

September 8, 2011. When we had company over on Labor Day Sawyer at a piece of his toy. Not unusual for him but the guests were a little shocked. I knew it wouldn’t be a problem because he always throws up the pieces, but in the back of my mind I was a little worried because of the size of the toy. I never thought it would be Daisy that I'd be running to the vet. She had been throwing up all night on Tuesday and when she didn’t eat Wednesday morning I knew something was seriously wrong. I took her to the vet and sure enough the x-ray revealed there was something in her stomach. They gave her something for the vomiting and sent her home with me for the night. We returned the next morning for another x-ray to see if the object moved. Of course it didn’t so she had to have surgery to remove it. We were lucky we caught it in time. It hadn’t traveled far into her intestines so the vet was able to pull it out through the stomach. I was able to pick her up that evening. She was quite groggy from the drugs and didn’t even want to get out of the car.

She slept most of the night and started feeling better the next day. She went back to the vet and everything looked fine. Now for the fun part of keeping a 7 month old Weim puppy on limited activity…HA!

Because of her big incision we started calling her Daisy Frankenbelly.

She got her stitches removed two weeks later and is doing just fine.

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-29T23:17:00.001-04:00

September 2, 2011. The start of Labor Day weekend and four days of showing. My mom was still visiting from Florida so she came with me to the show and we got to spend the day together. Sawyer won Best of Breed and mom worked the camera to get some photos.

Mom even got a picture of the Best of Breed rosette.

He showed nicely in the Sporting group.

Mom and Sharon chillin’ on the couch. Sharon is her favorite but don’t tell the others.

I think it’s because Sharon is such a good cuddler.

My mom did a painting of Sharon and Daisy from a picture shortly after Daisy’s birth.

September 3, 2011. Mom left in the morning to fly back to Florida. I was off to show again. Sawyer went Best of Breed again and made the cut in the group this time. It was another long day.
September 4, 2011. Another day another show. Sawyer was Best of Opposite Sex to his sister Prada who took Best of Breed. It was my birthday so a win would have been nice but I guess it was good to go home and enjoy the rest of the day. We went to our friend’s Scott and Erin Reily for an end of summer bbq. It was nice to spend the evening with good friends.

Chrissy and Steve came with their beautiful daughters. This was the first time we met Holly.

Lauren holding Holly, what a cutie she is!

Camille had a blast watching the ball come down off the awning.

Love when everyone gets together and watches the iPad…how about having conversations people.

Holly passed out in Erin’s arms.

I don’t know. Camille doesn’t look so happy with Uncle George.

Oh that Holly, love those cheeks!

September 5, 2011. Labor Day, but there are no holidays from showing. Today I started the day showing my friend Sarah’s Vizsla, Rayne. We went Winners Bitch and Best of Winners for Rayne’s first point!! Then Weims were in. Sarah stayed to take some pictures. These rings are so small you really don’t get a chance to move. Sawyer went Best of Opposite Sex. That actually worked out well since I was expecting company over and had to go home to prepare.

Canada - Long Sault 2011 Day 4

2011-08-31T23:09:00.005-04:00

August 29, 2011. The last day of a long 4 day circuit. The rain ended and it was another beautiful day. Daisy was really starting to get the hang of showing but she does need to mature a bit. I’m glad she was able to get so much ring time so I could assess where she was.

Waiting to go into the ring with the kids.

I thought Daisy was going to kiss the judge.

Daisy is so relaxed in the ring by the last day she’s napping.

Sawyer is really getting his head up and looking good.

All in all it was a great trip. It’s a beautiful site and always a lot of fun. Now, back to the US!

Canada - Long Sault 2011 Day 3

2011-08-31T23:09:00.003-04:00

August 28, 2011. Show day 3 in Canada. Today was a bit cooler and the forecast was for rain. I guess hurricane Irene was making her way north after all.

We started the day with the Pointing Dog Specialty. Daisy was in the puppy sweeps and took 3rd out of 4…yeah, we finally had some success. I think the judge liked her stacked but was amused by her long legs and the impact on her movement.

We were able to watch Pat and Kevin before the rain started.
Alice and Halle looked great in the ring but Alice took the breed today. She is the more experienced show girl.

Since it poured the whole day, it was not appropriate to have the camera out so we didn’t get any other pictures. Sawyer whacked his back on the RV closet door the night before and I could feel the impact on his movement. I’m sure the damp weather didn’t help. So no ribbons for Sawyer today but we're still riding high on the specialty win so that's ok.

Canada - Long Sault 2011 Day 2

2011-08-31T23:09:00.001-04:00

August 27, 2011. Day two in Canada. Today we had the all breed show and the Weimaraner Association of Canada (WAC) specialty. We started with the all breed show in the morning.

The more Daisy is showing the better she’s getting, at least with the stacking.

Sawyer showed well.

Prada went Winner’s Bitch and Dude was Best of Breed for this time.

Next up was the WAC Specialty. Daisy was in the puppy sweepstakes.

She was fine during the puppy sweeps.

Then the regular classes started. We were waiting outside the ring for our turn and when the judge approached the table to write in her book, Daisy started barking at her. I knew right then that we were going to have a problem. I’m not sure why but for some reason Daisy was not comfortable with the judge. Our first go around she turned her head to keep her eye on the judge the whole time. We certainly tried and the judge, Rita Walker, was extremely gracious giving Daisy food and trying to make it a good experience. She took the food but wanted no part of the exam. We excused ourselves and the judge had us go one more time around on our way out. Daisy was completely fine for the rest of the day and the weekend of shows.

We did capture the experience so we can laugh about it now.

For the Weim specialty, long hairs and short hairs show in the same class. Prada was in the Open class with the only long hair entered in the show.

Prada ended up going Winners Bitch.

Luckily Sawyer had no problems with the judge and showed wonderfully.

We were thrilled that the judge selected Sawyer as Best in Breed at the Specialty!! He got a huge rosette and a beautiful painting.

In Canada you can see your show photos that day and order them. Usually you can get the photo the next day but of course I took a day to decide which one I wanted and then they were too backlogged to print photos so I have to wait for them to mail the picture from Canada. It did turn out nice so I can’t wait to get it.

Our set up was in the overflow area since there were no camp sites available. Everyone in this area was hooked up to a large generator. They had this set up so I had to get a picture of this since I can’t imagine this happening in the US.

Canada - Long Sault 2011 Day 1

2011-08-31T23:08:00.003-04:00

August 26, 2011. We started a four day circuit in Long Sault, Canada. There are lots of showing opportunities with four all breed shows and two specialties. Daisy made she debut here. She’s only 7 months old as is still growing into those long legs of hers. She didn’t do too bad her first time in the ring but I obviously need for her to mature a little before entering lots of shows.

Pat and Kevin were also up in Canada so we got to see them at the shows each day. They were the only two Tibbies entered so at least one of their own dogs was getting a point each day.

Carol was also in Canada with her puppy Loui. Daisy and Loui played together in May at Nationals.

I think I remember you, but you look bigger.

Oh yeah, I remember how much fun we had!

Who's mouth is bigger?

Dude is wondering what those stupid kids are doing.

Sawyer and Daisy hung out together in the expen enjoying the beautiful weather.

I felt slightly guilty enjoying the gorgeous weather as everyone at home was preparing for hurricane Irene.

There was a match show in the evening so I entered Daisy to work on her movement. I tried a different collar but that seemed to be worse. Oh well, we’ll have to experiment until we get it right.

Harrisburg Day 3 - rain but no floods

2011-08-31T23:07:00.002-04:00

August 14, 2011. Day 3 of Harrisburg. After the traffic issue yesterday, Pat and I left earlier even though our ring times were later. This was day three of conformation and another try at Novice obedience. The breed ring was first again and today we did take the Breed!

Then we literally ran to obedience. This time we were there before our start time so we didn’t have to move our run order, but we were up first. That’s nerve wracking because I like to watch a couple of teams do the heeling pattern so I’m more familiar with it.

Sawyer’s heeling wasn’t as good today but he stayed with me for the most part.

And he's always excited to get back to me during the recall.

We had to wait for half the class to finish before they did the first set of stays. Since Sawyer was first he was first up, he was also first in line for stays so there was only one dog next to him again. There didn’t seem to be as many dogs that qualified who were in for the stays so there was a little more room.

Sawyer seemed more relaxed today and was not panting. Perhaps I was slightly more relaxed and that affected him?

He made it through the sit and down stays without a problem and we were thrilled to have another qualifying leg. We had to wait for the second half of the class to get our score and ribbons. As it turned out Sawyer got a better score than yesterday and another 3rd place finish!

Two down and one more to go for his CD title. This judge, Barbara Doering was also extremely nice and we would definitely enter under her again.

While we waited for Tibbie judging to start, Aunt Pat was like the paparazzi with Sawyer. She thinks he’s so handsome so was taking lots of pictures of him.

Ok, Aunt Pat that’s enough now.

Breed ring plus obedience makes Sawyer a very tired boy.

Pat talked me into getting Sawyer’s picture taken yesterday so we went to pick up the photo today. He is a handsome man!

Next up was Tibbies. Pat didn’t get the major she needed on Halle but Alice took the Breed. Now we both needed to wait for the groups. Non-Sporting was first, then Sporting. Sawyer didn’t get any placements but there were lots of professional handlers in the ring and the competition is tough.

Is Sawyer hiding from the camera?

He showed well and that's all I ever ask for.

Harrisburg shows, without the flood

2011-08-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

August 13, 2011. Today was the second day of a three day circuit in Harrisburg, PA. On the first day I went by myself, Sawyer won the Breed and we stayed all day waiting for the group. My friend Pat and I were carpooling to the shows together for the next two days of the circuit. We were a few miles from the show site on Saturday when the traffic just stopped. Panicking that we’d be late for Pat’s ring time, I programmed the GPS to avoid that road and we got off the next exit to make our way around to the show site. Unbeknownst to us, all the judging times were delayed by 30 minutes because of all the road issues. Pat made it to her ring time with Halle and John Henry. Weims were on a little later. Sawyer showed well but no Breed for us today.

As soon as we were done we rushed over to the obedience ring. I had already alerted the ring steward to a possible conflict and the judge gave us permission to move to the end of the run order. I always say I’m not going to do conformation and obedience on the same day because it’s very stressful to try to manage the conflicts and run from one ring to another. And of course the rings are always at the opposite ends of the show site. We did make it over there with some time to spare. Obedience makes me very nervous, especially the stay exercises. Sawyer did pretty well on all his exercises.

He stayed with me on the heeling patterns.

I thought he was going to kiss the judge on the stand for exam.

When we got to the stays I was happy we were on the end because then there’s only one other dog next to Sawyer and we’re not sandwiched in-between dogs. He did the sit stay but it was obvious he was stressed and panting, which made me even more nervous. The dog next to him had gotten up but Sawyer stayed. That dog was excuses so he had a little more room for the down stay.

The down stay started, I just had to stand across from him and pray that he lasted the full 3 minutes. And he did!! What a good boy. I was thrilled when the judge told us we had qualified. This was our first Q! The judge, Betty Brask, was extremely nice. She came over to me after the stays and asked if I was ok because I was so pale. I explained the nerves and that this was our first passing leg so she gave me a big hug.

Way to go Soy Beans!

After all the scores were totaled we went into the ring with the other teams to get our qualifying ribbon. We didn’t get a placement but that was ok, the main goal was to pass.

When I asked for our score, it turned out it wasn’t tallied. When they did the math it turned out that Sawyer actually took 3^rd place. Unfortunately the judge had to get the ribbons back from the other teams so we could get our 3^rd place ribbon and $10 in vendor bucks.

I smiled like this for the rest of the day!

Fun with Vizslas

2011-08-31T21:11:00.001-04:00

August 7, 2011. Today we went with our friend Sarah to a Vizsla Fun Field day and picnic. I wanted to introduce Daisy to birds since we haven’t really had an opportunity to train yet. She hadn’t been on birds since she was 3 months old. To say she was interested was an understatement. The trainer put the bird out to see how she would react. Daisy went after the bird right away. When the bird flew away, Daisy took off after it. She chased it across the field, dove under a truck and eventually caught it. She did come back to me when I called her and after some praise for the good job she did, I was able to get the bird from her. I think we have a hunting future with her.

It took a very short while but things clicked quickly for Rayne and she was interested in the birds as well. Hopefully we can have some training sessions together with Daisy and Rayne.

Sawyer also got a chance to work with the birds. He’s more experienced and has several titles so we’re working on the next level which would be Senior Hunter. He needs to hold point and not chase the birds so that’s on our training agenda this fall.

Overall it was a fun day and I’m glad the Vizsla club allowed the grey dogs to crash their party.

Since this was on outdoor blog entry, I thought this would be a good place to post a few of the butterfly pictures I took. The flowers I planted on our front lawn attract birds and butterflies so when I was coming home one day I quickly grabbed my camera to get a few shots.

The flower garden is doing well.

Blue Ribbon CDSP Obedience Trial

2011-08-02T09:24:00.006-04:00

July 31, 2011. Today we had a CDSP Obedience trial hosted by Blue Ribbon Dog Sports Coaching, owned by our trainer, Linda Sperco. We have been trying to earn Brooke's Open title and I had Sawyer entered in Novice C, to try to earn Qs towards his championship title and to get more ring practice for upcoming AKC obedience trials. Earlier in the week I was hopeful that we would be successful today. But of course nerves took over Sunday morning on the drive to the trial site.

First up was Brooke's Open run.
We actually had a decent heeling pattern.

The Running Broad Jump went well. Look, Brooke jumping.

Her Drop on Recall was beautiful. There was no anticipation, no staying out in the down position, and the front was in close.

Retrieve on the Flat was fine. She did exactly what I needed her to do. We're almost done, only 2 more exercises to go.

Then came the Retrieve over the High Jump. I think all the pressure is on the handler for a decent throw...not my strength. It seemed to start out pretty straight but then took a wild bounce all the way over to the right side of the ring. I assumed my challenge would be the return after Brooke picked up the dumbbell and I was prepared to give her the 'jump' command to remind her once she picked up the dumbbell. To my surprise, Brooke bypassed the jump altogether and went straight for the dumbbell.
Thank you for your entry, please try again.

Look mom, I did the 'Go Out Turn and Sit'.
Gee thanks Brooke, but we already NQ'd.

Bobbie was the honor steward so couldn't begin taking pictures of Sawyer's run until the Figure 8. His Figure 8 was ok, a bit lagging at parts but overall good.

Sawyer is usually steady on the Stand for Exam and he didn't disappoint today.

Then we had the recall over the bar jump. No problem, we've done this a million times...or so I thought. Good thing we can't see the shocked look on my face as Sawyer ran around the jump to come to front. I have no idea why he did this but we just NQ'd.

I didn't get anyone to photograph Brooke's 2nd run but just read above because it was pretty much the same. Actually she messed up the Retrieve on the Flat. She left to go get the dumbbell and then turned around and came back. She seemed confused, but I'm not sure why since we've done this a million times. My throw for the Retrieve over the High Jump was much better this time, of course. It was nice and straight but it didn't matter at this point because we already NQ'd!

Sawyer had awesome heeling for his second run.

The Stand for Exam was fine.

Recall over the Bar Jump...repeat from trail 1 (UGH!) Guess we have something new to work.

I thought I would salvage my day by putting in for some of the raffle prizes. Did I win the free entry to another trial which we obviously needed??...NO! I won the free 8x10 photo from the photographer that was taking the winning/qualifying shots that day...too bad we didn't fall in that category. I had her take some shots of Sawyer anyway because if you can't qualify, you might as well look good.

I was at least able to get some nice photos of my friends and their dogs, who all qualified.

Mary with her veteran dog Indy, earned another Open championship leg. He did his Retrieve over the High Jump.

Indy did an awesome Go Out! It was perfectly straight.

I only had time to catch the Recall exercise for Mary and Casey's Novice C run but it's a nice jumping shot.

Bobbie had two nice runs with Emmy in Novice.

Emmy had great attention.

I got great shots of Emmy doing her Recall over the Bar Jump as well.

My Day with Kayla

2011-08-02T08:56:00.000-04:00

July 30, 2011. My niece Kayla came to visit this weekend. We decided we would photograph our day together.

We started our day with a lovely french toast breakfast.

Today Scott picked up his new glasses. He waited years to get his eyes checked and now he has to wear glasses.
Kayla and I were the first to see his new look.

Then it was off to puppy kindergarten.

Daisy graduated today!

After class we went to visit my friend Stacey's 5 week old Tibetan Terrier puppies. They were really cute!

Kayla enjoyed playing with the puppies.

They're already learning tricks. "Sit up puppy!"

This girl was a hoot. I caught her mid pounce.

Stacey does a great job of exposing the puppies to all sorts of new things, which is so important for their socialization. They really enjoyed the agility tunnel.

The puppies seemed to like the new toys we brought them.

This boy was a cuddler.

I love this face!

The puppies passed out after all the excitement of our visit.

Then it was off to the nail salon for a little pampering.

Oooh, aahhh. Very pretty.

Our neighbors recently got a bunny, Thumper, so we went to go see her. She's still a little shy but so cute and soft.

We decided to make individual pizzas for dinner so we could each have what we liked.

Kayla made the extra one which was a combination of all our favorites. Sawyer is hoping she drops some on the floor.

Before baking.

All done!

Mmmm,mmmm good.

Scott can see his pizza now with his new glasses.

Then for dessert we dipped fresh fruit in chocolate...yum, yum!

We watched movies the rest of the night while I had to bake some goodies for the next day.

On Sunday I had to go to an obedience trial with Brooke and Sawyer so Uncle Scott took over hosting duties. I understand he made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then took Kayla for laser tag. What fun!

Kid Rock / Sheryl Crow concert

2011-07-31T23:38:00.000-04:00

July 12, 2011. Well this is out of order because I forgot I had these pictures on my smaller camera. It was a very hot night in July and I did consider not going to the concert because of the heat. I was glad I went. It was a lot of fun with good friends.

Sheryl Crow opened the show.

Next up, Kid Rock!

Must be nice and convenient to have a bar on the stage.

Hello New Jersey!

The not so innocent look,

What's a rock show without flames?

Time for a whisky break.

Guitar time.

Sheryl came back to join Kid Rock for a few numbers.

Cheers!

Drum time.

Nice microphone.

He did play the piano too, before standing on it.

The sound didn't come out that great but 'Bawitdaba'.

Thank you and good night!

Nosework Class

2011-07-26T00:36:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year Sawyer started in a new sport called Nosework. This sport borrows elements form the activities of detection canines and puts them in a recreational setting. Elements of competition include box drills (container search), interior building search, exterior area search and vehicle searches. The targets are the odors of Birch, Anise and Clove. Sawyer seems to really be enjoying this sport. He is currently on the first scent of Birch.

This video shows Sawyer finding a small Q-tip with the Birch scent which is hidden in a field.

Next up is a container search, which is this case is small plastic eggs. One has the Birch scent in it and as you can see Sawyer finds it pretty quickly.

Hot July Days

2011-07-26T00:30:00.004-04:00

It's been a HOT July.

Poor Tiki, too hot to even enjoy his toys.

Perhaps it's cooler upside down.

Xena spends her summer days at the dog park

Brie shows Xena how to use the agility equipment.

I think Brie is wearing her out.

Time out for a drink.

Xena, Beach Party babe!

Molly was very excited to hear we'd be at a show near her home.

Molly had a great time seeing her family at the show. She had to stick out her tongue in honor of the Dude kids.

Coco enjoys a dip in the pool.

Ruby likes to sunbathe like her Aunt Brooke.

And Daisy just makes up her own indoor games...bad Daisy.

Twin Brooks Weekend

2011-07-26T00:28:00.000-04:00

July 17, 2011. This would be another busy weekend. As a club member there’s lots to do to help out with the show, plus on Saturday I’d be showing 3 breeds.

Up first was Vizslas. I helped out my friend Sarah and showed her bitch Rayne in the classes. We came in second but I think Rayne showed well. Sarah got to watch and take photos.

Next up were Tibbies. Pat and Kevin took the lead this time and I would take over for the group. My photographer Scott arrived in time to take photos so Nadine and I got to watch Tibbies.

Pat showed Halle in the classes. Then Kevin took over for Best of Winners while Pat took in John Henry for Best of Breed.

Molly, from our second litter, lives close by so came by to visit with owner, Justin.

Next up Weim judging. Today Sawyer was Best in Breed and Prada was Best of Opposite Sex.

Sharon also got in the ring today as this show offered a Veteran class.

Sawyer showed nicely in the Sporting Group but did not get a placement.

I still need to get his head up more.

I did better in the Non-Sporting Group with John Henry and got a Group 3 placement!

It was a great ending to a good day!

July 18, 2011

Another early start to another long day. Here’s my man sleeping while standing up, which is not uncommon as the people in my obedience class well know.

But look how handsome when he’s awake.

Sarah arrived at the show early to help hold my dogs since the only two Weim entries were mine. So Sawyer was Best of Breed and Sharon was Best Veteran.

Sarah braved the ring today and showed Rayne herself.

In the afternoon I made my second appearance in the Non-Sporting Group with John Henry.

We were thrilled to get another group placement...4th this time!

I had to have Sawyer waiting in the wings because the Sporting Group was up next. He was quite excited to see me.

He looked good again but no placements today.

I still love my mamma’s boy!

Next up was the Veteran Group and Sharon. There are no placements given in the Veteran Group, just Best Veteran.

She still flies around the ring and it’s hard to keep up with her.

Hopefully Sharon enjoyed herself and since there was food involved, I’m guessing she did. Way to go Mamma!

West Springfield Show Circuit

2011-07-26T00:17:00.000-04:00

I’m loving the new camera. The up side is that it takes wonderful pictures, the down side it that it takes too many wonderful pictures so it takes a lot of time to go through them all.

July 7, 2011. I headed up to West Springfield, MA for four days of showing. We started the day early in the Weimaraner ring. Prada took Best of Breed and Sawyer was Best of Opposite.

Sawyer catches some ZZZ’s in the air conditioned motor home. He has a rough life.

July 8, 2011

Early ring time again. Today it was Judge’s Select for both Prada and Sawyer. I had planned on visiting Karey and Ruby since their summer home was close by but the weather did not cooperate. It rained on and off all day which was not good swimming weather. I was so looking forward to exposing Daisy to the water. I’ll have to get to that another time. So we hung around the show ring for most of the day.

I had never seen a Corded Poodle before but there was one showing this weekend. Very interesting.

Dude came in the building to hang ringside while we were waiting for Tibbies to be shown.

Pat showed Halle in the classes.

And look, me with a table dog! It is really me, Nadine just chopped my head off in the picture.

John Henry got Judge’s Select.

July 9, 2011

Today we started in the Tibbie ring. Pat showed Halle in the classes and I took John Henry in again winning Judge’s Select.

Then it was off to watch Ellen in the Parson’s ring. She went Best of Breed with Jillie!

Weims were on in the afternoon. Every other day we were on at 8am. Today was Best of Opposite for Sawyer and Judge’s Select for Prada.

Since we were not able to visit Karey and Ruby yesterday, they came to see us at the show today.

Daisy made herself right at home in Karey’s lap.

Miss Daisy and Ruby together in the ex-pen.

There was a sheep show and horse show also going on in the complex where the dog show was being held. I had no idea sheep were so tall!

Since Ruby was visiting we worked with her a bit. She’s looking awesome!

I also did some work with Sawyer, we are trying to get his head up more. There’s always opportunity to learn to show your dog better and I’m grateful to friends who are willing to share their experience to help us improve.

July 10, 2011. Another early judging day and Judge’s Select for both Sawyer and Prada. Oh well time to pack up and go home.

Nadine recently purchased a golf cart and customized it.

Pretty cool!

This was our first weekend with it and Sawyer had no problem jumping in and cruising back and forth to the rings.

The Holiday Weekend

2011-07-26T00:04:00.000-04:00

July 1, 2011. Started out the holiday weekend with kabobs! What’s better than grilling meat, veggies, garlic mashed, wine and good friends?

Sorry neighbor Kathy, I know you are a guest in our home but apparently this is Brooke's space.

Daisy doesn’t mind sharing her couch with guests.

July 2, 2011.

This is normally Sawyer’s seat but Daisy seems to be there more often these days.

The girls escape the heat and chill out on the couch.

July 3, 2011

Scott and Daisy, so cute together!

Daisy Doodle is getting so big.

Who is that buried under all the pillows?? I think it’s Brooke.

Gardening and 'the Accident'

2011-07-01T08:59:00.000-04:00

June 26, 2011. I finally planted my flowers for the season. Better late than never. I usually try to get this done by mid May but was just too busy this spring. I'm certainly no gardener and walk around the nursery aimlessly and just pick flowers by their visual appeal, lighting requirement and blooming period.

I went with purples, pinks and some yellow flowers this year. It's simple but pretty.

The taller Blue Salvia is in the back.

Then I placed the medium sized Bandana Lemon Zest Lantanas.

The Artist Blue and Artist Rose Ageratums are in the front with some yellow Marigolds spread throughout for some added color.

I usually plant the same type of flowers on the front porch since there's not much sun there. These are Sweet Cherry New Guinea Impatients.

But while I was out purchasing my flowers, Scott had a bit of an accident with the lawn mower. While mowing the front of the yard he hit something, heard a clank, a swoosh, a smash, a ping and a clunk. As we discovered later someone had thrown a door knob on our front lawn (thank you town bulk pick up even though we didn't throw out any doors). The lawn mower hit the door knob, sliced it in the blade, shot it across our neighbor's yard, hit their mini-van window, bounced off the window towards their front door, hit the side of the house and fell on the ground. The window was smashed and crackling like ice breaking but thank goodness no one was hurt. We are so grateful the kids were not playing on the front lawn at the time. Now everyone will be taking cover when Scott goes out to mow.

Puppy Visit

2011-07-01T08:56:00.000-04:00

June 25, 2011. Today Nadine and I took a ride to go see the Sawyer / Starr litter. The puppies are cute...of course, what puppies aren't?

I know I have my own bottle but yours looks better.

Well, hello there!

I would like my turn out of the pen now.

What's going on out there?

Look, I can be a show dog.

I love exploring the yard.

Mommy, Starr

Uh, that stacking stuff was really tiring.

Which one of these is not like the other? Hey wait, that’s Daisy in with the puppies. “Hi Aunt Daisy!”

Then it was back to Nadine's for dinner and a visit with the dogs.
Miss Baja. She doesn't warm up to too many people but she LOVES to see me.

Prada guards her ball. It’s all slimy, no one else wanted it anyway, well at least I don't.

Daisy has a blast running in the yard with her Aunt Prada.

Yes Prada you can still keep your slimy pink ball. She reminds me of the Joker in this shot.

Time to stack Daisy. She's getting a little too big for the table at 5 months old, but is looking good.