We wasted no time starting off the year right away on January 3rd attending a CDSP Obedience trial at St. Hubert’s Dog Training school. Brooke NQ’d on both her Open runs, with no drop on recall and a bad dumbbell throw from me. But Sawyer saved the day and earned his first two Novice legs. My friends were also very kind to get me a special rosette that they were sure I would win. “Highest Scoring Grey Dog with Blonde Handler”. It was wonderful! And Huge!
We were out the very next weekend in Staten Island at an APDT Rally trial where Brooke earned her ARCHX, RL1X and RL2X. There was a photographer there who got some nice photos.
Sawyer also earned the first two legs towards his RL2 title, each with first place finishes.
In February I started this blog. It was my very first time blogging and it was pretty easy once I got the hang of it. Thanks to Scott for helping me get started!
Sawyer made his Westminster Kennel Club debut on February 16th. Known to the dog showing community simply as “The Garden”. It was a fun experience!
A few days later on the 19th, Sharon gave birth to 6 puppies: 5 girls and 1 boy.
We ended February on a good note with Coco getting her second major. Only one more point to go for her Championship.
In March, Sawyer earned the final leg for his CDSP CD-H title. It’s always nice when a photographer is there when you earn a new title.
At the end of March we shipped the puppies off to co-breeder Nadine’s house and went on vacation to Hawaii.
We were in Hawaii for two week from the end of March into the beginning of April. While it was hard to be away from the puppies and our older dogs, it was a wonderful trip that we’ll never forget.
The puppies went to their new homes a few weeks after we returned from Hawaii. Prada went home with co-breeder, Nadine.
Coco got her final point for her AKC Championship going Best of Winners in Harrisburg. I finished her out of the Bred-by-Exhibitor class in under a year with very little time to train with her. Not bad for a dog we didn’t know would be able to show after she was hit by a car at just under 1 year old.
We ended April in the field. After just starting our training in March, Sawyer earned his AKC Junior Hunter (JH) in 4 straight finishes!
In May we were off to Gettysburg to the Weimaraner Club of America (WCA) Nationals. The week of events started in the field. Sawyer earned his WCA Novice Shooting Dog (NSD) title.
Sharon went into the field for the first time and earned an AKC Junior Hunter (JH) leg.
Next up was Rally where Sawyer got his AKC Rally Novice (RN) title
We didn’t do anything in conformation, but Sawyer showed beautifully and that’s all I could ask for.
At the end of May I got the devastating news that Sawyer’s littermate brother Tiki was left at a shelter in South Carolina. With the help of the Greater Charleston Weimaraner Club Rescue and many volunteers along the East coast, we were able to save Tiki and get him back home to NJ. At the same time Tiki was traveling home, Scott was rushed to the hospital for gallbladder surgery. But everything turned out well. Tiki is now in a lovely home with people who love him very much and I’m super thrilled that they keep in touch so I can see how fabulous he’s doing. And Scott has recovered fully and is minus one gallbladder.
After months of painstaking research and going to dealers all over NJ, I finally got a new car. It’s really difficult to find a car to fit the dog crates, that’s not a mini-van. I ended up with the same car I had, just a newer model with better features, but as they say, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. So here’s my 2010 Ford Explorer.
July started off much better than June. On July 5th, Sawyer earned is first CDSP Novice championship leg going High-in-Trial (HIT)!
In July I decided I needed to teach Sawyer to swim if I wanted to enter him in any of the retrieving tests since there is a land and water portion. While he did not like the pond where we took a canine water sports class, he did like the pool at Show Place Farms. Angelina got in the water right away.
At the end of the month we entered our first UKC conformation shows. While the principle of showing is the same, the atmosphere is much more relaxed and friendly. Sawyer went Best Dog on the second day.
There were more UKC shows in mid-August. Sawyer was very successful and finished his UKC Championship with 2 Best in Shows!
In August Sawyer did a video shoot for Animal Planet with dog trainer, Victoria Stilwell.
At the end of the month it was off to Canada to try to finish Sawyer’s Canadian Championship. He did it on the second day there. My friend Bobbie put together this title announcement for us.
In September we did our last APDT Rally trials of the year since we accomplished what we set out to do in 2010 in this venue. Sawyer earned his Rally Level 2 (RL2) title, all three legs with first place finishes.
And Brooke earned her Rally Veterans (RLV) title, with a perfect score and also with all three legs in first place.
The Garden State Weimaraner Club held a match show on September 25th and Ruby went Best Puppy. We were so glad since this was her very first time out.
At the end of the month it was off to Wine County, a favorite show circuit. The rain and the mud didn’t get us down as Sawyer won his first Best of Breed and ended the weekend doing that twice!
October continued to be a busy month as we returned from Wine Country. The Garden State Weimaraner Club had is Fall Specialty show. It was a bit hectic for me with 3 dogs, 5 entries in 3 sports, plus hospitality. But we got it all done, successfully.
Brooke finished her AKC Companion Dog (CD) title at our specialty going High-in-Trial.
Sawyer finished his AKC Rally Advanced (RA) title, with an almost perfect score of 99 and first place.
It was nice to finish these two titles at our specialty.
Prada earned her first major at just 7 months old going Winners Bitch. Again, a bonus that this was at our club’s specialty.
The next weekend we were off to NYC for the AKC Meet the Breeds. This was exhausting to do for two whole days with just Scott and I but I think the booth was well received by all the visitors.
We wrapped up October with the Delaware Valley and Garden State Weimaraner Clubs Ratings Tests. This was what we’d been practicing for and we’d see if Sawyer would go into the water to retrieve a bird. He passed with flying colors, twice (since we entered both trials)! Earning his Novice Retrieving Dog title also gave him is Versatile (V) rating with the WCA.
After being out every weekend since the end of July, we took a well deserved break in the month of November. At the end of the month we went on our annual Disney vacation.
They say things work out for a reason. It is rare that we have my mother travel up from Florida to watch the dogs but it was great that she did for this trip. She was able to spend the week with her father who passed away shortly after she returned home.
Rest in Peace Grandpa.
Rest in Peace Grandpa.
Joseph P. Fuerst 9/26/18 – 12/8/10
Sawyer got his first print ad. He will be in the Macy’s spring catalog which should be out in March. I hope he doesn’t become a diva.
The last dog show weekend of the year for us went pretty well. Prada earned her second major at just 10 months old and only needs two more single points for her championship.
And Sawyer earned his last few points for his AKC Grand Championship! What a way to end the year!!
Final total for Sawyer, 11 titles this year! No wonder we’re so tired.
We just learned that Brooke was nationally ranked 10th for CDSP Obedience in the Novice C class! Not bad for an almost 9 year old.
We’d like to thank everyone who helped to make this such a successful year for us.
We wish everyone a wonderful happy and healthy new year!!
We wish everyone a wonderful happy and healthy new year!!
Ashbrooke Weimaraners – Michelle & Scott Ostrander
-CH Quantrels Ramblin’ Brooke, CD, CD-H, RAE, RL1X, RL2X, ARCHX, RLV, CGC (Brooke)
-AM/CAN CH Quantrels Sharin’ the Dream, RA, RL1, CGC (Sharon)
-CKC/UKC CH, AKC GCH Ashbrooke Quantrels Tom Sawyer Islnd, CD-H, RA, RLP, RL2, JH, NSD, NRD, V, CGC (Sawyer)
