Monday, May 28, 2012

Third Master Hunter Leg for Annie and JH title for Keetch!

Last weekend Annie (HRCH Blazingtar Beaufort SH CDX) passed her 3rd Master Hunter test.  We are very proud of Annie and her owners, Katy and Brian!

At the same tests, Annie's daughter, Keetch, finished her Junior Hunter title.  Congratulations to all!

Annie and her MH ribbon.  Like her mother, Lupine, Annie does not enjoy having her photo taken and seems to be trying to hide behind the flowers!

Keetch and her JH qualifying ribbon and JH title ribbon.  She looks remarkably like her grandmother, Lupine, in this photo.

Medicine Hat Show

We are a bit behind in our news - time to catch up!  I took 2 dogs to the Medicine Hat show, to compete in obedience and rally.  Lupine was entered in Utility A and it was our first time ever in the utility ring.  And it showed!   It was not a pretty performance, in large part due to my nerves.  But we struggled through and Lupine maintained a very happy working attitude throughout.  We failed right off the bat, when she needed a second command to go for the glove on the seek back exercise.  At least that meant I could help her with the rest of the exercises!  We had been having problems with the scent articles exercise in the 2 weeks before the trial and she brought me the correct article once and the wrong one once.  It was a valuable experience, as it helped me to get a better feeling for the ring procedures and showed me a few "tricky" areas that I need to train better for.  

Lupine

Cava was entered it her first ever trials - rally Novice B and obedience Novice B.   In the rally ring, she did a beautiful round with great attention and focus.  I messed up the "moving down", by giving her the wrong signal, so we had to re-do it and the second time was not too much better!  But we came away with 95/100, 2nd place and our first rally leg.   The big problem was getting into the ring - with a small crowd around the ring entrance and a ring steward sitting in a chair in the ring, Cava thought it would a fantastic opportunity to visit with everyone and I barely had her under control (she actually tried to jump into the lap of the steward).  Not the entrance I wanted to make!  She then spotted the judge and lunged towards her.  At the start line I got her attention back on me and was very relieved that she went immediately into "work mode" after that shaky start.  Because of that, I pulled her from Novice obedience, as I would like to get that under control before we go back in the ring!

Practicing the long down stay with Pixel and Brit


Friday, May 4, 2012

Another Senior Hunter Leg for Sam

Congratulations to Sam and Sylvia for getting another Senior Hunter leg last weekend - just two left to go now!  Sam is HR Blazingstar Bobolink JH WCX TD.   The following day Sylvia completed her judging apprenticeship and became a full-fledged hunt test judge.  


We found this photo of Sam back when he was still "Puppy 5", 6 years ago.  It's lovely to see that he's fulfilling his potential in the field!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tinbie x Dunya Puppies Due in June

We had some exciting news today.   Dunya (Ch Bertschire Honeymoon Magic JH WC OA NAJ NF) was bred to Tinbie in April and she was just confirmed pregnant, with puppies due in early June.  Dunya lives in Idaho.  This should be a lovely litter with excellent breed type, good working ability and superb temperaments. 




Dunya when she visited us 2 years ago


Tinbie




Tinbie was rather besotted with Dunya when she visited a couple of years ago.  Here she is getting Tinbie's trademark ear wash.