Jam becomes a Grand Champion!!!!

In July, we went on our 2014 Grayhart Southern Adventure with Jam and Presely!  This included the Greenville, SC dog show circuit, visiting Debbie Moody, who owns two Grayhart girls, in the stunning mountains of North Carolina and a quick trip to Alabama to visit UofA.  

The first day of the Greenville Circuit was the Piedmont Kennel Club show.  We were thrilled for Jam, the only owner-breeder-handler in a very competitive entry of Weims, to go Select Bitch for a 4-pt Grand Champion (GCH) Major and be awarded Best of Breed Owner-Handler.  Jam, who is sparingly specialed,  she's been busy with agility, pups and many other things, only needed two singles to finish her GCH title so finishing in a big way was tons of fun.  Jam also was eligible to compete in the Owner-Handler group and showed well, photo above.

Jam is the first Grand Champion in her litter and the second Grayhart dog to earn this title, with Bravo being the first.

Very proud to announce...Jam is now GCH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD,JH,AX,AXJ,SD,VX!!!

What's up next for Jam?  She will be competing in some local agility trials and will be bred on her next season for her final litter.

The Grayhart Girls Great Southern Adventure - Part 6: Grand Finale

 Well, this is the final post on our road trip down south, which had an incredible ending.  The last day of showing in Greenville on July 30th was a successful one, with Jam getting an Award of Merit, owner/breeder handled, over multiple group winning specials, at the Greater Charleston Weimaraner Club Supported Entry at the Hendersonville Kennel Club Show under Judge Dr. Michael Woods.  The competition was tough, as this was part of the WCA Southern Regional Specialty weekend, with many top ten specials from all over the country entered.  The judge, took his time and seemed to take forever to make his final decisions, walking up and down the long line of bitches, stopping at his top three picks, one of which was Jam.  He finally made his mind up and we were thrilled to get a piece of the action at this large show.  I was so proud of how well Jam did amongst all the specials with her limited showing.

Once the show was finally over and we packed up and said our goodbyes to all our friends, Debbie, Sky's owner and I, made the ninety minute drive back to her lovely house in Western North Carolina.  We had a terrific dinner, one of many, with husband Joe, took the dogs for a well-needed run and hit the sack to get up early for a long awaited hike in the mountains.

The Grand Finale

The Smokey Mountains in North Carolina are scenic and have awesome hiking trails.  Debbie took me and our four dogs to one of her favorite trails in Piscah National Forest for a 3-hour hike through the woods and up hills to scenic overlooks.  We took many pictures and I've posted some of my favorites.  The dogs had a great time running and hunting and we couldn't have had a better time watching them and getting some well needed exercise and time in the great outdoors. After our hike, we dropped the dogs off at the house and toured quaint, downtown Waynesville.  Then another relaxing dinner and off to bed for my last night in the south. 

 This was taken after the hike with tired dogs!  l-r: Sky, Trixie, Savi and Jam

 

 The dogs were excited to range out and there were no people for as far as the eye could see!

 We stopped for lunch and to take pictures at the top of this mountain...

 Debbie got this cool shot of Savi, who seems to do everything with enthusiasm!

 Savi enjoyed a quick dip to cool off

 Savi posing on the monument...

 Momma Trixie and her three daughters....l-r: Sky, Trixie, Savi and Jam

 Beautiful Sky posing

A wonderful ending to a truly fabulous trip.  It was wonderful to spend quality time with friends, visiting with our Southern pups, and my girls successful showings at the agility trial and conformation shows, were just icing on the cake.  Till our next adventure...

The Grayhart Girls Great Southern Adventure - Part 4: Futurity Placement for Savi!

Savi 2nd place WCA Southern Futurity Intermediate Bitch Class!

The first day of the WCA Southern Futurity/Maturity regional show weekend was an exciting one and extremely hot, with the outdoor temperature hitting 103 degrees!  The show took place in Greenville, SC, a huge indoor, air conditioned venue, that hosts one of the largest dog shows in the country, with approximately 2800 dogs entered per day Friday through Sunday!  Thursday was the WCA Southern Futurity/Maturity and Greater Charleston Weimaraner Club Specialty show along with four other breed club specialties.  There was a last minute judge change for the Futurity/Maturity and Bonnie Linnell Clark was the new judge.  Savi, Grayhart's Shear Genius, JH,NSD,CGC, was in the Intermediate Futurity class and looked fabulous with handler Carissa Demilta Shimpeno.  There were eight in her class and we were thrilled when Savi was awarded 2nd place!  This was tough competition with dogs and professional handlers from all over the country.  With Savi's littermate Bravo winning the Western Futurity, we were thrilled that Savi had such a good showing.

Stacking during the class...our lovely, typey girl

Savi with her effortless movement and reach and drive.  

The show was a mini-reunion of Grayhart pups, with my three girls, Momma Trixie, Jam, Savi, and Sky (Jam's littermate) and Mia-belle (out of our Zeke litter) all present and crated together for a weekend of fun and socializing.  Jessica did a terrific job showing Mia-belle in her maturity, and didn't let a sprained ankle stop her from competing in the show.  Mia-belle showed well but again, the competition was fierce and I think that Jess was the only non-professional handler in the ring.

The afternoon brought on the Greater Charleston Specialty show, with a large entry of 92 dogs, under judge Jean Fournier.  Eight of the top ten Weimaraners in the country were entered in the Best of Breed class and both the dog and bitch points were 5-point majors!  Savi showed nicely for me in the Bred-by-Exhibitor class and received a 3rd place, while Sky, Grayhart Lightfoot Early Morning Rain, RN,JH,TD, shown by Susan Wise, placed 2nd in a very competitive Open bitch class.  Both Winner's Dog and Winner's Bitch were out of Parker, GCH HiBourne's It's All About Me, the sire of Sky and Jam.  

With 30 dogs and bitches entered in Best of Breed, I was quite happy that CH Jam made the judges cut. 

 Jam moving well in the breed ring!

 A fun time to sit ringside with friends and cheer Jam on in the breed ring.

All moving and ring shots by Phyllis Ensley Photography.

Let me back up for a moment...I arrived at Debbie's house, Sky's owner, on Wednesday night, after a 6 1/2 drive from Wilmington, NC.  Debbie lives in Western NC, near the majestic Smokey Mountains.  The drive across the state of North Carolina was a beautiful one and I enjoyed the changing scenery from the flat farmland in the east to the mountain views in the west.  After I arrived, we had let the dogs get re-acquainted, as it had been a year since they had all been together and then we headed off to agility class - no rest for the weary! Sky was in season and not permitted to go to agility class so I had offered Debbie the chance to run Trixie and I worked Jam.  Well, Debbie and Trixie were an amazing team and had a blast together, doing front crosses, lead outs and an impressive pinwheel.  Jam had a great time, showing off how fast she could be in a new place and we worked on regaining control and consistency.  No matter what, we always enjoy agility and it was a pleasure to meet Debbie's agility instructor and work with someone new.

Then we headed back to Deb's to pack up and hit the sack for a very early wake up to drive down to the Greenville shows...