Jam at the 3rd Annual Westminster Masters Agility Challenge

Jam, GCH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD, JH, MX, MXJ CGCA, SD, VX, posing in front of Sensation, the Westminster Kennel Club's official logo.

Jam competed and although we did not qualify for the finals, I could not be prouder of my girl, who was the only Weimaraner entered out of 330 dogs. She was a wonderful representative for the breed, both in and out of the ring. It was such an honor to be part of this amazing event.

Jam was clean on a very challenging Masters Jumpers with Weaves course but sadly over time. The turf proved to be very slippery for her causing her to fall and made her much more cautious. Only 10 dogs in our class qualified, and only two more, Jam and another dog, had clean rounds but were over time. 



In the Master Standard course, handler error caused her to get a refusal at the tunnel, darn, we almost got one of those fancy Q ribbons. She was 10 seconds under standard course time in this run. It was a fun course with a tricky opening. Lots of good things in this run and we always celebrate the positives. 


This was our first big agility event and Jam handled it all in stride. I think that having been a show dog, she even showed here 3 years ago in breed, she is used to the crowds, noise and distractions and was not stressed like some of the other dogs. We had fun, spent time with friends, met many awesome dogs and handlers from all over the country and although we did not make the finals, we were included in the TV broadcast of the finals on Fox Sports 1, showing the special relationship between Jam and me. Watch the whole clip to see me feeding Jam treats and then her kissing me!

Jam got into the Westminster Kennel Club Masters Agility Trial!!!!

I am beyond excited that Jam and I will be competing at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Agility Trial on February 13, 2016! 

This trial is limited to dogs that have their Masters level titles, both MX and MXJ, and only the first 330 dog's entries were accepted.  As far as I know, Jam is the only Weimaraner that will be competing there.

Jam competed in the Westminster Kennel Club Show in 2013 and strutted her stuff in the conformation ring.

Jam is GCH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD, JH, MX, MXJ, CGCA, SD, VX, Pet Partners Therapy Dog.

Jam at the Keystone ESS Agility Trial

Jam, GCH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD, JH,MZ,MXJ,CGCA,SD,VX, competing at the Keystone English Springer Spaniel Agility trial in Master Standard. These awesome photos are by Rich Knecht.

Jam new MXJ Title!

Jam earns her 10th MXJ leg at the American Chesapeake Club agility trial at Paws N Effect in Hamden, CT, to finish her MXJ, Master Jumpers with Weaves title!!!!

She is now Jam, GCH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD, JH, MX, MXJ, CGCA, SD, VX!!!

New MX title for Jam!!!!

I am so proud to announce that Jam earned her MX, Master Standard title on November 6, 2015, at the Irish Setter Club of America Agility trial held at Gloucester County Dream Park!  It takes 10 perfect runs to earn this title.

Jam is now GCH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD, JH, MX, AXJ, CGCA, SD, VX, Pet Partners Therapy Dog.

Jam has been rocking the agility ring!

Jam has been busy this fall competing at the Masters level in AKC agility.

We have gotten much more consistent as a team and our "Q" rate has risen tremendously.  She finished her MX, Master Standard title last weekend at Dream Park and the same weekend, earned MXJ, Master Jumpers with Weaves legs #8 and #9! It takes 10 qualifying runs to earn each Master title. She now only needs one Jumpers leg to complete her MXJ title.

She also qualified in both Master Standard and Jumpers on Sunday, giving her a Double Q! This is her first Double Q and counts towards a MACH, Master Agility Champion title, which takes 20 double Qs plus 750 points, which are seconds under the standard course time. 

Great weekend for littermates Sky & Marshall

 A super Mother's Day weekend for littermates Marshall and Sky from our Hendrix litter (Parker x Trixie).  Laura and Marshall, CH Grayhart's In From the Storm, RN, CGC, made their debut in the Rally Advanced ring and qualified two day in a row to earn two of the three required legs towards the Rally Advanced title.  The Rally Advanced course is done entirely off lead and Marshall showed nice attention and worked happily with Laura.  Although Laura has shown Weims in the conformation ring for years, Marshall is Laura's first rally/obedience dog and she is doing a great job and more importantly, have lots of fun!

 Debbie and Sky, CH Grayhart Lightfoot Early Morning Rain,RN,TD, JH,AX, MXJ, CAT, NSD, NRD,CGC, VX2 showed in agility down in South Carolina at the Masters level and double Q'd (qualified)!!!  That means that in the same day, Sky qualified in both Masters Standard and Masters Jumpers.  

We are very proud of Debbie and Laura and their dogs!

Awesome Agility Weekend at HVGR trial!

Savi earned two 1st places & a new title, NAJ!

 Spring finally arrived and we had a fantastic weekend at the Hudson Valley Golden Retriever agility trial in beautiful Goshen, NY. Savi earned her NAJ (Novice Agility Jumpers) title with a 1st place! This makes Savi, CH Grayhart's Shear Genius, CD, SH, NA, NAJ, NSD, NRD, VX! She then made her debut in Open JWW and won the class for her 2nd 1st place of the weekend!!!

Sister Jam ran well  but with some handler errors (oops) but managed to Q (qualify) in Masters Jumpers for her 2nd MXJ leg with a 4th place!  It takes ten qualifying runs to earn the AKC MX (Master Standard) or MXJ (Master Jumpers) title. Masters is the highest level of AKC agility and the course are the most complex and to earn a Q, you must have a perfect run (no faults) with a score of 100.

Jam & Savi with their ribbons!

Jam rocks the agility ring at SOJAC!

Jam, CH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD, JH, AX, AXJ, SD, VX

Last weekend, Jam returned to the agility ring for the first time in a year and four months after having a litter of seven puppies. At the SOJAC Agility Trial at Dream Park in New Jersey, Jam did an awesome job competing in Masters Standard and Master Jumpers with Weaves.  Our first run was a little wobbly as I was late on a command and didn't give her enough support but after that run, we got it together and Q'd.  Jam nailed her weaves 4 out of 4 runs. On Saturday, she earned an MX leg with 15 MACH points (meaning she was 15 seconds under the official course time) and on Sunday also earned an MXJ leg with 2 MACH points!  She almost qualified in standard on Sunday but fell off the dogwalk, which was the second to last obstacle and was a scary few minutes but fortunately, she was fine and went on to qualify in jumpers later that day.  You can see Jam's run from the weekend.

Savi also had a great weekend, which is in the previous blog post, qualifying in 3 out of 4 runs, all with 1st places and earned her Novice Standard title.  I am super proud of my girls and cannot wait to run them in the next agility trial.  The best part is the teamwork with my dogs and fun with friends, cheering each other on.

Savi (left) and Jam (right) with their ribbons!

2013 WCA Nationals Week Day 2: 5-pt Major win for Bliss!!!

Bliss

Thursday was a day chock full of events and excitement.  The Chattahoochie Weimaraner Club had a supported entry at the Valdosta Kennel Club show and the entry was huge, as this was part of the WCA Nationals week.  We were thrilled to get the call that Bliss, Grayhart's Launch My Line, (Clay x Trixie), owner/handled by Jen Boyd was Winner's Bitch and Best of Winners for 5-point major under judge Barbara Stenmark!  Not only is this an amazing win for Bliss but Jen and her family had traveled down from Alaska for the Nationals.  This is Bliss' first major and first points as there are very few Weims in Alaska and difficult to win championship points.

Debbie Moody and Sky, CH Grayhart Lightfoot Early Morning Rain,RN,TD, JH,OA, AXJ, NSD, NRD,CGC, VX, (Parker x Trixie) were back in the agility ring and Sky earned her first Master Jumpers with Weaves leg with 5 MACH points!

Jessica and Mia-belle, CH Grayhart's Special Request, CDX,RA,JH,NA,NAJ,NSD, RD, VX, (Zeke x Trixie), were entered in the RDX or Retrieving Dog Excellent stake of the WCA Retrieving Ratings.  Mia-belle, a high-drive performance dog, did a super job on her retrieve but refused to give the bird to Jessica - the prize was too good to share.  Back to more training and we are optimistic that Mia-belle will pass in the future.  The RDX is the highest level of the WCA Retrieving Ratings and includes multiple retrieves.

We are very proud of all our Grayhart girls and their owners at the Nationals!  They are entered in more events and we will keep you updated on all the fun.

New AXJ for Jam's Rockin' Agility Weekend

This past weekend was our first agility trial of the year and Jam made the most of it.  We traveled to Bloomsburg, PA to the Bloomsburg Agility Runner's Club first AKC Agility trial held at the Bloomburg  Fairgrounds in an indoor horse arena.  It was a small, relaxed one ring trial and we recognized some familiar faces from trials in our area and made some new friends from Western PA.  The judge Pam Sturz, designed flowing courses that were fast and fun.

On Friday, Jam earned her first MX or Masters Standard leg with 9 MACH points.  Saturday was her day to really shine, winning the Excellent Jumpers with Weaves class to finish her AXJ title with a 1st place! On Sunday, Jam again qualified in Masters Standard to earn her 2nd MX leg with 10 MACH points and 4th place!

I was pleased with how consistently Jam ran and got her weaves on most of our runs, something we've been working on. If not for handler error, Jam would have also qualified in Masters JWW.  She is very in tune and I called her too early to come to me and she missed a jump.  The only way to qualify in the Excellent and Masters classes it to have a clean run with no mistakes, refusals or wrong courses. We received many compliments and I appreciated the terrific feedback on our runs.

Trixie was also entered and had a harder time with the dusty indoor venue and came close to qualifying but we couldn't pull it together to Q.

And to end a great weekend with even more good news....Sky, Jam's littermate owned by Debbie Moody, qualified for her 2nd AXJ leg with a 1st place!!!  Congratulations to Debbie and Sky!

Agility weekend

 Looking forward to our first agility trial of the year - a 3-day agility trial at an indoor facility!  Jam and Trixie will be running in Masters Standard and Excellent Jumpers with Weaves.