2nd JHR leg for Mia-Belle!!!

Congratulations to Jessica and Mia-belle, CH Grayhart's Special Request, CDX,RA,JH,OA,NAJ,NSD, RD, VX2, for earning their 2nd JHR leg!!!  Four passing legs are required to achieve the AKC Junior Hunter Retriever (JHR) title.

Since 2011, Weimaraners were deemed eligible to participate in AKC Retriever Hunting Tests. Weimaraners have always been able to participate in AKC Pointer Hunting tests and as a versatile hunting breed many are excellent natural retrievers which makes the JHR venue a new and exciting way to train and test your dog.  

Mia-belle new OA title!!!

Huge congratulations to Jessica Scharff and Mia-belle for earning their Open Agility (OA) title yesterday with a 1st place!  This also gives Mia-belle her WCA VX2 title! 

Mia-belle is now CH Grayhart's Special Request, CDX,RA,JH,OA,NAJ,NSD, RD, VX2 (Zeke, CH OB's 38 Special x Trixie, CH GraytSky's I'm Not Really A Waitress, CD, RN, AX, OAJ, V BROM). So proud of this awesome team and our second Grayhart VX2.  

New Junior Hunter for Mia-belle!!!

Huge congratulations to Jessica Scharff for finishing Mia-belle's Junior Hunter title today at the Sandhill's Hunt Test in NC. Mia earned her Junior Hunter title in four straight tests.

Mia, is now CH Grayhart's Special Request, CDX, RA, JH, NA, NAJ, NSD, RD, VX, (Zeke x Trixie).  She has been trained and handled to all her titles by her novice owner, Jessica.  We are so proud of all they have accomplished. 

Mia earns her RD rating from the WCA!

We are thrilled to announce that Mia, CH Grayhart's Special Request, CDX, RA, NA, NAJ,NSD,RD,VX earned her RD (Retrieving Dog) rating from the Weimaraner Club of America on October 7, 2012.  

Reported from Jessica: Mia did beautiful land and water retrieves and received many compliments from the other weim owners.  The RD test requires the dog to complete a land and water double.  The dog is supposed to be steady on the line (with no restraint from the handler) and should not move until sent to retrieve by the handler.  In RD, a controlled break is allowed if the dog moves.  As long as the handler is able to verbally stop the dog before leaving the circle, you can still qualify.  Mia did break a couple of times but I was able to control her by reminding her to sit.  The RD test also requires that birds be retrieved to hand and the handler is not allowed to touch the dog at any point during the test.  Mia is very close to being ready for RDX but we have to work on her steadiness on the line.  She is very steady in training but working real birds increases her adrenaline and drive exponentially.  We also need to do some work with her releasing the bird on command.  She does pretty well the first few retrieves but then starts to get greedy and wants to hang on to the bird.  I am hoping to run her in RDX in the spring if she is ready.  

The RD test also requires the dog to retrieve birds through water decoys which is what you see in the middle right side of the picture.

Thanks to Gretchen Stephenson for taking pictures of my girl!

Mia-belle Agility Star!

 Practice makes perfect and for Jessica & Mia-belle it sure paid off.  On their agility debut, they had an outstanding weekend with 3 double Q's to earn Mia's NA (Novice Agility Standard) & NAJ (Novice Agility Jumpers) with 1st places & her WCA VX (Versatile Excellent) title!

Mia-belle is now CH Grayhart's Special Request,CDX, RA, NA, NAJ, NSD, NRD, VX!!!!

Mia-belle had awesome runs and was even 20 seconds under course time to win the Novice Standard class on Saturday!

We couldn't be prouder of this talented team and look forward to seeing the videos of their runs!

Congratulations to Jessica & Mia-belle on their awesome agility weekend!

Mia-belle debuts in agility with a double Q!!!

Proud to announce that Jessica & Mia-belle, CH Grayhart's Special Request, CDX, RA, NSD, NRD,V, (Zeke x Trixie) made their agility debut today, double Qing & were 1st place in Nov JWW & 2nd place Nov Standard! This team is on a roll!  I guess Mia-belle inherited Trixie's agility genes.

Congratulations and good luck the rest of the weekend!

Run fast, run clean!

New CDX title for Mia-belle!!!!

 Huge congratulations to Jessica and Mia-belle on their new CDX (Companion Dog Excellent) title!!!  Mia-belle is now, CH Grayhart's Special Request, CDX, RA, NSD, NRD, V (Zeke x Trixie)!  Mia-belle earned her 2nd CDX or Open leg yesterday with a terrific score of 194.5 earning a 2nd place.  She earned the 3rd and final leg today, finishing her title with a 192, earning a 3rd place!

The Open class exercises are all performed off leash and include a heeling pattern, drop on recall, retrieve on the flat and over a jump and the broad jump. Once the individual exercises are completed, all of the dogs are brought into the ring for out of sight group sits and stays, lasting 3 and 5 minutes respectively. This class is sometimes referred to as the heartbreak class due to the high level of difficulty of some of the exercises for some dogs, especially the out of sight stays.

 We are very proud of this awesome team who will be training for the Utility level of competition obedience.  If that wasn't challenging enough, Jess and Mia-belle are also in training for agility and pointing and retrieving hunt tests!

2012 Blue Ribbon Ad for Trudy

Trudy's ad appearing in the annual Blue Ribbon issue of The Weimaraner Magazine, the official publication of the Weimaraner Club of America. This beautiful ad was designed by the very talented, Sara Renee of Sara Renee Photos & Design. Our good friend, KellyAnn Kwiatek took the headshot and stack photos. I will be posting all the Grayhart ads over the next few days.

Happy 3rd Birthday to our Special Litter!!!

Party girl Trudy

Happy Birthday to our Special Litter who turn 3 years old today!  These pups are out of Zeke, CH OB's 38 Special and Trixie, CH GraytSky's I'm Not Really A Waitress,CD,RN,OA,NAJ,V,BROM.

Many of these pups have grown up to be talented show and performance dogs and in a short time have made their mark in various venues. Others are wonderful family companions. 


We are proud of what these pups and their owners have accomplished and look forward to seeing what the future brings.

Some  of our Special Stars include:

• Mason, CH Grayhart's Daily Special, Futurity Class winner at the 2010 WCA Nationals, GSWC Specialty Major Winner, who finished his AKC Championship with three majors.
• Mia-belle, CH Grayhart's Special Request,CD,RA,NSD,NRD,V. Futurity placing, GCWC Specialty Major Winner, who finished her championship title completely owner handled and is working on advanced obedience, agility and field titles.
• CH Grayhart's Special Reserve, Futurity placing, who finisher show championship with three majors, two of them co-owner/breeder handled.
• Jersey, Grayhart's Goin Someplace Special,JH, who is in training for her Senior Hunter title.

I can't believe you are making me stay with my cake right in front of me...and on my birthday, too!

New CH Trudy - Official Win Photo

The official win photo of our newest champion, Trudy, CH Grayhart's Special Reserve, (Zeke x Trixie), handled by her co-owner/breeder, finished in style, winning her 3rd 3-point major at the Rockland County Kennel Club under judge Mrs. Paula Hartinger.

Mr. Mason says hi!

 It was great to hear from Mason, CH Grayhart's Daily Special.  He loves his new bed...

 as well as the couch!

 Typical Weim pose!

More weekend show shots

Savi, free baiting during the BBE class on Sunday - can you see her tongue

 I wanted to share more pictures from this past show weekend that my friend, Kellyann Kwiatek took.  Both Savi and Trudy showed Saturday and Sunday at the Rockland Kennel Club shows in Suffern, NY.  These shows are only fifteen minutes from home, which is a luxury and not only made for an easy commute but made it possible for us to have a post-show party back at the house for some of our close Weimaraner friends.  Also, being a local show, it was great to run into so many friends at the show. On Saturday, Savi was awarded a 3rd place ribbon in the BBE (Bred-by-Exhibitor) class and Trudy was 1st place in Open.  She did not get Winner's bitch to win the points that day.  On Sunday, we were all much more relaxed, and the stars were aligned for us to earn the big win.

 Savi gaiting around the ring to get 1st place in the BBE class.

Trudy showed well and won the Open class.

Above, the Winner's Bitch class, composed of the class winner's and the judge then awards the bitch that will get the points.  l-r:  I'm handling Trudy, my friend Jenna, was kind enough to help out and handle Savi and the puppy class winner is in the rear.  

The judge awarded Trudy Winner's Bitch and we were thrilled!  She needed three singles to finish her championship and this was a 3-point major win!

Our Long Island princess is now a champion and finished in style with three 3-point majors!

Trudy is now CH Grayhart's Special Reserve

New CHAMPION Trudy!!!

 Introducing our newest champion, Trudy is now CH Grayhart's Special Reserve! She finished today, co-owner/breeder handled to win her 3rd major at the Rockland KC show in Suffern, NY. Trudy is sired by Zeke, CH OB's 38 Special and out of Trixie, CH GraytSky's I'm Not Really a Waitress,CD,RN,OA,NAJ,V BROM. She is Trixie's 7th CH. Thanks to Pat O'Brien for handling Trudy to her 1st major & futurity placement! 

 Thanks to Kellyann Kwiatek for taking these awesome shots of Trudy and helping to celebrate her new championship.

Trudy, super sweet and a bit wild, giving me celebratory kisses as we waited to take the official win photo.

Congratulations to Trudy's owners, Rich and Barbara!  This is their first champion and I thank them for sharing their Princess Trudy with me and giving her such a terrific home and the opportunity to shine.

Happy New Year! Our 2011 Year in Review

Sky, CH Grayhart Lightfoot's Early Morning Rain, RN,JH,TD,NSD,NRD,CGC,VX

Our 2011 Year in Review

Wow, 2011 was a busy year full of family, friends and of course, Weims. We couldn't have imagined all the fun times and successes brought by the Grayhart dogs and their dedicated owners.  A highlight of the year was the Weimaraner Club of America National Specialty in May, in Ohio, where every dog we had placed or won their classes, and even finished titles, in multiple venues and the wonderful time we spent with friends from all over the country, especially Bliss and owner, Jen Boyd, who flew in from Alaska.

In July, we traveled to St. Louis for the AVMA convention for Jam and Trixie to represent Frontline's newest product Certifect and were able to spend the weekend with Marshall, Dylan and owner Laura Roehrich.  We then took a road trip down South, and spent time with Sky & Debbie Moody and Mia-belle & Jessica Scharff, competing at the Tarheel Weimaraner Club Agility trial in North Carolina and then the WCA Southern Futurity/Maturity show weekend in Greenville, SC.

Visiting with Bravo at Martin's Beach in December 2011

We ended the year visiting Bravo and owners Jay and Ron in California, spending a wonderful few days with them and their family and visiting their incredible beach cottage. Many Grayhart dogs live in the Northeast and we were thrilled to see Ranger, Monty, Mia, Mason, Trudy, Whitmore, Memphis and all their owners.

As for awards, we were honored for Trixie to receive her WCA BROM title and with Bravo, GCH Grayhart's Crescent Bravo, CGC, going Best Dog in the Western Futurity, we had our first Futurity winner!  And couldn't be prouder that FOUR of Trixie's get finished their AKC Championships in 2011!

Congratulation to our new Champions: Bravo, Mia-belle, Mason and Sky!

We are grateful for all the support of our wonderful puppy people who give our pups the best homes possible.  We could not have done it without the help of my wonderful mentors and friends, Amy Anderson and Bonnie Lane.

***

We hope 2012 will bring everyone good health, happiness and prosperity!

***

Highlights of 2011:

Trixie, CH GraytSky's I'm Not Really A Waitress, CD,RN,OA,NAJ, V:

• Trixie was awarded the WCA Breed Register of Merit or BROM title.  This WCA award recognizes sires and dams who produce fine offspring.  
• Four of our Grayhart bred pups out of Trixie finished their AKC Championship titles in 2011!  Trixie has produced six champions to date and we look forward to more of her pups completing their championship titles.
• At the 2011 WCA Specialty Agility trials, Trixie had stellar performances. Day one: 1st place Exc A Standard and 3rd place Open JWW.  Day two: 1st place Open JWW!
• Trixie's son, Bravo, won Best Dog in Western Futurity, and as owner of the dam and Bravo's breeder, we received a pewter dog statue.
• Trixie continued to model, doing printwork and video for Tiffany's and represented Frontline's new product, Certifect, at the AVMA convention in St. Louis, with daughter Jam.

Trixie-Parker pups born May 28, 2008, were busy in 2011:

• Jam, CH Grayhart's Purple Haze, CD,JH, OA,OAJ,SD,CGC,VX, had an extremely busy year in multiple venues, earning titles and qualifying legs. 
• Out on a limited basis as a special, Jam earned multiple Best of Breeds, owner/breeder handled.  
• At the 2011 WCA Nationals week, Jam, handled by Jamie Bernardin, was selected for an Award of Merit.  Jam also received a Specialty AOM at the GSWC Specialty in May and then owner/breeder handled, earned an AOM during the Southern Regional Specialty in Greenville, over several group placing specials.
• Jam finished both Open Agility (OA) and Open Agility Jumpers with Weaves (OAJ) titles, all legs with placements, including many 1st places. Jam completed her Open Standard title at the WCA Nationals winning the class.  At the WCA Specialty Agility trial, Jam was 1st place in Open JWW!  All of Jam's qualifying runs for her agility titles have been earned with placements.
• At the Tarheel Weimaraner Club Agility trial, Jam won the High Combined award for highest scoring Weimaraner.
• Jam earned her first qualifying legs in both Excellent A Standard and Excellent A JWW.
• During the WCA Nationals week, Jam earned her 3rd Companion Dog, or CD leg to complete this title with a 3rd place. These titles gave Jam the necessary requirements to earn her WCA "VX", Versatile Excellent title.
• Jam earned her WCA Shooting Dog (SD) title.
• She continued to train in obedience, agility and field work and will do the same in 2012 after her first litter, with breeding plans in January to Mason, CH GraytSky's Southern Fire, NSD.
• Jam passed the Delta Therapy Dog certification and spent time visiting autistic adults at a nearby residential facility.
• Jam continued to model, doing shoots for Frontline's Certifect, representing them at the 2011 AVMA convention for the product launch in St. Louis.  She also worked with Supermodel Coco Rocha on a commercial and print shoot for Longchamp.
• Sky, New CH Grayhart Lightfoot Early Morning Rain, JH,TD,RN,NSD,NRD, CGC,VX, finished her AKC championship title and the next day went Best of Breed!
• Sky earned her WCA Novice Retrieving Dog (NRD) and Versatile Excellent "VX" titles.
• She continues to train in agility, earning her first agility legs and is working towards her TDX.or bred by us, we are proud of 

Trixie-Zeke litter, born March 23, 2009, were busy in 2011:

• Mason, New CH Grayhart's Daily Special, handled to his last 2 points by his breeder, completed his championship in September.  We are truly thankful to Pat O'Brien, Zeke's breeder/co-owner, for his friendship and handling of Mason to his three majors wins, including a Specialty win.
• Mia-belle, New CH Grayhart's Special Request, RA,CD,NSD,NRD,V, had an extremely busy year, titling in multiple venues. 
• Mia-belle finished her AKC Championship completely owner handled, including winning a 4-point Specialty major! 
• Mia-belle earned her WCA Versatile "V" title and her WCA NRD title.
• Mia-belle earned her first Open obedience CDX leg.  She will be back in the obedience ring in 2012 and is training for agility and hunt tests.
• Trudy, Grayhart's Special Reserve, shown sparingly in 2011, won 8 show points including her 2nd major, owner/breeder handled. She only needs 3 single points to finish her AKC championship.  Many thanks to Pat O'Brien for his handling of Trudy to her first major and our collaborative effort to finish this lovely girl.

Trixie-Clay litter, born January 14, 2010, wasted no time making their mark in 2011:

• Savi, Grayhart's Shear Genius,JH,NSD,NRD,CGC, had an exciting year.  She earned her first show point in February and with limited showing, ended the year needing just one single point to finish her championship. She was a great traveler, going along for the ride to the WCA Nationals and then our trip down to the Carolina's for the Southern Futurity/Maturity and visiting with Debbie and Jessica.
• At the WCA Southern Futurity, Savi, handled by Carissa Shimpano, came in 2nd place in her futurity class.  Then, at the Greater Charleston Weimaraner Club Supported Entry show, owner/breeder handled, Savi won a 5-pt major from the Bred-By-Exhibitor class and went on to go Best of Winners!
• At the last show weekend of the year, at the Lehigh KC show, Savi was Winner's Bitch for 2-pts and the next day at the Delaware Water Gap KC show, Savi was Winner's Bitch and Best of Winners for a 3-point major!
• Savi earned her WCA NRD, Novice Retrieving Dog title and her WCA Versatile "V" title.
• Savi was a terrific ambassador for the Weimaraner breed at the AKC Meet the Breeds in New York City.  She also helped out at a number of Tri-State Weimaraner Rescue events, helping to raise money and educate people on the breed.
• Supermodel Savi followed in the Grayhart tradition and her Swiffer ad was spotted in many nationally circulated magazines and she was a hit as part of the Gap Kid's I Want Candy, holiday ad campaign.   She also worked with Trixie on the Tiffany shoot.
• Savi will be very active in 2012, training for her agility and obedience debuts as well as training for her Senior Hunter title and Delta Therapy Dog certification.
• Bravo, New GCH Grayhart Crescent's Bravo,CGC, had an exciting year in the show ring, completing his championship title at just 14 months of age and finishing his Grand Champion title  just two month later, earning multiple Best of Breed wins.  He also earned Specialty Select Dog and Awards of Merit.  Selectively specialed in 2011, Bravo finished the year ranked #22 among all Weims nationwide.  Bravo will be out in the show ring in 2012.
• With no formal training, GCH Bravo earned his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certificate.
• Bliss, Grayhart's Launch My Line, made the trip down from Alaska to the 2011 WCA Nationals in Ohio and made us proud, placing in every class she was shown in.  She will work towards her show championship in 2012.

I hope that I haven't forgotten anyone but as you can see, it was a busy year. You can check the archives of our blogs, the main one, for Trixie and all our Grayhart pups, and the ones dedicated specifically to each of our dogs and we will continue to publish updates to share all the news and fun happenings as well as the Grayhart website.

It was great fun spending time with the pups and their owners, as well as old and new friends at shows.  We also enjoyed running and chairing the Garden State Weimaraner Club Hunt Test and volunteering for Tri-State Weimaraner Rescue.

Gray-t Weekend for the Grayhart Girls! Delaware Water Gap KC Show

 Sunday was the Delaware Water Gap Kennel Club show and the Weims had an 8:00 am ring time.  No sleeping late for the princesses.  Trudy stayed with Pat in his room and my girls enjoyed going back and forth between Kel's room and mine in our suite.  They are truly creatures of comfort!

 Sunday was a repeat performance of Saturday.  Ike was Winner's Dog and both Savi and Trudy won their classes.  Pat stayed on Trudy and I took Savi in for winner's.  I was thrilled when the judge pointed to Savi and she was Winner's bitch.  There was a major in dogs so Savi would have to go Best of Winner's to get the major.  Again, Michelle, our Weim friend, took Savi in for me while I showed Jam.  Michelle worked hard to show Savi off.

Jam showed really well and was full of attitude.  After all the champions were examined and lined up, the judge had the one dog special and Ike gate around together.  She then pointed to Jam and had us go to the front.  Then placed Savi second and then Ike.  She had the group go around together and the final results....Jam won Best of Breed, Savi was Best of Winners and Ike was awarded Best of Opposite!!!

This gave Jam a Grand Champion major and also earned Savi her second major.  Savi now only needs one single point to finish her AKC championship title.  We were just floating after the judging was over.

Jam - Best of Breed (unofficial win picture)

Since Jam went Best of Breed, we needed to wait around for the Group competition. The Sporting Group, was the last group before Best in Show. We had a lot of time to kill, so Kel and I bundled up and took the dogs for a long walk and then went out for Chinese food for lunch. We then visited the many vendors and did some shopping. It was a thrill to watch our friends show their Vizslas and see Jenna go Best of Breed with her special, Miles. Miles won the breed on Saturday and had gotten a Group 2.

The Sporting Group was late in the afternoon and since it was full of professional handlers and some of the top dogs in the country, my goal was just to have fun with Jam and make her shine.  Kel got some terrific shots of Jam and Miles in the group.

 It takes about 20 minutes for each of the seven groups to be judged.  It is a long time for the dogs and you want to make them look their best when the judge is looking.

Congrats to Jenna and Miles for winning the Sporting Group and competing for Best in Show!!!

A wonderful end to a great weekend!  We look forward to the dog shows in 2012 and finishing Savi and Trudy's championships.  We plan to breed Jam in January so she won't be back in the show ring until after her maternity leave and she's in shape.

Gray-t Weekend for the Grayhart Girls! Lehigh KC Show

Kellyann and I headed off early Saturday morning to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for the last show weekend of the year.  We were looking forward to seeing friends and hoping that we could finish the year with a win.  What an amazing weekend it turned out to be, beyond our wildest expectations.

Savi, Winner's Bitch for 2 points!

 Saturday was the Lehigh Kennel Club show.  I showed Savi in the bred-by-exhibitor class, which we won.  Pat O'Brien, who was there to show both our Trudy as well as a very nice puppy named Ike, out of Pat's dog Duke, littermate to Zeke, Trudy's sire.  Pat went winner's dog with Ike and then won the Open bitch class with Trudy.  Since Trudy is so attached to me, Pat and I decided to switch dogs and I took Trudy in for winner's and he handled Savi.  We were afraid that if I was standing behind Trudy, she would keep trying to turn and look at me.  Trudy was quite the happy girl and tried kissing me nonstop while I stacked her.  The judge even commented on my happy girl.  The judge pointed to Savi and she was Winner's Bitch for 2 points!

Next was the Best of Breed class and a fellow Weim friend took Savi in for me as I had to handle Jam.  Ike was picked for Best of Winners and Jam was awarded Select Bitch, earning Grand Champion points.

Jam in the Best of Breed class

This show has a Bred-by-Exhibitor competition and Savi was Best BBE Weim, so we waited for the BBE groups which did not start until mid-afternoon.  The BBE Sporting group was last.  After a long wait, it was finally our turn to show.  The group was quite competive, with eight sporting dogs, most of which had gone winner's for majors in their respective breeds.  Savi showed well and we had fun in the big group.

 Yay!  The judge awarded Savi a Group 3!

Savi doing a bow while we played and had fun in the BBE group.

After a long day at the show, we rushed off to the hotel to meet Pat and Ike's owner, Sandra, and went out for a fabulous celebration dinner.  Back at the room, Savi and Jam had a wild play session, well deserved after being crated all day and strutting their stuff in the show ring.

Off to bed to get our beauty sleep for Sunday's show...

Photos by Kellyann