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!

Sky at Max Patch

Sky, CH Grayhart Lightfoot Early Morning Rain,RN,JH,TD,NA,NSD,NRD,VX, (Parker x Trixie), on a hike last week at Max Patch, in the mountains of North Carolina outside of Asheville.  This is one of Debbie and Sky's favorite hikes and it is easy to see why with such gorgeous views.  We were thrilled to have Debbie take us here for a hike when we visited them and shared their passion for this incredible place.  We hope to return for another great hike.

Mia-belle: Open A Obedience

Mia-belle, CH Grayhart's Special Request,CD,RA,NSD,NRD,V, (Zeke x Trixie), and owner, Jessica, showed in Open A obedience last weekend in North Carolina.  They had a terrific run, as seen in the video, and went into the out of sight stays with a score of 195.  Well, as we know too well why Open A is called the "heartbreak class", Mia-belle was disqualified for her out of sight stays and did not pass...very disappointing.

 Mia-belle has an awesome drop on recall...

Good girl retrieving over the high jump!

We are so proud of how far this team has come and are quite confident that they will fix those stays and get that CDX and much more.

Video and photos by Judi Nicholson

Trixie tied for #2 WCA Top Producer for 2011!!!

Trixie with her Zeke puppies

We are proud to announce that Trixie, CH GraytSky's I'm Not Really a Waitress,CD,RN,OA,NAJ,VX BROM, has tied for the #2 Weimaraner Club of America Top Producing Dam for 2011 with 4 champions!!!

The WCA recognizes sires and dams who produce the most Champions finishing their Championships during a particular year and Trixie had four of her get that completed their Championships in 2011.

Many thanks to the fabulous owners of our 2011 Grayhart Champions!

Bravo, Best in Futurity, GCH Grayhart Crescent's Bravo, CGC

Mia-belle, CH Grayhart's Special Request,CD,RA,NSD,NRD,V

Mason, CH Grayhart's Daily Special

Sky, CH Grayhart Lightfoot Early Morning Rain,RN,JH,TD,NA,NSD,NRD,VX

We also want to give special thanks to Trixie's breeders, Amy & Michael Anderson, GraytSky, who entrusted us with this special girl who is our foundation bitch and so much more, and continue to offer their support and friendship.

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.

Out-of-sight, out of mind...

Practicing group "out-of-sight" stays at obedience class tonight.  Savi is on the far left, behind her in the ex-pen is Annie B, a 10-week old German Shephard puppy, then another GSD, Chewy, Trixie, the Veego, a GSD and another GSD...is there a pattern here?  

We practice these stays as they are part of AKC Open level competition obedience.  To earn a CDX, or Companion Dog Excellent title, a dog must receive three qualifying legs. For each leg,  a dog must complete the individual exercises, which include off lead heeling, drop on recall, retrieve on the flat & over the high jump and jumping the broad jump.  Then the dogs must remain in place for out of sight groups stays, a 3-minute sit stay and then a 5-minute down stay. The Open class is very challenging and therefore, referred to as the "heartbreak class" in the dog show world.  I agree, we have had a tough time getting Trixie's last qualifying leg to complete her CDX title.  She has competed in a number of trials and been one of the only dogs to pass the individual exercises and then blow it on the stays.  I am hoping that time off from trialing her and practicing in a fun way will lead us to success at our next trial in March.

Savi has not even begun competing in Novice level obedience but we always try to train up.  I have learned from my mistakes over the years and want to avoid issues with out of sight stays with her.  My goal is to have Savi ready for the obedience ring over the summer.  All the time training in obedience has also helped in other areas.  Most notably, was at our recent field training session, where part of Senior Hunter, the dog needs to heel off leash.  Savi is doing well with that and all the training helps with control and focus in the birdfield.

Happy Training!