J-S Pups Day 43: Six Week Stacks

 We began stacking our Rockstars when they were five weeks old and here are the six week stacks.  The purpose of stacking or making the dog stand in a specific stance, it to to see all parts of the dog's structure to determine if he follows the standard of his breed.  When a dog is shown in conformation shows,  the dog is stacked so that the judge can lay "hands on" the dog and examine him to feel his bone structure and muscular condition.  We stack the dogs to get an idea of their conformation each week with the final evaluation at eight weeks.  

Miss Purple

Miss Green

Miss Stripe

 Miss Yellow

Miss Leopard

Miss Raspberry

 The pups love the cream cheese we use to help them focus and stand in place.  The stacking blocks are another tool we use to teach the pups to stay where we place their fee.

Mia's official Specialty Major win photo

 Mia, Grayhart's American Woman, CGC, (Parker, BISS GCH HiBourne's It's All About Me, BROM x Trixie, CH GraytSky's I'm Not Really A Waitress, CD, RN, AX, OAJ, V, BROM), was Winner's Bitch and Best of Winners for a 5-point major at the Garden State Weimaraner Club Independent Specialty show on October 7th.  Huge thanks to Steve Lane, Parker's owner/breeder for handling Mia to this awesome win under Judge Mrs. Lisa Warren.  Daddy Parker was also awarded Select Dog at the specialty.  In 2010, at this show, Mia's littermate, Jam, CH Grayhart's Purple Haze, JH, CD, OA,OAJ, SD, VX, won the Open Bitch class and was awarded Reserve Winner's Bitch and Mason, now CH Grayhart's Daily Special, (Zeke x Trixie), won the 4-point major and was Winner's Dog and Best of Winners!

Mia was shown during the Labor Day weekend show circuit and won all three days! Mia has 7 points towards her AKC show championship title.

J-S Pups Day 42: Six Weeks Old - how time flies!

 The Rockstars turned six weeks old and this week brought lots of exciting changes.  Some of the pups went for rides in the car, we spent lots of time in the kitchen and set up an alternate pen in the dining room.  They took turns being out alone and in different groups, some in the pen, while others played in the kitchen.

 With the weaning process complete and Jam dried up, she enjoyed being with her kids.  She is such an amazing mother and loves her babies.

 Jam spending quality time with one of her daughters.

 She teaches them proper manners and gives appropriate corrections that go a long way in how they will learn to behave around other dogs.

AKC Meet the Breeds 2012

Last Sunday was a super busy day as we had volunteered to man the Weimaraner Club of America booth in the morning, at the 4th Annual AKC Meet the Breeds event held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.  This is a huge event with over 200 breeds of dogs and cats plus demos and vendors. 

I brought Mia, Grayhart's American Woman,CGC, to be my ambassadog for the WCA booth.   In the afternoon, Bonnie Lane came with Mia's sire, Parker, BISS GCH HiBourne's It's All About Me, BROM. The event was very crowded and everyone who walked by wanted a chance to pet, kiss and hug Mia.  And it was nonstop flashbulbs as too many people to count, wanted a photo op with our supermodel. 

Mia turned on the charm and was an awesome representative for our breed, impressing everyone she met with her sweet disposition, stable temperament and terrific training.

The WCA booth was decorated with photos of Weims doing everything from agility, obedience, swimming, hunting, showing, etc. There were also informational handouts on the breed and books for people to peruse.

We were very proud of the great job Parker and Savi did representing our breed. The only catch is that everyone assumed that all Weims are as laid back and well trained as our crew...unfortunately that isn't the case. We spent a lot of time educating people on the characteristics of the breed (high energy, need for a tremendous amount of exercise, very intelligent) and what a huge commitment it is to own, train and socialize a Weim or else they can be destructive, skittish, wild and even aggressive. Yes, they are a beautiful breed but much more and not the right dog for most people.

J-S Pups Day 36: Party On

 The Rockstars, (Summit x Jam), had a busy social schedule this weekend with old and new puppy people visiting. On Saturday, Mia, Jam's littermate and her owner came to see the pups and Mia had a sleepover so she could attend the AKC Meet the Breeds with me on Sunday as a Weimaraner Ambassadog, more about that in another post.  Our good friend, KellyAnn made her weekly visit and the Ryan family joined in on the fun, trying to guess which adorable pup will end up as part of their family.

Sunday, we rushed home from the city for some very special visitors, Nina and her friend, Karen, who drove six hours from Pittsburgh, to see the Rockstars.  Nina will be getting one of our show/performance pups and we've known each other through the Weims for years.  As you can see in the photos, ear-to-ear smiles.  The pups did not disappoint and Nina took a ton of great photos and videos.

 Purple girl telling Nina a secret!

 Nina makes wonderful fleece tug toys and blankets for TriState Weimaraner Rescue to sell for fundraising and made some very special ones for our pups - they were a big hit!

 After running around for hours, the pups were exhausted.

 The tunnel came out for the first time with this crew and no fear, all went in, through and chewed whatever piece they could grab.  Nina was amazed with how confident, curious and active the Rockstars were during her four hour visit.

 Miss Stripe on the wobble board.

 Kisses for daddy!

 Back to their favorite dog bed for a nap...

J-S Pups Day 34: Tipsy Turvy

 The 5 week old Rockstars had a blast running around the kitchen for the first time.  Bold and curious, they loved all the new smells, toys and especially, the tippy board.  This group will make great agility dogs!

 Ohhh, a big dog bone!

 Pile of puppy love!

 Kisses!

Therapy Thursday with Trixie!

After many months of hiatus from making therapy dog visits, we were happy to resume our visits today and Trixie made her first official Pet Partner, formerly Delta, Therapy Dog visit.  We went to the home for developmentally disabled men where I had taken Jam and the staff warmly welcomed us back.  The residents were happy to see us and it was obvious they recognized me but I'm not sure if they realized that I had a new dog with me as Jam is still on maternity leave.  We spent one-on-one time with a special consumer and it was if we had never been away.  He enjoyed feeding Trixie and petting her.  Trixie thought it was grand to get non-stop treats for just being her wonderful self!  As you can see in the photo above, she was happy and her tail is a blur from nonstop wagging!

J-S Pups Day 33: Playtime

 The Rockstars are growing likes weeds and spend their days eating, sleeping and playing.  They now engage with each other as well as play with toys.  The pups have been using the litter box 90% of the time, making my cleanup much easier.  The adore the dog bed, bought at CVS of all places and sometimes they nap in the crate.  A busy week for the humans so not much time to update the blog but as you can see, lots going on with the Rockstars.

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!