Savi's Pheasant Hunt

On Monday, we were thrilled to be invited on our first pheasant hunt at a picturesque, private farm in Dutchess County, NY. The weather was unseasonably warm, around 40 degrees and partly sunny. Savi, who has never been on pheasant and also hasn't had any formal training since she completed her Senior Hunter title two years ago, was just beyond amazing in the field.  From the start, she immediately went into full hunting mode, searching for the pheasants and strategically covering ground by quartering, working the wind and picking up scent. 

 Pheasants can be very challenging for the dogs as they are fidgety, tend not to hold in position and  run.  Savi had a fantastic day, found nine birds, although our group had only bought six.  Unfortunately,  my hunting partners were off their game and missed all but two of the birds.  Savi was rewarded for her work and had two lovely retrieves.  My friends, who had never hunted with her before, were quite impressed with her awesome nose and how well she listened.  Savi had solid points, even on walking birds and was tenacious in her tracking them down.  A few times, she went on point and we couldn't locate the bird.  I would release her to relocate and she would only move a few feet before going on a staunch point.  The old saying, "Always trust your dog" was the theme of the day and after scrutinizing the area where Savi was looking, we always found the bird, sometimes 20-30 feet in front of us! She hunted with style and enthusiasm, which we all marveled at, for three hours before we called it a day and a fantastic day at that.

 Savi showing off her agility skills!

 Savi going to retrieve her first rooster - it was a big one!

 Savi, beautiful on point!

 Savi was on an intense point and we finally found the hen about 20 feet ahead in the pine trees!

 The corn fields made good cover for the pheasants.

Savi on point

A truly fun and productive day in the great outsdoors!

Where has the summer gone! Cape Cod & other adventures...

This is probably the longest I have ever gone between blog updates and so much news to share.  We spent the summer vacationing, traveling from Cape Cod to Alabama, competing in dog shows and agility trials, visiting with friends and enjoying many of the pups we've bred in addition to our own girls.  There was also a major health scare with Savi, who has recovered completely, that I will share once the blog is up to date.  The summer included show wins, agility titles, legs and placements and great times with the dogs for all the Grayhart family. We were fortunate to have a number of Grayhart pups come visit and loved having them here.

Now that the weather has gotten cooler and the fall is almost upon us, we have switched gears and started field training, planning our fall show schedule which includes our favorite show, my club, the Garden State Weimaraner Club Independent Specialty, that is also hosting the Weimaraner Club of America Eastern Futurity and Maturity and gearing up to breed Jam.  Weekly agility classes are a highlight of our week as both Jam and Savi, along with their handler, continue to improve.

Here are a few pictures from our annual Cape Cod holiday and we are blessed to be able to spend two weeks in this beautiful place.  The dogs consider it heaven!

 Savi is our star swimmer and retriever!

 She loves to swim and impatiently waits for us to go for our multiple walks/swims each day on the Cape, and will even run down to the marsh with the bumper in her mouth.

 Presley, above, spent the summer with us at Grayhart boot camp, learning to swim and just having a great time!

 The gorgeous view from our deck.

 Plenty of room to run through the salt marsh.

 Presley, below, pure joy!

 A favorite activity for Jam and Trixie is squirrel hunting in the decayed wood pilings.

Cape Cod 2014

Savi doing what she loves most!

We just returned from a fantastic two week family vacation in one of our most favorite places in the world, Truro on Cape Cod, MA.  With four dogs in tow, we had an incredible vacation doing many of our favorite activities. We hiked, cycled, whale watched, toured the Dunes, ate amazing seafood and took the dogs on daily run at the beach and in the salt marsh.  Traveling with four dogs takes much preparation and organization but we are experts at taking them with us on our annual family holiday and make it work beautifully.  Stay tuned for more photos of our trip and tips on traveling with your best friend(s).

Enjoying the fall

We are fortunate to live close to some fabulous state parks and Harriman State Park in New York is one of my favorites.  Last weekend, I took Trixie and Savi for a short hike and even though it is past peak fall foliage, it was still beautiful and we enjoyed having the trail to ourselves.  

After the hike, we drove a short distance to one of the many lakes in Harriman and Savi did some water retrieving.

\Scenic view of the lake.

Savi even had an audience, a group of Japanese tourists, who thought she was quite entertaining. They were snapping away at her swimming and water retrieves.  Wonder if she'll show up on a travel blog!

 Savi absolutely loves to swim and retrieve and it is terrific exercise.

We fit the hike and swim in before the sunset.

Morning Marsh runs

There is nothing like waking up and being able to take the dogs on a fabulous run in the marsh just steps from our rental house. The house is on a salt marsh that is part of Pamet Harbor which leads to the Cape Cod Bay.

   Savi loves to swim and cannot wait to get down to the water.

 Below, a resident Great Blue Heron, who we saw quite a bit of during our stay.

Trixie on the move...

 High tide makes for beautiful views.

 View of Pamet Harbor and the Yacht Club.

 Chipmunk hunting is a favorite Weim activity!  Jam pointing a critter and then the three girls with a team effort but no, they did not catch the chimpmunk.

Cape Cod 2013

We had a fabulous two weeks on Cape Cod, exploring, hiking, cycling, swimming, shopping and eating amazing local seafood, especially lobster...it truly is our slice of heaven.  The dogs had a blast, running in the marshes, on the beach and Savi loved swimming and retrieving in the marsh and bay.  They enjoyed meeting new people and shopping with us in all the dog friendly shops.  Our girls are amazing travelers and it feels just like home having them with us on vacation.  I really enjoy photographing the dogs and sharing their adventures.  

Daily hikes in the salt marsh are fun, give the dogs and people plenty of exercise!

 Truro is our favorite spot on the cape with rolling hills, salt marshes and fantastic bay and ocean beaches.

Running through the hills and swimming after ducks!

The dogs settled into our new routine there pretty quickly and with much planning and packing, we were well prepared to make their vacation with us an easy one.  It is important to make sure when traveling with pets that you not only have their food and depending where you go, water, extra leashes and ID on their collars, but all kinds of medications (check with your vet) and first aid supplies (vet wrap, hydrogen peroxide, super glue, etc) in the event of an illness or accident. We always carry anti-diarrhea medications and antibiotics.  Also, check to see where the nearest vet and emergency animal hospitals are located.  Since Cape Cod is also known for its ticks, we make sure to apply Frontline or Vectra to the dogs a few days before we leave to give them adequate protection.

Just like at home, we set up crates and dog beds for the dogs in the house and show them their potty area and bring a pooper scooper for clean up.  A few favorite toys, treats and special chews, new knuckle bones from White Dog Bone, kept the dogs busy, especially on rainy days. Another important piece of equipment that we "schlep" with us are the xpens, which we attach to the deck.  Since our rental house did not have a fenced yard, it allows the dogs to hang out with us on the deck or alone while we are home, in a safe, contained outdoor area.  For practical reasons, it works great to put them in when we get back from the beach and they are wet and sandy; you sure do not want them in the house full of sand!

I took a ton of pictures and will continue to share some of my favorites in future posts.

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!