Mia-belle's Awesome Weaves

Another pirated post from Jessica's blog.  Again, why recreate it when Jessica explains it so well.  Jessica is a complete novice to agility but her background in obedience training and learning about how Mia-belle learns and what drives her is educational for all of us, plus it's just pretty darn cool!

Mia, Grayhart's Special Request, CD, RA, NSD, CGC

So...I know I have a lot to learn about handling...especially in agility.  Mia has a ton of drive, is really fast, and jumps big...which makes handling her a challenge, especially for a novice handler.  She does not like to slow down or stop when she's running a course.  So if I mess up at all and don't tell her where to go fast enough (or if I get mixed up in the course), she will often make her own decision as to which obstacle to do next.  With all of that said, I am beyond thrilled that she weaves 12 poles and does so pretty independently.  I'm gradually working on guiding her less and less until I can send her into the weaves by herself.  Last night in class, despite how fast she was running, she hit her entrance to the weaves beautifully.  However, her speed and enthusiasm sometimes catches up with her and she popped out after a few poles.  Mia is young and still learning to control herself.  The good news is, I just started her over at the weave poles and she weaved all 12 beautifully.  In time, we will get there.  All of these things that make her a challenge to handle are also what make her so much fun to train and watch. 

Patience, patience, patience:)

Jam earns her 2nd CD leg!

 

At the Monticello Kennel Club Show today, under Judge Betsy Horn Humer, Jam, CH Grayhart's Purple Haze,JH,NA,NAJ,NSD,V, (Parker x Trixie) earned her 2nd Companion Dog (CD) obedience leg. She had a respectable score of 184 and received many compliments on her run, especially from the judge, who said "what a nice working dog she is."

Jam is the 2nd of Trixie's pups and the 1st of Parker's to earn CD legs.

One more leg to go and she'll get her AKC CD title!

Memphis & the Girls

Memphis (Clay x Trixie) next to Jam and Trixie, on his weekly visit for field training and Grayhart boot camp.  Memphis is such a good boy andfits right in to our pack.

Memphis may be bigger than his littermate Savi, but she is faster and more agile!

Nonstop play, just make sure to stay out of their way when they get the zoomies around the yard!

Trixie and Jam have the right idea and watch the youngsters play...

Savi is queen of the hot tub!

Take that!

After two days at our house, Memphis goes home a tired boy...his owners love it!

Mia-belle & Jess continue to impress!

I admit it, I've pirated Jessica's blog post because I couldn't have said it better than her explanation of Mia-belle's show-n-go run and would have used the same photos.  I truly am amazed and proud of how well they are doing in obedience, especially as Mia-belle, Grayhart's Special Request,CD,RA,NSD, (Zeke x Trixie) is Jessica's first competition obedience dog and they are already polishing the Open level exercises which I know can be a challenge.  Mia-belle isn't even two years old and Jessica has exposed her to all things Weims excel at and already has made her mark as a serious competitor in the show ring, competition obedience and rally rings.  They are still training in the field and now, something truly close to my heart, have taken the leap into agility!  I cannot wait to see this awesome team in person when we spend time together next summer.

 

Show-N-Go Spring 2011

We took part in the Azalea Dog Training Club's Spring Show-N-Go this morning. A show-n-go is like a practice competition where owners/handlers can fine tune things in the ring and correct and reward when needed. Being the truly versatile girl she is, I decided to run Mia in open obedience, rally excellent, and novice agility jumpers (standard agility was not offered). She did her obedience runs after one of her agility runs so unfortunately, she was super tired (and a little hot) and did not perform as well as she usually does. However, her out of sight stays were perfect. She even stayed when a bird flew over and landed on the ground in front of her. Needless to say, I am very proud of her for working so hard for me. We had a great time on a gorgeous day and received numerous compliments on our performances.

Getting some tips from the "judge" on our off-lead figure eight (another great thing about show-n-go's - the "callers/judges" offer some great advice and notice things you may not realize you are doing).

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Mia is starting to drop for the drop on recall

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Retrieve on the flat

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Broad Jump

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Couch - 5 minutes after we walked in the door:)

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Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures from our agility or rally runs. Mia did well and showed much improvement in her second agility run.

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Best part of the day - spending it with my girl:)

Savi's Official Win Photo for her 1st Point!

Savi, Grayhart's Shear Genius,JH,NSD,CGC, (Clay x Trixie), went Winner's Bitch from the Bred by Exhbitor class at the Wallkill Kennel Club show under judge Thomas Feneis, handled by her breeder/owner.  Savi is now the 2nd pup from our Bravo litter to be show pointed.

One down, fourteen to go to get her AKC championship!

Jam's Official Best of Breed Photo

Jam, CH Grayhart's Purple Haze,JH,NA,NAJ,NSD,CGC,V, (Parker x Trixie), with owner/breeder/handler, wins Best of Breed at the Rockland County Kennel Club show under Judge Col. Joe B. Purkhiser.

Weimaraner Wednesday - Spring Tease

 After being pounded with snow and ice this winter, we were so excited to finally get back to field training for the first time in almost three months!  Yesterday's temps of almost 50 degrees made it feel like Spring and the dogs couldn't have been happier to be back at the preserve. A friend came out with her beautiful champion Gordon Setter for training.  The three Weims and Gordon had a good run before we started bird work.

 Savi (Clay x Trixie), was turned on by all the smells but remembered what she was supposed to do and found her birds and held her point.  She did move when we flushed the bird and she received  a correction with the check cord.  Then she stood solid for the flush.  She is training for Senior and must hold point until the shot.

 Here Savi turned on scent to find her second bird hidden in the grass.  This one she didn't need any reminders and held steady during the flush, shot and until we released her!  We'll start working more on honoring and shooting over her to get her ready to enter in Senior this year.

CH Jam (Parker x Trixie) impressed us with how she's matured over the winter and held solid, intense points until we released her.  Next session we'll focus on backing and retrieving to get her ready for the April Hunt Tests.

 Gorgeous point Jam!

 Memphis (Clay x Trixie) came for a visit and had his first training session.  He's a very sweet boy and well trained.  We were thrilled to see him show natural ability and interest in the quail. He showed independence in working the fields away from us and loved chasing the birds, something we allow the novice dogs to do to build drive and confidence. Our plan is to run Memphis in Junior Hunter this Spring.

 Now that most of the snow and ice has melted, the dogs were able to really stretch their legs and run.

A fun and successful day in the field!