Trailers, AKC Hunt Tests and Missing Food from the Counter....Oh My.

When you start posting pics of trailers, campers or RV's on facebook or on blogs it means your hunting dog obsession has reached new unhealthy heights and you should maybe invest in an therapist induced intervention. Just sayin.

We got a new toy!!! Yay! Jimbo and I have talked about getting a trailer for years and finally pulled the trigger through dog obsessed justifications. It's remotely similar to when we had always discussed buying kayaks but could never justify the purchases till we HAD to get one for duck searches. We may be heading up to the Catskills to an AKC test at the end of the month for our maiden voyage! Boom!

Cleo calls top bunk!!

The back of the trailer pushes out to an entire king sized bed to open up the living spaces of the trailer. You can see it in the photo above. The pointer sisters seem to be all about the bunks at the other end of the trailer but I have no doubt they will be squeezing in with us at night. We should all start taking bets how long it takes for Luna to wreck something in the trailer and for me to melt down like Chernobyl. 

***Cleo is not a mountain goat although she would argue that statement. She did not leap onto the top bunk. I picked her 60lb spotted ass up and shoved her up there because it made her happy. Mainly just because her little sister couldn't get up there. #OlderSiblingsAreJerks***

Bone Buddies. Cleo and her daddy Maximus.

Hunt test season is upon us again! To kick things off proper this year we had some well enjoyed company with Bob Gelder and his two GSP's Maximus (Cleo and Luna's dad) and Ms. Bonnie G. The whole crew spent the night at our place last Saturday to lessen their drive up to the Hunt Test in Weatherly, PA on Sunday. We had an AWESOME time kicking back, enjoying some cold ones and watching the dogs roll each other around the yard. After spending two days with Maximus it's apparent that Cleo is not only his clone in the field but in the house as well. Now I know where she inherited the mystical art of counter surfing. 

Hmmmmm. One side doesn't look like the other side. How peculiar.  

In all fairness Bob warned me that Max was a bit food motivated but I completely forgot (let's blame it on the wine) and wandered away from the kitchen for about 2 minutes while making dinner. I returned to a half barren cutting board and an extra attentive GSP. Max managed to stuff his spotted face with approximated 1 1/2 chopped tomatoes and 3/4 of a sliced cucumber in probably a quarter second. Five bucks says he didn't even enjoy it. The main thing I gathered from this experience......Max doesn't like broccoli. Next time have less cucumbers and tomatoes and double the broccoli. I'll show him who's boss. :)

 Some AKC MH bling for Cleo

Cleo passed her first of five required MH braces so I'd like to say that we are well on our way to an AKC Master Hunt Title! I couldn't be more excited or proud of our girl.

Cleo on point with Jim walking in to flush. She held this point for a very long time.

Luna honoring her bracemate Maggie in the back field

Luna sadly struck out but at the age of 14 months we were far from disappointed. She ran fantastic staying steady through the shot, retrieved to hand and honored staunchly several times in the backfield. She got picked up in the bird field for not honoring but it was kind of an odd situation. Which brings me to my main gripe about AKC Hunt Tests....the judges often create / force these odd situations in the bird field and often discount what happened in the back field although it happened in a more realistic hunting situation. But regardless the judges were very impressed with how well Luna did considering how young she is to be running at that level. It was also a good reminder that when competing in these tests your essentially playing a game and it's not like hunting at all. I have no doubt Luna Lu will have her own MH ribbon bling within the next couple of weeks. Bob's female Bonnie also qualified for her first of six required braces. The weekend was an epic win.

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A Tale of Two Dog Beds and One Ill Behaved GSP

A picture is worth a thousand words...and a wine slushy or two

Thursday night I came home from work to discover a class five tornado had touched down in my living room. Please take note that Cleo the innocent one in the back, had her ears down. As the eldest sassy GSP she knew the shit was about to hit the fan. Luna-cifer, the guilty as hell one, stood there proud like she was saying (in my best Thor voice), "Look what I have created!!!" She is totally oblivious that destroying the new dog bed was wrong in any way. I can only imagine how much fun she must have had. I envision her barking at it while intermittently flinging saw dust laden stuffing everywhere while her short little tail wagged in glee. What a jerk. While rummaging through the stuffing I also found the remnants of the cat food plate in there. If only they had gotten their little spotted paws on some alcohol it would have been a frat party scene from Animal House.

So what does one do when their puppy is vibrating from all the pent up energy? You let them out into the yard to run laps while you clean up the mess. I still stand firm that this is quite possibly the best video I have ever taken. Fingers crossed I could win an Oscar for this....Best Director of a Dramatic Animal Documentary. 

All of this is a result of them not getting out to run. It was raining at the end of last week and everything was a mud pit. It all comes down to simple math. BORED GSP's + NOT ENOUGH EXERCISE = DESTRUCTION. On the other hand TIRED GSP's = HAPPY GSP's (which is the equivalent of happy owners). Now that we have that out of the way there is no excuse for the next picture which sent me into profanity laden fits.

This is why I drink.....well not really. But more importantly WHAT THE HECK LUNA!??!

This was an old dog bed I threw into the same spot as the new one Luna destroyed so she would still have something to lay on.  It lasted four days. FOUR DAYS!!! And then she destroyed it after having spent 5 hours running like a banshee at daycare WHILE Jim was home. Cleo just laid there idly watching her have her way with it. So time for some new math: LUNA + DOG BED = JERK. So I told Jim no more dog beds in that spot....which funny enough is her spot. So now she lays happily on the floor in the spot where her dog beds used to be or squeezes into Cleo's dog cave with her. But there has been no more destruction since...well she destroyed all her dog beds and we haven't replaced them. She hasn't even attempted to maim anything else in the house. She is such a quirky little pup. So she's officially on dog bed probation for the next month. Maybe she'll get off early with good behavior but judging by historical prior wrongs....I highly doubt it. :)

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Baby Luna Turns One!

On February 15th, 2012 our whole world changed. Jim and I patiently waited for 18 months for Bob Corsaro of Nobelle's Kennel to produce a repeat breeding of his female Tessie and Bob Gelder's male Nobelle's Dbl Trbl Maximus MH. This specific breeding had produced our other female, Cleo two years prior. In addition we were extra excited as we had pick female!

This time last year Tessie produced 8 males and one single female. I couldn't have been more excited but Jim was pretty bummed out the breeding only produced one female. So much for having pick! I could have cared less and told him it just meant that Luna was meant to be....she was ours from the moment she was born. It was destiny. He would eventually come to agree with me.

Luna looking to feed within minutes of being brought into the world. She was one of the first couple of pups born. She was so white and looking extra guinea piggish!! (The next three photos taken by Bob Corsaro)

Luna facing the camera a few days after being born. She was born with a white sash on her head (the sign of the devil) just like her big sis Cleo. It has since turned liver but the hell puppy attitude remains stoically in place.

Baby Lu at a couple of weeks old. Starting to get some color!

Here is a quick video of Luna in the whelping box the day we picked her up! 

Jim and I had an agreement that when we picked up Lu I would get to be the one who held her on the two hour ride home since he held Cleo two years before when we made the trip. She seemed so small...smelled awful and was perfect in every way. It was like holding a little piece of our soul in my arms. She was the sweetest puppy and cooed regularly and pushed back in your embrace as if cherishing it. 

Luna getting a hold of my sweatshirt string in the whelping box. I should have realized this was the first sign of trouble.

Once we got her home Cleo was excited and interested but after Luna spent the night Cleo wanted her gone. It took about 8 days for Cleo to get fully on board and love her the way we did. Below are some previously unshared videos of our first days together as a family. 

Day 3 or 4 I believe when Cleo first starting making an effort

I can barely stand to watch these videos as they pull on my heart strings so much

This video was taken on the day Cleo finally gave in (day 8) and started to Love our Lu.

Luna has completed our lives. She's the missing piece to our puzzle and there is not a second were not glad we waited for her. She's quirky, and funny and will happily destroy your shit or steal your things faster than you can catch her in the act. She cries like crazy when she sees her Sammy Lou and gives the best kisses ever....even better than Cleo. She has a nack for finding trouble and moles and prefers sleeping under the covers. She always has a wagging tail and loves to chew off Cleo's collars. We love her and couldn't live a minute of our lives without her.

Not such a little white guinea pig anymore. 

This past year has flown by and I just want to thank everyone for being along on the hell puppy ride with us. It's been awesome to share this adventure with so many cool people. I still can't believe my baby is getting so big. Here's to many many more years of Luna Shenanigans!!

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Super Dogs...Well sorta

While preparing a delicious dinner last night I watched out of the corner of my eye Cleo circling the kitchen like a shark. She intently observed my movements all the while taking note of the counter placement of all food and paper products. Her visibly moving nose giving insight to her plans. Being the grizzled veteran she is I watched her slyly check all the paths to flee before slowly shimmying towards the counter.

Meanwhile Luna sat quietly in the corner pretending to not watch the scene unfolding in front of her. Lies Luna....all lies. I took about three steps away and turned as the tension in the kitchen shifted and before Cleo could move another muscle I warned her spotted ass with spatula in hand:

Me: Don't do it Dogface.
Cleo: **Head tilt**
Me: You clearly have super powers with your nose. Use your powers for good Cleo...not evil.
Cleo: **Blinks Eyes**
Me: Who do you want to be Cleo!??! Lex Luther or Superman!?!
Cleo: **Sits down**
Me. My girl.

Satisfied with my quick come to Jesus speech with her I turned around as Cleo jumped like a ninja onto the counter stealing a wad of paper towels and taking off with her sidekick in tow. She clearly chose the Lex Luther route. As they wedged themselves under the dining room table to shred their bounty I knew somehow this would lead to me making superhero outfits for them because this how my brain works. For the record I immediately called Jim at work to tell him I needed a sewing machine which he totally didn't understand because this idea's level of awesomeness is just entirely too much for him.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an ill behaved shorthair!

I can not stop laughing at this photo. 

In reality I should have made super villain costumes for them as they clearly chose the dark side but villain costumes are never as cool as super hero costumes. Check us out and like our madness on facebook: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.

The Second Dog Conundrum

It's a big question and it eventually comes up. Should you or shouldn't you get a second dog? Clearly Jim and I have two dogs....two very sassy and spirited german shorthair pointers. So obviosuly we grappled with the second dog conundrum ourselves. Our original motivations were we wanted a playmate for Cleo and another hunting dog in the field and for some unexplainable reason it just felt like it was time. That's not to say that the idea didn't scare the living hell out of me. I was comfortable with how life was. We had a routine and I knew each day what to expect in our little family dynamic and we were all happy. Getting a second dog meant things were going to change and I had limited control of all the factors. There where so many what if's.

**** I just reread those last three lines like four times and realized that they made me sound like a legit control freak. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Freud.****

When we made the decision to get Luna we decided to get a puppy. Not to say by any means that that is the only choice. Rescues....especially breed specific rescues do a great job of placing the right dogs in the right home.  But regardless if you choose to get a puppy or rescue a dog make sure you get breeds that are compatible in energy level. Getting a bassest hound as a playmate for Cleo would have been a disaster....just saying.

One of the things I remember us battling with was whether we should get a male or a female pup. We choose to go with a female after quite a bit of flip flopping. The main reason being Cleo is not fixed which is very common in the hunting / testing / trialing world. We logistically didn't have a way to keep a male separated from her for the duration of two 30 day heat cycles a year. We were also pretty turned off by how much unfixed males mark. So for us the choice ended up being rather easy. As far as choosing a male or female you need to pick what fits your life and family the best. If you have a territorial male you might want to get a female. If you have an older calmer dog you may want to rescue a senior dog as opposed to getting a puppy. Examine your lifestyle and current dog and the answer might be easy.

Getting Luna ended up making our life so much easier...well not at first actually. Cleo went through some phases over about an 8 day span. The first night she was interested and excited about Luna but by morning when she was still in the house she was benevolently wounded. Then she became jealous, then indignant, then slowly she became accepting and then finally on the 8th day Cleo fell in love with her and I stopped binge drinking from all the stress of it. Life has for the most part been happily ever after. That is accept for the 6,000 moles Luna has killed and all my hats and jade plants she has destroyed. Then there was the getting stuck under the deck incident...but I digress.

Some of the benefits of getting a second dog for us has been that they enjoy being with each other and playing with each other. They absolutely occupy each others time. They play tug of war, zoom around the yard after each other, hunt for moles together, dig big holes in the mud, roll each other through bushes and chew on each others faces. There are times when they snuggle up on the couch together or cram themselves into their dog cave together and clean each others ears that it just pulls on my heart strings. They for all intensive purposes love each other. Over the holidays we sent Luna to Bob Gelder's house for two weeks and Cleo was legitimately depressed. It's also like poetry in motion to watch them work a field together and honor each others points.

Although getting a second dog ended up not being anymore work for us than having one keep in mind that it's twice the food bill, twice the vet bill, double the heartworm and flea meds, double the daycare costs and when you go on vacation its double the fee for kenneling. But in my opinion its a small price to pay for the richness they bring our life.  We'll never have just one dog again. I will say tho that we were very glad we waited till Cleo was two and half years old before we got Luna as she was fully trained making it extraoridinarily easy to train Luna. I am now not worried about ever adding another pup to our pack and we most likely will in 2014.

So if your considering adding a second pup to your pack its totally normal to be a little nervous or unsure about it. It's a pretty big commitment. Do your research, talk to experienced breeders or rescue volunteers and make sure you can handle the extra financial commitment. Once you start doing your research you will most likely know pretty quick if it's the right decision.

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First hunt of 2013!

Cleo on point with Jimmy in the foreground

Keeping with tradition Jimmy and I got up and started 2013 off right with a morning hunt with Cleo. Nothing thumbs a nose at old man hangover more than loud blowing whistles, shotgun blasts and the smell of gunpowder. In case anyone was curious Luna Lu didn't get to tag along as she was goose hunting with Bob Gelder in New Jersey today.

Cleo has a scabby ear from woodcock hunting last week

We had a successful morning and what I really mean by that is that I didn't throw up, fall in any puddles and Cleo did a kick ass job. She found and Jim flushed and shot a bunch of chukars. The last one he winged and it flew two full fields over before crashing to the ground just shy of the impending tree line. There was no possible way Cleo could have seen where the bird landed. Jim sent her for the blind retrieve and she bolted across the two fields and immediately began a search. Jim and I took our time working our way over and by the time we arrived she had located the chukar. She never ceases to amaze me on her blind retrieves.

I love a good woodsy point

After our hunt we kicked back on the couch and Jim amused the living hell out me by practicing his goose calls with his new Lynch Mob goose call I got him for Christmas. I also got him a DVD on calls, blinds and decoy placement ect. I couldn't stop laughing through the DVD.

Me: Bahahahaha. Jimbo.....your hobbies are flippin hilarious.
Jim: My hobbies!?! Your like a drug dealer....I find something I'm interested in and you just keep loading crack in my pipe! You get me hunting dogs, goose calls and decoys! This is partially your fault.
Me: I don't know what your talking about. Make that goose noise again.

Cleo is very interested in all that racket. 

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2012: The Year in Review

Let's get this party started!

Tomorrow this blog turns two years old....I can hardly believe it. I'm no longer sure of what my original intentions where with starting it but it has for all intensive purposes taken on a life of its own. This blog has brought me closer to dog lovers (especially GSP ones) and hunters and photographers from all over the world. It has also blessed me with a cathartic platform to expose the shenanigans we experience daily in our lives. I can only imagine that the reason Cleo and Luna's following has grown so much is because so many of you awesome readers have experienced or can relate to some of their ridiculous antics. So like last year I'd like to do a quick recap of 2012 and share how far the blog and facebook page has come over the last 12 months.

Nobelles Dances in the Moonlight - Call name Luna

The biggest single event to effect our daily lives in 2012 was the addition of our sweet Luna Lu. She entered this world on February, 15th 2012 and officially joined our family around Easter. She has lovingly completed our pack while managing to continuously raise the bar of destruction in our home. She's eaten my underwear, expensive high heels, managed to get stuck under the deck, destroyed my favorite jade plant, ran off with at least three welcome mats and chewed off every corner of my dining room rug. She has also proved to be an impressive hunter. At 6 months of age she passed her NAVHDA NA test with a perfect score and by 10 months old has hunted pheasants, chuckars, quail, woodcock and gone goose hunting.  Getting a second GSP was the best thing we ever did for us and for Cleo.

Look!!! The Elusive Easter Pointer brought us a puppy!! Best Easter EVER!

I made a few changes to the blog this year and added additional pages on us, our dogs, and super cool links. The links page has a plethora of cool info and links to like minded individuals blogs, cool forums, facebook groups, hunting dog photography sites (not just mine), rescues and a responsible GSP breeders listing. If you have never checked it out you should take a second and look through it.

In 2012 this blog has been visited more than 25,000 times. We had visits from all over the world including the following places (in no specific order): The Unites States, Canada, UK, Russia, Germany, France, South Africa, Ukraine, Thailand, Philippines, Turkey, Romania, Pakistan, Norway, Australia, Singapore, Bulgaria, and Chile. People find us all kinds of ways but the following sites send quite a bit of traffic our way: Google, Bing, Yahoo, Upland Journal, Gun Dog Forum, Hunting PA, Birdhunter, Versatile Dogs, Pinterest, and of course Facebook. In the last year our facebook page called Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer has grown from less than 100 followers to over 330. The facebook page has been a blast and I love the immediate interaction it gives me with all you awesome readers. Especially when I get all liquored up and dress the dog in snorkel gear. Good times people.

Poor choices?? I think not!

Out of the 42 blog posts written this year some of the posts that got the most traffic are:

My new logo!
Raising the Bar of Badness
Life with German Shorthaired Pointers: Part 1 (Part 2 coming in 2013)
The Anatomy of Digging a Damn Good Hole in Daddy's Yard
The GSP Puppy Chronicles: Kicking Mischief up a Notch
Surviving Sandy
Rise and Shine and a Little Hunting Banter
Sweet Potato Dog Treats
Dog Cave!
NAVHDA Natural Ability and Utility Test Results
The Puppy Chronicles: 12 Weeks Old and Looking for Trouble

Don't party to hard tonight Cleo....just saying.

It's amazing in hindsight how fast a year flies by. Every New Years Eve leaves me looking forward to and wondering what the next 365 days will bring. 2012 was a good year for us and I'm hoping 2013 brings us good things too. Life is too short to hope for anything less. Tomorrow Jim and I will take Cleo hunting....which is our New Year's Day tradition. I mean what celebrates a New Year better than loud shot gun blasts when hungover!?!  I hope everyone stays safe tonight and enjoys themselves. Jim, Cleo, Luna and myself thank you for following our adventures and wish each of you a healthy and prosperous new year.

Rise and Shine and a little Hunting Banter

Both Cleo and Luna sleep in bed with Jim and I. This was something I adamantly fought when we first brought Cleo home but then I quickly became the biggest offender. Things only got worst once baby Luna joined our pack. Although both dogs excel at hogging covers and taking up as much space as possible they are quite different when it comes to waking up in the morning.

Mommy's little love bug

How Cleo wakes you up: If she wakes up before Jim or I she gradually starts to army crawl up the bed. When she finally reaches you she touches you with her paws and curls them back to her like she's trying to hold you. If your smart you hold out and pretend you don't notice this and eventually she worms her way up and rests her spotted dog face on your neck and nuzzles in. It's rather heavenly actually. In fact, she did this very thing to me this morning. We embraced and I sung to the Folgers coffee theme song, "The best part of waking up is Cleo in the morning." As my sister in law Becker says...why talk when you can sing?

How Luna wakes you up: Instead of quietly stirring she kicks around like a toddler having a tantrum and sighs heavily over and over again. It's almost like she's annoyed your not awake yet.  After about 30 fidgety blows she stretches, flaps her ears and yawns so loud that she might as well be howling. Then she storms across the bed like Godzilla taking Tokyo, kicks you in the lip with her dog talons drawing blood and then immediately drops a dog saliva soaked stuffed fox on your face. Well good morning Luna. After standing triumphantly with one paw jammed into your chest she flops down unapologetically and begins to speak Klingon to Cleo and chews on her ears. Within minutes a canine brazilian jiu-jitsu match breaks out on top of you and your expeditiously forced to retreat to the safety of the bathroom to save yourself from being trampled to death. Fun stuff. All before morning coffee. (Which is hilarious as I hate coffee but couldn't say "All before my morning earl grey tea" as it makes me sound like a flippin pansy).

Someone looks awfully innocent when sleeping huh? Till she jabs you in your sleeping face.

Anyway the past week has been quiet in our house as we basically tried to recuperate from four days of liver injuring Thanksgiving festivities. Luna did destroy by favorite Victoria's Secret cheetah bra and somehow found and ate a Frisbee I didn't even know we owned. We also managed to hunt almost everyday over the holiday and we had our first experience with goose hunting!  

6 dog Thanksgiving morning hunt. This pic includes Cleo and Luna, one of their older sisters Grace, a middle sister Maggie, their father Max and Blackthorn's Bonnie! From left to right: Cleo (3), Bonnie (16 months), Luna (9 months), Max (8), Maggie (2) and Grace (4).

Cleo rocking the intensity while on point

Little Luna Lu with a very nice retrieve

The goose hunting was a blast. Bob Gelder invited us to his spot in New Jersey and we spent half a day camped out in his blind with Cleo, Luna, Bonnie and Bob's friend Marty. At first the dogs were a little confused at the goose calling and having to sit in the blind but they quickly caught on that after all the shooting you get to retrieve gigantic birds. Epic win!

Cleo in the decoy field

My view from the blind

Cleared for Landing!

At first Cleo wasn't sure what to make of the Geese but by the end of the day she was lugging them back to the blind. Baby Luna on the other hand (who is not forced fetched) didn't quite build up the confidence to pick them up and bring them back. She did however run excited laps around them barking. It was in all honesty very funny and cute. By dusk it is was quitting time and after having spent three hours pheasant hunting in the morning and 4 hours goose hunting in the afternoon 9 month old Luna climbed into my lap in the blind and leaned into me as if saying I think I need a nap mom. We left excited knowing we found another new addiction.

Cleo lugging the goose in

Luna and Bonnie wishing Bob would give the goose back

Bonnie G with an awesome retrieve

I think the next thing on Jim's list is some duck hunting. Anyway check us out and follow our shenanigans on facebook at: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.