Sage's First Chukar at 12 weeks!

We've had such an AWFUL winter this year in the northeast. It's been a constant barrage of snow and ice storms. As a native Pennsylvanian, people here are ready to tar and feather that jerk groundhog Punxsutawney Phil because this is clearly all his fault. For those of you not accustomed to weird Pennsylvanian traditions which you should all be because Harold Ramis (may he rest in peace) made a hilarious movie called Groundhog Day staring Bill Murray in 1993. In that movie Bill Murray is forced to live Groundhog day over and over and over which is what this winter feels like. It's never frigging ending. But anyway for all of you who may live under rocks if our boy Phil sees his shadow, which he did this year, were doomed to 6 more weeks of winter. Because basing weather predictions on a stinky land beaver isn't weird at all. But anyway you cut it it's still snowing and the ice is still not melting and were still not working birds or hunting as much as we should be. Which is sad. And disappointing. I hate you extra worst than normal winter.

So this past weekend we escaped the PA snow and traveled to the Mills in NJ to join Bob Gelder and a group of his puppies to work them on some chukars. Bob owns Shore Shot GSP's in Ocean County, NJ and had a litter out of his VC female Bonnie 2 1/2 weeks before Cleo whelped her litter. Bob also owns Cleo and Luna's sire Max so all the puppies that were there were half siblings to our big girls which made it even more exciting to see them in action. I think Bob invited us because he knew I'd go crazy if we didn't get Sage out on some birds. Bob is a good friend.

It's like Ghostbusters....don't cross the streams (or leads in this case)

When we got there is was PUPPY OVERLOAD!! There were 6 or 7 puppies from Bonnie and Max's litter! Sage had a blast rolling in the dirt and sand with those pups. It was fantastic from a socialization standpoint and I swear it was the first time Sage has touched anything other than ice or snow in 5 weeks. She was loving every second of it.

I see you Chukar!!!

YEHAW!!!!

WHAT!?! Where are you going?

When it was time to get her out we threw out a chukar and just let her chase it trying to develop some drive in her. When she finally chased it down and got close enough it would hide and you could see her using her nose to locate it. She would flash point it a bit before eventually pouncing. She would pick it up and carry it for a bit. Another throw of the chukar would send her tearing off through the woods. She did an AWESOME job at 12 weeks of age. I think we will do this with her one more time and then transition into not allowing her to have the bird and start popping some pigeons.

Feathers are the new milk mustache

When Sage Monkey was done with her chukar Jimbo took the big girls out and ran them in a nearby field. After they were out about 5 minutes I took Sage up to the edge of the field to see if she wanted to run a bit. When we arrived Momma Cleo who was half a field away stopped dead in her tracks and looked hard in our direction. She took off towards us shifting through her gears and when she arrived she greeted Sage with tail wagging enthusiasm. She leaned in and touched her nose to Sage's nose and I could almost hear her say, come on kid lets go! And off they went with Sage running as fast her rabbit hoppy back legs could go. Momma Cleo and Auntie Luna ran her far across the field and Jim and I stood there together in awe with a feeling of real contentment. This is going to be the best summer ever.

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Back in the Saddle: Preparing for the NAVHDA UT Test

Cleo at Steady by the Blind

This posts title is a bit misleading because we never really leave the "saddle". Were always busy with the girls working towards some type of goal. It's good for our sanity and theirs as well. Well directed GSP energy creates happy GSP's. Happy GSP's eat less of my stuff like expensive flip flops keeping me happy which in return makes Jim happy and then were all happy. I love it when were all happy.

The title is more accurate in a sense that I've been a legit crappy blogger as of late. I've been training for some Muay Thai competitions and the thing that has suffered the most has been this blog. Which sucks BUT after this July I'll be way more dedicated to keeping this blog up to date. This is when I put down my bourbon and lemonade slushy and cover my tye dye t-shirt wearing heart and raise the other hand and pledge to do a less crappy job for all of you readers.....so help me god.

Master Hunter Bling and a happy Jimbo

Now that we have that out of the way a quick spring recap and then onto the UT update. We ran the girls in some AKC Hunt Test braces this spring. Luna was our little super star bypassing Juniors and Seniors and jumping right into the Masters division and passing her first brace at the age of 13 months. By 15 months of age she completed 5 of the required 6 braces. We will finish off her title this coming fall as soon as the seasonal tests become available again. Cleo also did a pretty darn good job in Masters and only has 2 more braces to earn her respective title.

Luna also had her first heat cycle followed by a crazy growth spurt. She is close to an inch taller than Cleo now and maybe four inches longer. Her chest is dropping and we feel she is going to fill out a bit more. She's turned into quite a hellacious tank. My little pupper is all grown up. ***This is when the sad trombone music plays***

Luna returning from her Duck Drag

Cleo being sent on a duck drag. Jim telling her to Track Track Track Track....

Cleo bringing back the bounty

This time last year Luna was a 16 week old puppy and therefore missed out on a good portion of the UT work we put in with Cleo last year. We introduced her to ducks at 18 weeks of age and tried to lay a good foundation for her with mini searches and tracks but we knew the real work would start this spring. This past Friday and then again on Sunday we began formally introducing her to the sequences of the Utility Test. Both Luna and Cleo are scheduled to test in the UT this coming September at the Delval Chapter.

Cleo being sent during the steady by the blind sequence

Luna staying steady during her turn

We kicked training off for the dogs with some duck drags. Cleo has historically done a fantastic job with drags and did so again this weekend. We set a small drag up for Luna on Friday and after a successful first time out he increased the distance on Sunday. She had no issues with the track and we quickly moved onto the Steady by the Blind sequence. The steady by the blind sequence is where the wheels came off the cart for Cleo last year when she tested in UT. Up until that point she had knocked her field work and duck search out of the park with 4's. Needless to say we will be spending more time in this area of the test for her this time around. She did a pretty nice job during training this weekend so we feel were off to a good start. Luna did an exceptional job considering she had never been exposed to this segment of the test before. She heeled wonderfully, sat quietly and retrieved her bumper delivering it to hand.

Luna's duck search

Luna getting to carry her duck back to the truck

Is that Cleo or the Swamp Thing??

After some mud puddle four wheeling we made our way over to the duck search pond. Our friend wanted to see if we could get Luna to go out without a visual. He kayaked out the receiver off of one of his Dogtra remote release traps and hid it on an island across from the area we would send Luna from. The receiver can either quack or beep to be located. If needed we could use the quacking to coax Luna out farther into the pond. Jim brought Luna up to the shoreline for her first real duck search and sent her out. She swam out a ways and then returned not entirely sure what was expected of her. Jim called her over, set her back up and resent her and then our friend hit the receiver with the quacking. It was like fireworks went off in her head and she moved right out into the water, past the island and across the pond to the other side. After about 15 minutes she started making her way back with a duck. Success! It was a great first time out for her.

Water Serpent....Jim's favorite

Kerry Lucas receiving a duck from her girl Indy after a very nice duck search

Occupying my time while waiting for the dogs to return.

Cleo also had a successful duck search. She milled around for a minute or two after being sent but then took off across the pond. It took about 10 minutes before she appeared with her mouth stuffed full of duck. It was a positive and progressive day of training. We'll stay focused on water work for the next couple of weeks and hopefully be a well oiled machine by test time. Below are some additional pics of our and our friends dogs during training.

Cleo and Luna's older sister Grace owned by Keith and Kerry Lucas. I'd LOVE to know what was going through her head.

Indy also owned by Keith and Kerry Lucas jumping a tree on a duck drag

Luna's duck drag hand off

Bonnie's crazed duck game face! Bonnie is owned by Bob G

This is Cleo with the hammer down barreling towards the water. 

Cleo and Luna's father Maximus owned by Bob G

I do love me some dragonfly pics

Miss Grace AKA The Duck Stalker

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Duck Search Seminar Weekend!

Chase a Large Munsterlander owned by Don Kissling

This past weekend Jim and I drove 2 hours out past Harrisburg, PA to attend a special two day duck search seminar put on by Greg Fry (The owner of Deadwood Kennels) and hosted by the Keystone NAVHDA Chapter. Jim and I had first heard about this seminar last year but were unable to attend so we made a special point of signing up and putting it on our calendars earlier this year. Needless to say our expectations were not only met but greatly exceeded.

8 month old Wic, a GSP from Friedelsheim Kennels, owned by Kathy Krommes 

Greg has a great teaching style. He refuses to just give you an answer rather he makes you think about it, quizzing you along the way. He also gets you to participate not only in your own dogs journey but engage with all the other dogs who are there that day. Through that he arms you with a set of troubleshooting tools to help you not only in the present situation but he equips you to deal with what you might run into down the road. His advice and perspective was eye opening.

Greg out in the kayak

Poggi the worlds fastest moving Spinone owned by Deirdre Lehman

Our current situation happens to be getting our 2 1/2 year old GSP Cleo to go out and search without a visual. Once she's out there she's good to go. Cleo is full of drive, has little fear of thick cover and she almost never comes back without her bird. But getting her past the shore has been tough and frustrating for us. She gets to the water and waits for you to throw her something. Greg wanted to remove the human connection and build her drive to want to move out and search. He started off by throwing a duck (without Cleo seeing it) out into the lake and bringing her up on shore to see it and retrieve it. Once she brought it back he built upon that and each time made it more difficult as her confidence grew. With the aid of some additional drills and a few of Greg's techniques, by the end of day one Cleo was moving out and searching without a visual. Success!

Cleo returning with a duck

By day two Cleo was not only still searching without a visual but was successfully being resent. During the seminar she got to do 6 or 7 duck searches in multiple ponds with various kinds of open water and thick cover. It was a great learning experinece for all of us and the exposure Cleo got was outstanding. We will be heading down to NJ tomorrow to work in the water with Bob Gelder and I'm so excited to see us continue to build on this momentum.

Our 18 week old Luna at the waters edge

We also got to expose our 18 week old GSP Luna to duck searches as well. We had brought Luna along to the seminar because we could not leave her home crated for so long. Almost immeaditly Greg got her involved eventhough she was not originally signed up to participate. After the first day 18 week old Luna was swimming 100 feet after taped ducks and delivering them to hand. It was amazing to watch! On day two after Greg really built up her confidence he removed the tape from a rather worn out duck and sent Luna out after it. The look on her face was priceless the first time the duck dived under water but instead of quitting and returning to the shore the wheels started turning and she began a search. After a few minutes she found the duck. The exposure Luna recieved this weekend was more than we could have ever hoped for.

Yay!! Way to go Lulu!!

Luna totally eating lilly pad stems while doing her search. Why is this puppy always eating something?

We also got to meet an amazing group of people and watch all levels and breeds of dogs work. Below are some more pics of the dogs in action.

Deadwood's Junie owned by Bob Dewar

Brown spinone owned by Dan Devlin

Deadwood's Scout owned by Chuck Hershner

8 month old Wic owned by Kathy Krommes

Maggie owned by John Lehman

I would highely recommend attending one of Greg's duck search seminars. Even more so if you are struggling with some aspect of the search, not sure how to introduce your dog or pup to it, or if you are looking to learn some new techniques. Greg has lots of experience and is a wealth of knowledge. He has owned shorthairs since 1984, has been with NAVHDA for 19 years and has 4 Versatile Champions. He spent several years as a NAVHDA judge and was actually the first person to have mother/daughter VC shorthairs. He will and has taken his seminar on the road as he just recently did this past May for the Grand Canyon NAVHDA Chapter in Arizona. Greg can easily be contacted through facebook at Deadwood Kennels to set up a seminar for your local NAVHDA chapter. I would also recommend anyone in the Harrisburg/Gettysburg PA area to reach out to him for upland or versatile dog training. I also want to take a second and thank the Keystone NAVHDA chapter for sponsoring such  a cool seminar!

So overall it was a great weekend. When you go to a NAVHDA event like this your always guaranteed 3 things: 1. Your gonna meet an amazing group of people  2. Your gonna learn a lot of great info and 3. Your gonna get legit bad tan lines. Pretty sure theres no chance of me wearing a tank top for the rest of the summer. Be sure to check back and follow our progress!

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Del Val NAVHDA Training Clinic: Making Progress!

You gotta keep things interesting.....

Saturday Jim and I took the girls back down to the Colliers Mills WMA in NJ to train with the Del Val NAVHDA Chapter at one of their clinics. There are so many nice people there willing to help you achieve your goals with your dog. It's such a positive and fun atmosphere to train in. Saturday was a blast not only for the great training but the head of our group rescued some ill prepared and in my opinion slightly stoned teenagers from a watery sand pit and I got urinated on by a huge turtle. That's right.....I said I got urinated on by a huge turtle. I think it was a red eared slider but I'm not entirely sure. I wasn't to angry about it tho because I'm sure in some far off country its a sign of good luck and who can't use a little more good luck!? Good times people.  Good times.

George - Owned by Kathi Harrington

Anyway.....last weekend while I was vacationing in the snow laden mountains of Montana with my best friend Jen, Jim worked the girls in south jersey. I got to hear all about how well Cleo had done on her duck search and how Luna at 14 weeks had an exceptional track. I'm pretty sure he was just trying to make me jealous. So all his glowing feedback had me looking forward to this weekends training and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed at all.

Cleo on point

As usual we started off with fieldwork. Cleo had a good morning finding and staying steady on all her birds and much to my excitement she retrieved to hand without dropping or adjusting them on the way back to Jim. She also completed a duck drag tracking wonderfully and delivering the duck to hand. Success.

Luna on point

We also put some pigeons out for 15 week old Luna who excitedly pulled Jim to the bird field. When she was released it was apparent she wasn't just running through the field she was hunting and she even displayed some style. I think we have ourselves a little huntress. She found and pointed both birds.  We also did a small 20 yard track for her. She had no problems with it and quickly located the chukar and picked it up. It's a great feeling to know we are laying a great foundation for her.

Luna Lu with her chukar!

There were quite a few other dogs within our group. Below are some pics of those dogs in action.

Lilli the Drahthaar

Blackthorn's Bonnie

Lexi

Kathy Harrington & George

We also worked steady by the blind and duck searches during the waterwork portion of training. All the dogs did really well with it but if you ask me I think the star of the day was Kathi Harrington's George who did all of the UT exercises for the first time and knocked them out of the park.  He sure is one nice pup.

Handsome George

During steady by the blind Cleo did so-so walking at heel. She was rather distracted by a group of members setting up a second launcher for training for VC but in reality that's no excuse. She remained by the blind but did drop the duck the first time through. We worked with her and by the time we moved on she was no longer dropping the duck.

Cleo returning with the duck 

When it was time her duck search was pretty good. Apparently it was not quite as good as last week but she has progressed more in the last three training sessions than she did all of last year in terms of duck searches so we are super happy. We are moving in the right direction and it feels great.

Bonnie

George returning from his first duck search!

So turtle pee and all it was a great day of training! Check us out on facebook and like us for more updates: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.