Nobelles Dances in the Moonlight - Call name Luna

I'm proud to show off our newest addition. Her name is Nobelle's Dances in the Moonlight and we shall call her Luna. She is a full blood sister to our other Nobelles GSP Cleo. Little Luna is 7 weeks old and isn't that little at all! When Cleo was 8 weeks she weighed 7.4lbs. Luna is a chunky monkey tipping the scales at 9.4lbs! But she is just about the sweetest little thing I have ever laid eyes on. We picked her up last night from her breeder Bob Corsaro, in Ridgewood, NJ.

Cleo Puppy Pic when she was 8 weeks old

Luna Puppy Pic from today at 7 weeks! She's a tank...and to think Cleo weighs 61 lbs now. 

We got her home and gave her some time to do her business outside before bringing her in and introducing her to big sis Cleo. Luna was a tad bit shy which is to be expected. I was really pleased with Cleo's reaction as she was very gentle with her and excited. Lots of Cleo tail wagging.

Playtime outside today!

We fed Luna and watered her after she settled in and then we stayed up to give her plenty of time to digest before taking her back outside to do more business which she did. I have to say it really broke my heart when we kenneled her up for the night. We expected her to cry and whine like Cleo did when she was a pup but Luna was asleep and snuggled in before the cage door was closed and locked. She never made a peep all night. She was actually still asleep this morning when we got up at 6:30 to check in on her.

Luna crashed out on the couch after a long day today....love the tongue

Such snuggly sweetness!

I think Luna had an awesome first day with her new family. She spent most of it tromping around the yard after her big sis. She hops like a rabbit and falls over like a drunken sailor. It warms your heart really.

Cleo keeping a close watch

Jim and I managed to work it out that one of us will be home with her all the time until Wednesday. So we will get in lots of bonding and loving time. We also have lots of time planned to just spend with Cleo who is being a champ about the new living situation.

Cleo earns her AKC Senior Hunt Title!

Cleo and Jim with some ribbon bling

What a weekend! First and foremost Cleo passed the final two legs of her AKC Senior Hunt Title. We couldn't possibly be more happy or proud with her performance. She ran really well both days even through some crazy situations (which I will get into shortly). With this title complete we can now focus on her Utility Test this coming fall and then next spring we will work towards her Master Hunter Title.

Cleo on point in the bird field in today's test

Over the past several months Jim and I have learned so much working through this title. In hindsight we ran her in her first couple of tests before she was ready. With her being our first hunting dog and us being newbie handlers we learned as we went along. There are huge differences between Senior and Junior Hunter not only for the requirements for the dog but also on a handling level. There are so many small nuances to handling that if you've never experienced running in that level of a test you learn them by doing it. Sometimes you learn the hard way. A seasoned handler knows how to keep their dog out of trouble, has the forethought to look ahead and see problem areas, knows when to ask to collar the dog, and keeps their cool when the wheels come off the cart. In the end its a game and its important to not forget it.

Cleo's GWP brace mate from Saturday on point

The weather the entire weekend was touch and go. Yesterday is rained and misted all day making it a really tough day to get decent photographs. It also makes for a long day especially when its cold outside. Cleo's run on Saturday went smooth until the gunners missed her first flushed bird and she had to do it all again. The nicest part was watching the gunners blast away and her never batting an eye. Our brace mate had DNQ'd so they brought in another GSP to put on point so Cleo would have an opportunity to honor. Which she did well. The other GSP was CH Pointsetter Shoot For The Stars SH, Call name Piper. Cleo had ran with Piper down in Delaware a couple of weeks ago. She is handled by Bruce Shaffer of Almost Heaven GSP's in Springfield, WV. Cleo also had a very hard retrieve but handled it wonderfully.

Piper on Point

Another pic of Piper doing her thing

Piper and Bruce after she earned her SH title yesterday

Yesterday compared today was a walk in the park. We were once again paired with a handsome GWP who was 14 months old. Both Cleo and the other pup ran big. We worked our way through the back field with little issues. Jim did a great job of keeping Cleo out of trouble and we were feeling great by the time we hit the bird field. Little did we know it would be a stressful disaster.

Cleo's brace mate today....love that face

Cleo on point in the bird field

Cleo's entered the field and quickly went on point. Jim positioned the gunners, flushed but no one shot!! We all stood there and watched the bird fly away. The judges yelled for the gunners to shoot but by the time the safety's where off the bird was too far away. So Cleo had to do it all over again. They put out another bird, Cleo found it, Jim positioned the gunners, he flushed, they fired and Cleo held. Perfect right? Then Jim released Cleo and she went in for the retrieve. As Cleo closed in on the shot bird her brace mate knocked its handler down in the most dramatic fashion I have ever seen and took off after Cleo. When it got to Cleo it ripped the bird out of her mouth and brought it to its handler.

Cleo's retrieve gone awry

The judges had never seen anything of the sort so they decided that they would put another bird out for Cleo and we would have to go through the whole scenario again. Three's the charm right? Meanwhile if Cleo messed up on any of the retries she would fail. Talk about stressful. Jim watered her before her next run and I'm pretty sure he had a quick come to Jesus speech with her. They put out another bird and we went through it all again. The other handler literally laid down on top of his dog. Lucky for us three times straight Cleo did wonderful. She stayed steady and retrieved to hand. Yay Cleo!!

Cleo bringing her bird to hand to Jim!

Aside from our dramatic final brace the entire weekend was a great time. We had a blast hanging with Bruce on Saturday and with our friend Rafael on Sunday. Raf ran one of his Llewellyn Setter's today for the first time ever in a hunt Test. His setter ran a senior hunt brace with a Spinone which was interesting to watch since I have never seen a Spinone run. They definitely beat to their own drum. See below for some pics.

Spinone!

Caleb on point

On the go!

Overall it was a great weekend. This coming Wednesday we get our long awaited puppy from  Nobelles Kennel in Ridgewood, NJ!! Yay!! I can't wait. So not only will we have our goals to work toward with Cleo but we will have a NAVHDA Natural Ability Test and a AKC JH title to work towards for the new pup. So stay tuned next week for puppy pics and be sure to find us and like us on facebook!

Puppy Play Date!

Stella and Cleo

Last night Cleo had a puppy play date with the sweetest 15 week old GSP! Stella is owned by Keith Ehling and Stephanie Raieta. Keith and I went to high school together and set up the play date on facebook a couple of weeks ago. Prepare to be inundated with adorable puppy pics!

Look at that cute face!

Get her Stella!!

Stella is adorable. She has a sassy little attitude and didn't take any of Cleo's crap. Just for fun we gave Ms. Stella Bella a pheasant wing and it took about 2 seconds for her to realize she didn't want to share it with any other spotted dogs.  There is some prey drive in that little bugger! I was impressed with how well she listened.  She spent almost the entire time off leash and checked back in.

I loved getting to see Stella in action. I completely forgot over the past 2 years how cute it is to watch little puppies hop and run. I love how off balance and spontaneous they are. Only two more weeks until we get Cleo's little sister!! Then Stella will have someone to pick on her own size. 

Bird work with friends!

Gunner on Point

Yesterday we drove to Sussex County, NJ to get Cleo out on some birds with Bob C. We are hoping to run Cleo in an AKC Hunt test in the next couple of weeks. Not sure if that is going to happen now. We think she may be coming into season. I'll guess we will know for sure in the next few days. But she had a good day in the field. For me, one of the best parts about training yesterday was my dear friend Jackie Secan came to train with us and brought her GSP Gunny. Below are some pics of him in action.

I Love that face!

On Point - hit the bird from quite a distance!

Gunny has such an expressive face and eyes

Gunner ran in and placed in a few field trials last year. He will be two years old next month and he will be running in a field trail next weekend down in Maryland.  He has a great nose and hopefully Gun Boy will bring home some ribbon bling for Jackie.

Cleo on point

It was fun as always to get Cleo out on some birds. She stayed steady through the shot and had a perfect duck drag. I personally haven't seen her do a duck drag since last year but it was great to see she had no issues.

Cleo being sent out to track by Jim

On the way back

Delivery to hand

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us. If Cleo does not come into season we will be gearing up for her hunt test. Cleo's litter sister will be here Easter weekend and pretty soon we have to start preparing and working towards her Utility Test and then her new little sisters Natural Ability Test. It's gonna be a crazy summer! 

A Beautiful Day of Spring Training!

Cleo on Point

We had a hectic weekend and were not able to make it to New Jersey to train this weekend so we stayed local and managed to find sometime to train ourselves. Jim got permission from the farmer behind his mom's house to use his fields to train in. We had an awesome time and Cleo did phenomenal.  One of the things we focused on was her honoring. So how do you practice honoring when you only have one dog??? A couple of weeks ago Jim had one of his artistically blessed students make an outline for us of a Brittany on point. Jim transferred it onto plywood, crudely painted it and Woody was born!

Meet Woody

Woody has made a huge difference in Cleo's honoring. While we were working her today as soon as she saw him even at a full out run she would stop on her own. Jim and I were elated.

Woody on Point

Cleo stopping on a dime on her own and honoring Woody

Since its been so hard to get birds lately we planted some pigeons. When she would point them we would kick around just like they have you do at her AKC tests, then we would flush and fire a cap gun. She stayed steady on every bird. 

Cleo on point

Cleo watching the pigeon fly off

Jim after he unhooked the pigeons wings and let it fly

Jim also brought a dead bird with us and used it to throw out and have her fetch it. She had no issues and brought every bird to hand. We had originally planned on doing a duck drag and putting out stakes to work on her heeling for her UT test but we were tight on time and we forgot to thaw out a duck. Jim will work on those things with her sometime this week. 

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Lady Bella and her Birds

Monday I ventured to New Hope, PA to photograph a beautiful 19 month old GSP named Bella. Her owner, Patricia Stewart-Busso was looking to get some pictures of her in action in the field. There is no doubt that Bella loves herself some birds! Patty hopes to one day field trial Lady Bella but has been focusing on showing her at the present. Which I find to be super interesting mainly because I know little to nothing about showing dogs. But I feel it just goes to show how much you can do with this versatile breed: Hunt, Trial, Show, Dock Dive, Agility, Obedience the list goes on and on.

 

Honed in on a chukar

Bella keeps a pretty tight schedule with her showing. She's pretty booked up for the next couple of weekends on the show circuit. Patty said she hopes to have her back in the field and training this summer. It was a pleasure to meet Patty and Bella was quite a lovely dog.

Charles Kissinger was there to plant some birds for Bella. He also had his 4 year old German Wirehaired Pointer with him. I asked him to put a bird out for Hunter since I haven't had the chance to photograph a lot of GWP's. All that hair gives them quite a bit of character.

Check us out and like us on facebook at: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.

If your interested in booking a photo shoot with me at Byrd Dog Photography please email me at byrdgirl50@aol.com.