Updates and Announcements

I've been receiving emails, Facebook messages and blog comments inquiring about my obvious absence from the blogosphere.  This is the longest stretch I've ever gone without blogging since I began over 4 years ago. After some serious reflection these last few weeks I realize a lot of it has to do with no longer having Cleo and Luna in my life. At times this blog has felt like a painful reminder of them and an aching reminder of the void losing them has created for me. It's been difficult to write having lost my muses and the inspirations brought on by their little spotted troublesome selves. It's been something I have had to work through these last few months. I feel I've evolved and grown from it rather than letting it entomb me and the good news is I feel my inspiration returning with a vengeance I and have been thinking about this blog in a very longingly way. 

First Some Updates

Since moving to Montana Sage and I have flourished. There is not a moment that goes by where I'm not completely happy and fulfilled being here. Sage like me loves the big open spaces and all it has to offer including very little traffic. We have even gotten used to its quirky weather isms that spur reports saying things like 70 degrees and sun with a 100% chance of snow. In fact I found myself smack in the middle of a blizzard this week rocking my favorite pair of flip flops.  Such is life in Big Sky country.

Burning off the Spring time crazies up in Hyalite 

Our 2014-2015 hunting season came and went. We didn't get out quite as much as we had hoped too but we did have some fantastic adventures together. Next season will be much easier to navigate since we will have been here a year and will have had time to make connections and figure out the BMA system. I did go back and finish editing a post I wrote but never published on our first successful hunt last fall. It was a pretty memorable day. You can read about it here: These Mountain Grouse don't Stand a Chance

1500 Acre area we were training in Three Forks

Coming full circle training season has once again arrived. We packed up and made the quick trip down to Three Forks a couple of weekends ago to attend the first official Montana Sharptail NAVHDA training day of the year. I was stoked to get Sage out on some birds but the day was made extra special by spending time with my good friends Keith and Kerry Lucas. Keith, Kerry and I were members of the Del Val NAVHDA chapter in NJ and we have been training together for the last several years. They moved to Montana shortly after I did last year. Needless to say it was comforting to be around and training with old friends. In addition the Lucas's own Grace who is Cleo and Luna's older sister. Gracie and Cleo share the same sassy and intense personality so my heart was warmed by just being near her. I hope to be heading out towards Billings in the coming weeks to train with them again.

Kerry working Gracie

Sage is doing very well and is her normal wild woman self. She's proved to be the absolute worst fly fishing dog on the planet. It took only a few times out for her to figure out the best lies for trout in the eddy so of course she stands in them scaring off any hiding giants. When you do happen to tie in a fish it becomes a frantic and spastic dance of her desperately trying to grab the fish and deliver it to hand and us trying to run away with it still on the line. Luckily she has a soft mouth when she does manage to get a hold of one but she's finding herself getting invited on fishing excursions less and less. 

Sage has developed a love of cat food that was clearly inherited from her mother Cleo. Everyday becomes a challenge of barricading it on the counter only to find she has used her GSP super powers to destroy it in our absence and stuff her face on kitty chow bounty. I often think these dogs posses some kind of black magic voodoo that is of course never used for good. Imagine if she decided to use her wizardly to vacuum the house instead of stealing chapstick after chapstick off my bedroom dresser to eat and mash into the carpet. But she is a gem of a dog and has proved to be the best traveling companion a girl could ask for.

Sage Monkey the world traveler. A Yellowstone National Park aficionado. Deep in thought contemplating eating that big juicy bison patty.  

Sage showing off in Lamar Valley just where GSP's rank with wolves, coyotes and foxy loxys.   

Sage and her favorite fly fishing and lap riding partner in crime Wyatt

A Quick Announcement (drum roll please)

Somethings have been in the works behind the scenes and it's time to make it "Internet official" and announce that our pack will be getting bigger! I sent in our deposit a couple of months ago to Sharp Shooters Kennel in Wisconsin and are on the waiting list for a female GSP puppy. I expect our new baby girl to come home sometime between the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016. I can't even explain how the thought of having two shorthairs again makes me feel. I want to bust at the seems with joy. Sage will love having a four legged companion as well. I can only imagine the bewitchment she will teach her future protege. 

So Whats Next?
We have our first big camping trip planned for Memorial Day weekend so I will be blogging about that for sure. Tomorrow we start our weekly training with the local sub-group of the NAVHDA Sharptail chapter. In addition each week will be training on our own down in Three Forks. It's time to ramp up our training for the UT test so I will be updating you guys on our progress. Also I have been re-editing some old posts I started but never quite finished and will be polishing them for publishing. I'm excited about this blog again and am ready to start putting out content. 

Be sure to check us out and follow us on Facebook at: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer. 

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

Be sure to check us out and like us on facebook: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer

NAVHDA Natural Ability and Utility Test Results

The big day finally arrived and yesterday we drove down to our home chapter (Del Val) and tested 6 month old Luna in her NAVHDA Natural Ability test as well as running Cleo in her Utility Test. We had a pretty darn good day. Luna received a prize one and Cleo earned a pretty respectable prize two.  Jim did a great job handling the girls and I thought he showed a tremendous amount of poise for being not only a first time UT handler but running both girls in the same day.

Cleo on point with Jim in the middle and Jake Bean and Robert G gunning

I once caught a fish this big!

Cleo did a great job in the field. She ran big and it took over 2 minutes for Jim, the gunners and the judges to reach her on her first point. I was so nervous I had to turn and look the other way. It was the longest 30 minutes of the day for me but she stayed nice and steady and had a great run. Luna kept the sentiment going and also did a great job making us super proud of our puppy.

Luna on point

The two things everyone worries about on test day are the track for the NA test and the duck search for the UT test. Those always seem to be where dogs get themselves into trouble. Luckily Luna had no issues with the track. Cleo had a super interesting duck search but in the end it all worked out. Our biggest fear was that she wouldn't immediately go out and search that she would mill around the shore for a few minutes before expanding. Much to our relief after 35 seconds she headed out to the furthest part of the pond. After 9 minutes the judges instructed Jim to call her back and he did. Not 20 seconds later she found a wild duck and it took off across the pond with Ms. Sassyspots in hot pursuit. To make a long story short she eventually got her duck and delivered it to hand and we breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Luna Lu AKA Shark Girl

Geneva convention of dogs

This was my favorite picture from the entire day. I wonder if he saw any remnants of my flip flops or jade plants in there. I mean there had to be residual cat poop or SOMETHING...... 

The wheels kind of came off the cart for Cleo when we got to steady at the blind. For some bizarre reason when Jim walked away she stood up and barked at him four times. She has NEVER done anything like that and I couldn't even begin to fathom why. But just to keep the self destruction going (I mean why stop there) she went and retrieved the duck and then dropped it twice before handing it over to Jim. Our hearts pretty much sank and we knew she blew it. She also dropped the duck during the drag which was always one of her most solid parts of the test. It was frustrating to know she had done so well earlier and then stumble somewhat at the end. But regardless we really were happy with the prize 2.

So here is your official WARNING.....I'm about to have a bleeding heart moment. In fact it's incredibly rare. Five bucks says hell is freezing over at this exact moment at the melting of my black little heart. So either run to your TV to watch the news reports of icebergs in hades or sack up and get some kleenex cause were about to get real people.

I'm thankful. Like really flippin thankful. Jim and I were blessed to get hooked in with such a great NAVHDA chapter who's members really rallied around us to help us achieve the goals we set. We have been nothing short of fortunate to have spent the spring and summer training with this group of people.

Flash back moment to Luna working with Bob G when she was only 13 weeks old.

Thank you so much to the folks who came out and gunned, organized, supported, and cooked an amazing lunch for everyone. What a great group of people they are. The judges also deserve a big shout out as they lost a day they could have spent with their families or working their own dogs. Without them we wouldn't get to do what we love. Thank you Larry Lawton from NY, Glenn Basko from NJ and Chip Holcher from MD. You were good judges and we appreciated your insight and thoughts at the end. Also thank you to all you readers. You guys and gals ride the highs and lows of this fun sport with us and for that I'm thankful as well.

As for us and the pointer sisters were going to enjoy hunting this fall. Most likely we will go for a couple of Cleo's master hunter braces and then go for that UT prize 1 in the spring or fall.  I wish part of earning a prize 1 in NA means you have to behave but Lu's already dashed those prayers by trying to eat a frog tonight and then foaming at the mouth profusely. What a jerk. Anyhow like us and follow us on facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer and I'm gonna stop being all sappy. Back to my hardened facade. I got a fight to train for. :)

Say Good Bye to Summer Recap

Even hell puppy needs her beauty sleep

I've been a real bum the last few weeks with my blogging. This is the biggest layoff I've had since I started it more than a year and half ago. My work recently moved and Jim's father passed away making keeping up with this nearly impossible. So I thought I'd bring everyone up to speed with a recap of the last couple of weeks.

We  ended the summer like we always do at my parents shore house in Cape May, NJ. Click here to read about past shore shenanigans. We ate too much, drank too much, partied too much with the rowdy neighbors and slept too much. It was a phenomenal time. We also celebrated as Cleo turned 3 on September 1st. She spent the day running the beach, napping and chewing on fresh marrow bones with her pesky little sister in tow. What a life they have. When I die I want to come back as one of my GSP's.

Nothing like a 50 pound lap puppy to make chilling at the shore a little better.

Cleo and Luna partied like rock stars all night for Cleo's 3rd.  She originally demanded flasher beads but we think she's a little young for that so she settled for Hawaiian lei's. She drives a hard bargain that dog. She waved her paw at me and barked something about what happens in Cape May stays in Cape May!? I tried to no avail to explain to her that was Vegas. Sheesh...kids these days. Anyway below are some post party early morning hangover pics. Luna showed her youth by drinking the hangover off. Cleo not so much.

Someone check that puppy's I.D. Don't believe her if she says its in the car and she'll get it later.

**Disclaimer: The dogs didn't have any booze. Those are our and the rowdy neighbors empties. Don't get riled people. I'm not a jerk.**

But of course no hangover could stop hell puppy from working her magic. She was so well behaved all weekend until I returned early from the neighbors house to find that she had infiltrated the cat litter box and feasted on three days worth of kitty turds. I'm pretty sure her farts smelled like litter for two days. Jim says that only happened in my head. Glad were not voting on it Jim cause they did.

Luna's face full of litter. I wouldn't let her kiss me for a week. Barf.

To top things off we had a 5 1/2 hour ride home in shore traffic which was just enough to stir Luna(tic) into a tornado of destruction. And upon arrival home she managed to eat my favorite hat and destroy her dog bed in about 5 minutes. During the destruction Jim sat about 5 feet away immersed into fantasy football (which he is totally going to loose at by the way because I have the best team in our league, just saying).

Bye bye cute Mossy Oak hat. We had a great two years together. I will lament your loss. Rest in Peace.

Ugh!! WTF Luna!!! Really?

Even with all that has been going on we've been managing to squeeze time in working with the girls getting them ready for their upcoming NAVHDA Utility (UT) and Natural Ability (NA) tests. Cleo is looking great in the field and her duck searches have really come around. She's come a long way since we started training in the spring. Fingers crossed we do well with the UT otherwise I have a feeling it will be a long and quiet ride home with Jimbo. Luna on the other hand were not really worried about. She's 6 months old and impresses us every time we take her out. And she is so young we will be happy with whatever she does. 

Cleo returning from a duck drag

Luna's first track on a live pheasant. 

Brought it right back to Daddy!

So summer is officially over. For most people that probably bums them out. Not me. Aside from not having daily tomato sandwiches from the garden I can't wait for chilly weather, hunting, photographing dogs at field trials and hunt tests, drunken pumpkin carving, venison chili and copious amounts of fantasy football trash talk. This is my favorite time of the year. I'm looking forward to taking Luna hunting for her first time and watching as the leaves change and fall.  Hope you stick around for the ride and find us and like us on facebook. Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.