AKC Hunt Test Weekend in Delaware

Fieldmans Journeyman Jake - watching the bird he just pointed get flushed

This past weekend Jim and I ventured south to "The First State" to run Cleo in two AKC Senior Hunt braces. I can sum the weekend up in one word....Cold. We drove down in a legit blizzard yesterday and although it didn't snow today it was bitter cold mainly because of the vicious winds. But the dogs were out in numbers and running their hearts out.

Cleo's bracemate on Saturday - Piper

Piper honoring Cleo

 Cleo

Cleo had a so-so weekend. She ran well yesterday passing another leg of her Senior Hunter Title. We were pleased with how she worked although we had hoped she would have honored better considering how much we have been working on it lately. But as a whole she did pretty well and we were pleased. The big surprise of the weekend was when we found out that our brace mates on both days would be handled by Bruce Shaffer. Bruce owns Almost Heaven GSP's out of Springfield, West Virginia. I know Bruce through my friend Jackie as he trains her dog Gunny.

Jim and Bruce walking their brace

Piper

Cleo on point with Jim walking in for the flush

Up until this point Jim and I have only run brace's with other amateur handlers. Bruce is by all means a complete professional. He trains all sporting dog breeds including pointing, flushing and retrieving breeds. Both Jim and I learned a ton just watching the simple nuances of how he handled his dogs. It was a real treat. Today I walked an extra brace with him to take pictures of a dog he trains that's on the up and up.  He is 20 month old Fieldmans Journeyman Jake and boy does he have style and wheels! After watching this dog run today I was a believer....pass over the kool-aid. Lol. Below are some pics of him in action.

Jake right before his brace began

On the go!

Jake came right around a corner and had a fabulous honor

Bruce and Jake

If anyone is looking for a trainer in the West Virginia, Western Maryland and or Western Pennsylvania area I would recommend contacting Bruce. He handles all breeds and runs in primarily AKC Hunt tests and field trials. I will actually be attending my first field trial next Sunday when I head to New Jersey to photograph Snip's Sixth Sense Wyatt MH in action. Wyatt is currently ranked nationally in the top 10 for  field trial dogs with the GSPCA in 2011. I'm looking forward to it!

Below is one more pic of Cleo on point today. It's prob my favorite pic of all weekend....mainly because she's my bff and I always feel she has such a stylish point.

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Dog Cave!

A big box was waiting on the doorstep when I got home from work tonight! I was so excited waiting for this to arrive. If you read the post It's been a hard day's night from last month you would know Cleo is snuggler. She loves to be in our bed completely covered by blankets. So I did a little research on the internet and this is what I found.....

The Cozy Cave Dog Bed!

It's a super plush dog bed and it has a top on it so she can burrow in and lounge away. When I pulled it out of the box she knew it was for her but she didn't get it at first. She kept biting the bed and trying to pull the top off of it. I actually climbed inside of it and as soon as I did she made the connection and burrowed in and pushed me out.

Still trying to figure it out and biting the top

I bought it online here. I got her an extra large because I know she likes to spread out. She's a medium sized dog at about 55 lbs but as I have stated in earlier posts she can take up an entire king size bed. And besides if I can fit in it it's plenty spacious. It cost $99.00 but the shipping was free and I had it in about 5 days. She seems to really like it so far! Epic Win!

Now that's a snuggly (and spoiled) dog!

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You say Tomato, I say Tomahto

Nobelles Scout on Point

You say backing, I say honoring. But what is it? Both terms describe a hunting dog that stops and acknowledges another dog on point. It's important if you ever plan on hunting your dog with other dogs. Nothing is worst than a dog that steals points. It's also important if you test or trial your dog in an event where honoring is required. Yesterday Jim and I drove to Sussex County, NJ to train with Bob Corsaro. We focused on backing because we are hoping to finish off Cleo's AKC Senior Hunt Title sometime this spring and it is a requirement.

We took turns having one dog go on point and then bringing the other dog up to honor. We are on private land so we can also flush and shoot the birds and have the dogs retrieve.

Cleo backing Scout

Scout retrieving

Cleo on point

Cleo cleared for landing!

When Cleo runs in an AKC event she isn't always running with another GSP so we not only worked Cleo with her brother Scout, but also with Rafael Franco's two Llewellyn Setters. He has three but only ran two today. They are such beautiful dogs and are a blast to photograph.

9 month old Biscuit

Cleo backing 9 month old Biscuit 

Caleb

Biscuit and Caleb on the go

All three dogs on whoa

Cleo had a pretty decent day. She did some things well and needs to work on other things. But overall we made progress. 

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It's Been a Hard Day's Night....

And I've been sleeping like a dog. Which isn't much of a stretch since Cleo is spoiled rotten and sleeps in our bed. I don't know if I would actually call it sleeping what she does. It's much more like hogging. It's an amazing feat almost like a magic trick how a 54 pound dog can elongate and contort itself to take up an entire king size bed. I have no idea what we will do when we get our puppy in a few months. At least having the puppy sleep in a crate for the first 9 months will buy us sometime.

Cleo claiming her spot in our bed

Every night we place Cleo in between us at the bottom of the bed. She has her own blankie to burrow under. We turn off the light, close our eyes, she starts to snore and somehow in the middle of the night the dog sleep walking begins. She manages to roll on her back and hold the blanket up like she pitched a tent with her extended paws. Which scared the hell out of me the first time I woke up and saw this big outline of something in the darkness.

An early paws in the air by Cleo as a puppy

Cleo with a more developed paws in the air technique

Then she creeps up army crawl style between us until I wake up with paws jammed in my back and a snoring snout in my ear. When I drag her back to the bottom of the bed where she belongs she lays across Jim's legs before somehow managing to make it back to my pillow. Eventually around 4am she gets off the bed on my side, runs to Jim's side and noses her way under the covers were she stays till he gets up at 6:30.

Puppy Cleo crashed out when we were gutting our house

Jim blames me for her need to be under the blankets because when she was a puppy I would wrap her in a blanket and call her the puppy taco or puppy burrito.  But in my defense I never wanted the dog in the bed in the first place! He's the one who broke the no dog in the bed rule I set. Which I busted him for when I came home from work on my lunch break one day when she was 5 months old and I found him arm in arm napping with her.

Me breaking my own rules (For the record I am the biggest offender)

Jim with Cleo and Bailey

When she was a puppy she would get us up everyday like clock work at 5:30am. She ran like a banshee all day and would crash out in puppy coma at 8pm every night. Since she turned 2 she has turned into a lazy bum. She will lay snuggled under the covers wrapped in my arms with her fuzzy face on my pillow till 10:30am on Saturday mornings. I love it. When I get up for work during the week it's nearly impossible to get her out of bed. I'll stand in the kitchen why I make my breakfast or lunch and yell to her in the back bedroom to get her lazy bones up. Even goading her with a truck ride won't pull her from the warmth of our blankies. Most days we have to rub her belly and then physically drag her out of bed to get her going. I have a feeling the puppy will remedy all of this laying about.

First Training Day of 2012

Scout on the run

Today was the first official training day of 2012. Jim has been working force fetch at home the last two weeks but this morning we traveled to NJ with 7 pigeons to work with Bob Corsaro. We wanted to focus on getting Cleo steady as well as having her honor. Cleo's brother Scout from a later litter was there to help.

It was a beautiful and chilly morning 

Cleo on point

Cleo looks absolutely bat s#%t crazy to me in this pic. Makes me laugh.

Cleo had a so-so day. The moment Jim let her out of the truck and he called her around and she blew him off I had a feeling we would be in for a rough day. She was intermittently defiant which was uncharacteristic and frustrating. I'm not quite sure why she wasn't acting like herself but she came home and threw up everywhere and has been pretty lethargic and needy. I'm not sure what the deal is but I'll watch her and if she's not back to normal we'll head off to the vet. She goes there every Tuesday anyhow for daycare.

Jim with Cleo and Jim Given with Scout

It was super fun training with Cleo's little brother Scout today. He is a full blood sibling from a later liter. He is just the sweetest and most handsome boy. Its nice to have him there to train with Cleo because she is so competitive with other dogs and selfishly I love to photograph Scout. Below are some pics of him in action.

Bob had them take turns finding and pointing birds. Then we would cut the other dog loose to honor. They both did a fairly decent job. Cleo would get pretty impatient when it wasn't her turn. So this week we will work her on whoa and keeping her steady. Up until today she was doing really well. I'm hoping it was just a fluke. Below are some more fun pics.

Scout catching major air

Cleo on point

Scout on point

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