Here it is!
Gunnar, Birdy and I made the long journey down to South Louisiana for a hunt test this past weekend while Shawn and Gabi were in Kansas pheasant hunting. Although the trip is long, I love going down to this test every year. It is held by the South Louisiana Vizsla Club and these grounds hold a lot of great memories for me and my dogs. This was the first place Gabi ever saw a quail at a fun day, and this is what started me on the path of doing hunt tests, field trials and hunting with my dogs. Gabi showed me what the true passion of a Vizsla is and now it is one of mine as well.
Gunnar decided that he would add some great memories of his own! Saturday, he had a great run with two finds on course. He had a call back for an honor through the retrieve and he NAILED it with a perfect score!! So we got a pass and just needed one more to finish up his Master Hunter title! Sunday started off a little warm at 68 degrees and fog. This didn’t slow him down one bit! Another great run with 2 finds and a stop to flush…another call back for an honor through the retrieve. He goes in and honors the dog….I walk up to him and he is on my left. The other handler goes to flush the bird, it gets up, flies right towards me and lands about 6 feet behind me off my right shoulder. Gunnar turned his front feet to mark the bird that is a little too close for my comfort! So then the gunners toss a dead bird for the other dog to retrieve after the “shot”. Gunnar stands through all of this and gets his final pass!!!
Needless to say, I am SUPER proud of this boy!! He has come a long way and he keeps impressing me! He has accomplished so much and all before his fourth birthday next month!! I am one lucky lady that now has TWO Master Hunters!!! No pressure Birdy! 
Gunnar is now over half way towards earning his Master Hunter title! He ran in the TVWC hunt test and didn’t do so good on Saturday, but bounced back and passed on Sunday! LOTS of birdwork on course, but we managed to make it through with a pass – AND a perfect score for his retrieve!! I’m proud of my boy!
We went up to Yoder, KS for our first hunt test of the season. It was put on by two different clubs, so Gunnar got to run four times in one weekend. We have only gotten to train with him twice before these tests since it’s been so hot, but he performed very well! He came home with TWO Master Hunter passes!!! I’m VERY pleased with him and we have three more weekends in a row of hunt tests! Hopefully he’ll do just as well and get this title done!
I had a car load of girls with me for the four day conformation show and three day agility trial in Belton! Birdy, Abbie and Gabi all came with me…Birdy and Abbie for conformation and Gabi for agility. Birdy picked up a win for two more points one day and went reserve another. Gabi double Q’d one day to finish her Novice Agility Jumpers title and got her first leg toward her Open Standard title!!
Here’s Gabi’s winnings:
I took Birdy and Abbie to the Canton show in mid-October. This show was going to be a challenge for me since I somehow tore my cornea the previous Wednesday and had blurry vision in one eye and had to wear my glasses. The glasses seemed to be a good luck charm, however, since Birdy took WB on Saturday and Abbie took WB/BOW on Sunday!! Go girls go!!
We had a great Nationals experience this year in Denver, CO. I took Gabi, Gunnar, Birdy and Abbie (Birdy’s sister) with me, so I had a car full! We went up to Castle Rock, CO the weekend before the National events started so Gabi could run in an all breed agility trial. This would be her first ever AKC agility event.
On her first run in the jumpers course, I was a little nervous and Gabi was a little excited and my poor handling trying to go too fast caused her not to qualify. She had a blast though! So I told myself to slow it down and be in more control when we ran the standard course a little later. Thankfully I wasn’t as nervous and took it slow and she qualified!! The next day we did it again on both coursed and double qualifed (double Q’d)!!!
We then made the short drive into Denver and settled into the host hotel for the Vizsla Club of America National events. Agility was run on Monday on an indoor soccer field with really nice turf. Not as much for Gabi to smell!! She did great again and double Q’d again which finished her NA (standard course) title! Not only did she qualify, but she finished first in her division with a score of 95 on the standard course and 100 on the jumpers course! I wasn’t proud at all!
Then the show portion of Nationals began on Tuesday with Sweeps. Birdy and Abbie showed great and Birdy won her class!! The regular classes started on Wednesday and again, Birdy won the AOH class! Birdy and Abbie showed together in brace and came in third!! Gunnar showed in the Hunting Dog class on Thursday and took third. The Rocky Mountain Vizsla Club specialty was on Friday and Abbie won the 12-18 month class which was very competitive! Birdy also won the AOH class and Gunnar won the Hunting Dog class!!
At the end of the week, I was very tired, but think it was well worth it!
The South Louisiana Vizsla Club Specialty was held over Labor Day weekend and we made our way to Monroe, LA to join in the fun. After not showing very well for me in sweeps (not to mention Birdy was half way through her first season and a little off due to that), I had to get Birdy a little more excited about being in the ring. She won a very nice 16 squeaker alligator for winning her class in sweeps so we decided to play around with it and she loved it! So then we were joking around that I’ll take this huge toy in the ring and pull it out after her down and back. But then I came up with the bright idea of just sticking it in/through my jacket! Birdy was delighted with this idea outside of the ring before regular classes started (see picture below). Of course, I didn’t show her this way, but wouldn’t that be funny? Hey, anything to make my dogs happy! And you know what? It worked!! Birdy was much more relaxed and had a good time…so much so, she impressed the judge enough to win Winners Bitch!! I’m super proud of my little girl!
I showed Birdy and her sister Abbie at the Dallas show back in July and Abbie took home a win. This was not only a win for her first points, but also her first MAJOR!!! Once again, the show photo just does not show what I’m feeling! I’m super happy if you can’t tell!
We headed out to Marshall, TX for a weekend of dog shows over the Mother’s Day weekend. We had good times with friends and picked up a few ribbons while we were there! After only showing once so far in 2011, Gunnar stepped into the show ring like he never left! He took Best of Breed both Saturday and Sunday!! Birdy also decided she would give me a Mother’s day gift by going Winners Bitch on Sunday!! I’m so proud of these two!
