Conformation class

Aki and Larsen continued working on their ringsmanship last Saturday.  The class was geared to puppies, but the principles remain the same: treat/enter - treat/position - treat/stack & present.  Aki got a chance to move around the ring again and keep her arms at her side as she did so.  We got some good canine health tips from Adrian and saw the some of the usual crowd of Kathy P. (Fire), Debbi (Rayne), and Susan (Rosey).

Aki and Larsen set about the ring. 

Aki practices the stack. 

J-Clarke takes Westminster 2012 BOB

GCh Ivywild's Lookin' to Skeldale RN (J-Clarke) won Best of Breed at this year's Westminster Kennel Club show, and it was much deserved. JC looked great, moved great, and looked classy relative to the other dogs, nice though they were. (Unhappily, the video is no longer available at the Westminster website.)

Owner Mary Johnson said that she couldn't find the words to express her feelings, other than thinking that J-Clarke and Ryan accomplished more in 2011 than she could ever have thought, and then topped it off by the BOB win.

That's very tough competition in the Westminster ring and everything has to line up perfectly to get the win, and that's what happened with J-Clarke and handler Ryan Wolfe.

J-Clarke and handler Ryan Wolfe pose with the royal purple and gold Best of Breed ribbon.

Beam me up

Stufield's Captain of the Enterprise ("Archer") earned his Champion ("CH") and Rally Advance ("RA") titles on Sunday, April 11.

Archer earned a yellow ribbon by placing 3rd in his RA, which is a fine accomplishment. In Rally Advance, exercises are performed off-leash; there are 12-17 stations with no more than seven stationary exercises; and there is a jump and calling your dog to the front (rather than to the traditional heel position).

Archer won his ribbon by demonstrating off-lead obedience and control. He also demonstrated "a sense of teamwork between the dog and handler both during the numbered exercises and between the exercise signs." (AKC 2011)

In earning his Champion conformation designation, and over his career, Archer has won two "Major" events (which are determined by the number of dogs that he beats in the show ring) and accumulated at least 15 points (also determined by the number of dogs that he beats, even if he himself ultimately finishes behind some other dog in the breed).

Larsen and Archer are 1/2 brothers, with Mazie (Idlewild's Mazie Morning Dew) as the dam for both dogs. Archer's sire is Bentcroft Statesman's Emblem ("Felix").

Jamie handled Archer in the Rally ring. Congratulations to the team.

Archer focuses on Jamie during his third-place run for his Rally Advanced title.

Sunday outing

Larsen and I met Cathy with Master Hunter candidates Zelda and Humphrey and puppy Bing for a little bird work at Danny's Circle W this morning.

I ran Larsen on clip-wings through both of his turns. We worked on turns and retrieves. We are regressing on his retrieves. Larsen wants to keep the bird and play with it. Even if he brings it to me, he'd rather fool with it at the end. And today, he was even deciding to go the other way before finally coming in.

We put Larsen on a hunt dead, and he brings that dead bird in straight away. It is the live squeaky bird that he wants to keep. I may have to ask some of the brain trust - - Joe or Kim - - about their thoughts on this.

Larsen also needed some correction when he continued hunting after I called him in. This got him a little trip to the principal's office. Same for when he was asked to stay while a bird was tossed and he decided to take off after it.

I think we need to be more diligent in our yard work. There are definitely some signs of slackness showing.

On a better note, we took a trip to Newnan after our hunt training. We hoped to see Susan and Jaimie in the ring with Tatum and Archer. Cathy and I got there mere moments after the Welshies had finished. We nevertheless had a nice time touring the grounds and fooling with the dogs. Cathy dropped off Bing with a handler for a month or two tour where she will hope to get Bing finished.

Westminster results

A little black cocker took group, which naturally started off a sputtering discussion on the Upland Journal about the decline of American civilization.

I'd probably put those American cockers into the toy group, myself, although I fully realize that there are a couple of people who have some very accomplished hunters. These are extraordinary exceptions to the rule.

Here's the WSS breed. Recognize anyone?

Wirehaired Viszla

Gundog breeds are among the most popular in America.  But that popularity is misleading because it is almost strictly limited to the Labrador Retriever (rank #1 in 2009) and Golden Retriever (#4).  The Lab has held the #1 position for the past 19 years.  English Springer Spaniels (#29), Brittanys (#30), Weimaraners (#31) and Vizslas (#42) form a nice mid-range cluster, but other gundogs start to move into the "rare breed" category. 

The rarity of many types of gundogs in American households is our national loss.  These breeds have wonderful class and elan, intelligence and friendliness and they deserve greater popularity.

One rarer breed that deserves some attention is the wirehaired Vizsla.

A Vizsla is a hunting dog of eastern European (Hungary) origins.  The Vizsla's wirehaired cousin is of recent vintage - - about the 1930s.  According to the AKC, the wirehaired Vizsla was developed as a cross between the Vizsla and the German Wirehaired Pointer.  (AKC WV)  The goal was go breed the great hunting traits of the Vizsla with the tougher and bristlier coat of the GWP (an equally fine hunting dog).  The AKC said that by 1944 60 WVs were registered in the Vizsla Klub Stud book.  By 2008, only somewhat more than 500 WVs had ever been registered in the aggregate with NAVDHA (an organization in the U.S. for pointing dogs) since 1986.

We ran across one of these creatures at a recent Rally and Conformation competition in Atlanta recently.  We can report that the little female pictured below is a handsome blonde and about as sweet, gentle, and affectionate as any dog at show, and possibly on the planet as well. 

This little girl is named "Tipsy."  According to her owners, she is the first WV ever entered in Rally in the U.S.  Tipsy looks to be about 20 inches at the whithers and maybe 45 or so pounds.  A nice handy-sized dog with an intelligent and honest face.  And did we mention her sweet dispostion? 

Let's hope to see more of these dogs around.

UKC Ch Palomia's Bahama Mama CGC ("Tipsy")

Owners, Susan Wilson & Nancy Edmunds.  Handler, Susan Wilson.

Rally novice title

Larsen earned three legs and his Rally Novice title in the Cherokee Rose Cluster on August 27-29.  I was able to update his profile on the Pedigree Engine.  He did a nice job that weekend. 

Surprising finish

Larsen placed 3rd in Rally Novice A to earn his third leg and his RN title.

I had to grab my reading glasses to be sure that the score, 83, was a qualifier, and not a 63, a non-qualifier. 

Larsen did pretty well along the whole course until the figure 8 near the end.  At that point, he became interested in something far away.  I rolled a hand grenade into the middle of his head by asking "is that Aki"?  Larsen came right back from wherever he was and looked around with great interest to see if he could locate Aki.  Of course, he could not, but it got his attention back to me, we completed the figure 8, and went about our merry way on the course.

It wasn't just Larsen with his head in the clouds. The judge took a minute to explain to me several missteps that I had made that brought Larsen's score down.  Sorry Larsen!

Due to the timing of the Rally competition, I missed the WSS conformation.  I caught the Boykins, though.  Here is Susan W. in the ring with Ritz.

 

Susan fusses over Ritz in the conformation competition.

Gentleman's C

Larsen earned his second Rally Novice A leg on Saturday, scoring a gentleman's C of 74 (a 70 is required to qualify). 

In my opinion, he did fine until we got to the far end of the room, near the gallery.  Larsen broke away a few steps, put his nose over the fence and started air scenting.  What he was after, I haven't the faintest idea.   It wasn't fried chicken or other food, he's smelled that before.  Sue R. thought it may have been a bitch in heat.  Another contested later said that someone popped open one of the doors to the arena and he may have been smelling the outdoor air that wafted in.  Whatever it was, it left me flat-footed and unprepared and made him seem like a disobedient dog.

We finally got back on track, finished a very tricky course, and earned the green qualifying ribbon. 

We are heading back today, Sunday, for our try at the third and final leg.

The Dogwood WSS club members prepare their dogs for the ring.

Got a leg

Larsen finished in 4th place in Rally Novice this morning to earn his first leg (of 3) toward a Rally Novice title.  He might have finished higher but for operator error.  It turns out I let the leash drag, which looks sloppy (according to the judge) and so nicks you a point.

Larsen was his usual happy self, and of course beside himself when he saw Susan W.  But when he went into the ring his head and tail droopped, which the judge pointed out to me.  Was he nervous?  But once we got going, both of us forgot all about it.  He basically stuck next to me when I told him to heel and sat near me when I told him to sit.  That is all there really is to Rally Novice.

MaryAnne and Chance earned another leg in their quest for the more advanced Rally Excellent title.  Chance was totally distracted in the ring for some reason, but he did what MaryAnne asked and looked good doing it.  Little Chance has filled out and is a nice looking dog.

Larsen relaxes in the hallway after returning home from his Rally outing.

 
Chance earns another leg toward his Rally Excellent title.

Rally-O this weekend

Tomorrow and this weekend Larsen and I will participate in Rally Novice A.

Rally is a watered-down version of Obedience. In Rally, dog & handler complete an enclosed obstacle course.  (In the Atlanta show, the course is indoors and marked off by a low gate.)  The obstacles are traffic cones with road signs that tell you and the dog to do something.

In the sign below, the handler and dog are asked to (1) come to a halt; (2) hup or sit; (3) go into a down position; and then (4) get up, come to heal heel and proceed to the next station.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Novice A level will have lots of wiggly little puppies, but, what the heck, that is where we belong, really.  We are doing our best and will go for a passing score.

Larsen knows how to zig-zag around the pylons.  He knows how to hup and heal heel.  He's not that great on the "stand" command because we haven't practiced it much.  So it will boil down to whether he gets distracted and whether there are some difficult requests - -  asking him to play the piano, for example - - in the field.

Larsen heads back to Kamp Kimmy

Larsen is nonplussed at the news that he is heading back to Kamp Kimmy.


My schedule opens up the opportunity (as we like to say in the business world) for Larsen to head back to Kamp Kimmy for a few weeks.  Kamp Kimmy, of course, is Pocotaligo Kennels, where Kim Parkman trains her champion hunting Boykin Spaniels.  She decided that she had room for a big lumbering Welsh Springer Spaniel.

Aki and I met Kim at the Watkinsville, Ga dog show.  A small, but very inviting show where Penny's Palmer won Best of Breed and Marta's Niklas won BOB the day before and picked up several points.  Niklas is from the same litter as Spike, who spent some time at Kim's kennel, and has matured into a handsome pup, who himself is heading for a fast finish.  Kim had some very nice things to say about Niklas's focus and concentration.  I think she wanted to get her paws onto that sweet little bird dog and get him into the field where he belongs.

At the kennel, Larsen will learn some obedience and, of course, fetching & retrieving.  Over and over.  A perfect spring break for the little spaniel.

Marta and Niklas enjoy a break on Sunday.

(L to R) Aki, Mary, MaryAnne (hidden) and Kim give Chase a day at the spa.

Who was that little dog?

Maddox, a littermate of Tatum, Susan W.'s latest pup, stunned the field by winning Best of Breed on Sunday.  The little year-old (+/-) puppy trounced heavyweights Larsen, Starbuck, and Clover.  Afterword, Maddox rolled on his back to accept a congratulatory tummy rub.  The magnitude of his accomplishment hadn't fully sunk in, but he knew something good had happened and that everyone was happy, and that was good enough for him.

(I foolishly kept my camera by my side instead of recording this great win so I don't have a photo.)

Sometimes you're the windshield

 

Larsen (L) lines up against Starbuck (R) in Greenville.

Sometimes, you're the bug.  Larsen played the bug today.  Meghen showed up with Starbuck in tow and proceeded to take Best of Breed.  Larsen came in 4th.  I'd love to say that it was all the handler's fault, since someone pinch-hitter for Katie, but the lady did a very fine job with the dog.  I always want Larsen to win these beauty pageants because I want the world to understand what a wonderful little guy he is.  But different judges look for different aspects of the dog.  (Some breeders think Larsen is too big, for example.) 

Sly the boykin takes Best of Winners

On an altogether more upbeat note, Kim's boykin Sly took Best of Winners for a 5-point major win.  Sly has 8 points now and he's only been in two different shows (understand that any one weekend will have 2 or even 3 shows, like this one, so I mean something like 6 total showings for little Sly).  Sly's wins are coming right here in the middle of boykin country against some good competition.  We had a nice time cluck-clucking about the fact that some of those other boykins had probably never had a mouthful of feathers.  They were lap dogs!

Kim's boykin Peach didn't win anything, though she is a fine looking critter.  Kim thought that her sun-bleached kennel coat didn't help.

Kim's dogs might be a little country, but they certainly move with verve and assurance.

Sunday spaniels

Some photos from the weekend. The same dogs that are buried in the couch in the evening perform merrily in the ring, in Rally, and in Agility. They are the same dogs that you'll see in the field in hot pursuit of a chukar, bob-white or any other game bird. What great companions!

Adrian's Aero earned his CDX (Companion Dog Excellent, an AKC obedience award) on Saturday.

more pics:

http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii313/fraki22/2010%2002%2006%20Jonesboro%20Show/?albumview=slideshow

Atlanta Dog Show (3)

Starbuck and Susan celebrate Starbuck's championship win. Atlanta Dog Show 2/6/2010.


The point system for a dog show is an exercise in deep space physics. It is the place where parallel universes intertwine themselves in impossibly knotty ribbons beyond the reach of logic. It appears, though, that Starbuck and the ever-willing Clover finished with wins in their respective classes and that they are now champions.

We left before Rally began, but MaryAnne called in to report that Chance got another 2nd-place finish to get 2 legs on his Rally Novice A. What a weekend for that little guy; and he has Sunday yet to go. MaryAnne reports that all of the Welshies, Chance, Cecil, J-Clark, and Logan got qualifying scores and a leg on their Rally championships.

Some scenes from the show:

Atlanta Dog Show (2)

Mary J. steadies J Clarke at the Perry Nationals 5/18/2008.


We're at the Atlanta dog show this morning. We hope to have some good photos & stories to post later today.