Field day

(Our report from Monday, Oct 25.)  The blow dryers have cooled and the scissors are quiet.  The WSSCA Regional conformation show in Atlanta is over.

Today is field day.

Susan W. organized Field Day after the close of the WSSCA Regional for those who wanted to see what their puppies were placed here on earth to do.  It was a red & white circus for everyone.

The dogs showed up ones and by twos.

So what do we do out here?

After a brief orientation, the group gets down to work.



Meghen reviews chukar placement while Ron reaches for another bird.

This bobwhite quail appears to be plotting a gettaway on a nearby car door.   

Donna and Meghan teach Logan to quarter.

Now I get it!

My first bird.

I found one too.

This is the happiest day of my life.

Josie brings in a chukar.

Susan and Anne soothe Josie before commanding Josie to "give it."

This owner wisely does not snatch the bird away from a panting and excited dog.  Instead, he gently settles and soothes his dog and lets his dog hold the trophy a while longer.

Another example of patience and soothing talk to the excited dog.  You can take the bird in due time.   

John introduces his pup to "shake-a-bird".
 

Mary gives a convincing seminar on quartering. 

Is there a more beautiful sight on a clear October day?

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.

More scenes from the weekend WSSCA Regional Specialty

Penny and Ryan ready their dogs.  This is for all the marbles with BOB.

Marta likes what she sees with this little dog.

Mary prepares J Clark.  Tucker at right.  Not sure who's at left.

Frank and Larsen get ready to rumble.

After the Rally, Frank and Larsen celebrate their passing score.

Chance demonstrates the "Welshie Sprawl."

Scenes from the WSSCA regional

Some of the finest WSS's in America were in Atlanta at the WSSCA Regional Specialty.

The spectators were lively and supportive of all of the entries.

 

Rally at the WSSCA Regionals

The Dogwood chapter of WSSCA is sponsoring WSS Regionals in Atlanta this weekend.  Larsen and I are participating in Rally, as is Larsen's breeder, Susan W. and many others.  There are over 70 dogs entered in conformation on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend.

Today, Larsen got his first leg in a Rally Advanced title, scoring an 82, and basically being a good little dog throughout the obstacle course.

Friends MaryAnne, Jamie, and Susan also locked on some qualifying scores, with MaryAnne's Chance copping a 96 or something along those lines in Rally Excellent.

Tatum shares Susan's pleasure with her performance in Rally  Novice.

Donna and Logan finished with qualifying scores in Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent.  Logan earned a Rally Championship title for his work.

 
MaryAnne and Chance engage in a little horseplay before their turn.  Chance earned a Rally Excellent leg with a score of 96.

Larsen seems to be studying the scoreboard as he waits his turn in the Rally competition.  Larsen earned an 83 and his first qualifying leg in Rally Advanced.
 

At work

Larsen hustles through the field.

Cloudland Canyon

Cloudland Canyon is in the northwest corner of Georgia next to the Tennessee and Alabama borders.  You reach it via Chattanooga.  We drove to Chattanooga on Friday and hiked the West Rim and a few other trails on Saturday.  A fun time, although some places on the rim walk you really need to leash up a curious spaniel. 

Morning at the No-Tell Motel.

Larsen waits for the rest of our party.

Rim Trail at Cloudland Canyon.

Frank and Larsen check out the view from the souvenir stand.

Change, but all is the same

Larsen at 2 months.

Larsen at 3.6 years.

Winter cometh

Every fall, for several weeks, and around noon, busy downtown Chicago traffic comes to a halt where the Loop crosses over the Chicago River.  The draw bridges go up and the tall boats migrate from Burnham Harbor, where they are moored during the summer, down river toward the Sanitary Canal.  The boats float past the Opera House and Mercantile Exchange, and follow the South Branch of the river past the rail yards, and toward the former stock yards, where many boats are drydocked for the winter.   (The river itself continues southwest and merges into the Des Plaines river.)

  The Madison Street bridge opens.  (Chicago Lyric Opera on left and the Merc on the right.)

Madison Street bridge opens to let the tall boats through.  October 13, 2010. 

The tall boats head down the Chicago River to their winter homes.

CDOT watches the bridge in action.

Italian night

Big Night. Isabella Rossellini. Susan Floyed.  Stanley Tucci. Others.

Che bello.

Here boy!

I'm on my way.

Locked in for landing.

Paparazzi in the field

Please, no photos.  
My client insists.

Woodcock Cover

A.L. Ripley

Look out everyone

Here

I

Come!

October Spaniels

Aiden LASSELL RIPLEY
(1896 – 1969)
Springers and Pheasants, 1948
Oil on canvas
26 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches
Signed lower left: A. Lassell Ripley c 1948
Inscribed on Verso: Springers and Pheasants /
By A. Lassell Ripley © 1948

Learning by example

Example is the school of mankind; and he will learn from no other.

Edmund Burke

Burke might have been onto something there, but his outlook quite possibly was too narrow, having limited his observation to all of mankind but failing to include man's best friend.

Hunting dogs learn from each other as well.  Something like envy seems to propel them.  Watching another dog gambol about the field with birds flitting this way and that sharpens a dog's appetite for action like nothing else.

After watching the field action, this little Clumber spaniel puppy tries flushing some birds from their crate. 

Putting the spring in springers

Spaniels really do spring in the field, and it is fun to watch.  The English and Cockers moreso than the Welsh, though the Clumber hardly at all.

The spaniel's spring can be explosive or slithering and cat-like.  This past Thursday, at Rally practice, Larsen and I came upon a hurdle.  Rather than run and make for a grand leap as did the other dogs and handlers, we mosied up to the horizontal bar and sort of looked it over.  I asked Larsen to hop it, and he jumped the bar in one slow motion - - like water running up and then downhill - - and in one fluid movement where half of him was going down while the half was still going up.  I've seen him do that same slithering leap from a sit over a waist-high silt fence at a construction site.

Ever wonder how a spaniel makes that move?  Check out the size of Larsen's rear end relative to his shoulders.  Believe me, he has a barrel chest and broad shoulders, so this will give you an idea of how a springer is constructed.

Larsen models his big rear end.

Re-enactors

Larsen and I hiked along the Allatoona shore at dawn.  The fog and steam hung over the lake.  Civil War re-enactors were rolling out of their cots, lining up, and starting their morning fires.

Civil War re-enactors line up at daybreak.

Wood for the sweet-smelling camp fire.

The Welsh Spring Spaniel's self-cleaning coat

It's true.  It says so on the Internet.

"Welshies are blessed with a relatively short self-cleaning coat that is always an exuberant red and white."

Central States Welsh Springer Spaniel Club

Betsy C's Sarah shows her exuberance after digging to China.