Quiet on the homefront

Literally.  The house is very quiet at the moment.  Why?  Swing is incarcerated.  Yep, I dropped her off at the kennel last weekend to serve her time while she's "hot".  Her cycle is pretty much on schedule, the last time I put her in the kennel was on day 10 and while I probably could have kept her at home until Sunday, I opted to take her in on day 9 so that Dodge and I could adjust to not having her around.  Yes, I said adjust!  If all goes as planned she'll be home by the beginning of the week, I hope.

Last week was spent catching up on some rest (she was super restless the week before, getting me up twice a night after about three hours of sleep) and doing lots of one on one stuff with my boy.  I told him we would head to the park to walk a few miles each evening and of course a lot of one on one bonding and hanging out (not to worry, Dirk will get his share of extra attention too).  One advantage to not having her around, we can focus on our training challenges without everyone pushing in and vying for my attention.  We had a few nice sessions last week and this weekend we were able to get in a little agility training with the group at the farm.

Yes, Howard was finally in town to meet us at the farm for a very nice morning of training and catching up.  He asked each of us what we wanted to concentrate on and that set the tone for the day.  Before we knew it 2 hours had passed by and I felt that the challenges he put in front of us were beneficial and tough!  I'm still mulling over how to negotiate one nasty sequence he put together, which he assured all of us we "could" see in a trial at some point.  When he says that I have to wonder what courses he is designing for which trial (and hoping that it isn't one that I plan on entering!).  I truly believe he uses us as guinea pigs since most of his judging is out of the area that the majority of us trial in.

I got to see Beau (aka Hank) after not seeing him for a few months, he's looking great.  Neutering him was a good move, he isn't quite as intense as he was.  Dodge still insisted on letting him know who the big dog was and of course Hank had to get in his face just to see if he was still the top dog.  Dodge left a small mark on him to remind him of his place.  Anyway, I will try to get some pictures at some point but with judging schedules and show schedules I'm not sure when we will see our little brother again.

Swing is entered in a show and tracking test this coming weekend.  If the other class bitch shows up it will be worth a point but I'm really looking forward to a successful tracking test.  Dodge's first title was a TD, I hope Swing will follow in his footsteps and make it her first of many titles.

Have a grayt week everyone.  I'll check in after next weekends show and test.  Enjoy the crisp cool temps and the colors of fall.

Grey day, GRAYT day!

On Sunday, October 6th, the Garden State Weimaraner Club hosted their annual fall Specialty show.  Along with my co-hort Sallie, the three dogs and I headed to NJ.  I chose to go to the show after Amy encouraged me to show Dodge as a Veteran at the Specialty, and of course I put Swing in the classes since she needs the mileage and exposure.  She performed well in the ring, I got to see her move thanks to some video that Sallie took for me, and I can see where we both need a little work to help her continue to pick up points towards her CH.

The star of the day was my wonderful/gorgeous/handsome "Little Man" as I have called him since he was a baby.  Dodge was entered in Veteran Sweepstakes (Swing was not eligible since she is over 2 now and the oldest they can be is 24 months) and he won that class and went on to take Best Veteran Dog in Sweeps.  Next he was entered in the Specialty, again as a Veteran, and he won the class which put him in the line up for Best of Breed.  There were 19 Specials, Winners Dog, Veteran Dog, Winners Bitch and the Versatile Bitch and after we all checked in the judge excused all of the girls and proceeded to judge all of the males.  After a few more laps around the ring my boy made the cut which meant that we would be back in the ring after the girls had their cut.  Dodge kept getting better and better each time he was in the ring so when we went in for the final time I had a good feeling that he was going to be recognized in one way shape or form.  We were pulled out with two other males to do a go around and then a free stand in the center of the ring and I couldn't have asked for any more of an effort than what he gave me.  Other than a rear leg that wasn't perfectly lined up (his tendency has always been to pull one of them under himself when he does a free stack) he stood out on the end of the lead, held his stand while the judge walked around him, and looked just stunning!  He knew that he needed to turn it up a notch and at that point I began to think that she just might give him the win which would add BISS to his name!  I believe it was close and when it was all said and done he walked away as the Select Dog, a very exciting accomplishment.  Here's a shot that KellyAnn, a friend of Linda from Grayhart Weims, took.

I can't tell you when this shot was taken since he was in and out of the ring FIVE times that day.  I know there are more pictures of him so as soon as I pull them off of the camera I'll post a couple.  It was nice having Amy and Michael there to see Dodge show.  Their boy, Fala, did a nice job in his Sweeps class as well as in BOB competition.  Hopes are that he has a litter on the ground by Thanksgiving (he was bred to Linda's girl Jam and I know she'll have an announcement on her blog, http://grayhartweims.blogspot.com/, once the pregnancy is confirmed).  And I may be convinced to put Dodge back in the ring a few more times when a judge that likes him is in the area.

Swing is in heat now, 6 months to the day (10/11) from her last heat, and that means that by next weekend she will be at the kennel.  I'll take advantage of the one on one time with Dodge to work on some agility handling skills as well as more personal play in obedience training.  AND I have been promising him that I would get him back out on the tracking line.  Until next time!