Author Archives: Nicole Leslie

Blue Weimaraners in French BICP Hunt Test

This is a video of Ellie and Bella when they obtained their BICP titles in France. The BICP is similar to the NAHVDA UT test in America. Ellie and Bella both received 29 points out of 32 to for a Prize II. The video has French titles as it was first made to share in France.

The BICP has a land part where the dog must show nose ability, desire and style locating a pheasant, show that it hunts with it’s master and then show steadiness and retrieve. I don’t have any of the land footage as the action takes place too far out in the field for a camera person (my husband!) to be able to follow.

There is also a water part. One part of the water test is a deep water retrieve. A dead duck is thrown fairly far out into the water after a gun shot. The dog must readily swim out and retrieve the duck. I only got Bella’s deep water retrieve on film. In the second part of the water test, a live duck is placed in the reeds without the dog seeing. The dog is brought out and must track the duck, which has usually moved around. The dog must retrieve the live duck. There may also be another proof where the shot duck is placed, a shot is fired and then the dog must retrieve to hand. I lost points on dropped ducks before it was given to hand.

I thought I would be nervous, but I found I really wasn’t. It was just like training. I had a very enjoyable day. Hunt tests aren’t as scary as they might seem. I had such a good day, getting the title was just a bonus.

New Master Hunter title for a Blue Weimaraner

Blues Rock!

(“Indy”) Spectrum Once in a Blue Moon, CD MH CGC TDI TT NAVHDA NA I/112 (field pointed)

I’m very pleased to announce an important new achievement. Indy has earned the final leg of her Master Hunter title.

Master Hunter (MH) is an AKC title given for their highest level hunt test. In order to earn the title, a dog must have qualifying scores in 6 “legs” of official AKC hunt tests or 5 if they have already earned their Senior Hunter title. Indy had her SH title and thus passed 5 legs to qualify. According to the AKC Pointing Breed Hunting Test Rules book:

A Master hunting dog must give a finished performance and demonstrate clearly that it deserves to be qualified as such. This is the complete hunting companion that any hunter would be proud to own.

To qualify, a pointing dog must locate birds, prove staunchness, honor the point of it’s bracemate and retrieve downed birds completely to hand. It must also cover ground with intelligence, boldness and show that it hunts for it’s handler.

The MH title is a proud accomplishment for any Weimaraner and Indy is probably the first Blue Weimaraner to hold this title.

In addition to AKC hunt tests, Indy has the NAVHDA NA I (Natural Ability hunt test, Prize I) title which she passed at 13 months with a perfect score of 112. Beyond hunt tests Indy is also an experienced and pointed Field Trial Weimaraner. Indy is owned and handled by Anne Taguchi of Touchstone Weimaraners. Under Anne, Indy placed as Southland Weimaraner Club’s Top Winning Amateur Handled Field Dog for 2006 and 2008. In actual hunting, Indy proves herself with experience and a sure nose.

Indy’s sweet, biddable temperament is reflected in her titles for TDI (Therapy Dogs International), CGC (Canine Good Citizen), TT (Temperament Test) and CD (Companion Dog – obedience title).

Congratulations to Anne and Indy.

Update Feb 3, 2010: Indy took 3rd in an all breed Amateur Gun Dog stake (handler Raul Pineda) at the Orange Coast Weim Club trial last weekend.

January Newsletter and Wallpapers

Happy New Year everyone! Our January newsletter is now ready. It’s eight pages and full of wonderful photographs and articles.

A New Wallpaper for desktop and phone is also ready for download. This month features Fairhaven’s Azurite Zoë by Thomas Merkle. Zoë is also featured in the Blues Rock! section of the newsletter with more photographs by Thomas Merkle.

To get the Free Newsletter and Wallpaper, just sign up in the top sidebar.

Blue Weimaraner Wallpaper

Blue Weimaraner takes 1st at Agility Nationals

Blues that Rock.

Christine Vosburgh has shared this great story and brag of her family’s Blue Weimaraner, Cindy Lou.

Cindy Lou was rescued from a pet shop when she was a puppy by Christine’s dad. Her family has had Weimaraners forever and her dad just knew he couldn’t leave that Weimaraner pup there. Weimaraners are such high energy dogs that many people who purchase one because of their beauty often discover they can’t make the commitment of time required and then the dog ends up in rescue. Cindy Lou has proved to be a loving and caring companion to Christine’s dad.

Christine has two gray Weimaraners and is an Agility enthusiast. She is either training or teaching agility pretty much every day of the week. When she heard the 2009 Weimaraner Agility Nationals were to be held in Washington, she knew her two grays would compete in it. Christine’s family spends winters together, so she started playing around with training Cindy Lou as well. Cindy Lou showed such an aptitude and enthusiasm for training that she decided to enter her in the Nationals as well. Cindy Lou was so enthused with training, she wanted to train every day and was upset if another dog was worked instead. She was ready to compete in just a month and a half!

After only 2 months of training, Cindy Lou went to the Nationals. She was the only Blue there and did us proud taking a 1st and Q (qualification) in Nov JWW (Novice Jumpers with Weaves). Christine was pleased by the warm reception Cindy Lou received, with many complimenting her beauty and talent. She has had qualifying runs in all three trials she’s run to date. Trialing for Cindy Lou will start up again this December. Run fast, run clean, Cindy Lou!

Note about training for Agility. Cindy Lou was able to train in such a short time not only because of talent, but she was in the hands of an experienced trainer. Take your time enjoying training with your dog. Go one small step at a time. Trials are high-pressure for handler and dog. You may want to try some fun matches first which have less pressure. It’s also important to be aware that young dogs should not be doing heavy jumping or weaving. It’s usually best to wait until a young dog is 18 months old before doing hard training. There are still a lot of things a young dog can learn though. I started Ellie in puppy agility at around 7 months.

Thank you to M. Wilson photography for the use of her beautiful photograph. You can see more of her work on her Blog. Please remember that this image is copyright protected. You may not reproduce it in any way.

Training your Weimaraner to Hold Point

The Weimaraner is a versatile hunting dog in the sporting group and you will be amazed at how interesting and fun it is to see your Blue Weimaraner doing what it was bred for. It can be very confusing learning to train your Weimaraner in Field. I’ll be writing more posts and videos on how to get started. I thought I’d share this video my husband did the beginning of 2007. We’re working Bella with professional trainer, Brad Higgins located in Northern California. Brad’s teaching is based on using dog psychology to train your dog rather than harsh obedience. His method is based largely on the methods of the legendary Bill West and Bill Gibbons system of training your field dog using a silent, gentler method.

Brad has developed a system of silent bird “releasers” that mimic how a bird would act in nature. Listen to Brad explain what’s going on. That’s me going up to flush the bird from the bush. Look for further explanations on this method coming soon.

Check out Brad Higgin’s Training site at Higgins Gun Dogs

You can also find out more about this training method at the Steady With Style site.

The Blue Weimaraner History in a Nutshell

The history of the Bue Weimaraner is important and fascinating. It started back in 1949 with a German inport to the United States of Cäsar Von Gaiberg or “Tell”

Blue Weimaraner Club of America 2010 Calendar

For the 3rd year running, Renée Viehmann, Secretary / Treasurer of the Blue Weimaraner Club of America has organized and created a calendar to support rescue efforts for Weimaraners. The past two years, proceeds went to Northern California rescue, but this year support for Blue Weimaraner Rescue efforts will expand to nationwide and abroad. Renée has handed over the calendar to the BWCA, although she will still design and create the calendar.

Renée asked for photo submissions from all the Blue Weimaraner owners she has managed to come in contact with—which is a lot, she’s naturally bubbly and gregarious! From the photo entries, she picks out a number of likely candidates for the cover based on image quality, resolution and overall appeal. She then puts it to the public to vote for the final cover winner. For the interior photographs, she tries hard to find a place for each Blue Weimaraner that was submitted, but with over 400 images submitted, some editing has to be made. She places images based on resolution, quality and whether they fit the “theme” of the month.

Yours truly usually helps with the cover design, but Renée has a lot of input.

Pre-sales have started for the 2010 calendar. Why not order one early to assure yourself of a copy and to help finance the printing? Order Here

Blue Weimaraner Club of America Fundraiser

The Blue Weimaraner Club of America is having a fundraiser for rescue aide and club operating expenses. Renée Viehman, the Secretary / Treasurer of the club has done an outstanding job getting donations for a raffle and silent auction. There is even a signed print valued at $500 donated by William Wegman.

I encourage you to head over to their site and place your donation to participate.

Instructions from the club:

The BWCA Raffle and Auction is now live on the Blue Weimaraner forum in the BWCA section. It will remain open until Friday October 30th at 5:00 pm pacific standard time. If you wish to participate in this fundraiser, please take a moment to read this information carefully. You can also find this information in the “details” thread on the forum.

Participation/Forum Options – First, in order to participate you need a user id / password for the forum. This is for no other reason than to keep out spammers. You can request that your account be deleted when the fundraiser is over. When you post in a particular thread, you will automatically receive an email to let you know that someone has posted after you. You will then need to visit the thread to read and respond. If you wish to receive an email and be able to reply via email for ANY message posted in the BWCA Auction/Raffle category then click on the “forum subscriptions” link on the upper right hand corner next to your login name.

Each item is clearly marked both in the item title and in RED in the thread itself whether it is for the raffle or silent auction.

Raffle – If you bought raffle tickets, you can now post your ticket numbers in which ever raffle items you hope to win. If you have not purchased raffle tickets you still can by going here: Once the raffle/auction closes, the item threads will be locked and the real tickets (in my possession) will be placed in the corresponding item envelope and the drawing will take place. I will video the drawing and post it for all to see, hopefully on 10/31. Any ticket numbers placed after the closing time will not be counted as it will take a few minutes for me to lock each of the threads.

Silent Auction – Listed in the first posting of each item, in GREEN is the starting bid amount and the bid increments. Keep a close eye on your bids because someone might just outbid you. If that happens, you can go back and bid again. Keep bidding until the auction ends at 5:00 pm PST on 10/30. Any bid placed after that time will not be counted as it will take a few minutes for me to lock each of the threads.

Shipping of Items – Most of the items donated will be shipped directly from the donor. Be sure that your shipping details are correct on your PayPal address. If you would like your item shipped somewhere else, please let me know. The rest of the items will be coming from me and will be shipped the week of November 2nd.

Thank you all for your support.

The Blue Weimaraner Today

This site is a celebraton of the Blue Weimaraner. It will be educational and inspirational. It will be a call to action.

So why a new website on Blue Weimaraners and why is it called Blue Weimaraner Today? Most of you are probably aware of the controversy over the “Blue” coat variation of Weimaraner. If you aren’t, don’t worry, there will be future articles, videos and podcasts that will explain the situation in clear, easy segments. The essence of what you need to know is that the Blue Weimaraner has a complicated and tumultuous history with enough mystery, drama, rivalry and treachery to qualify as a leading TV soap opera. I guess all that’s missing is sex—and we can consider that covered under breeding!

You’ll learn all about the past of the Blue Weimaraners in future installments, but really, this site will focus on where we are today and where we need to go. It’s time for us to lift our heads and recognize ourselves. Let the rest of the world follow. Let’s celebrate this beautiful variation that grew from the Weimaraner and who’s time has come for it’s own destiny. OK, raise up your fist and repeat after me. Blue is Beautiful!