Back in February, we posted an article written by Tresha Moorberg where she shared her experiences learning to train for field and get her first hunt test titles. She had 1 out of 4 “legs” towards her AKC Senior Hunter title. Tresha brings us up to date on their achievement this spring. Quick review of vocabulary: Dogs run the hunt tests in pairs or a “Brace.” The other dog is called the “Brace Mate”. “Backing” or also called “Honoring” is where a dog sees that the other dog is on point, so goes on point behind that dog. The dog “backing” honors the the other dog’s right to work the bird. “Blanking” refers to shooting a blank pistol in the air to simulate gun shot.

What a spring! The snow seemed to hang on forever. We thought it would never melt, so we didn’t have more than a few weeks to freshen up our field skills.

First test of the season, we are READY. Spirit didn’t miss a step from where we left off last summer. After just a few short reminders Spirit is almost at Master level work.

So day of the test, she runs a fabulous back course. We are approaching the bird field, and she gets only a few yards into the field and she performs flawlessly, doing a picture perfect stop to flush. As I am reaching for my blank pistol, her brace mate takes chase on the bird. The brace mate passes her by. That’s when she decides, “Hey wait for me!” I could hear the judge before he opened his mouth, “Thank-you handler.” When the two finally come back, Spirit and I take the LONG walk back to the parking area. Oh well, there’s always the next day.

Sunday comes and everything runs smooth. She finds her first bird, and she’s rock solid through the flush, with only a small hop on the shot. I send her and it’s a perfect retrieve to hand! YAHOO! All we have to do now is stay clean and all we’ll need is a call back for an honor. We find another bird. I have trouble finding it. But finally get it flushed. She breaks at the shot. But the gunner missed, whew, still we’re clean. Judge calls time. Tells me she needs a call back! Yea! It’s a pass so far. Spirit is a natural backer, so a call back is cake. She and her brace mate are the only two seniors to get call back for an honor, and sure enough they both pass. So she gets pass number two.

The next test a couple weeks later, we can only run Saturday. No pass that day; blow up in the back course, oh well. That was Easter weekend. Now as I am training all spring, my fiancé, Scott has been taking more and more interest in handling. He starts going to the trainer I use. He goes three sometimes four times a week! The two of them are learning to work together and Jim (the trainer) is mentoring Scott on all aspects.

The big weekend is upon us, June 5 & 6, 2010. Scott takes Spirit to the starting line and casts her off. She goes out and makes some nice moves and hunts well. Because our winter was so wet, and we had a lot of rain, so the grass and brush is very tall and wet, so it is difficult to flush birds and for the dogs to see their brace mates for backing, but everyone makes the best of it. Spirit has a great nose, scenting a bird from a good distance away. Scott finds the bird, throws it, the gunner hits. YEA! Perfect retrieve! Now she just needs to stay clean. She gets a second bird, and again a perfect retrieve! She continues to hunt. (While working, we had the most incredible sight—a Bald Eagle flew low, about 40 feet above the ground, through the bird field!) Spirit gets a call back for an honor, and nails it! YEA! Pass number three!!

Sunday, it’s a repeat of Saturday. Scott casts her out, and she runs even bigger than Saturday. It’s hot, so before getting to the bird field she hits the pond for a dip. She is working exceptionally hard. Scott is handling her perfectly. She and her brace mate both encounter the same bird. Both stand steady and the other handler blanks it. Scott moves her on. She gets her bird, Scott throws it up, but the gunner can’t make the shot, so he blanks it. The judge tells Scott to send her for the retrieve. TADA! A retrieve to hand! Just need to stay clean. Scott works her back towards the pond, she has another find. It flushes, he blanks it, tells her, “No bird” and they go on to the pond. She takes a quick drink, and is ready to hunt. She just gets back in the groove, then judge calls time.

Now she just needs the honor. She does her honor, giving a three legged back, at about 40 yards from the pointing dog! YES! YES! She passes! TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!! She’s a SH now!

We are now working on her Master runs. Scott is hoping to make her pass 5 in 5 runs.
But now we both can train and handle her. I guess you can say it’s a family activity!

Written by Tresha Moorberg

Editor’s note: To my knowledge, Spirit is the 3rd Blue Weimaraner to achieve a Senior Hunter title. We offer our hearty congratulations!

Like to learn more about training your pointing dog in a gentle way? Visit the Steady with Style blog for your free download.

Lyric now has his Senior Hunter title! To my knowledge, he is now the only Blue Weimaraner to hold this title (since Indy is now a Master Hunter – see post).There are a couple of Blues that have legs towards their SH. We look forward to hearing good news from them as well.

Lyric was owner handled by Liz Fairlee of Fairhaven’s Weimaraners. Liz has an upcoming litter that should be awesome. Check out Fairhaven Weimaraners for more information.

Congratulations to Lyric and Liz!

Candra shares with us getting her Blue Weimaraner, Whiskey, and her first experiences in Field Trials—with some nice placements!

Shot of Touchstone Whiskey “Whiskey”

It was a cool December morning in 2008 and we were hunting Mearns Quail in Southern Arizona. The “we” of this quail expedition was my good friend Anne Taguchi and my father, Don. Zigzagging ahead in the tall grasses were Anne’s Blue Weimaraner, Indy and my Blue girl, Danni.

This was our second trip to this area. We were here several weeks prior with Anne and her good friend Juan had stumbled across a bird hunter’s paradise. Within yards of leaving the vehicles the blue girls were into the Mearns. Coveys ranged from small (dozen birds), to huge, well over 50. Instead of following a covey we would continue hunting; within several hundred yards the girls would lock on point again. Incredible trip and excellent hunting. (Notice I purposely did not say shooting?)

So now, we were back for revenge. Unbeknownst to my Father (he he) there was another agenda to the trip. The plan was to show him Mearns hunting behind a pair of Blue Weims. Gray Weims are nice, but once you hunt behind a team of Blues in tall, fawn colored grasses, with green and blue oaks as a backdrop, the image that remains is—well—unforgettable. I had been working on my Father to consider taking on a blue puppy out of Indy.

Indy has a strong hunting drive and a great temperament. Anne (Touchstone Weimaraners) bred Indy to Atlas of Norway who is also a strong hunter with good temperament and a love of water. It was a good match. Anne wanted to find good hunting and training environments for the pups. Hopefully Indy would deliver a blue girl for us.

March 17, 2009, was St. Patrick’s Day. It was also Indy’s big day along with Anne’s, and ours. Indy delivered two pups, a gray boy and a blue girl. Anne and I were ecstatic. Following that December Mearns trip, my father was favorable to taking on a puppy. My father is an extremely busy guy who enjoys fly fishing, archery and gun bird hunting. He did show some reservations though due to potential time commitments. He wanted to make sure he could find the time to train a bird dog; a dog which could have great potential.

The pups grew rapidly under Indy and Anne’s care. They were exposed to the world around them: ponds, cool grasses, warm sunshine, and cuddly children. The little girl quickly became the boss of her brother, constantly throwing her puppy weight around. As she grew she developed a strong “I can do that” personality. Anne had selected another couple for the boy pup, and she regularly updated us both with pictures and stories. As the pups grew, so did our fondness of the little blue girl. Anne forewarned us this little girl was probably going to be a handful. Boy, has that has turned out to be true!

“Whiskey” is the name my Father chose for his tough little girl. We fondly call her our “Little Whiskey Girl”.

Her first trip immediately following the road trip home from California was to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. While in Mexico she showed her independence by running after waves, then turning tail and running back until the waves retreated, then back after them again.  At times she’d take off on her own, trotting a hundred indifferent yards away. She was a big girl now!

She sure thinks she’s a big girl. When she was 4 months old, we would put both her and Danni (who was Whiskey’s Surrogate Mother), into our laundry room with a 28 inch child’s gate blocking the door.

Can you say “Jail Break?!”

The gate was merely a challenge; she’d leap over it like a gazelle. Danni would stand behind the gate with an “I didn’t teach her that!” expression on her face. She purposely pushes Danni’s buttons—and has the scars to prove it! The first time she saw a display mountain lion (the lion stands 3′ tall at the shoulder and is about 6′ long—not including the tail), she growled and took a swipe at it with her paw!

When her “Daddy” (note: she owns him) comes home, all bedlam breaks loose as she jumps for joy, and she’ll lightly mouth his wrist in greeting. Then she’ll run off and bring out a pull toy and play tug of war until she tires out.

My Father enjoys the book The Best Way to Train Your Gun Dog by Bill Tarrant / Delmar Smith. Dad has spent countless hours with her in the field, just letting her explore and be a puppy.  Whiskey was bred more with the intent to be a good hunting dog than a big-running field trial dog, however after Anne and others saw her run on a video their thoughts changed. “That girl has some wheels” is the typical comment, or look at her go!  Delmar’s training methods certainly has improved her range. Obedience training such as heeling, leash, and down has been very limited. Most training has been to build her confidence and desire. She was introduced to pigeons, quail and chukar. However, it was very controlled. The pigeon’s wings were bound to avoid flapping, which can scare a young dog. She ranges out 200–300 yards, sometimes out of sight. We’ve followed Delmar’s instructions that “Ya need to sing out” so pup knows where you’re at. Likewise she’s been exposed to gunfire, and has been shot over. To her, “shooting” equals birds. Hot Dawg!

This past summer we were fortunate to spend a short day training with pro trainer, Bill Gibbons in the White Mountains of Arizona. Bill is a very gentle man, and to watch him work with dogs is an experience to behold.  He demonstrated a very gentle way to use a pinch collar. He put the collar on Whiskey and it was incredible. She was very calm and he showed how to apply gentle pressure to the collar and the pup stops and stands still.

Editor’s note: the Bill West / Bill Gibbons method is a great way to train pointing dogs. It is a kinder, gentler method that uses dog psychology rather than harsh obedience to train. In a nutshell, the object is to get your dog to understand what a “stand” is with a check collar and then that get’s gradually transferred to a light tap with an e-collar. The dog learns that “a bird in the air means stand still.” See the blog Steady with Style for more information.

See videos of Whiskey training with Bill Gibbons. Overview of the Bill Gibbons Method and First time on a Check Cord.

Anne invited us to a West Coast Weimaraner field trial that would be held at the end of January. She had seen videos of Whiskey running and thought she had a good chance of placing. Plus it would give us a chance to experience a trial. Unfortunately, Whiskey had not been exposed to horses (though she’s seen plenty of elk) and with the 5 feet of snow on the ground she was not going to meet horses before the trial! Even though we had snow, we took Danni and Whiskey to lower elevations for quail hunting, increasing her drive to find birds, all in prep for trialing.

We arrived at the Trial Grounds just outside of Mohave California to see what we had gotten ourselves into.  As we drove in we passed several 45+ foot horse trailers, semi-trucks, several chain gangs with 18 to 20+ dogs, tethered horses, travel trailers, fifth wheels, trucks, quads,  and multiple pens with birds — and more dogs. This is no small affair!

The folks who attend trials are First Class. Everyone we met was helpful, and we felt like family. That Friday, Whiskey met her first horse and the owner and horse both ignored her “I’m a Big Dog Now” barking. After a few seconds, Whiskey was confident that she had established her “Supervisor Role” and she ignored the horse since the horse now knew who the boss was.

One of the Pro Handlers offered to take Whiskey out for a run with some of his dogs with a quad. We went along to learn. First thing we learned is that we need to run Whiskey more than we do. This Pro runs his dogs off a quad regularly for exercise and excitement. Second, one should learn to ride a horse, since most trials are run off horseback. Third, we learned that by staking Danni and Whiskey with a string of dogs they could see the actions of the trial. Undoubtedly this really helped get them excited. They were clamoring “let me go, let me go!”

Whiskey was entered in the puppy class and prior to her run my father rode in the gallery so he could witness a trial event. We highly recommend it. (The gallery is the group of observers who follow the trial on horseback.) Whiskey ran in the second brace and it was quite exciting. Handler’s whistles blew and she took off with her brace mate; within seconds they were out of sight. We caught a glimpse of her circling around (several hundred yards out) and whoosh she came streaking by heading off in another direction. She was gone again, out of sight over a hill. Dang! We rode around the hill and she was 250 yards out working some brush and then disappeared. Several seconds went by; a chukar comes rocketing out of the brush flying towards us. Whiskey’s hot in pursuit. The pair goes streaking by us and down a hill. Gone again. Nope, here comes Whiskey, chukar in her mouth! Her brace mate helps to remove the chukar and we’re off again. So it goes, one never knows what to expect with puppies, but it was a blast. She ran against 9 puppies and placed 4th. We were stoked!

Two weeks later found us in Nevada at an all breed trial. Once again, great folks all around felt like family and had a ball. Whiskey placed 4th again, this time with me handling her off horseback.  We were told of another all breed trial in Arizona in two weeks. Several of the handlers offered us to use their horses at this trial as well. Great guys and gals!

Trial. Learn. Have fun.

We are looking forward to another trial in April.

Editor’s note: When you learn that Whiskey was up against some of the top field lines in the country in these field trials, you understand that 4th place is a pretty darn nice accomplishment. Candra, Don, and Whiskey, You Rock!

More images from the field trial. All photos © Candra Dufek. Click to enlarge

Whiskey checks out a horse and quad

View from Horse Back

Whiskey is little dot center right!

I’ve asked Tresha Moorberg to share with us how she went from knowing nothing about Weimaraners to getting involved in field training with her Blue Weimaraner and getting a NAVHDA NA and AKC JH title and the first leg of her SH title.

Misty’s Little Spirit, NA 112 Prize 1, JH (one leg towards SH)

Spirit was born July of 2004. After seeing a pair of wild and (overly!) friendly, beautiful Weimaraners, I was in love with the breed. Before those Weimaraners, I had never seen one, not even a picture, but I knew they were hunting dogs. My boyfriend, Scott, found a breeder who had a litter of Gray and of Blue Weimaraners. I had no idea he was looking until the day he was driving me to go pick her out! We wanted a field dog more than a show dog and we agreed we liked the blue, so Blue it was. I had only a month to learn about a dog breed I know Zero about. A month to pick out a name and prepare. With our new puppy, I learned how to teach basic “pet” obedience like sit and stay. We went through the potty training, teaching basic commands, the trials and pit falls of crate training, and learning how to manage separation anxiety.

Through our local Pheasants Forever chapter, Scott bid on and won a puppy intro to bird-dog training package. It was a 10 day session that introduces a pup to birds, basic hunting, and gunfire. Not having a clue about hunting upland birds, I had even less of a clue of how to train a bird dog! Rather than just sending her off, I attended each session and learned the language of field training. I took on advanced training myself by reading on the Internet, in books, magazines, and watching many shows and videos. To introduce her to the electronic collar, (see post on ecollars) we went back to the trainer. He recommended leaving her for 30 days. I did, but Separation Anxiety took over and I had to bring her home after 10 days. I returned for a few lessons, and then went on to finish it on my own.

The NAVHDA NA test

The trainer suggested I do NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Assoc) because she would likely do well with her prey drive and natural ability. So I went to the NAVHDA web site and found the closest chapter. I began exchanging emails with the president of the chapter, and attended my first training session. That was in June, 2005. Spirit learned about water retrieving, and we learned how NAVHDA’s NA (Natural Ability) test works. We attended each monthly session building our field experience. Just a few months later, I entered her to run her Natural Ability Test. As the test neared, I began to worry as Spirit and I had not truly worked on tracking. I used some dispatched birds left over from training days, tied twine to them and taught her to track by dragging them through cover. It was only the day before her NA Test that she learned to track a live pheasant. I shouldn’t have worried! She nailed her first track! Pinned and retrieved the bird to hand.

On the day of the test she was the last dog to run. This test made me very nervous. I had never done anything remotely close to this before and I wasn’t the competitive type in sports, so this had me wired. We get to the line, I get my instructions from my handler, and we’re off. Spirit casts out like a “big dog.” She heads out and around a terrace in the field and she disappears. They have me whistle and yell and—no Spirit. Then the bird planters come onto the walkie talkie radio to report that “Spirit has rounded back—she’s pointing the bird boxes.” I thought for sure we had failed at that point but, I went back to get her, and we tried again. The field portion went more smoothly. She nailed the track. She found and pointed the pheasant, and just like in training, retrieves it to hand! I wasn’t worried about the water portion. She loves to swim! Finally, all we had to do was wait for the scores. I would have been happy to get ANYTHING that was a pass! And BOY was I happy with her score! She aced the test with a perfect 112! giving her a NA prize I.

Spirit Retrieving a Pheasant

AKC JH title

After this, I am hooked on field! It is so much fun! I got my hands on all the info I could to train my own dog. I made a couple of nice friends through the local NAVHDA chapter so I had a little help now, too. One friend encouraged me to try AKC Hunt Tests. So in the spring of 2006, Spirit and I start our hunt test adventure. She passed her first leg of her Junior Hunter on her first try. In May she passed her 2nd a again a few weeks later at our next try, she practically cleans the bird field with 6 finds! Our next run was in June, which she finished with ease. After passing 4 “legs” of JH tests, she earned her JH title.

The AKC SH title

After obtaining her JH (Junior Hunter) title we started our Senior Hunter training. Spirit needed work on “the trained retrieve” aka “Force Fetch” She tends to be hard mouthed and it was recommended to soften her mouth. So I got a couple of gals from NAVHDA Chapter to teach me how to start out. I had my boyfriend and another buddy build me a training table, and WE’RE OFF!! After a couple check-ins with the two gals from NAVHDA, TA-DA Spirit is force broke, and the right way! It is obvious as she will carry anything for me, and will fetch anything upon command.

Editor’s note: I know “Force Fetch” training can sound very off-putting. I felt very leery about how it’s explained in many books. In fact, it kept me from training for a long time as I was uncomfortable with descriptions of ear and toe pinches. It does not have to be a “mean” method of training, though. It can just be a structured method of training a reliable retrieve. I prefer the West – Gibbons method, which is a kinder, gentler form of training based on dog psychology. You can find out more about it on the Steady With Style blog.

Getting her to be steady was the hardest thing as she wanted to flush birds and grab them, but we worked at it. Through the hunt tests, I had met another trainer that I use often now. He has helped me with the things I need perfecting and just can’t get right. I called him and he said to come on out. With hard work, she started to do well, so we entered our first SH test. She passed her first run, but failed the next, although it was because the bird flushed and flew straight into her face. Oh well. That’s the game. I entered her one time after that, and she got a no pass. Then she contracted a staff infection, so spent much of ’09 recovering, and growing her hair back. We ran again one time in late spring, but she didn’t pass. Editors’ note: Senior Hunter is a big step from Junior Hunter. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t pass right away.

Learning to train and handle your own hunting dog is something that not everyone would typically set out to do when they have never owned a hunting dog, and don’t even hunt. I wish at a younger age I had been exposed to this lifestyle. It is so exhilarating! Since starting with Spirit I added another Weim to my life. I now spend many, many hours in the field (weather and temperature permitting) training. I rack up many miles driving to and from the field and field events!

Tresha and Spirit share a moment

Final Advice

I’d advise anyone wanting to embark on this adventure for the first time to have a training partner and mentor. Two people can learn from and encourage each other, and the mentor can help you to get it right the first time.

Lyric and I attended our first AKC Hunt Test February 13 and 14 put on by the San Francisco Bay Weimaraner Club at Grizzly Island.  The dog is judged on these points: Hunting, bird finding, pointing, trainability, retrieving, and honoring.  You are judged for 30 minutes.  (We skipped the Junior Hunter level, so we did not have the experience of having been to a hunt test.)  The judging occurred about half a mile away so could not really see what was happening.

On Saturday, Lyric and I were part of the last brace for Senior Hunter. We had a long walk down the backfield to the bird field.  The backfield had been planted with birds and if we did not handle it correctly we could be disqualified before even getting to the bird field.  We did not encounter any birds in the backfield (thank goodness) .  Upon entering the bird field the other dog pointed a bird first and I was able to bring Lyric around to make his Honor.  After the other dog retrieved his bird, we let them go again and in a couple of minutes Lyric pointed  a bird.  I caught up to him walked around and flushed the bird.  The gunners were not quite yet in position and the other handler did not have time to collar her dog before I sent Lyric to retrieve so the other dog raced past and got the bird.  My errors.  So we did it again and it went well.  I had just sent him out again when he grabbed up a dead bird.  I took it from him and held it up and told the judges it was a dead bird.  He pointed another bird at which point they had called time – thank goodness as he did not hold his point and jumped it, and then would not give it up     Anyway, he did qualify for his first SH leg, even with all of my errors.

On Sunday, it went absolutely perfect.  We were the first brace for SH. Five minutes into the backfield he went on point, I walked over and flushed the bird, blanked the gun, released him he started to chase and I called him off and he immediately turned  and continued on to the bird field where the other dog found a bird right off; Lyric immediately Honored.  After the other dog completed it’s retrieve I let Lyric go and he found a bird immediately .  I walked over, WAITED for the gunners and other handler to collar his dog, flushed the bird and Lyric went out so fast on the retrieve he slid around.  Brought it back.  The other dog was DQ’d and Lyric had to continue to hunt for another 11 minutes as we walked back up the back field.    We did not encounter any more birds, thank goodness.  He got high marks for Sunday with an average of 9.5   So 2 for 2.  Since we skipped Junior Hunter we have to get 5 legs.

Liz Fairlee is president of the Blue Weimaraner Club of America and founder of Fairhaven Weimaraners. Lyric (Fairhaven’s Daring to Dream) also has his NAVHDA NA prize I title with a perfect score of 112. You can read more about his NAVHDA title on the BWCA blog.

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.

(“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.

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.