Learning how to hunt

We recently met a nice man, Tim from Paso Robles that had agreed to help us with some bird exposure. He hunts and competes in NSTRA, had all the available stuff, birds, guns, knowledge, etc so we took some of our pups up there one day. Here is a link to videos of him working with the dogs.

https://picasaweb.google.com/mattandshellie/SeptemberBirdTraining

September bird training

Our little Lilly @ 6 months, learning how to point

Moses, black boy from the Waterfall litter did exceptionally well and his owner, Leslie Bordan has asked Tim to train Moses for hunting. He has been with him a few weeks now and is on his way to becoming a functional and competitive hunting companion. And while we are talking about Moses, let's talk about this.... Best of Breed from the puppy classes at the San Luis Obispo Kennel Club shows in September!

Moses

Remembering our boy some more

The puppies from our first ever litter have now passed the one year mark and are on their way to becoming "good dogs." Sometimes it can take a while for these Brittanys to grow up. You just have to hang in there through their adolescence and keep directing their energies in a positive direction and before you know it, you have your awesome, adult dog that you just can't live without! It's kind of lame since it is almost the opposite way with humans. We spend so much effort and time raising these little people, tough it out through the babies and adolescence, and just as they are about to become the best versions of themselves, we send them off! Don't get me wrong, we all enjoy the babies and kids, but so often, we don't get to enjoy fully the finished product. I'm still in the throws of babies and kids and it is a shame to think that I won't get to spend as much time with them when they are all grown up.

That is part of what was so very disappointing with River. He had really come into his own just recently. He was only 4 and a half. He spent so much of his youth out on the field trial or with my mom in San Diego. I had only just gotten him this last year. It's that maturity in a dog that I love and he was there.

We had the guts to sit down and watch the video we had purchased last year at Nationals. It was video of all the classes, including best of breed. I think that was my single-most favorite time ever being in the show ring. I seriously had a blast. River was amazing. We were an absolute team! I had figured him out and he loved it. Watching the video was awesome to just remember that feeling. In the video, you can see him move towards the camera on his down and back with his dopey expression, wagging his tail with the white tip, then he nails this awesome free stack, all stretched out and looking handsome. He changes his expression on the go-around, there is an intensity that wasn't there on the boring down and back. He gets to MOVE on his go-around and he thrived! He loved it when we would get to the end and I would let him bounce around and play while trying to get his bait. We made that first cut and watching myself stack him up, I remember how easy it was. I would self-stack him and he was just perfect. He had such amazing angulation and his feet were so perfect. After she releases us, he bounces over to the place where we wait to get our ribbons. You really should see it, he was just so very, very happy!

We didn't get through to the next cut, but that's ok. He looked absolutely incredible in that video and that is all that ever mattered to me. I got to see him and I standing outside the ring watching the rest of the show. He was my buddha-bear. I never had to worry about him standing there. He was never mean to any other dog, never startled, never was skiddish.

Mom and I are both stuck with this, "how will we ever breed a dog as amazing as him?" I think we both know that he was as people say, a "once-in-a-lifetime dog." I am early in the game and so I have hope that just maybe we can do it again. I can't even figure out how we will pick him out again. There is one dog in that first litter that has his true temperament and I never would have picked him out as a puppy as having that "it" quality. So I'm not sure how I'll ever find it again. Just keep trying I suppose. I miss him.

River, when he was Manhattan. Robin Tomasi put this together for him as a puppy.

This is one of the last photos we had of him, from the ABC rescue picnic. He finally got to go to a dog park! Intact dogs are not usually welcome. He was so chill.