It was fun to have our Vizslas representing each hunting test level at the High Plains Gordon Setter Club AKC events April 3 & 4. While Mike Neff and Randy Sullivan ran their red kids over on the Junior course, Aaron and I tried our hand on the Senior/Master course. As you can see from the photos, we had a pretty good weekend! Certainly not a perfect weekend, but not a bust either. We'll take it (and take note of the training we need to focus on for next time)!
First, a BIG SHOUTOUT to our puppy homes for getting involved with their Vizslas to level they have. These are the first bird dogs they've trained AND handled themselves (with a little guidance from us). Because they are novice handlers/trainers, the hunting test passes might come a little slower, but we wouldn't have it any other way. It's so rewarding to stand in the gallery and watch these folks handling their own Vizslas in the bird field. Nothing beats the smiles and laughter we share as we celebrate those 'hard-won' passes...AND those 'hard-won lessons! ROCK ON YOU FABULOUS PUPPY HOMES!!
Mike qualified his talented boy Monty (Trip littermate), on Saturday with two finds. We were so proud to watch Monty hunting hard and searching objectives with intelligence during his Junior run. Even more rewarding was how responsive he was to his owner/handler Mike. His points were staunch and solid--no creeping or trying to take out his birds. He held his points until well after the birds were in flight and even came off the chase when Mike whistled him to 'hunt on'. They're a great team! Monty got big compliments and high scores from the judges.
The Randy and Shea team shined on both Saturday and Sunday by picking up back-to-back Junior passes. Ever the 'uber-prepared' guy, Randy arrived on Saturday several hours before Shea's run. He walked braces and watched many of the other handlers and their dogs work the Junior course. When it was their turn, Randy and Shea knew exactly how they would work the course. We loved watching Shea's enthusiastic breakaway and the intensity in her hunting style. Like Monty, she held her points beautifully and waited for Randy to flush her birds. Good Girl Baby Shea!! She also received high scores on both days from her judges (all 9s and a 10 on Sunday!).
Oh what fun we had over at the Senior/Master course...
Amante stunned us all with her brilliant debut run in Senior. With **6** finds and her big wheels
turning, she kept Aaron on his toes. Though she's oozing with talent, it was Aaron's excellent
handling that Q'ed her for her first Senior Hunter leg--it's a good thing we've got 'handles' on this girl. :-) But, what an exciting run to watch!! The photos of Amante's debut are A LOT of fun. These are the performances we dream of--especially with a dog like Amante! In one of the photos, you'll notice the bird actually flew over and behind her but she only turned her head to mark. A MIRACLE considering how much she loves to spin around to mark her birds. The series with her standing while Aaron works hard to flush a quail that won't fly was a NAIL-BITER. You can just imagine how much self-control it took for her to keep those
feet planted. We all know Amante does not have an abundant supply of self-control to draw
from. :-) The stars were aligned on Saturday for the Aaron/Amante team!! She even finished her
brilliant run with an honor in the field. Her honor was a true one without a command from
Aaron--he was too far away and the wind was too high to have whoa'ed her into an honor. She just
put all of the pieces together and was rewarded with her first Senior leg--AND with scores of all
9s from the judges!
She did a nice job on Sunday, hunting even harder and ranging even bigger (since she knew the
course) but her 5th find proved to be too much. The bird moved and so did Amante. :-)
One thing is certain...she came out of that bird field with the biggest smile. And, so did we!
Trip Q'ed for her third Senior Hunter leg on Sunday with a beautiful run. She too ranged out bigger and
was busy hunting for her entire brace. She was steady on her birds, had lots of style on point,
and an awesome retrieve to hand. Her work on Sunday was pretty much at the Master level--not bad
for such a young girl! The judges loved her performance to and gave her all 9s (with the
exception of a 7 on her honor...guess we know what we need to work on!).
And Thunder...Mr. T...almost Q'ed for his first Master leg on Sunday. He was in contention until
the last couple of minutes when he pointed another bird. He broke on the second shot but had a
PERFECT retrieve to hand. This is HUGE given Thunder's history of mishandling his birds. We
weren't sure we would be able to teach him to do a Master level retrieve ("promptly, tenderly and
absolutely to hand," but he did--TWICE over
this past weekend). And, the club was using quail in the tests which we hadn't yet proofed Thunder
on. So, I was doing back flips when Aaron told me he brought the bird back with a soft-mouth.
BTW--Thunder is a natural retriever. You'll rarely find him without a toy shoved into his mouth accompanied by a "roo-roo" demand to play fetch. It's usually the case when bird dogs start to display unwanted behaviours in their handling of birds and/or hunting that **the humans are to blame**, NOT THE DOG. Too much pressure when a bird dog isn't capable or ready for *that level of pressure* can lead to things like a sloppy or unacceptable retrieve. Too much pressure can also lead to other behaviors like sitting/laying down in the field, excessive urination (especially when in the middle or right after a retrieve), "boot-licking", etc. Thunder was a "learning" dog--meaning his humans were inexperienced when first introducing him to field work. The pressure from his training (never cruel training though!) came out in his retrieve. Once we taught him how to correctly handle his birds and fixed his training so as to remove the confusion he returned to working happily as the naturally talented, high-drive Vizsla we all know he is. See "Our Philosophy" on training bird dogs for hunting and/or AKC field games such as field trials and hunting tests.
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Vizsla Monty holding his point in a Junior Hunter level test. Check out his style! And, he never tried to take out his birds--he held until his owner/handler Mike flushed. GOOD BOY MONTY!!
Shea's breakaway! Love that ENTHUSIASM!
Vizsla Shea holding her point on a quail in an AKC Junior Hunter test. She stood this bird nicely and waited for Randy to move in to flush.
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Fusion Vizslas
