BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
I am very proud, and pleased to announce the arrival of my great and grand nephew: Eli William Miles, born to Billy and Sarah early Saturday morning, weighing in at 8 lbs. 5 oz, and 23" long. I have the worlds best nephew in Billy and he's always meant so much to me. We have always been close and I was happy when he moved back 'home' from being in Florida for over 20 years. I'm so happy for him and for Sarah and for the whole family !
HUNT TEST UPDATES
The question: "Are your dogs staunch and steady?
The answer: "They were yesterday!"
John participated in hunt tests this past weekend hosted by the NNEBC. He brought along Scooby, True, Bullet, and Jack. Although out of both days just two of the 4 boys receiving a set of qualifying scores from the judges, John had no complaints about their performance and I'm happy to announce that my True puppy, like his Uncle JackDog, is now halfway to his AKC Senior Hunter title with good scores on Saturday! Bullet has one set of qualifying scores towards his SH. Sunday, it was my Scooby who earned a set of qualifying scores to bring him halfway through his Junior Hunter. The photograph above was taken during his brace and shows John walking out with Scooby's brace mate and handler, the judges, the marshall, and some of the gallery. (A gallery is any number of people who walk out onto the course while the marshall is basically the person who oversees the gallery to assure dogs/judges/handlers can work without interruptions. It was really nice that some people who are new to the sport had the opportunity to get out there into the field and see the dogs close up.) I really really REALLY appreciate it when someone takes the time to capture our dogs on film and these pictures of Scooby and John mean a lot to me. I'm very proud of them both and I'm also very happy that Starr earned her second set of qualifying scores (legs) towards her JH title too - congratulations to Steve and Steph. I heard that Bella earned her third leg - congrats to Jim and Lisa R. Actually, congratulations to all the qualifiers from this weekends hunt test. And to those who didn't - keep on trying. Persistence pays off, get training when necessary and above all - love and enjoy your dog regardless of it's performance or lack of. Of course I'm focusing on ATB dogs here but I do enjoy hearing about the accomplishments of others too! From all the photographs I have seen it looks as though it was a real nice day all the way around. John and crew came home totally exhausted but it was all good. And the pumpkin cream cheese whoopie pies and oatmeal raisin cookies I sent with him were also good from what I heard.
AKC HUNT TEST SCORING - DID YOU KNOW?
At an AKC hunt test for pointing breeds the dogs are scored on the basis of 0 - 10 in the following categories:
Hunting, Bird Finding Ability, Pointing, Trainability, Retrieving (n/a Juniors), Honoring (n/a Juniors). In order to receive a qualifying score a dog must acquire a minimum of not less than 5 on each categories of ability. (4 categories in Junior, 6 categories in Senior and Master) with an overall average of not less than 7. Judges must agree on which dogs will qualify and which dogs will not qualify before scores are turned in. For the overall average the total of scores is divided by 4 in Junior, and divided by 6 in Senior and Master.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE POND
Yesterday while they were away I ran the girls and Hemi who were here then enjoyed several hours kicking back with them down at the pond. Hemi learned a little more about jumping on and off of the float which translates to unplanned swimming lessons. I have decided that Molly and Treasure's interests at the pond are more of an amphibious nature. The hunt for frogs endlessly. Treasure will either bite the frog and kill it, then leave it for another dog to roll in at a later date or, if True is around, she will deliver it to her son and drop it at his feet. A little twisted don't you think? Molly, I'm not sure what she does with the frogs she catches but I suspect Treasure is at the ready, standing by to steal it away. Pippin is insect minded. If it flies or hops - she's all over it. The acrobatic moves she makes to jump into the sky, twist and land only to miss a butterfly, moth, or dragonfly are really quite interesting to observe. Wish has techniques all her own - the grand dam of most of ATB simply runs happily, barking and heads into the pond simply to lay down in the water and roll around - very funny because this is exactly what Jack does. Piper? Well Piper is more of a drive by - catch her if you can but she'll always come when called yet she has marched to the drum of a different drummer since first arriving her a couple of years ago. And Rose. No end to the antics of Rose, no matter where she is or what she is doing she is in control of her situation. You may remember we had some damage to the fencing around the bird pens... this means easy access to that area although the birds are safe and protected. And that's where Rose spent most of her time yesterday - well, that is in between her swimming breaks and coming to give me a kiss before she is off again. And so there you go - the women and children stayed behind yesterday.
When John returned later in the afternoon with the boys it was as if someone called "SURF'S UP"!! Seriously. As soon as John opened the door for each dog to get out of the truck they immediately headed for where I was sitting pond side. All of the girls and Hemi kind of scattered in different direction as each of the boys ran and jumped into the pond - what a riot!!! I was laughing til my sides ached and so was John - it was just such a funny sight. So there we were, with the ENTIRE crew being entertained by the happiest Brittany dogs in the world - who were simply 'being dogs.' I'm sure that the pond felt wonderful for the hunt tested dogs who put in quite a grueling weekend!
Speaking of the pond, the water level is as high as it is in the spring and the water still remains clean, fresh, and clear. It does not look that way after dogs have been in and kicked up the bottom of course. It's a great place to spend a warm early autumn afternoon that is for sure.
October 1st - Maine Bird Hunting Season Opens!!!
Take care and God bless, and thanks so much for your interest! John, Ann, and All things Brittany
Annie is definitely her mother's daughter. Every day that she is in the fields near our house she is sprinting full speed and leaping to catch butterflies and grasshoppers. Watching her run through grass that is taller than her is hilarious too, because she is really on springs, her head appearing above the grass as she hops then promptly disappearing. She will happily chase the flying insects all day, and of course is quite bird obsessed too!
ReplyDeleteOh I love hearing about Annie! It sounds to me as if you are having a lot of fun with her this fall, and that she's having a lot of fun with you and I'm so glad! Thanks for sharing!
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