Dog Days of Summer

Summer has definitely hit Virginia this week. I believe the temp reached 100 degrees today in Richmond. I started off the day by bringing Buddy and Komanche over to my newly fenced in pasture. They seem to be happy enough with their new home. They found the mud road along the back that connects the two pastures, and spent a good part of the afternoon hanging out there in the shade. The dogs haven't quite gotten used to the idea of horses being on the other side of the fence. Misty was the first to spot them, sounding off in her "intruder!" bark.

There won't be the sound of any new little feet around here, unfortunately. The breeding that was attempted this spring was not successful. Very disappointing.

A Little Bit of Everything Going On

Heading home this past weekend, I chuckled to myself at the thought of my minivan as being a mobile geriatric ward, daycare, nursury and brothel. That's because I was carrying my two older girls, my 5-month old tenant, two females in season and a stud dog to breed to one, and I just picked up Zoe and her four babies to keep while Kelley is away on a business trip. Somehow we managed to fit in a short weekend at a field trial. Don't have any field trial brags from the weekend, but perhaps with so much going on, I haven't exactly been focused on just the trialing.

The breedings have been done, and hopefully I'll be announcing an upcoming litter soon. Stay tuned....

Spring trialing

Our spring trial season started down in Georgia this year in late February. Dave went down to Leesburg, GA, for a weekend trial, followed by the NVA Eastern Championship. Then he headed up to Norwood, GA, for the VCA National Gun Dog Championship. I was able to join him for the VCA event. The following weekend was our club's weekend trial, which means a boat load of work for me the week prior and after, as well as during the three days of the trial. We had a very large entry, as usual. And to add insult to injury, it rained two of the three days, turning our trial into a virtual mudfest. Now it's my turn to go to everyone else's trials and enjoy myself - I have done my part to contribute to the sport this spring.

Joey has made his debut as a gun dog. He hasn't come home with any ribbons yet, but I am confident that he is on the right track.

Zoe's puppies

Wow... where did the time go? It seems like it was just yesterday when Zoe was bred. Now she is the mother of one week old puppies - three females and one male. Mother and babies are all doing well.