Good start to the trial season

The first field trial this season is behind us now, and we're off to a start.  At the January Old Dominion Vizsla Club walking trial, Dixie brought home the blue with a major win in the Open Limited Gun Dog stake.  She has been handling well for Dave.  And she and I are starting to click as well.  She took 2nd in the Amateur Limited Gun Dog stake.  Joey has been running well and always has great birdwork.  Once we get that retrieve down pat (when to stay and when to go, etc.) he'll finish his FC and AFC in no time.  Sara impressed me with a great run in the Open Gun Dog stake (Dave handling).  She had three broke finds before a faux pas in the last few minutes of the brace.

What happened to 2010???

I happened to visit this blog tonight and was quite surprised that it's been over a year since my last post.  Whatever happened to 2010?  Lucy is now a year and a half and as wild and crazy as ever.  Phoebe is pushing 14 years old and Colonel and Misty will be 13 this spring.  I hit a birthday milestone in 2010, but we won't talk about that.  Joey, Dixie and Sara are all competing as gun dogs this spring.  Dylan is still being the stubborn trainee and not ready yet.  I'm thinking about another litter this spring or summer (or whenever Sara decides to come into season).  Stay tuned....

Snowed in!

The snow started Friday late afternoon, and it hasn't stopped yet.  The girls here at home don't really think too much of going out in it.  Phoebe did venture out to the mailbox with me.


Lucy found that she had to leap her way through the stuff:

Meet Miss Lucy

It was a tough decision, but I finally selected the yellow collared girl as the pup who would be staying with me.  I'm calling her Lucy - registered name to be determined still.

Decisions, decisions...

Puppies start heading to their new homes soon, and I still must decide which girl I am keeping. This evening one of my girls really got into the "point the bird wing" game. It's difficult enough taking good pictures of lively puppies, but when you throw in the factor of one hand operating the bird wing on a fishing line while the other hand operates the camera, the odds of getting a great shot are even lessened. Yellow girl was the most cooperative, holding her points longer than any of her siblings. Could this be the future "Lucy" (call name I've been kicking around for my pup)?

Playing on the Deck

Puppies - 6 weeks old

Maternity leave is over

Dixie's maternity leave is over and she is headed out to North Dakota to get back to work. She loves her job of running and hunting hard, so it's more like summer camp to her. Dave sent this picture of his training grounds there.

Now that's got to hurt!

Dixie nurses her four-week old pups. Ouch!

New Digs

Red girl escaped the whelping box Monday afternoon and again this morning. This afternoon I came home to find both Red and Black sitting in Dixie's crate. So this evening's project was to dismantle the whelping box and put up an x-pen. I put a 300 sized crate inside of the x-pen, and the pups took to it immediately. Of course, Dixie joined them INSIDE of the crate to nurse.

New pictures have been loaded into the slide show.

First Meal

Puppies enjoyed their first meal on Friday evening. They seemed to enjoy their Pro Plan "Slurpie" quite well. As usual, there is always one puppy that ends up lying in the pan. This time it was the Red collar girl.

Puppies at Two and a Half Weeks

More Puppy Video

Puppies Getting More Mobile

Puppies' eyes are open now, and they are getting a bit more mobile. They don't have that walking thing down quite yet, though. This video was taken on Friday (7/10/2009) afternoon.

Puppies Growing Like Weeds

Dixie's "pound puppies" are now all over two pounds each. They are growing fast. Typically the puppies' eyes start opening at about two weeks of age. It's funny to watch their reaction to the site of things. Up until then, they are driven by their noses. They certainly can smell when Mom, aka dinner, is nearby.

Puppies - One Week Old

New pictures of Dixie's puppies, who are one week old today, have been uploaded. Click on the slide show to the right to see all pictures.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

Sofa Time with Sara

Three year old Sara enjoys a bit of sofa time with Mom.

Feeding Time!

Reflections...

Fifteen years ago today, my beloved first Vizsla, Ricochet, was born. I first saw this little pup when she was about a week old. I remember the excitement that built during the next several weeks until it was time to bring her home. I had no idea how my life would change over the next 15 years. Ricochet got her name when I first visited the home of her breeder, Carol Wynn. I watched Carol's Vizslas race around her yard and commented that they sort of ricocheted around the place. And Ricochet certainly lived up to the name. As a young pup, she would fly up or down the staircase and literally bounce off the wall on the landing to make the 180 degree turn. When she whelped her first litter, I pondered what kennel name I would adopt as my own. I could not come up with anything better than her call name, thus the birth of "Ricochet Vizslas".

Ricochet has been gone for about two and a half years now, but her memory lives on, as does her spirit in the generations that have followed her. Dylan and Dixie's pups, three days old today, are Ricochet's great-great grandkids.

The "Pound Puppies" are Growing Fast

I jokingly refer to Dixie's litter as the "Pound Puppies" because they all weighed in close to a pound at birth. Here it is a little over two days later, and my how they've grown! Tonight's weigh-in goes like this:

Black (male): 16.6 oz
Blue (male): 18.0 oz
Yellow (female): 18.7 oz
Red (female): 20.0 oz
Green (female): 17.5 oz

Tomorrow they take their first road trip - to the vet's for tails and dew claws. They will look more like Vizslas and less like rats in the next pictures!