Savi's Swiffer Ad

As seen in the October 2010 issue of Self magazine

Savi did her first modeling job at only four months of age for Swiffer and we are thrilled to see the final product in print.  A friend reported seeing the ad in Self magazine but we are sure that it will appear in many other publications nationwide.  Let us know where else you see it.

What a fabulous start to her modeling career!

Puppy Agility: Practice makes perfect

We were lucky to have a friend join us to watch at agility class today and tape our runs.  Savi is in an Advanced Beginner level class, with advanced being the key word.  In this clip, you can see that we reinforce solid stays at the start line, work on jumping skills, contacts, 180s, front crosses and weaves.  The weave pole method employed uses gated weaves to teach independent, fast weave poles.  I also taught Savi a running contact on the Aframe.  It is apparent that Savi loves this game called agility and she loves the contact equipment.  Not bad for an 8 month old pup! 

Junior Hunter leg #1

Savi, only 8 months old, qualified for her first Junior Hunter leg at today's Westminster Kennel Club Hunt Test in beautiful Millbrook, NY.  I was so proud of how well she ran and the judges were impressed, giving her scores of 9 in both hunting and trainability.  The judges were very nice and it was great seeing old friends.  The Westminster Kennel Club runs a very hospitable test and served a terrific lunch to everyone attending.  A terrific way to celebrate the qualifiers!

AKC RDO Day: Match Shows and New CGC titles!

What a fun day at the AKC Responsible Dog Owner's Day with a morning Specialty Match Show by the Garden State Weimaraner Club and an All Breed AKC Sanctioned "B" Match by the Plainfield Kennel Club.  Savi won her class in the Specialty Match and in the afternoon, although wilting in the heat, she got a Puppy Sporting Group Two!  I am extremely proud of both Savi and Monty for passing their AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) tests and did it like competition obedience dogs.  I still can't believe that Savi is only 8 months old and had no problems with a 3 minute out of sight stay and did all the exercises perfectly...what a good girl! It was a wonderful day spent with friends and our pups.  Thanks to Kel for being our official photographer and helping with the dogs.

Savi getting ready for her AKC CGC test.  No food or pinch collars are allowed during the test and the dog must pass a 10 different exercises that test basic obedience commands, socialization and reactions to distractions.

Sunset Swim

 After a late afternoon hike on our favorite trail at Harriman State Park with all three girls, we took Savi for a quick swim to cool off at one of the lovely lakes. 

 Even though it's been a few weeks since she last swam, Savi didn't hesitate for a second and went right in to retrieve the bumper.

We won't divulge exactly where we go as we know that people who read the blog are inspired by our outings and try go to the cool places we go, but we don't want to spoil the uncrowded trails and lake areas which are our little secret...I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Savi the savant

 Savi, turned on scent 20 feet from the bird and held point!

We've always known Savi was special and we're not just talking about her lovely conformation or sweet disposition. Between seeing her develop from birth (lucky me to be her breeder), the incredible performance during the temperament test at 8 weeks and now, at 8 months of age, she keeps impressing everyone with her boldness, birdiness, amazing focus and high level of trainability. Yesterday's field training session, which we are now calling Weimaraner Wednesdays, had our trainer Mike, not one to give false compliments, showing off Savi's hunting skills to those in the gallery.  He says he's never seen a Weim with such an amazing nose and holding steady at such a young age.  She then showed off her retrieving skills, bringing back a thrown chukkar to hand. A very exciting thing to watch and nice to see just days before we run her in her first hunt test.

The field is not her only area of talent.  She's already in an Advanced Beginner agility class and at our second class of the new session on Tuesday, just after we introduced Savi to all full size contact equipment, this puppy ran a 10 obstacle Novice course off lead and did it beautifully!  The instructor and I spotted her on the teeter and dogwalk and the weave poles were gated to form a chute.  Wish I had someone there to video Savi running her first full course.

 What has helped make this puppy so successful?  I attribute much of it to who she is, a confident pup with a great temperament (which is hereditary), and then starting her training while in the puppy pen with fun toys, games and lots of socialization.  She started obedience classes at 8 weeks and learning attention, impulse control and play skills, like tugging, gave her the foundation to do well in any venue.  It also helps to have an experienced owner/trainer, who has learned from past mistakes and prioritizing/setting goals for training the new pup.  In the field, she has had early and consistent exposure to birds.  For agility, attention, impulse control, making work seem like play and a solid stay, which I can't stress enough.  Obedience is just part of everyday activities and recalls and stays are reinforced constantly.

Fan club

Savi and the president of her fan club, feeling the love!

Don't worry June, you're mom has plenty of love to go around...

Special effects

In an attempt to multitask, do some training of Savi's stays with the leave-it command and take pictures, I inadvertently set my camera on night vision...

No matter what position she was in, Savi did a terrific job with her stays.

Ready for Junior Hunter

Savi had an outstanding day training in the field today, located birds on scent and holding solid points.

You can see how far ahead of us she is and boom, went on point about 20 feet from where the bird is planted.  An impressive thing for a young pup.

She held long enough for me to get close to take pictures.  We still need to hold her on the check cord so she doesn't break and chase the bird.  The shot doesn't even faze her and she is understanding what the "whoa" command means...all good things!  With her showing such promise, I've decided to enter her in her first hunt test and she will make her Junior Hunter debut on September 26th.  Jam qualified for a JH leg at the same test and we hope Savi follows in her sisters paw prints.

Back to those birds!

After a few weeks off from field training due to vacation, we were back last week and Savi couldn't wait to get out and run in the fields.  We began where we left off, with a plan to steady her on point, no more chasing birds and encourage her to hunt.  She didn't disappoint us and even though its not as fun as swimming, it ranks right up there with her favorite things to do. 

After a warm up run, we brought Savi into the field with the first pigeon planted in a trap and she had no problem finding the bird from scent.

On point as we tell her to "whoa" and use a hand signal to reinforce the command.

Good girl standing there while we get into position to hold her collar while the bird is released and the blank pistol is shot, remember, her chasing days are over...she has enough drive and enthusiasm and needs to learn to "whoa".

Off to find the next bird...lovely trot across the field on a beautiful September day...

Nice performance on the second bird.  We sent her out and around the field and called her back into the wind and she pointed the bird and held, good for a young pup.  Now to figure out which hunt tests we'll enter for her Junior Hunter because she's shown us, she's ready.  The Junior Hunter test has four categories the dogs must pass with a minimum score of 5 out of 10 and an overall average of 7. The categories in Junior are: trainability, hunting, bird finding and pointing.  They must point at least 50% of the birds they find and hold point for approximately three seconds.  Also, the dog cannot be gun shy when the handler shoots the blank pistol.

Savi & her girls

Thanks to Memphis' owner, Meridith, for taking this lovely photo of us in the salt marsh on Cape Cod.