New AKC Grand Champion

On December 8, 2012, Paloma earned her third major to finish her AKC Grand Champion title. She was handled by Kory Wyckoff of KW Handling. Kory put 13 GCH points on Paloma. Thank you also to Christy Marley of Christy Marley All-Breed Handling for putting 17 points on Paloma and, Junior Handler Jake Funkhouser for 1 point.  

This has been a wonderful experience. Her judges were: Mr Frank N Summerside, Mrs Ainslie Mills, Mrs Patricia Ulloa, Mr Houston Clark, Mr William Bergum, Mrs Honey Anne Glendinning, Mr Henry (Hank) Williams, Mrs Vicki L, Abbott, Mr Gary L Andersen, Dr Ronald Spritzer, Mrs Linda C More, Yvonne Savard, Col. Joe B Purkhiser, Mrs Nancy Liebes, Mrs Terry B Carter, Mrs Irma S Fertl, and Mr Robert J Shreve. 

Thank you all!

CH Gold Run's Two Thumbs Up CD RN JH AX MXJ

CH Gold Run's Two Thumbs Up CD RN JH AX MXJ

May 13, 1997 ~ October 21, 2012

On the afternoon of October 21st, a very brave and sweet old man passed away. His owner, Nancy, wrote that he had a couple of rough days and that she was feeding him by hand.  That afternoon he let her know it was time. 

Siskel was born on May 13, 1997, to CH Golden Empire's Sunup Flint and CH Gold Run's Bella The Ball JH and was the last surviving litter mate. His sister, Xena, and brother, Hunter, each passed a few years ago. Siskel was one month shy of being 15 and a half years old. Siskel is sire to 16, grandsire to 21, and great-grandsire to 6.

Siskel is the sire of Marley, Jasper, Maggie, Archie, Olive, Bentley, Lyric and Zeke from the first litter with CH Opus One Lena of Dunantul, Lena. He is also the sire of Rio, Jake, Ellie, Ruby, Gracie, Donnie, Winni and Chico from the second litter with Lena. Two daughters, one from each litter, and a granddaughter went to the Rainbow Bridge ahead of him.  His pups have earned six CHs, two JHs, one RA and one RE. 

Siskel earned titles in agility, obedience, conformation, hunt tests, and rally and had FC and AFC points in field trials. 

Marc and I had the pleasure to spend time with Siskel when we took Mia down to live with Nancy. I must tell you, he was the best ear washer in town and I will always think of him when getting an ear washing from Marley, Paloma or Sparrow!  

Run wild and free on the other side of The Bridge; Chase the upland birds and the colorful butterflies; Rest in the tall grass under the shade of the willow tree; And drink from the cool waters that babble over the rocks on its way to the sea. A bell will announce the arrival of your loved ones and at that time run to the bridge. For it will be there you will be reunited. Rest in Peace, Siskel. You are healed.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jasper, Loki, Crawford, Ziggy, Patriot and Paloma!  I can hardly believe you are 4 years old! 

Jasper is an AKC Junior Hunter, personal gun dog and family companion.

Loki is an AKC Champion, family companion and hunting buddy.

Crawford is a family companion and overseer of his own two legged sister.

Ziggy is a family companion, cuddler extraordinaire, and Vizsla good will ambassador.

Patriot is an AKC Junior Hunter,  family companion, overseer of his own two legged boy and master teacher to nephew, Battle.

Paloma is an AKC Junior Hunter, AKC Champion, family companion, mother of six and boss of her world. 

It has been a pleasure to watch you grow and mature. Your Dad, Kirby, CH Pirok Kirbi MH,  would be proud of you. 

Have a wonderful day and be on the look out for a delicious treat or two today!

Half A Year Already!

Can you believe you are 6 months old today?  Well, you are!  You have lived with your new families longer than you were here, including gestation! 

How did you celebrate half a year of life?  Sparrow celebrated by getting to go on three car rides; we picked up Daniel and took him home; and then went to see Dr Woodside for her rabies vaccination. She was petted, praised and treated while she was there. She was also on her best behavior and let Dr Woodside examine her ears and didn't flinch when she got her shot. She was a CHAMP!!

Yesterday Sparrow and I met Bodhi and Kyle at Paul and Kirsten's (Field of Dreams in Sweet Home, OR) for some bird work.  I cannot tell you how impressed I am with these two young pups. Both are figuring out scent cones and pointing their birds. Sparrow is learning to "wait" but she likes to pounce. Both pups are okay with the pistol and shotgun. They each worked on homing pigeons in traps and planted chukar. They are learning to pick up a dead bird but love giving chase when the chukar runs.  We all had a great time! 

In celebration of Kyra, Lily. Bodhi, Harley, Battle and Sparrow - Happy Half Year Birthday!!

September Hunting Season and Jasper

I received this note from Jasper's owner this evening and wanted to share it with you. I am so proud of the hunter he has become and appreciate all the training his owners have done with him.

Jasper had a great 4 days of hunting last week - 3 days of dove hunting and 1 day of teal (duck) hunting. We brought home about 40 doves and Jasper retrieved about 30 of those (the others fell close enough to John or me so that we could just pick them up).  He did a great job out there - including two water retrieves where he had to swim across a canal and bring back a downed bird.

The biggest difference that I noticed is that unlike last year he showed very little hesitation in picking up the downed birds and bringing them back to us. The two times when he did hesitate it was because the bird was pretty shot up and bloody; I've seen other dogs balk at those situations too. 

Our first evening of dove hunting last Tuesday was really tough because it was very hot (still 90 degrees at 7pm) and dry and no breeze. I think we lost about 4 birds then because Jasper just couldn't get a scent. The next morning we had some light rain and there was a steady breeze so Jasper had no problem; he found everything.  John and I were positioned about 30 yards apart on either side of a shallow ravine. Jasper decided to position himself midway between the two of us and sat there with his tail steadily thumping the ground waiting to see where the action would happen next.  Whenever one of us would shoot, Jasper would be there to find the bird. 

When we went teal hunting on Saturday most of the finds were easy for him but he made one that was really exceptional.  We took two birds out of an incoming flock. The one fell close by in the pond and Jasper retrieved that and brought it to John's friend. The other one which I had shot nosedived into some thick cover about 75 yards away. It was tough to see exactly where it went down because of the viewing angle I had so I asked some other guys walking out if they had seen it come down. They told me they thought it was on their side of the canal so I had Jasper begin his search there but with no success.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought it had fallen on our side of the canal so I took Jasper back over there to look.  In less than a minute Jasper had found the downed duck. John's friend, who had come over to help in the search commented, "Wow. He retrieved my duck and then he comes over here and finds this one. I have to get a dog like that!"

He's earned his rest this week. We probably won't do any more real hunting until pheasant season starts later this fall. 

Take care,

Brian

Kyra and Sparrow Playing at Dad's

Kyra and Sparrow had a play date at Greg and Dennise's with their Mom, Paloma, and their Dad, Mojo,  plus half-brother, Taz, and half-sister, Kiya.  As you can see, they had a great time. Little boy in the picture is G&D's grandson.

The horses Kyra is looking at in the above photo.

The Adventures of Lily

Photos of Sparrow and Paloma, July 30, 2012

July 25, 2012

I didn't notice this until now but there are three generations in this photo - Marley, Paloma and all the puppies. What a neat picture!

We've Been Busy!

Well, it seems May just flew by us as we didn't make one post!  

The puppies were seven weeks old last Monday. 

For the past few weeks, the puppies have been spending time outside their play area interacting with the big dogs. Hannah and Marley are good teachers although Hannah can get a little too excited about it all.  

Cullen has been working with the puppies on socializing with a baby.  It is fun watching them interact with him. They love to follow him around the house, tackle him, nibble on him, and give him kisses. He has learned to pull his hands in and not let them bite them. 

On Tuesday, they went through their temperament testing. We did the testing at an empty Bed and Breakfast which belongs to a friend of a friend.  It wasn't the best place to test for sound sensitivity but they did the best they could and tried to find where the sound was coming from. 

The weather is finally nice enough for the pups to spend a little time outside. They will get more time outside before they go home the second week of June.

The puppies have a big couple of days coming up this Sunday and Monday!  On Sunday, they will be in Sweet Home at Field of Dreams with Kirsten and Paul having their hunting ability evaluated.  And on Monday, they will see Pat Hastings for their structure evaluation. I'll be making placement decisions next week and notifying everyone which puppy they are getting.

They go to the vet for their first check up, microchipping and first shots on Monday, June 11th. The first puppies will go to their new homes on June 14th.  It will be a sad by happy day.