A Sailing Trip




Nusa has moved with Ron & Teresa from Harrison Lake to Parksville on VI and was out sailing on their relatives's yacht. First she keeps watch with the skipper and then checks out the activity in the galley. Life on the briney makes a girl hungry.

Sunni (taken June 9th on her birthday) 2 passes in Utility June 21st with a High In Class in the one trial. Missed High In Trial by 3 points!!! This is Sunni's first Utility passes. Not bad for a dog who just turned 4 years old 12 days ago! Jackie.

Camping Keeper goes on a camping trip to Buttle lake with his sister Teaser and Lance and Laurie. They went swimming in the lake and then dried off on stumps. They found a grouse hen and chicks and a mink den under a stump but were called off with no damage each time.. Early obedience training is so important!

Congratulations to Ken & Joan Hunter of Denver, Colorado on obtaining Lexi's Senior Hunter title (the 2nd level of Hunt Tests, similar to our Field Dog title in Canada but more difficult as they run with a bracemate which can mess you up).

Following is a letter from the Hunters in Colorado describing her field work and their love for her. All too often owners don't keep in touch with the breeder. Some only extoll their dog's virtue after 14 years of ownership. Thank you Hunters.

CH Piroska Toldin's Shooting Star SH

Dear Hilarie, Barrie, Frank and Martha,

I am pleased to be able to report that Lexi completed her requirements this Saturday for her Senior Hunter title. This has been a very strange season for hunt tests this spring. All of the tests scheduled for March and April were snowed out. It seemed every Friday we would get a vicious snow storm with heavy snow. The tests were either canceled or rescheduled for later into the spring. So we ended up running in mid May and early June.

Lexi is living up to her potential. She has a lot of natural ability in the field. She received mostly nines and a few tens on each of her four legs. At one of her tests she found five birds in the bird field. She easily exceeded the requirements for passing. In four of the six areas they score, Lexi is performing at the Master level. We need to keep working on her retrieve so that it is absolutely to hand. They are very particular about that out here and will not pass any dog at the Master level that is not bringing the bird back to hand and holding it until commanded to release. I have even seen judges fail dogs if they drop the bird and pick it back up and continue to bring it in. But there is no doubt that Lexi has the ability to earn her Master title. That is the goal and we will continue to work on it. Everyone out here is now out of birds so it will be a month or so before we can continue her training to get her ready for the fall hunt tests.

The last leg on Saturday was run in particularly difficult conditions. The wind was blowing very hard and the cover was waist high in some areas. They were planting Quail which were nestled down deep and therefore hard to scent. Many dogs went birdless. Only 3 out of 8 Seniors passed. On of those three was our Lexi to finish her fourth leg.

I have attached a few pictures of Lexi in the field. I have many more pictures and in a day or so will have some that were actually taken of her in her final hunt test leg. I think if you saw her you would be proud of her. I know we sure are. She is a beautiful girl with the sweetest temperament. She is just a pleasure to live with and to have in our home. At the end of the day, all the titles are nice but what is really important is that she has a kind and loving nature with a heart as big as Montana. There is not a single day that goes by that we do not say how very lucky we are to have our Lexi.

Ken

The first picture (upper left) is Lexi pointing. The picture on the upper right is of her "honoring" her bracemate's point. It is also called backing. Upon seeing the other dog on point a trained dog is expected to lock up as well, as opposed to rushing in and stealing the point or, God forbid, flush the bird. This prevents a dog being shot - they must hold their point until sent to retrieve. The last picture on the lower left is of Lexi retrieving the bird to hand. Some hunting dogs just point, some just retrieve. The beauty of a versatile dog like the Vizsla is that one dog does both and also, as the standard says (unique to the breed) is "demonstratively affectionate". Her American Championship is testimony to her excellent conformation as well. Life is too short to hunt with an ugly dog!

2 of our pups shared the Best of Breed over the 4 days for 2 points each. They were Piroska Golden Gunner "Gunner" owned by Alan & Rita Campbell of Vancouver and Piroska's Scentsational "Rea" owned by Lisa Duffy of Comox. No one took pictures ;-(.


Krysty's nephew Brayden, turning 1 this week, shares a bond with Pipacs, 9. When she sees him coming she lies down and he kneels beside her and she guides him onto her flank with her foreleg. He then lies there for up to 15 minutes soaking up the good vibrations.
Warning: Never leave a child unattended with a dog until you are sure the child knows not to abuse the dog. Toddlers have a fetish about poking at eyes (in dolls or dogs) and some think the dog is a mattress or trampoline. If two or more kids are there they may get into a screaming contest to see which can hit, poke, or pinch the dog the most times. If the dog in frustration snaps, the child runs and reports the "attack" and the dog may be put down or dumped for a situation not his fault in any way.

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