Lake Ontario Upland test

Ranger on his walk up

Crispin, quartering the field

Crispin, flushing the bird

Ranger, with his retrieved bird

This weekend, Mark took Crispin and Ranger to run Lake Ontario HRC's annual upland test.  Ranger needed 2 more legs for his title, and Crispin was really just along for the practice.  Mark just started training her a couple of weeks ago on sitting on the whistle and she'd never done a walk up or any formal quartering until the day of the test.  It was very fun to watch her learn as she went.  She did a nice job of the walk up and sat nicely on the whistle.  But in the first test, she really didn't understand that she needed to sit when she flushed the bird.  But, by the second test, she'd figured it out (no sit, no bird!) and she passed like a "big" dog.  

Ranger, on the other hand is a rock steady, awesome gun dog and had no issue at all.  He passed both tests yesterday with flying colours and is now HR UH Tidewaters Raising the Bar Can/Am WCX CCA.

I went along to shoot some photos yesterday, but man, it was COLD.  So, they're off today for day two without me.  It looks bright and sunny out, but we got a whack of snow last night and it's feeling a lot like Christmas today, so I'm home with the older guys and the younguns are out with Mark.

Wiley Hunting

This is Wiley (Rowan x Sage), owned by Eric Smith in Montana after his first big hunt.  Doesn't he look proud of himself?

Fisher and Reba

Fisher

Reba

For those of you waiting for the news...we bred Fisher and Reba today!  And, now we wait for Mother Nature (and Reba) to do their thing and hopefully bring us lots of big, fat, happy babies in 63 days.  Keep watching for news - we'll do an ultrasound to confirm pregancy somewhere around December 20.

Mason - Veterns Day

More hunting news.  Mason and Todd Herderhurst enjoyed a Veterns' Day hunt and scooped up a pheasant.  Mason is sure enjoying being Todd's huntin' dog!

Ranger and Crispin - CCA

Group Shot

Crispin and Mary

Ranger and Mary

This weekend, Mary took Crispin and Ranger to the Ottawa Valley Golden Retriever Club's Certificate of Conformation Assessment in Ottawa.  It was a handy location, just 10 minutes from Mary's mom and dad's house and it gave us the opportunty to seek some information and opinions about our dogs from three third-party observers.  The purpose of the CCA is to evaluate (and score) dogs against our breed standard, in a non-competitive environment.  Each dog is evaluated by three different judges (or evaluators) and they score things like the dog's structure, gait and temperament, including their ability to mingle with other dogs.  Dogs who pass, that is, meet the Golden Retriever standard, receive a certficate.  Both Ranger and Crispin received their certificates.  We really enjoyed hearing from experts what that they liked about our dogs and where they thought we could improve our breeding program.  It was a very fun day.

Annual Saskatchewan Hunt

Crispin

Crispin, Sage, Ranger

Paul and Sage

Steve, Larry and Cory with Sage and Ranger

Ranger-Roo

Here they come!

Mark's annual Saskatchewan hunting trip is over.  My happy hunters have returned home with lots of memories (and ducks!).  Ranger, Crispin and Sage were this year's lucky dogs who got to go.  Ranger is becoming the seasoned hunting dog and Crispin got her first flavor of what it's like.  Paul and Sage had a great time too.

Out On the Prairie

Simon Says "look down"

Simon Says "look up"

Simon Says "look front"

While Mark was in Saskatchewan, he visited with Danno and Jill, who live in Regina.  They got together to talk training and dogs and blueberry pie.  Danno is a Rowan and Leia puppy who just turned 1.  He's vaguely related to Crispin and Ranger (they have the same grandma - Destiny and Ranger's dad is Danno's granddad), so I was a bit surprised to see how much they look alike.  I hear they had fun training.

It's Hunting Season!

Aaron and Opie on their western hunting trip.  Opie got to pick up LOTS of birds.   Opie is a Rowan son, Drake grandson, bred by another kennel nearby.  Aaron and Opie have been training with us for this day since Opie was 9 weeks old.  

Kurtis and Daisy (Rowan x Sage).  Daisy lives near Edmonton.  This was her first time hunting, earlier in the year.  Doesn't she look very proud of herself?

Mason (Rowan x Leia) lives with Todd in Massachusetts.  This was their opening day.  Not a lot of activity, but Mason was a very good boy!

Piper (Rowan x Leia) lives with Paige and Mike in Nova Scotia.  This was their first time hunting together.