Jam earns her first Junior Hunter leg!

Jam made us very proud this past Saturday by earning her first Junior Hunter qualifying leg at the Westminster Kennel Club Hunt Test in Milbrook, NY! I was very proud of how our young girl did and received compliments from one of the judges on her "beautiful point".
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To earn the AKC Junior Hunter title, a dog must receive four qualifying legs. The dogs run a pre-set course with a brace mate, for 15-20 minutes and must be able to find a bird, hold the point for a minimum of 3 seconds, not be gun shy when the handler shoots the blank pistol after flushing the bird and must point at least 50% of the birds they encounter. The Junior dogs are scored by two judges on a scale of 1-10, in four categories: hunting, bird finding ability, pointing and trainability. To pass, the dog must get a minimum score of 5 in each category with an overall average of not less than 7. Out of the 6 Junior dogs tested, only two passed that day.

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Jam will be running in more hunt tests mid-October and our goal is complete her Junior Hunter title this fall and train her for the Senior Hunt tests in 2010.

New NSD for Jam!

Jam passed the Novice Shooting Dog test today and now has a new title - NSD!

Back Jam-in in the field

After a break from field training due to vacations and poor weather, we were excited to take Jam back to Mike's for field training, especially as we are getting ready for this Sunday's WCA Ratings test, hosted by the Garden State Weimaraner Club, as well as upcoming fall hunt tests.

Jam just keeps on wowing us with her natural ability and solid point.
Whoa! Once Jam finds the planted bird, we give her the "Whoa!" command and then walk up beside her. A check cord is attached to her collar to keep her steady in case she does break before or when the bird is flushed. Before the bird is flushed, I praise her verbally and also stroke her.

Our main focus at this point is steadying her on the bird once she goes on point and keeping her steady (staying in position) when we flush the bird. We are very pleased with her progress and the improvement in her skills each time she goes into the field.