Jam'n at Harriman State Park

A perfect way to end a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends plus a great way to work off those calories!

Senior training begins...

Now that Jam has completed her Junior Hunter title, we are forging ahead with a plan to train her for her Senior Hunter title. There is a tremendous leap between the requirements for Junior and Senior, and depending on the dog, some of these things may come easy, while others offer challenges. Jam has great potential, natural ability and drive, which make training her a pleasure. It is obvious to everyone that Jam absolutely LOVES hunting. The obstacles that we are currently facing in training are her newly found confidence and big run. She is ranging quite far and going ahead of us to find the birds. Yesterday, we found her in the next field, on point, holding for many minutes but she went in on the bird before she was released. Not acceptable at the Senior level.So, back to the check cord. Once she is pointing, we are putting her back on the check cord to teach her to steady and wait until she is released before moving. This process will take time as we will not move on to retrieving until we know she is steady to shot. We worked her on a few quail in various fields and then to some backing practice. It seems Jam is a natural backer, automatically honoring the dog on point.
Where are you going with my birds???

Jam on her perch

Jam, perched on the sectional, a favorite spot for watching the backyard and hoping to spot some of the wildlife that live here. We have deer, wild turkey, an occasional red fox and the ever present squirrels, who love to tease the dogs. And yes, that is our agility teeter in the backyard.

You called?
The look of total bliss...head scratches are the best!

Time to get back to work...

and a perfect place to take a morning nap...

New Junior Hunter title for Jam!!!

I am very proud of Jam for finishing her Junior Hunter (JH) title on Saturday at the Nutmeg Weimaraner Club's Hunt Test at Nodbrook in Simsbury, CT. Jam is the second Trixie and Parker puppy to earn a Junior Hunter title.
The judges were very complimentary of Jam's hunting skills, range and strong desire. Since we had entered both days, I ran Jam today for her "bumper" leg and was thrilled with the high scores she earned which included a 9 out of 10 in Trainability. For dogs to earn a Junior Hunter title, they must earn 4 qualifying legs, where they are judged on hunting, bird finding, pointing and trainability on a scale of 0-10, and must earn a minimum of a 5 in each category with an minimum average score of a 7.
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Now, on to training for Senior Hunter and we hope to have Jam ready to run in the Spring.

Birds on the brain

Whoa! Jam's field training continues to improve but with it some new challenges as Jam has found her independence. She is ranging out like a field trial dog and breaking her whoa before I can get to her. On the positive side, the trainer is thrilled with her ranging, hunting style and her long nose plus we started backing her or honoring as it is called, a skill needed for Senior Hunter. She is still pointing with intensity so the breaking her whoa, is a training issue that we will continue work on and steady her to the flush before we move on to the next step. Jam absolutely loves hunting and her drive and nose is overpowering her brain.

Jam is holding her point for a good while as we walk up to her from across the field...unfortunately she broke her point just as we got to her. Back to the check cord to correct this behavior. And as always, tons of praise and rewards when she does the right thing.

Born to shop

Jam loves to shop, especially when it involves visiting her favorite store, J-B Pet Supply Outlet Store in Oakland, NJ, http://www.jbpet.com/ . She's been a visitor at this store ever since she was a puppy and knows the routine, look cute, jump on counter and a special reward awaits...from the magic treat bucket!