Hunt Test!

Last Saturday morning Ms. Beth woke me up and said it was time to "Load Up" with Aunt Madison! We trucked off to Jedburg, SC for the Greater Charleston Weimeraner Club Hunt Test event where Madison was entered in the Junior Hunter division.
Ms. Beth took me around and socialized me with many of the other dogs and people, because she wants be to become familiar with the sounds and goings-ons at hunt tests so that I will ready when my turn comes!!
In the picture you can see how our friend Tony was showing me the ropes along with his dog Torrie. We've never seen a bird like THAT before!!! It was cool!!
Everytime we passed that truck, I made sure to let Ms. Beth know that there were BIRDS over THERE!!! She said it was funny. Whatever !! I really wanted to get those birds!!!!
Miss. Madison had her 15 minute run in the field with her bracemate and the Judges! The backfield was kind of think and Ms. Beth was in a hurry to get to the birdfield. Miss Madison had different plans though!! She went on point on the backfield and at first Ms. Beth could't find the bird.... until she walked behind the tree Miss Madison was pointing at!! And there was the bird!
Miss Madison found another bird in the backfield not 2 minutes later! Ms. Beth said that's the big lesson that she's had to learn about these hunt tests as compared to showing in Rally or Obedience, you really have to learn to trust your dog, to follow the dog's lead...they are the experts out in the field!!
Because she's listened to Miss Madison and followed her lead, they received a qualifying score that day!! Yay!!! Miss Madison now only needs 2 more qualifying scores to earn her JH title!!
I can't wait until it's my turn to start training and performing in Hunt Tests! This is going to be so much fun and I can't WAIT to show Ms. Beth that I can do it!!!

It's Starting to Feel a Lot Like Christmas!!

Last Saturday, I got to go with Ms. Beth to pick out our Christmas tree at the Columbia State Farmers Market!! There are a number of different vendors there selling live Christmas trees, garlands and wreaths from North Carolina. It took Ms. Beth a while to pick out a tree, but FINALLY, she decided on a perfect tree!!

Once we got it home and inside the house, she spent lots of time making us listen to Christmas music and made us worry while she dragged all of the Christmas decorations out of the attic!

Then, she made us take pictures next to the tree as she was decorating it! I've never heard of such a thing, but Uncle Jackson says that she does this every year. Oh well, I guess it's pretty fun. I definitely like having a live tree in the house and checking out all of the pretty, dangling ornaments ;)

Well, we've been busy!! Last weekend I got my first exposure to live quail birds and I was super excited about them!! Jackson and Madison were out taking turns with some other setters. They were all practicing for an upcoming AKC Pointing Breed Hunt Test. Afterwords, they planted a quail out in the field to see what I would do. I was mostly focused on Ms. Beth the whole time, but once I found that quail and I realized that there were MORE quail on the back of the truck.... well, I think I like quail as much as I like Ms. Beth!!!

After that we went back to my first home at Hollow Creek Kennel in Leesville, SC. http://boykinsforever.com/ I had a good time visiting with Ms. Pat and getting to know a family that was there picking out a puppy! Fun times!

For Thanksgiving, Ms. Beth took me down to South Georgia to visit with her extended family. Uncle Jackson and I were a big hit with the kids because he and I both get really excited about playing fetch!!! We fetched pinecones, tennis balls and rubber balls. We fetched and we fetched till we were exhausted. Aunt Madison doesn't fetch, so she just hung out on the back of the truck and looked pretty :) ha, ha. I think Thanksgiving is my new favorite holiday!!!! It's the day where I get to stay outside all day long and play non-stop with kids and Ms. Beth :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!! Ms. Beth made me pose in the yard next to her fall harvest display. It was not very exciting when I was sitting there by myself, but I did enjoy sitting with my Uncle Jackson a lot more :)

Hope that you all have a wonderful time with your family and friends !

Hill's Healthier Pet Trot!

On Saturday morning, Ms. Beth got us up pretty early for a weekend and said that I was going with her. Aunt Madison was pretty disappointed, but Ms. Beth promised her that she could be in the next race ;)

Ms. Beth and I drove up the Statehouse grounds where we completed our pre-registration commitment by donating some dog food and I received a cute red scarf to wear during the walk.

The Hill's Healthier Pet Trot was held in conjunction with the Governor's Cup 1/2 Marathon and 8K run. Ms. Beth entered me in the 4 mile pet trot because she hasn't wanted me to do a lot of running on pavement until I was past my first birthday. Something about growing bones and joints??? Oh well, I'm past my first birthday now and I'm ready to do some real training!!!

Although the walk was fun and I enjoyed meeting all of the people, I really wanted to catch up with all of those people running ahead of us!!!!!

While we were walking I was able to see some other dog breeds also participating including a German Shepard, a Sheltie, a Weimaraner and many others. So great to see so many people out with their pets! Exercising with your pets is good for them and good for you ;)

My Birthday!!

Well, Ms. Beth has been super busy and she hasn't been posting a lot about me on the blog, but that doesn't mean that she hasn't been doing things with me!!! Since my last post, I've completed my first basic obedience course, and now I'm in training to earn my AKC Canine Good Citizens Certificate. Will have more information about that in the near future!!

October 20th was my birthday, and Ms. Beth took me to Pupcakes! Pupcakes is a fun doggie shop in the 5 Points area of Columbia. While visiting Pupcakes, I met my first doggie pirate! Arghhh!! http://www.pupcakespetboutique.com/

After selecting a fun Halloween treat, I accompanied Ms. Beth and her friend Erin for lunch at Yesterday's resturant where they have outside seating. The waiter even brought me my own bowl of water! While having lunch there, I hung out under Ms. Beth's chair and just took it all in. At one point it was very exciting because a big firetruck came by. Ms. Beth said she was super proud of me because I didn't miss a beat..... just took it all in stride. I figured if she wasn't worried, why should I be worried???

I also go to experience my first Halloween with Trick-or-Treaters! There were lots of visitors in all shapes and sizes! I accompanied Ms. Beth to the door everytime so that I could view all of the creative costumes. At one point, I decided that I would venture off down the street with the Trick-or-Treaters, but Ms. Beth disagreed and called me back to stay with her. Maybe next year I can go Trick or Treating too!!!!

Right now, I've got to get to bed because Ms. Beth has entered us in the 4 mile, First Annual Hill's Healthier Pet Trot in Columbia! The "race" starts at 8:00 am, so we'll have to be there early. For more information about this great new event, check out: http://governorscupsc.org/PDFs/2009HealthierPetTrot.pdf

All in all, we've been busy, and will continue to busy for the rest of the Fall season. I will try to get Ms. Beth to post pictures of the Pet Trot as soon as I can ;)

First Confirmation Show

On Saturday, I traveled with Ms. Beth and her friend Loren down to Augusta, Georgia for and AKC confirmation show. Ms. Beth entered me into the Miscellaneous Breed Class for Boykin Spaniel puppies. I had to wear a special show lead and we could only trot around the ring. I really wanted to run FAST... but Ms. Beth said that we could only trot.

Next she asked me to stop and stand still while she fiddled with my feet and made them all nice and straight. She said that she wanted me to stand squarely... whatever that means!!

Then a lady judge came over. First she looked at my teeth, and then she felt my neck, shoulders, back and back legs. Whew!!! All I wanted to do was go play with my cousin Woody who was in the ring with us!!!!

The best part about all of this was that I got to eat lots of hotdog! Ms. Beth told me that I was a very well behaved boy and then we got to go outside and socialize and that was fun! I earned a ribbon and I was glad that Ms. Beth was happy. She says that we're off to a good start. Check out the pictures of my ribbons. I earned 1st place in my puppy class and also received Winners Dog and the Best of Breed Ribbon. Fun stuff!!

Can't wait until December when the Boykin Spaniels will be fully recognized by the AKC and I will be able to start earning points towards my Championship! Ms. Beth says that we're going to have a BLAST :)