What a weekend! About six weeks ago, we entered Karma in a walking field stake with her cousin Gunner. While it was pretty apparent that Karma doesn’t run big enough to even be considered, we had a fun time trying out a new venture. Heather (Gunner’s Mom) let us know that her Vizsla club, the Rocky Mountain Vizsla Club, would be putting on an entire WALKING field trial at the end of April, and that she was going to be camping out.
Sounds fun, right?! About two summers ago, Jenny’s Dad gave his RV to us. It is old, but with low miles, and he thought it would be perfect for the dogs on all the hunt test trips we were taking at the time. So we’ve had this RV and only really used it one other time, for the trip we took to Reno for Indy’s last two Master Hunter legs. This walking field trial sounded like the perfect time to take a camping trip. We would enter Karma and Indy in two stakes each so they could do their favorite thing, and then we planned to hang with Heather and her family for meals and entertainment. We had the RV “summerized” and packed up with lots of food and dog beds, and then headed down to Calhan, CO on Friday night.
We rolled in just before sundown and had time to park the RV and get the heater going. Only, we couldn’t figure out how to get the heater going. After an awesome dinner (steaks, blue cheese mashed potatoes, grilled squash and zucchini, and a salad) Marc and Charlie (Heather’s hubby) tried to figure out the heater geared up with flashlights and a bunch of layers — did we mention it was 35 degrees and windy? After fiddling around to no avail, the boys came back in the Jackson camper and we had some REALLY good chocolate cake and then played some Mexican train. Jenny and Marc headed back to our nippy RV around 9 and got to bed early for Karma’s 8:30 am Open Derby start.
Not sure if it was the new surroundings or the freezing temps in our RV, but our red kids actually slept in until 6:00 am before peering out from the lush down comforter we were smart enough to pack. Counting our blessings (it’s VERY rare for Indy to sleep past his 5:30 am hunger pangs) we got up and prepared for the day. Karma was running in the first brace, so we headed down to the field about 8:00am. Jenny met her brace-mate and his handler, Ben. Jenny clued Ben in that she was new at this gig, and he gave a bunch of tips before we took off. Ben’s dog was a Brittany and ran really big (if memory serves, he ended up winning 2nd place!) so he pulled Karma out a little further than she ran at the trial we did in March. Karma found and pointed a bird before the first curve, which amped her up even more. A marked improvement over our last attempt, we were pleased Karma had such a great time, and headed off the field with big smiles. A few braces after Karm, Gunner was up so we cheered them on, but unfortunately Gunner didn’t find a bird. Such a bummer.
Then it was back to the campers for lunch before heading out for Indy’s field trial debut. As we waited, Jenny and Marc went over Indy’s commands and the rules. We had been told Open Gun Dog is a Master level performance. So we based everything around that. Don’t whoa Indy into an honor, don’t collar him, just cap the bird, say, “no bird” and move on. We were set! We headed down to the line when we saw the previous brace come off the field, but there was no brace mate in sight. After about three minutes Indy began to serenade the judges and gallery with some roo-ing and barks — he was ready! After 5 minutes, the judges sent Indy and Marc off the line without a brace mate. Indy was very happy to be released and actually took off with an impressive break away. Good boy. He probably ran for about 5 minutes before pointing his first bird. Marc moved in to flush and cap and Indy stayed steady. Good boy! As Marc turned back to Indy, he flung his hands and said, “no bird.” Well his mouth said “no bird” but his body language clearly said, “FETCH!” Indy went to retrieve and Marc yelled out, “no bird, no bird, no bird!” Indy turned around and came back, but too late. The judges pulled Marc aside and let him know the error of his ways. Then they said that since it wasn’t the dogs fault, that they wanted to let Indy work his way back instead of picking him up for the “walk of shame.” Indy actually ended up finding three more birds, and one of the judges stayed with Marc and worked him through how to properly handle in a Field Trial. Turns out it’s not really a Master level performance…well, the dog should perform to the Master level, but the handler can handle at a Senior level. You can TOTALLY talk to the dog! And you can go back, collar the dog and lead him off after the flush and shot! We were making the bird work part way too hard. We thanked the judges immensely for the private lesson in field trialing and they wished us luck in Amateur Gun Dog.
Then it was back to camp for the awards ceremony before heading over to the campers for dinner. On the menu tonight was pork tenderloin, rice, broccoli, and salad. So good. The intention was to hang around for another game of Mexican train, but we were all exhausted! So after chocolate cake we headed back to the cold RV and dove under the comforter. Everyone was asleep instantly 🙂
Sunday, Gunner ran in Amateur Derby right before Karma, so we didn’t get to walk his brace, but he and Heather came off the field looking like they had a great time. Heather gave us some goodbye hugs as they had to head straight out to make it back for baseball camp. Jenny and Karma were braced with Bond and Christi. Bond is Karma’s BFF Ellie’s brother so they have been out on romps before AND they were braced together back in March too. Despite their friendship, Karma and Bond only chased each other around for about the first 20 seconds — I was pretty impressed. Then Karma took off for the first objective, a yucca. She checked it out and then went straight for a set of Christmas trees. At this point, I’m thinking, “where did she learn to do that?” She kept going from objective to objective checking them all out. I’d see her point, but her tail was wagging, and then she’d take a step or two. I’d go check it out and there would either be a pile of feathers or a mouse scurrying around. Hmm, not too productive. Since Karma was moving bigger than yesterday, I was trying to book it myself and keep pushing her forward. We had a wild flush and then came around into the home stretch. Karm was working up ahead and to my left when I saw her go totally stiff. There is that point I know and love! I hustled over and sure enough, there was a bird! A flush and shot and I sent Karma off for a little chase. It’s like it all clicked! The bird landed out about 50 yards away and Karma stayed out that far hunting! I was such a proud Mom. I got big compliments from the judge who said it was a treat to see a dog have so much fun 🙂 Karma and I thanked the judges and left the field with huge smiles! **Note to self, if Karma isn’t stiff on point, it’s not a bird, and I need to keep her moving!**
Then it was straight over to let Indy run in Amateur Gun Dog. Todays run was clean!! Not bad for Marc’s second time as a handler 🙂 Indy found one bird today and had impeccable bird work. He ran decently up until about the last five minutes were it was pretty obvious he lost some steam. He headed into the gully and hunted through there where the cover was a little thicker and it slowed him down a little bit. The judges called time and Marc leashed up Indy. It was pretty apparent that he was proud of his boy as he gave him some water and an ear scratch. With our last run out of the way, we thanked the FT committee and headed back to Denver.
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We had such a fun weekend and I think I’ve figured out some of the components:
–Good people. Many are friends/acquaintances from conformation shows and hunt tests. And the ones we didn’t know were SUPER nice and very willing to take you under their wing. It’s a laid back atmosphere and camping out was too much fun.
–A Well Run Event. Jenny is a little “Type A,” so she was warned over and over by friends in the Field Trial know not to expect a smooth weekend. Apparently Field Trials are notorious for being poorly organized (in fairness — you try keeping 100 dogs, 8 judges, and two large bird fields organized.) BUT, she was pleasantly surprised this weekend. The Rocky Mountain Vizsla Club (RMVC) must have some Type A people of their own as this event worked like a well oiled machine. We saw this first hand as Indy was braced both days with people that had conflicts in the other field, but the club members and judges were able to deal with conflicts so that the event ran smoothly. And we saw Heather and her fellow club members work their buns off both days — big kudos to all!!
–No pressure. Fully understanding that we don’t have big running dogs, we had no expectations. At a hunt test, this is not true as we know our dogs are ready and should pass. But with only 4 placements per stake, it’s pretty hard to get your hopes up (at least at our level) so we just went out and enjoyed our run!
–Getting to handle ourselves. Jenny has never handled in the field and Marc has only tried it a handful of times. It was so fun to be out there handling our pups and enjoying the view of them doing their favorite thing!
–Finding something else to do with Indy! Since he became a Master Hunter, we haven’t worked with Indy much. If we train, we usually at least let him work one bird, but for the most part the only time he gets to hunt is on a hunting trip. It was SO COOL to see he remembered how to handle and did such a good job for his Dad 🙂
Marc had such a great time, he said he wants to enter any walking field trial that is decently close. Uh-oh, I think I just saw my tax return vanish! 😉
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