von Moeller Hof Dobermans

This is what we’ve been waiting for! Miss Quinna will hopefully have a normal heat and be bred in a few weeks! Will keep you posted!

Quinna had 2 PVCs, and Arras only had 13! I’m very very happy to hear these results!

We gave it a shot, but we didn’t do it. Last weekend in Fayetteville, NC, with 92 degree temperatures, we tried to get our SchH I. I knew I was pushing it a bit - I knew her protection wasn’t quite ready, but since I am planning on breeding her this heat cycle, I thought it sure would be nice if we got that title!

We tracked 2nd. The tracking conditions were ok - a little tough in that the grass was very thin bladed stuff that looked great from the road, but once you were out there, you felt like you were tracking on dirt that had grass hovering above it. There was a good amount of dew, but it was air temp was already getting brutal. Out of 6 dogs, 3 dogs failed, high score was 94 then Quinna at 90, and then 74. Judge was Randall Hoadley of Dallas TX. He was a fair, consistent judge, who did not give any points away. Quinna tracked as she tracks at home, so I was very pleased. She overshot her corners and then did little head checks to get back on - that cost her 2 pts in each corner. She indicated the first article at an angle, for another 2 points off. On the 3rd leg, she raised her head slightly in the middle of the leg, which cost her 2 points. She had a little ‘bobble’ on and off the track for a minute before she indicated the last article, and that cost her 2 points as well. 90.

We got back to the field by 9:30, and they decided to run the 5 BHs. All BHs passed. By 10:30, the BHs were over and they decided to postpone the trial till 6pm. So, I could have driven 1.5 hours home and then back again, or go back to my room until they kicked me out, which they tried to do at noon, so I ended up paying for another night so we could stay in the cool. Quinna thought laying on the bed in hotel - essentially on top of me — was a great way to spend the afternoon.

By 6pm, the sky was overcast, thankfully, but it was still 92 degrees… yuck. In my flight, I did my obedience first while the other guy put his dog in a down. Her attention was fantastic, she did get a bit sideways on her heeling occasionally from being a bit too pumped… She did everything great, except for the long down - that was a disaster. She was so hot by the time she did the long down that she laid out flat, then rolled around like a rottie, then got up and shook off, then started walking to me… I could tell something was going on b/c the judge kept looking over and writing stuff down — as soon as he’d turn his attention to the other dog, I’d turn around and whisper PLOTZ! and she’d lay down again. Then I’d hear her shaking her body and sure enough, after 3x of this foolery, she ended up next to me. We lost all 10 points for that! However, the rest of the critique had some very good things - excellent overall picture, excellent attention, excellent left turns, I lost NO points on our retrieves! The judge was very very complementary. I did get a few points off for her crooked sits due to her getting a bit sideways. I did give handler help on the sit in motion, but I wanted to make sure I got that sit! The down in motion was a little slow, but of course the recall was rocket speed and straight and he took no points on that part of it. I got an 84 (would have had a 94 if not for that horrible down under distraction!)

Protection: not such a good story, unfortunately! She did not even go to blind 5 (which I blame myself for - I didn’t take enough time to set her up and remind her of where she needed to go), she did a lovely hold and bark, I was able to fuss her out of the blind, but it took 2 commands (I just taught her to do that last weekend! the last time I put a SchH I on a dog, we got to hold their collar while the helper got out of the blind! I realized last weekend I hadn’t taught that yet!). Set her up for the escape. This helper was extremely fast, and she got him on the escape quickly, but she didn’t have a tight enough grip, and started falling off. She got back on, but that’s a major point deduction. Then, on the attack, she stayed on for the stick hits no problem, but moved herself out of “the pocket” as we call it, directly into the way of the helper so he ran right over her. She flipped onto her back and literally had no option but to come off the sleeve. She jumped right back up and grabbed the sleeve, but the judge stopped the routine right then and there. We were excused. 0 points.

I am extremely happy with her performances otherwise, and I look forward to a successful show career with her. She is a lot of fun and doesn’t get all wiggy being somewhere new and has a lot of drive to keep her going without rewards during the work. Thanks to the folks at Fayetteville SchH club for taking these pics!

http://www.the-lone-star.com/e_portrait.html

I am so honored that Andrea wanted to put Arras up on her website.  I truly appreciate it!

I entered Quinna this past weekend at the Fayetteveille NC schutzhund club trial for her BH.  It was a last minute decision, and she had never been to that field before, so I sort of wondered if I was making a good decision.  Our heeling had been going through some modifications over the past month and I wasn’t sure it was solid yet.  I had a lesson with Debbie Zappia the 3rd week in November, and that really helped clear up some things for me/us, and I know that helped immensely.  Our heeling on leash wasn’t looking too good until we got to the change of pace.  Quinna really likes to do the slow heeling - not sure why, but I guess we do it a lot - and and as soon as I went to slow, she totally became one with me, and we were a true team!  Here’s a clip of our off-leash heeling:

[vimeo 8146384]

Really, she did as well as she absolutely could have, knowing what her capabilities are at this time.  I am THRILLED with her.  I lay in bed the next morning, still feeling the high from a nice performance, and I said to my husband, ‘ya know, there really is a high associated with showing.  Please remind me of this the next time I am feeling horrible about a trial performance.  This high really does occur sometimes!’

The weather was very cold and wet.  The field was essentially under water.   Most of the dogs didn’t want to sit or down, but I managed to time my commands with the high spots on the field.  She wasn’t really too into the down in motion, but she did it. 

Now onto the SchH I!  )))

I wrote this blurb in an email the other day to Izzy’s new owner. Joe and Bridget, who own Izzy’s littermate, Imma, are going to take Izzy and make a SAR/cadaver dog out of her! She’ll be great at that. Joe and Bridget will have quite the handful at their house, that’s for sure!

To Joe:
Izzy cracked me totally up last night. Background info - the kids are going to be pirates this year for Halloween. We put the outfits together by going to the salvation army and getting women’s silky shirts, black vests or jackets, sashes, jewelry… We bought hats and eye patches and plastic swords etc earlier. This was a few weeks ago. The kids were very excited to wear the outfits around, and they ran into the dog room once when Izzy was in a crate and she went ballistic barking at them. I ran down the hall upstairs in time to see them running OUT of the dog room. It was pretty funny. I tried to convince Izzy that the pirates were really Eric and Cole but she didn’t really believe me, and for the next few days, every time she saw them in those get-ups, she’d bark at them. It got to the point where Cole was getting a bit nervous about her and started insisting that she be put on a leash if he had his costume on. One time, Eric was outside waiting for us to get back from a walk, and Izzy was loose and she went flying up to him, while I’m screaming STAND STILL!!!!! DONT RUN!!!! (I was afraid that Izzy would go after him like any good high prey drive dog) Eric did as I said and Izzy ran up to him barked at him while running around in a circle and then went up and punched him with her nose and FINALLY decided it was Eric and then came back to me. (sort of like she did with that cat when you came - ran up to it, barked, and then came back)

We decided that Halloween might be tough on Izzy this year

So, last night, on my way home, I went by petsmart and I saw they had halloween costumes on sale 50% off - and there was a pirates hat — with black curly hair sticking out of it - omG I had to have it. When I got home, I tried to get it on Quinna. Quinna was not cooperative at all and wouldn’t look at us with the hat on or anything. I couldn’t fit the straps around Arras’ head, and Izzy was sitting in a perfect little sit just waiting her turn. She was cracking me up, because I could tell that she thought it was equivalent to a treat to get this hat put on. Well, I put the hat on her, and she thought it was the bomb! She was so proud to have that hat on, and she’d look at me with those sweet eyes… I was practically balled up laughing so hard. The boys were laughing too, until Cole said, ‘But wait! Are you thinking that she’s going to wear that hat when we’re in our costumes?’ I said yes. Cole said, ‘yeah, well she’s going to have a leash on!’ I am telling you, I am still laughing at the mere thought of that whole setup. We’ll be trying to take the pictures and she’ll be barking at them while wearing her pirate’s outfit!

So I occasionally look to see what my web stats say about how many visits I get, which pages are viewed, etc. I also get to see what search phrases folks used to get to my site. Best search phrase for this month: ‘when do dobermans calm down’. What I want to know is where do I say anything about dobermans calming down on my website??? too funny

So, as you might remember, Izzy was labeled a ‘cat killer’ at the age of 6 months. I found that difficult to believe - I just couldn’t believe that she’d be fast enough or coordinated enough at 6 months to kill a cat. Then, she landed in home #2, and was accused of killing a small dog. The owner was away for the weekend, and the pet sitter called to say that the 5 lb dog was dead. There were eight dogs running free in that house, Izzy was the newest member of the household, and while she was not seen or caught killing the dog, she was accused of such. Fast forward to today. Squirrel in the backyard. I attempt 3x to give it fair warning that the dogs are coming out. It decides to casually hop about 2/3 across the backyard. Thinking that’s a good enough head start, I let the dogs out. Quinna is in the lead, followed closely by Izzy and Arras. Quinna grabs the tail of the squirrel as it’s trying to get through the chain link fence, pulls it back into the yard, grabs it, flings it around, drops it. She and Arras investigate, she picks it back up a few times, and throws it down, etc, etc. Where is Izzy, the illustrious cat and dog killer throughout all this? Interestingly, she is hanging back watching the show. Hmmmm, I think - I would have thought that with her background and experience, she’d be right in the fray! But, no — just watching. At this point, husband walks into room and sees the expression on my face and wonders what is up? I tell him. He opens the door, calls Quinna, and in she runs. Arras is now hanging out with the dead squirrel. Izzy still hanging back. I call Arras. He comes. I put him and Quinna in their crates and go back to the door to call Izzy. Well, here she comes! CARRYING THE DEAD SQUIRREL! oh, yes, the little retriever - carrying, looking very proud mind you, but she is NOT the guilty party! She tries to bring it up on the deck — oh NO, I say… She drops the squirrel and sits down. I call her again, she picks it up and starts coming again. oh NO NO NO, I say. Husband decides to get rid of dead squirrel and walks outside in time to see Izzy sort of chewing on dead squirrel. I get her to come in, and have to wipe her whole chin off - blood and gook - yuck!

Did she look guilty? yes! Can I picture her carrying the dead cat(s)/dog to her owner? YES! Do I think she was guilty? NO!