Sunday, May 2, 2010

Bailey sees blue


Great weekend. We spent the weekend at Hastings Island.

Saturday, Bailey was entered into Open Derby. There were 22 dogs in this event: German Shorthairs, Brittanys, Gordon Setters, Vizslas, and German Wirehair Pointers. Many of the dogs were professionally handled.

When the day was all over, Bailey had come in second behind one professionally trained Vizsla. That was a good day.

Sunday, Bailey and I ran in Amateur Walking Derby against eight other dogs. These dogs were all handled by their owners and not professionals.

Bailey went out in the first brace. He brought his "A" game. He set the bar for the other dogs quite high. When the placements were announced, Bailey had come out with the "Blue (first place)." We have seen white (fourth), yellow (third) and red (second) nine times before, but never the blue. A first-place finish is the only position that provides "points" that transfer and get counted toward a dog's "field championship."

Just before Bailey's brace, a friend of mine, Jim, brought his kids, Zack and Emma (5 and 8) to see what field trialing is all about. They watched over our brace. Zake and Emma kept their fingers crossed. They wished Bailey a first place finish. It worked!

Happy trails and trials.

One year of field trialing for me as a complete rookie. I would call it a successful year.

5 comments:

Ken and Janet said...

YAY!!! Good job Rod & Bailey!!!

Harry said...

Congrats to the both of you.

Juliet said...

Hey...fantastic...Bailey's a "blue" vizzie now!

John Connelly said...

Great result Rod - a fine reward for all the hard work and effort put in. By you too!

Andrew Campbell said...

Bailey's a good looking dog -- and you've earned your ribbon with all your good, hard work. Good luck against all those northern California vizslas!

Andrew