Madras - My first Gun dog braces with Bailey

Madras Oregon September 19th.  Ran Bailey in both Amateur Gun Dog and Limited Amateur Gun Dog.

Bailey went "bird less" in Amateur Limited Gun Dog.

Earlier in the day I handled him in the Amateur Gun Dog stake.  This was my first and second time EVER handling a dog in a Gun Dog trail.  He was a "derby dog" before.  Derby was much easier.

Of the four dogs in the stake, Bailey and one other Vizsla qualified for the "call back."

Bailey had run the brace well, but I made some very rookie mistakes, that after Bailey retrieved the bird to hand in the call back he was the only dog to receive a placement.  SECOND with first place withheld.

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There is so much more to learn now and I really enjoy the sport.

It rained extremely hard Friday night and Sunday morning with scattered showers the rest of the weekend.

Randy Berry and Kathi Boyd at the "line" ready for a brace.

Videos and more pictures added later.  Had to get home to meet my new human granddaughter "Lily"  who was born this morning.

Stay tuned.  Bailey and I have taken the next step. 

Hidden Treasure - Coloma Resort

110 miles east of Walnut Creek along the banks of the American River lies the town of Coloma.  Across the historic Coloma bridge (built in 1913) to the great little camping and RV park called "The Coloma Resort."

This is the third year we have gone to this resort in the fall after Labor Day.  It is a family-friendly resort whose owners and managers love our well-behaved dogs.

While Bailey was running his red fur off up at the Pacific Northwest Pointing Breed field trial, Chloe, Joanie and I enjoyed the refreshing waters of the American River.

Our little 1989 Aero Cruiser makes camping enjoyable.  Small enough to get into all spots and large enough to make a weekend away a comfortable vacation.  The raft made floating down the river enjoyable.

And give Chloe the chance to swim after a thrown ball -

 she is in nirvana.

A Placement for Bailey in Open Gun Dog

This evening, we got the call that Bailey took fourth place at the German Shorthair Pointer Club of Oregon  Field Trial held in Tgyh Valley, Oregon today.

  This was a horseback trial against the strong and tough "Deutschland Uberhunds."
The first three places went to the German dogs.

This was his first run against "the big boys."

  Bailey was handled by Randy Berry, our trainer and mentor.  Bailey has been in training full-time with Randy for three months. 

Placements are given to the top four dogs.  All four winning "Open Gun" dogs were trained and handled by Randy.

There were eighteen dogs in the Open Gun Dog group.

Good boy Bailey.  We are all very proud of you.

I will see Bailey in Madras, Oregon in a couple weeks.  I'll run him in Amateur Gun Dog off horseback. 

Learning to ride a horse correctly

Three two-hour sessions by a professional horse trainer has been worth the effort and money. 

How to communicate with a horse, saddle one correctly, and how to ride the way a horse wants to be ridden was some of the things learned over the six hours taught by D.J.

Gordon and Linda were very supportive by allowing the training to be done on their great property with Patch, their five-year old Tennessee Walker. 

I am now a rookie horseman to go along with my being a rookie field trial "gun dog" handler.

These lessons are an important part of the our "team" (Bailey and I) training.  Bailey learns to find birds and I learn to ride the horse to get to Bailey "on point" when it is time to work the bird.

Today, Bailey ran his first Open Gun Dog stake of his career.  This took place at the German Shorthair Club of Oregon horseback field trial up in Tygh Valley, Oregon.  He is being handled by Randy Berry.

   Don't know how he did yet.  I'll post when I find out.