Barn Hunt Training Day

I love training and trialing in performance events of just about any kind. When you are working with a dog in something they were specifically bred for it's very exciting, and I always feel nostalgic and thankful to the breeders who came before me. While Smooth Fox Terriers were bred to bolt foxes from dens for the hounds on fox hunting days, terriers on a whole are bred for the dispatching of vermin. Barn Hunt and Earth Dog trials test natural instinct on terriers (Barn Hunt is actually open to all breeds) to find rats. Rat care is top of the list during training and trials and they are well used to the dogs. When not at these events the rats live as pets in peoples homes. The dogs never touch (or are able to hurt) the rats, these trials are strictly to show instinct and the ability to find the rats.

Were the dogs excited?? You bet!

Fiona (Am Ch Lil'itch Skylarke) gave me lots of excited kisses before we got down to business..

And although you can't see Bling's (Braebrook's Successorize) tail in this picture...I assure you it was vibrating.

Bling was the first to go and she tore right through the tunnel, over the bales of hay...

and found the rat!

 Both girls started with an instinct run to see how they would do and then once completed they moved on to a novice run which is the first level in trialing.

Fiona's turn..

No problem at all..

Next we worked on the instinct run and in order to pass in a trial the dog has to go through a tunnel, over a bale of hay and find the rat within the two minute time limit. They can do these things in whatever order they like.

Bling is easily distracted but also easily directed. I can see her little brain whirling (along with her tail...did you notice that every single picture of her shows a blurred tail??) and wondering what's going on and why everything smells so good. She listens fairly well to me though and I can guide her up and over bales to search.

Mmmmm....that rat smells good!

Fiona works a little slower and isn't sure why I would want her to jump over a bale when it's easier to go around. She's smart though and getting her over bales will be easy to train.

She found the rat within her time limit..

And we did a little extra ball work which she thought was most excellent. So much more exciting when you can see them.

I hugely encourage everyone to get involved in performance events, the dogs love them and I think they are an important testing ground for breeding dogs. Plus, they are so much fun!

What are you involved in with your dog? What are you hoping to get involved with in the future? Please share in the comments section below. 

Dog Walk On The Salmon River

We recently headed to Sayward as a family to celebrate my Dad's retirement (go Dad!) and took most of the dogs with us. My parents have 40 acres on the Salmon River and it's a dogs paradise. Chris snapped a few photos from an evening run. The light was starting to fade but it still shows you what a great spot it is and how much the dogs love it. Even 10.5 year old London ran like a champ and played in the water. They all got wet and sandy and all of them slept like stones that night.

My lovely old London...

This is Bling's thing...she loves she bounce along beside you when you walk.

Hardy swims like her Dad Vinnie (who adores the water and swims like a fish) and it was enough to encourage Dusty to get right in there and swim too! Even the Smooths got pretty deep, although not quite swimming deep.

London stood back and barked at them until they came back..lol

Pearl and Dusty (and Hardy and Bling in the background).

Good heart pounding runs in nature are so good for the soul, dogs and humans alike....it keeps all of us happy. It's nice to look at these pictures when it's in the high 30's outside right now and everybody is inside in the AC because it's too darn hot to do anything else! These pictures help us think cool thoughts. ;)

Braebrook's Successorize

Bling didn't travel with me on the Island circuit but she did go off to Calgary with a handler and managed to pick up her first two points despite being umm.....kind of naughty? She's a bit of a wild thing and standing still is not her strong suit. You can even see in these photos that tail never stops, she wags so fast it's a blur.

Bling is from our breeding of Multi US and Can BIS Am/Can Ch Broxden's Dressed For Success CGN "Sebastian" and Am Ch Legacy Broxden Liberty N Justice "Libby" a Dodger daughter. She is fifteen months old now and I adore her. She really does make me laugh everyday because she does everything with over the top enthusiasm. Even when I'm walking she is bouncing up to my hip as we go and she loves nothing more than when you clap your hands together and she can jump in the air so you catch her in your arms. She's a fun dog plain and simple.

None of these pictures are quite perfect but they're close, Chris had to snap fast. 

I hope you enjoy these pictures of my Ring A Ding...she's incorrigible and adorable all at the same time.

I have a lot more blog posts coming up....river walks with the hounds, barn hunt, essential oils...stay tuned!

Braebrook's Canadian Club

Poor CC had a rough start to the Island circuit. She somehow managed to get seasick on her ferry ride over and projectile vomited the entire way. When she arrived in Campbell River at the start of the circuit she was quite dehydrated and had lost weight. CC spends her days running on an acreage and keeping weight on her is already a challenge so she really didn't have any weight to lose. The decision was made to pull (not show) her the first day to give her a chance to recover a bit. She did look better the next day but it still took a couple of days for her to get back on her feet. She didn't show the whole circuit, just a couple of days, but she did manage to pick up her first three points.

 CC is sired by Am/Can Ch Braebrook's Remy Martin and out of Ch Esquire's Haiku CGN and is fifteen months old. She still has some maturing to do yet and I suspect will really look good as a three year old. She has a lovely big side gait which definitely makes her stand out in the ring. She is not just a pretty face either (although that face is so pretty as you can see below) and has earned two legs towards her first nose work title already. Her owner Judith tells me she is smart as a whip and a whole lot of fun....enthusiasm on four legs!

This young bitch has a very bright future and I'm excited to see what happens next!

This is the last post on the Island circuit but I do have one more update from the same timeline that will feature Bling our pretty Smooth girlie, stay tuned!

Braebrook's Rebel Yell

This blog post will be all about Rancher's experience on the Island circuit. Rancher is from our breeding of Am/Can Ch Braebrook's Remy Martin and Ch Esquire's Haiku CGN and is 15 months of age. Still a young dog but really looking oh so good.

Rancher is owned by Tammy and Keir and they have done a great job of raising him. He is in beautiful condition, has been very well socialized and Tammy even had him all trained up for me. All I had to do was walk in the ring, he was a breeze!

Rancher had never been in the ring before but went from zero to seven points with ease showing six days of the circuit. Not that I want to jinx it but he should be an easy finish when he goes back in the ring this fall.

 Please excuse the trampoline in the background here as these pictures were just taken in my brothers backyard but I wanted to show off Rancher's very balanced and clean movement. He holds his top line beautifully on the move and he makes it look so easy.

There are several very beautiful up and coming young Braebrook dogs right now and I am so excited about each and every one of them, Rancher is no exception!

Stay tuned for the next blog post that will feature Rancher's sister CC!

Braebrook's Strike Your Fawn-cy

The next update from the Island circuit of shows features beautiful Bo who just turned a year old in June. He is from our rainbow litter (it featured all four allowable colours - black, red, fawn and blue) sired by Ch Braebrook's Black Russian and out of Ch Modadobe Sunset Dreaming. Bo was the first one born and was definitely a surprise!

Bo was shown only three days of the circuit where it started in Campbell River. He had two points going into the weekend and came out with seven in total. He even had a nice breed win over the special and went on to make the cut in the working group. Fawns are not the norm and judges aren't quite sure what to do with him in the ring. One judge even went immediately to check his rule book before examining him. He is a very nice young dog though and that shines through.

I love his unique colouring and had many people, both judges, exhibitors and spectators alike approach me to touch him and talk about him. It's a good thing he is such a social butterfly as between all the wieners and the petting he thought it was a pretty darn good weekend. His temperament makes him a wonderful ambassador for the breed. His owner Stacy has done a great job with him.

Bo has a wonderfully easy, open and balanced gait. He moves freely and cleanly and holds a beautiful topline on the move. Can you tell I'm excited about him?

I'm already looking forward to the next time we get back in the ring for those last three points needed to complete his championship.

Stay tuned for the next blog post coming up featuring the handsome Rancher!

Braebrook's What A Luxury

I am posting a recap of the Island Circuit of dog shows, but I have decided to do several posts each focusing on a different dog, because if I put them all in the same post it would be so long and picture heavy. I think this will be much better.

Let's start with Lincoln. Lincoln is from our litter born in January sired by Ch Algerland Action Hero LegacyK FDJ and out of BISS Ch LegacyK LibertyReigns Braebrook FDJ CGN. He has been  happily enjoying being a puppy with his owners Steve, Stephanie and their son Cedric. Lincoln (who's puppy name was Spot because of the spot at the base of his tail) was sold as a show potential puppy and when his owners brought him by for a visit I was thrilled to see how he was coming along. I was most impressed by how good he was on his feet, especially for not even being quite six months of age. We decided that since I was going to be showing dogs on the Island circuit that we would enter Lincoln and I would take him along too. Once we had him entered we managed to squeeze in one show handling class (he hadn't been stacked since he left here) where he jumped around and fought the lead but then eventually settled and showed that beautiful easy gait I had seen at my house when he came by to visit, and then we headed out on the road. I'm so glad his owners entrusted him to me to be shown as I know it's hard to have your baby gone so long (the circuit is nine days...three in Campbell River, three in Courtenay and three in Victoria). It was an adventure as some days he didn't want to stand still and other days he was a rockstar.

And look what happened when he was a rockstar! He won two best puppy in groups and picked up his first five points (you need 10 for a championship) and all after turning just six months old the day before the circuit started.

I am very excited about this puppy and think his future is very bright. Please excuse his tongue sticking out in this picture...I actually think it shows his personality perfectly.

This puppy's forte is his movement. Beautifully balanced, free and easy, with hardly any effort.

He really covers ground.

Also from the Hero x Libby breeding, Beans (Braebrook's This Is How We Do) made her show debut in Calgary the same weekend as the circuit here started and picked up her first four points and a best puppy in group win. The Alberta Kennel Club show is a huge show (one of the biggest in Canada) so this was no small feat. Huge congrats to Beans and her owner Claire, I'm so proud of you two!

Stay tuned for the next update which will feature our handsome fawn Doberboy Bo!