"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."

The monsoon of rain finally stopped (seriously, we got almost SIX inches of rain in the past week!) and it was a great day for some field training. Dolphin, Dolphin, DOLPHIN, what can I say? He was magnificent!!!! Was as steady as a rock on two birds, I waited a long time before releasing him to retrieve, and BOTH retrieves he did a STRAIGHT out run, picked up the bird and ran it STRAIGHT back. Literally the best retrieve I have ever seen from any of my dogs, and he did TWO! Plus we had a pretty nice honor. I am terrified to think it much less say it out loud, but I think he might be ready to test for Master Hunter! I think I might enter him at the end of the month. I never thought he would be ready this year, but his brain really turned a corner over the past month.

Noodle did a pretty good job today also, but not nearly as amazing as Dolphin. She was a little jumpy at the shot, and not as clean on her retrieves. But in her defense, she is WAY more excited and on edge when out in the field...her excitement can be felt by everyone around her. Dolphin is a bit more cautious, but as he has had success he has gained quite a bit of confidence. Of course, I can't compare other dogs to Noodle, because her over-the-top personality is one of a kind (and I love it!!!).

Today was about as perfect of a day in the field as anyone could ask for! This weekend I was in Ionia, Michigan. I was hired to judge a hunt test tomorrow (Sunday) so I came up a day early to run Noodle in a Master Hunter test, and hang out with some friends.

Noodle was absolutely wonderful in her MH test. She ran so nice in the backfield, disappeared around the corner, and when we got up there she was standing on a beautiful point a good 20 feet from the cover. I flushed the bird and she stood like a rock. We entered the bird field and she went on point pretty quickly. Nice solid point through the flush and shot, a decent retrieve, and everything was great! While waiting for them to set up an honor (we were a bye), Noodle went on point again, and again she was awesome on her bird work! The honor was OK...you know how awkward those set-ups can end up being. Good enough for some nice high scores and pass #29!

After the test was done, I took Noodle out to burn off some energy. She had a nice point on a leftover bird in the bird field and had a great run in the fields. This place is pretty amazing. I wish we had a place like it closer to home.

My friend and I went out to dinner (Italian...YUM) and afterwards we decided to head back to the field trial grounds to let Noodle run a bit more. It was so much fun! Noodle went on point on a cover line and I ended up flushing up a covey of 7+ birds! She was such a good girl, and I heeled her off, released her, and celebrated!

The best point was a nice distance point on a tree with a lot of heavy brush underneath it. I spent a full two minutes trying to flush the birds out. There were two of them and they just kept running around the base of the tree. I would get to one side and they would scoot to the other side. This went on and on (you should see the original video...pretty funny!) and Noodle stood perfectly on point the whole time. I FINALLY got the two birds up and we were able to move on (after laughing a LOT!). What a great day!

After my long weekend in Michigan, I was pretty darn tired this morning, but since Dolphin stayed home I felt it was his turn to get to do some field work. My friend and I headed out to the bird dog club and another field met us to gun for us. Dolphin had three points - the first one the bird was missed, but the next two were hit. He was rock solid on his points - never moved a muscle on the flush, the shot, or the downing of the bird! His retrieves weren't as awesome as last week, but they were decent. He had a nice stop to flush, he stopped immediately and stayed put for a second, but then turned to come to me. I ran forward and put him back in his original position and fired my blank gun. This is still a work in progress. His honor was ok. He is really inconsistent with honoring, and I am hoping he will suddenly wake up one day and have it down, like Noodle did last year.

Today sealed the deal. I came home and filled out an entry form for his first master hunter test - we are going to give it a try in Virginia at the end of the month. I really hope I am right in thinking that he is ready. I have taken my time with him and done everything slowly and thoroughly. I think it's time to put it to the test.

Even though I hate the thought of autumn bringing in winter, autumn is the best time for field training, and I am taking FULL advantage of it! Today was Noodle's turn. Every day in the field, I learn something new, or I hypothesize about something new, and today was no different. Noodle was spot-on perfect on her two birds. They were kind of weak, crappy birds that really didn't fly. My gunner missed both of them, but they kind of just flopped down about 20-ish feet away so I sent her on the retrieve both times. Both times, she picked the bird up and did a DIRECT retrieve straight to my hand, no hesitation or putting the bird down. Perfect! My hypothesis is that because these birds weren't actually shot, they were clean - no blood or guts hanging out. I am thinking that is what she doesn't like, and she tends to want to reposition the bird in her mouth because of the yuckiness. Can't blame her! It's all just a guess on my part, trying to figure out why she was so darn perfect today, and had less-than-perfect retrieves last week.

Shocking, I know - but I have no photo to post from training today. Oh don't worry, I am not ill, I did take a pointing photo of Dolphin but it was pretty awkward looking as he was bent in a U shape pointing a bird up close.

Dolphin was wonderful in training today. I opted to not have him do any retrieves as he gets a little 'high' when he retrieves a lot...and we have our SDX test (Shooting Dog Excellent - kind of like Master Hunter but for the Weimaraner Club) tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a good test to see if he is truly ready for Master. Today I just blanked the birds. The birds didn't fly well so they landed not too far away as if they were shot, and he was steady. I was able to heel him off in the opposite direction, so that was good. Our second bird was a mystery as he whipped around and stopped on point in a weird U-shape. I could not find the bird, so I did something I have not done before with him - I relocated him. I figured hey, why not, it's training! He turned his body around in the direction his head was pointing, and he took maybe one step and really pointed way down low...the bird was right under his head now. My bad, I should have looked farther to his left since that's how he was bent. I managed to get my foot under his chin and roll the bird out and flush it, and he stood perfectly! It was a good training exercise, having him relocate on command and still stay steady.

My boy has come a long way in this past year! If things go haywire and he doesn't pass tomorrow, I hope in my disappointment I remember just how far he has come on this journey. Baby steps, baby steps, doesn't matter how tiny the steps as long as you continue moving forward, right?

This weekend was for the most part pretty enjoyable. I judged two days of a hunt test put on by my Weimaraner club. This was also my inaugural overnight stay in my new van.

I judged the whole AKC hunt test both days this weekend, and I judged the lower two levels of the Weimaraner Club of America shooting ratings test. I was able to run Dolphin in Shooting Dog Excellent (SDX), which is the highest ratings test offered, very similar to Master Hunter. Dolphin was such a good boy! It was horribly hot by the time we ran in the middle of the afternoon - 80+ degrees. He was pretty stellar on his bird work - had three points, gunners missed all 3 birds so I had to toss one to get the retrieve. He was not the steadiest on the thrown bird, but he had been ROCK steady on the previous three birds. His retrieve was so-so, he struggled to breathe while retrieving in the heat. However, it was a pass, so I'll take it! Dolphin doesn't handle the heat well, I expect that's largely (no pun intended) due to his big size.

After the test, I took Dolphin out and ran him with a few other dogs in the field. He pointed SEVEN birds! Best of all - he was solid on all 7 of them! We got to practice a little honoring also, which he needs plenty of practice. As for our first night in the new van? It actually went pretty well. The bed is a tad small, I only fit if I lay diagonally, and it's especially small when sharing with Dolphin. However it was very comfortable! After this weekend I had a short of list of things that I need to make this van a bit more livable, so it was a good test run.

Sunday was another great day - sunny and beautiful and with a bit more wind for the dogs. I do love judging, I love watching the dogs work. Even the dogs that failed had some great moments in the field. I wish their owners could see that and appreciate it, instead of complaining about failing and blaming every possible circumstance. They are missing out on the beauty of what their dogs DID do well. It's a good reminder to me to savor the good moments - they happen even when we don't have success.

I managed to zap myself good when taking a photo of this impossibly FAT chukkar at the bird dog club today. My two fingers that hit the electric fence were numb for at least an hour, and I may have said some really baaad words. But still, look how fat these chukkar are!

My friend and I did some training together with our gunner friend. Today was Noodle's turn since she was stuck at home all weekend. I am always worried about whether I am being "fair" to each on of my dogs in regards to time and activity. Of course, they always think they are getting shorted and want MORE.

Noodle did a very good job, although for some reason she was having trouble scenting the birds. They were up and walking a lot, which didn't help. She was steady on 3 birds, unfortunately none of the three got shot for a retrieve. I did throw a dead bird and worked a nice retrieve with her.

Noodle did a really nice honor on her bracemate pointing the last bird. Her braxcemate ended up breaking on the shot, so my friend called him bacl and wouldn't let him retrieve. I heeled Noodle forward to where he was standing, and I sent her for the retrieve, which she did perfectly. It was a nice reward for standing so well at the honor, plus it was a good lesson for the other dog to have to watch her get the bird since he broke. I swear bird down training is nothing but a lot of mind games for the dogs. Oh, the people try it on each other also, but I usually avoid those types ;-)

Agility class with Noodle was great today, she ran really well! I took Dolphin to the bird dog club for some training with my friend and her dog, and my gunner friend. Oh the ups and downs...

On the plus side, Dolphin was steady as a rock on his birds. His honor was OK - one decent one, one not-so-decent. On his first bird, his retrieve was awful. WHY???? Just a few weeks ago he was doing amazing retrieves at a dead run - straight out and straight to me. Today he put the bird down a lot, and I have no idea why. The weather was really cool (50 degrees) and sunny, not hot at all. On his second bird, the gunner missed, so I reset him and threw a dead bird. This retrieve was much better. However, I have been obsessing all day long over his bad retrieve. His retrieve this past weekend in his shooting ratings test was not the greatest either, but it was pretty darn hot that day. Today - zero excuse. I am the world's worst retrieve trainer, I guess. I can't stomach the idea of a forced retrieve, so I just stumble bumble on my own without much direction in my retrieve training. Isn't there anyone out there that trains an actual trained retrieve without force? I'd love to find someone that could help me.

Meanwhile, I go home and I obsess all day long over this. Dolphin's first master hunter test is in a week and a half. My confidence is out the window now. Plus, I am unbelievably stressed waiting for Pizza's pregnancy ultrasound. It's this coming Tuesday morning...I am sick with worry. I want this so badly, but I am so afraid to get bad news again because I am not sure how well I am going to take this news. Last time I was so positive she was pregnant, so optimistic, and it was extra disappointing. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but dang it...

Today I headed west to Zanesville to an agility trial. I took Dolphin, and my friend's dog Tigger. She is on a Mediterranean cruise so I have been working with Tigger all week in agility classes, and she entered him for me to run today.

It's been almost 2 months since Dolphin did an agility trial. He ran really well - 4 classes and NO KNOCKED BARS! He kept stopping to scratch his ear in FAST, so no Q there. We had a wonderful Q in Standard and 2nd place. Jumpers was wonderful, but he took an off course jump (so unlike him!). Tigger took the same off course jump when I ran him, so I am guessing it was the way I handled that line. Dolphin also had an OK Q in Time 2 Beat.

Poor Tigger had no Q's, but he ran great. We used FAST for a bit of training, and in Standard he nailed all of his stopped contacts (his bugaboo!), but missed a jump and his weave entrance. In Jumpers he had an off course and also missed his weaves. In Time 2 Beat he knocked a bar. It was a fun day, regardless of the outcome.

Today was Pizza's ultrasound. I was up since 3:00am, stressing and worrying. I have not slept well in weeks. Well, my worst fears were realized - she has no puppies. I am devastated. I did EVERYTHING I possibly could - did all of the progesterone and LH testing, spared no expense to make this happen, and it still didn't happen. My heart is shattered. It was horrible having to go home and let everyone know that there would be no puppies this year. So many people were counting on this, especially me. I tried not to be too optimistic in order to try to save my disappointment, but I couldn't help but daydream about this, making plans for next year and what I might be doing with my pup. All up in smoke now. I am crushed.

Our plan is do do a uterine biopsy in December to see if we can figure out if there is an issue on her part. I just don't know where to go from here at this point. I want a puppy from her so badly, she has been such an amazing dog, we need more like her. I am just so disappointed, and at a loss as to why. It seems my horse breeding curse has transferred over to dogs. Great.

To add to my heartbreak, my old boy Pretzel is not doing well. His tumor on his lymph node is giant and it is affecting his ability to swallow, so he does not want to eat. He is wasting away, and it is breaking my heart. He has small tumors popping up all over his body, and his right eye is completely cloudy - is it cancer or a cataract? I don't know. We are going to my vet tomorrow to see if there is anything he can do for Pretzel to make him more comfortable. If not, then I will be forced to make that horrible decision that I have not ever wanted to make. I feel like the past week or two has really changed him - I don't feel like he is happy anymore. The light is going out in his eyes and it is killing me. Today was by far the worst. I am overwhelmed today with everything that is happening and it's just hard to cope. Sometimes my skin feels like the loneliest place in the world to be.

It's been a hard couple of days. I am crying while I type this, so excuse the typos. Today we laid my beloved Pretzel to rest. He had been going downhill fast, and his eyes were both getting cloudy and starting to swell, he had very little vision left. Yesterday I took him to my vet for one last appointment, just to see if there was anything we could do. Pretzel has lesions all over his neck and back, these were actually small tumors that were growing and opening up at a very fast rate. When my vet looked into Pretzel's eyes with a scope, he found both eyes filled with small tumors. The cancer has basically exploded in his body, and it is everywhere.

I brought him home, I decided to wait until next week and have him say his final goodbyes since I am gone this weekend judging in Virginia. However, once we got home and I saw how miserable and in pain he was, I couldn't bear to make him wait. Pretzel can't really see anymore. He can't really get up or walk on his own, he struggles to eat and swallow, and he has no joy left in his eyes. It was time.

Today I had a vet come to my house. Before she came, I spent the day with Pretzel laying with him on the bed in my office. We spent the last hour laying together outside on the grass. I talked to him, told him he was the bestest boy, and played a picture show in my mind of all the things we have done together, the places we have traveled. All the tears I have cried on him while he comforted me, I cried again on him today without any comfort. He has been a huge part of me for over 12 years. He has been my heart and my soul.

He got a bowl of egg yolks as a last meal, which he managed to eat a little bit. The vet came to our place, and we said our final goodbyes on a blanket in the yard that he loved so much, with me holding his head and telling him over and over again how much I loved him. I am shattered. I haven't cried this much in years. I am trying to get myself together but I am not able to.

I prepared his obituary a while ago, knowing I could not handle it today. Here it is, plus his memorial video I created this summer:

GCHS CH Poet N Arokats Pretzels For Breakfast BN RN JHA NA NAJ OAP OJP NF OFP SIN CGC TKA SD NRD V - "Pretzel"
March 7, 2012 - October 24, 2024

Most of you know that Pretzel was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer last year. Unfortunately, it spread to his eyes and other parts of his body. I had to make the decision to release him from his pain today.

I don't know how to encapsulate in words what this dog means to me, or how he has changed my life. I met Mark, my husband, because of Pretzel - when Pretzel was 3 months old we went to a local dog show to watch, and there I met Mark, Shelby, and their Weims...and the rest is history.

Pretzel and I did agility (he was so wild and out of control in his younger years, but oh so much fun!), rally and obedience (he hated heeling unless I cheered him on, but he did it for me), field work (he had the MOST dramatic point, and photos of him on point have been used by many organizations as graphics and silhouettes because he was so stylish). His biggest accomplishments came in the show ring. He was my very first show dog. He took me to #1 owner-handled Weim in the country, #1 owner-handled sporting dog, and for most of his life he was #1 owner-handled Weimaraner in lifetime points. He won best of breed at the NOHS finals in 2016 in Orlando. That same weekend he took an Award of Merit out of 40+ specials at the AKC National Championship show. He won several (regular) group ones, many other group placements, 2 NOHS best in show and 3 NOHS reserve best in show. He and I traveled all over the country together, slogging those miles in our old 2003 Ford Explorer (usually with Mark) hitting shows in new states and places I had never been. Every weekend we would find a place to hike after the show was done. I got to see so much of this country with Pretzel by my side. Out of only 3 litters, he sired 4 champions, a futurity winner, and two maturity winners.

It's so hard for me to accept the fact that he is gone. He has been my constant shadow, my confidant, the dog I could always count on. He taught me patience, he taught me about unconditional love, he taught me that there are no boundaries when you set a goal and that anything can be achieved with a lot of hard work. He taught me the joy of just 'being' - laying on the grass together watching the clouds, walking through the fields investigating every corner of the grasses. He taught me how to find happiness in the journey together. He taught me to never take any day for granted because each day is a jewel to be enjoyed.

So many people walked alongside us in our journey. My wonderful vet - Dr. Bando of Berwick Animal Clinic saw us through many crazy injuries and through this horrible cancer diagnosis. I met so many amazing people while Pretzel and I were traveling (all of my show and agility buddies, you know who you are!). Most important - through Pretzel I met Mark, and that is the greatest gift of all.

I have so many stories to share, so many memories to reminisce, but my heart hurts too much right now to share them. I know this was the right thing to do, but I am shattered right now. I have a giant hole in my heart. I am having a hard time dealing with this, so please give me some space.

Run free, my beautiful, beautiful boy. You will always be at the forefront of my mind every time I set foot in the show ring. You will live on with your outstanding sons and daughters (especially Dolphin, Marshall, Chevy, Annie, Maizey, and Poppy). You will forever be young and wild in my mind. That's how I choose to remember you. Find my mom in heaven, I am sure she is waiting there with a plate full of cheese for you.

I haven't slept in days. I woke up this morning and it was so unreal. I fed the dogs, and seeing Pretzel's empty kennel was like a knife to my heart. Seeing the ex-pen in the family room full of all the toys Pretzel would nook on every evening took my breath away, it hurt so bad. All I wanted to do was lay around and think, but I had to drive 7 1/2 hours to Virginia to judge a hunt test, one that Noodle and Dolphin were entered in. I wanted to stay home so badly.

In hindsight, traveling was probably the best thing for me because it forced me to focus on other things. Between Mark and a few of my wonderful friends, they kept me on the phone chatting for at least 5 of the 7 1/2 hours, and that was the best therapy of all. Yes, I cried a LOT on the drive. I couldn't help it. I had to hold myself together to stay on the road, and I did arrive safely.

When I got there, I took Noodle and Dolphin out to run around on the grounds. It was absolutely beautiful. This area of Virginia is gorgeous and remote. We ran around the fields and watch the sun start to set. This was the end of my first day in 12 1/2 years without Pretzel in my world.

It was another rough night, especially sleeping in my camper van with two dogs in bed with me. They have been a great distraction because neither of them allow me to drown in my thoughts for very long.

I got up early, Dolphin was in the first master hunter brace, and Noodle was in the third brace for his master hunter debut! He did a nice job in the backfield. He had a beautiful stop to flush...yay! That's been something we have struggled with since it is almost impossible to set up in training. He stood perfectly and waited for me to walk up to him and release him. His honor and retrieve were iffy (not surprising) but his birdwork was SOLID, for a nice pass! His first one...YAY!!! Noodle had a very good test - a beautiful stop to flush, decent honor and retrieve, and good birdwork for a nice pass #30!

The second test that day had the dogs reversed, and Noodle ran first. Noodle had a nice stop to flush on a covey of 3-4 birds. Her birdwork was good and had a really good retrieve. Her honor was good, but she started getting a little creepy on her honor - moved an inch forward on the flush, another inch on the shot, and another inch on the release to retrieve. It was good enough for another nice pass #31! Dolphin's afternoon didn't go quite as well. He had a nice handling on a covey point - 1 bird was shot but another landed right where the shot bird was and another flew over our heads. I sent him for the retrieve and the bird flew off. He then had a really LONG honor where his bracemate went out for the retrieve and laid down. Once Dolphin lost sight of the dog for a while, he kept trying to turn away and walk behind me. Our biggest issue today was ME. When he went on another point, I could not find the bird. I ended up flushing it and it flew over my foot and hit him right in the face. Of course he opened his mouth and without moving a muscle managed to caputre the bird, all while still standing on point. If I could have seen the bird I hopefully could have controlled the flush a little better. Oh well, it's all learning for both of us (and I was so thrilled with how well he handled pointing and me flushing a covey!).

Day two was beautiful. Yesterday it was really hot, but today was sunny and 60 degrees with a breeze - perfect. The morning started off stellar again. Noodle was first. She had great birdwork, including two covey points/stops to flush in the backfield. Poor Noodle had to honor 3x, indluding the last one where the gunner threw a dead bird for bracemate retrieve right at Noodle. The bird landed about 6 feet away from her right in front of her face and she stood perfectly through that retrieve. She was a little bit creepy on the other honors. Her bird work was good with a good retrieve, and ended up with all 9's and a 10 in honoring!!! Woot! Dolphin had solid birdwork, a pretty good honor, and a really crappy retrieve for another decent pass for master hunter pass #2...only 3 more to go!

Both dogs were pretty hopped up by the second test. Noodle was wired, to say the least. She had one of the nicest honors I have seen from her - a nice dramatic stop (kind of like what Pizza does). She still was a bit creepy on her honor again, I really need to work on this when we get home. She was solid on her birdwork, but after the shot she waited a few seconds and did release before I could tap her on (but I covered it well). I think having 4 tests in a weekend does a lot to undo training, but I know she will be solid again once we got home. This was pass #33 for us! Poor Dolphin - the wheels fell off the brain bus today. In the bird field he actually shoved his face in the cover and picked up a bird and brought it to me. The judges weren't sure if it had been alive (it was pretty limp) so they let us keep working. Dolphin went on point again rather quickly, and this time he broke on the shot so he was picked up. I definitely feel like a double double hunt test weekend was WAY too much for his brain and inexperience. We will have to go back and do more training at home and get him steady again before our next test in 3 weeks.

Overall, it was a really good weekend. My dogs were awesome (6 MH passes out of 8!) and I had a blast judging (the other judges were so much fun!). It was probably the best therapy I could have done for myself. Once I got back in the van and drove home, the memories started flooding again, but I think that I was able to handle it better. Tomorrow, however, will be another day...

I woke up this morning and when i went to feed the dogs and I saw only 3 bowls there, I lost it again. It hit me at random times throughout the day that my Pretzel is gone. Having an odd number of dogs is hard, because when I take two of them into my office, there is always one left behind. Pretzel's bed is still in my office, I think I will leave it there for a while. We moved Pizza over into Pretzel's kennel and that really helped not seeing his empty kennel every time I walk by.

My friend dragged me out to to the bird dog club to do some field therapy. I brought Pizza. She hasn't worked a bird in over 2 months. She is terribly fat from her fake baby weight she is carrying. Howver, she went out there and it was like she never missed a beat in training. Rock solid points, beautiful honor, great hunting, I couldn't ask for more. My heart breaks even a little more watching this. I want a puppy out of her so badly it is eating me up...especially now. I am terrified I will never get to breed her. I'll never find another dog like her.