Hunt test today! I judged all day yesterday, had a great time. I have not run my dogs in a hunt test since last November, so needless to say they are pretty rusty. I did train several times this week, with mixed results. Well, today wasn't so mixed, it was pretty much all dismal.

Noodle was in the first Master brace. She was more like her old self - running big and hunting hard. She had a nice stop to flush from a distance and waited for me to walk across the field to release her. She did a good job not doubling back since the bird landed only about 8-10 feet behind her. The other dog was on point, and she went towards him, saw him and went to stop to honor, and then snapped on point as there was a bird right in the spot where she was stopping, go figure. She had to stand on point during the other dog's shot and retrieve. By the time it was her turn, she was vibrating, and when the bird was shot she jumped forward about 2 steps. We completed the retrieve so the honoring dog could count the honor, and then she was picked up.

Pizza was in the 3rd master brace, she hunted really well. She went on point, and I found a cold, dead bird. I threw it for the gunners to shoot, and they shot it to pieces. Pizza ended up completing the retrieve, but the bird was old and messy so she put it down a lot. After that, she was hunting way across the field from me when she come across a wild flush. She stopped, and then took 3-4 steps towards the bird because I wasn't there. Dang, picked up! Two fails, so unusual for my rockstar girls.

The most disappointing was Bacon. She had her very first junior hunter test today, mainly so I could see how she acted in a pressure situation and I could know what to train this summer. She took off from the start and was really annoying to her bracemate for most of the backfield. She was running pretty hard, but once we got into the bird field it was like someone flipped a switch. She was struggling to breathe, and dropped down to a walk and trot. This is the first real sign of her heart condition that I have encountered. The temperature was around 60 degrees and sunny, and the sun was making things very warm. She really struggled to keep hunting. Thankfully she hit a really stylish point right at the end of her brace, but it was a rough go as she was so exhausted. When I walked her back to the van she had no spring in her step. Let me tell you, my own heart was broken when I saw this. No more burying my head in the sand about this heart condition she has. Her athletic future is not looking good, and it was all I could do to keep from crying. Now what do I do?

3 months ago I NEVER thought this trip would be possible. Mark and I loaded 3 dogs (Noodle, Dolphin, and Bacon) into the motorhome and headed west to the Weimaraner National Specialty in Colorado! Mark had chemo this week (Monday thru Wednesday), and we hit the road on Friday. Amazingly, we made it in two days and got to Bennett, CO on Saturday evening.

It was an exhausting couple of days for Mark, but he handled the drive really well. He had gotten an injection on Thursday to help boost his white blood count, and they warned him of the side effects of bone pain. He experienced that pretty badly on Sunday. I felt awful for him, there wasnt much I cvould do to alleviate his pain other than keep the crazy dogs away from him. Noodle, being her usual empathetic self, napped with him on the bed for most of the day. I think the long drive was hard on her also, as she was pretty tired and less sparky by the time we arrived.

I looked online and found a "sniffspot" about 15 miles away. It was a 4 acre fenced piece of land where the dogs could run. Perfect for Dolphin and Bacon, who had TONS of excess energy after being cooped up for 2 days. We headed over there in the afternoon. It was pretty hot outside, and it was weird seeing the brown, dusty landscape as far as the eye could see (especially after leaving our vibrant green part of the country). Dolphin and Bacon ran around a bunch. Unfortunately, there were little cacti (that is the plural for cactus, right?) all over the place. Bacon got one stuck in her cheek and I sliced my index finger open trying to remove it. Soon Dolphin was limping from a cactus stuck in his paw. I got everyone cleaned up and we headed back to the RV. I would have liked to stay longer, but it wasn't worth getting anyone hurt. We have big plans this week!

Today was agility day! I was determined to break my national specialty curse with Dolphin - he has knocked a bar our faulted in every single run at the national specialty for the past several years. Wow, did we break the curse! Dolphin ran fantastic - 4 runs for a quadruple QQQQ!!! He won 24" master standard, 24" master jumpers, and 24" master FAST. He ended up only one point short of winning High in Trial...so darn close! A 20" regular dog ended up winning, beating him by a single point. She is a good friend of mine, so I was really happy for her.

Noodle was another big surprise for me today. She totally bombed FAST first thing in the morning by getting distracted during the send. However, she came back with one of her fastest runs in several years in Master Standard preferred and won the class, and then came back in Master jumpers preferred and also won that class for a beautiful double QQ. The best thing was that she won High in Trial Preferred!!! What an amazing way to end her nationals agility career. She ran so good, and gave me everything she had.

She was also entered in the regional specialty field bitches class, and won the class out of 4. I had to show in my agility clothes as it was right in between a couple of my runs, but apparently the judge didn't worry about how I was dressed.

Today started off with Noodle, entered in her triple rally (Master, Excellent, and Advanced). I could tell she was a little tired from yesterday's day of agility, but she performed really well for me. Noodle earned a 98 in Master, 97 in Excellent, and a 99 in Advanced - and all 2nd places. The courses were not friendly as the spacing between signs was extremely cramped, and there were SO many sits and downs, one right after another. That is especially hard for Noodle because of her stenosis, but it's hard for all dogs as it breaks their momentum and takes a lot of the fun out of the course. Every now and then I run into a judge that just heavily peppers their courses with sits and downs, and it never goes well. All things considered, Noodle did pretty well!

Dolphin was entered in Advanced and Intermediate. Advanced would be his very first time competing off leash, and it was first. He was definitely tired after yesterday, but started off OK in the course. About halfway through the course, someone flung the outside door open. There was a mesh tarp blocking the view, and all Dolphin could see was the man's silhouette, and he stopped in his tracks. I could NOT get him to move, or pay attention to me. Finally the man left the doorway, but Dolphin kept turning around to look back at the door and the rest of our course was a complete mess. The judge gave us a gift (and an incredibly low score of 79) so we did qualify, but it was rough. We had to go back in for Intermediate. This class was on leash. Dolphin was still checking the door but he paid better attention to me. He was distracted, so we had to re-do several signs, and ended up with a fairly low score of 89. Two qualifying runs, I'll take it!

It was finally Bacon's turn to compete! She was so much fun! She made a few mistakes, and we had to re-do a sign (the same darn sign we had to re-do a few weeks ago in WV). However her enthusiasm was wonderful! She had one excited visit to the judge, but for the most part she stayed focused, and definitely happy. It was so much fun! I have to share her video below, she is such a cutie.

After Rally was finished, they took a break and then started obedience. I had Noodle and Bacon both entered in Beginner Novice obedience. Noodle did really well. Our only major boo-boo was on the recall. She is pretty much deaf now, and completely deaf when there is a lot of background noise. I called her for the recall and she just sat there, so I had to repeat the command before she was able to notice and then she did a great recall. We ended up with a 180, which wasn't bad, considering.

The wheels came off when Bacon entered the ring. While she was SO good in Rally, she lost her brain in this class. We started with our heeling pattern and she was running circles around me, dragging me to see everyone, it was a mess. The judge told me we didn't wualify, but allowed us to finish the rest of the exercises for training. Wouldn't you know he did the rest pretty good. Her figure 8 heeling was really good. Sit-stay in the middle of the ring was perfect, as was her recall. Her only other mistake was in the sit for exam, she stood up when the judge touched her head. Well, she is a work in progress and we will keep at it!

Thursday was a pretty easy day. Dolphin was entered in Field-Titled Dogs, and he was the only entry. As the judge was going over him, she asked about his field titles. When I told her, her response was "hot damn!". He showed fantastic! I haven't shown him at an AKC show in 4 years, I believe our last show was the Maturity at the 2022 national specialty. He came out like he had been campaigned all year. He absolutely floated when he gaited, it was beautiful. I could tell the judge really liked him. Hey, what's not to like about my Dolphinator?

Friday morning started off early with the bitch classes. Bacon was first - in the 6-9 month puppy bitch class. She showed wonderfully, I was so proud of her! She ended up 2nd out of 6 in the class. She was happy and excited to be there, and her confidence was beautiful to watch. She has taken everything this week in stride - the travel, the strange places, crowds of people and dogs, nothing bothered her. In fact, she loved all the activity and new things. Gotta love a puppy that embraces life like she does.

Noodle showed again in Field-Titled bitches and ended up 2nd in the class of 4. She was definitely tired today and you could tell. This girl has done a LOT this week, and being almost 10 years old, she is starting to show her age (don't make me cry!).

Bacon (gaiting) and Noodle (stacked)

I don't even know how to describe what heppend next. Dolphin went into the 2nd split of dogs in best of breed, showed awesome, and made the cut! Say what? The last time I made the cut in the best of breed at the national specialty was when I showed Chevy, another Pretzel son. We went back in and ended up making the final cut of dogs and bitches! We were first in the ring for the finals, and Dolphin showed his heart out. I couldn't ask for anything more. The judge pulled out a dog for best of breed. The next thing I know, the judge points to us for Select Dog! Select Dog at the National Specialty! Not only that, but we also won Best of Breed Owner-Handled. I cannot describe how I felt, or how I still feel about this. So damn amazing. Most people go a lifetime without ever achieving anything like this, and I did it MYSELF with my dog that I co-bred, and trained myself. Pretzel has to be smiling and wagging his tail up in heaven. People for years have dismissed Dolphin - yes, he won both the futurity and maturity, but since I spent the past 4 years focusing on earning his Master Hunter and agility MACH, most people don't take us seriously. I think they do now!

After all of the hubub of best of breed was over, it was official. My #1 goal I have had for the past 10 years was finally achieved. Noodle won Most Versatile Weimaraner at the 2026 National Specialty! I have been working towards this goal for SO many years. She has finished second several times, but finally we put it all together this week and at age 9 3/4 she won the big prize! I am so proud of her - even with all of her quirks and such, she works her tail off for me. I will never own another dog like her, she is a once-in-a-lifetime partner.

Dolphin's Select Dog win rocketed him up in the standings to finish second in the Most Versatile competition, just 1 1/2 points under Noodle!

Bacon and I had a girls' weekend - headed to New Castle, Pennsylvania for a dog show! When I was driving down the highway (it was a 3 1/2 hour trip), I noticed my steering wheel shaking a bit. I figured my tires needed balancing. As we got farther into the trip, the shaking got worse, and about 2 1/2 hours into the trip I pulled over because it really didn't feel right. I am SO glad I did, because my left rear tire had a large bulge in the middle and the inside tread had a big chunk missing! Talk about scary!!! I called roadside assistance and they came fairly quickly - within 30 minutes or so. While I waited I got Bacon out and we did some obedience training in the parking lot. Roadside assistance changed my tire, and off we went, only delayed by about 2 hours...not too bad all things considered.

This would be the first time Bacon stayed in a hotel, and also her first outdoor show. I had expected the weather to be nice, but I should have known better! Every time I enter this show the weather is miserable, and this weekend was no exception.

Friday was pretty cold and windy. Bacon was a little, um, energetic to say the least. She had touble standing still, and tried to drag me around the ring when we gaited. Needless to say we didn't get anything in winners bitch!

After the show, we headed back to the hotel to change and then I found a nice walking trail/bike path. We walked almost 3 miles, and I let her sniff and explore and just have a good time. It warmed up a bit by the afternoon so I was able to take my heavy coat off. I will say I have been really happy with how Bacon travelled - she took everything in stride, loved the hotel room (and the people she greeted!). Of course, I was completely paranoid about my van tires after what happened Thursday evening, so every bump in the road had me going out to check them. So far so good!

Saturday's weather was even more miserable - it was raining off and on and just darn COLD. It reminded me of the time I showed Noodle here, way back in 2017, and she took winners bitch and a major two days in a row in the freezing cold rain. Bacon decided she needed to follow her aunt Noodle's leand, and she showed like a rockstar today! This judge was one that really looked at movement, and Bacon was gaiting beautifully today without pulling me around the ring. We ended up getting Winners Bitch over some much older bitches, for two points! Only one dog short of a major, darn it.

Sunday was equally cold and rainy. Bacon was back to her wild self (probably because weather only allowed us to take a short walk yesterday) and was all over the place in her class. She decided to try to drag me around the ring again, so not surprisingly we didn't get anything in winners bitch. I keep reminding myself that she has really only shown a handful of times, so we have a lot of work to do!

Saturday and Sunday they were offering a FETCH test, so of course I entered Bacon! She was awesome, a little speed demon for all of her fetches. Sunday it rained the whole time and it was super muddy, but that didn't faze her. I think she kind of likes the mud. We qualified both days and earned her FTN (Fetch Novice) title. All in all it was a good weekend and I had a great time traveling with her.

I will start this post with the good - Noodle ran fantastic in class today! She was magnificent. I think she might not be quite ready to retire from agility yet. It was so fun running her, almost like the old days (minus the paranoia over her bad behavior LOL!).

Next - the bad. Bacon had her agility foundations lesson this past Monday evening. She ran out of steam VERY quickly, enough that our coach noticed and commented. My heart is breaking into a million pieces because I know now that any sort of athletic sport is not in her future, due to her heart defect. I went home and cried. It's all I can do. I love her to pieces, and she is so damn talented it seems crazy that she will never be able to compete in the field or in agility. Once again I will stand on the sidelines and watch everyone else carry on and leave me behind. It's hard to wrap my brain around it - I study and train and spend so much time and effort in my dogs, but I struggle so much more than most people and I am not sure why. Bad luck? Bad karma? Who knows.