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How to SUP with Your Pup(s) April 28, 2022
Living With a Rhodesian Ridgeback April 22, 2022
Walking in Horseback AKC Field Trials March 31, 2022
Coursing Ability Tests August 10, 2022

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I had a fabulous weekend at the inaugural Old Domi

I had a fabulous weekend at the inaugural Old Dominion Vizsla Club *Walking* Field Trial. There aren’t many walking field trials in this area, but thanks to @olympicvizslas vision, we were able to put on and complete a successful trial! We had so many new and young handlers, including many women, and it was great to see these new people getting hooked on the sport. @littlegeorgeva provided the best Land Rover gallery wagon, which allowed everyone to watch as much as they liked. This is not always the case at the horseback trial - if you don’t ride, you often don’t get to see the dogs run.

Zara ran in Open Limited Gun Dog on Saturday and she had the best run I’ve seen all season, possibly in a year. She was independent, stayed forward, covered the course thoroughly and didn’t slow down. At our last trial 3 weeks ago, I realized I needed to condition her better and push her out more. That’s what we focused on the past 3 weeks and it absolutely paid off. Unfortunately, she was taking steps to mark a little more than was needed, so that knocked her out of first place. However, she was beaten by a 10.5 year old GSP who just needed that one win to finish his field championship! I love that he’s still running strong at 10.5, and I hope Zara can follow in his footsteps.

Her run on Sunday wasn’t quite as strong, with the same bird issues, so we got 4th. But the good news is, I know how to fix these things, and that’s what we will do next.

Thanks to judges Mark Calder, Kathy Shorter, and Laurie Fairchild for watching us, my scout @trailside_vizslas, as well as all the volunteers who put on a successful trial.
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#walkingfieldtrial #fieldtrialdog #akcdogsports #birddog #vizsla #vcaversatilevizsla #huntingdog #herupland

Spotty dogs vs. brown dogs. What’s your vote?
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It’s so nice that Colombo gets along with Heather’s two GSPs. There are relatively few dogs he gets to interact with these days, so it’s nice that he can have a little fun with Devlin and Juniper. Even if he started trying to hump Devlin at the end of the hike…. 😈🙄
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#boyswillbeboys #intactmale #rhodesianridgeback #ridgeback #vizsla #gsp #germanwiredhairpointer #hikingwithdogs #birddogs

Today, the entries for the Vizsla Club of America’s National Gun Dog Championship close. Unfortunately, we are not going this year, as much as I would like to. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to attend in 2021 and 2022. There’s an extra special energy at these national events and I really can’t get enough of it.

The NGDC is being held in Wisconsin this year, which is a two-day drive for me. When I found that out in the fall, I wasn’t sure if we’d attend, but it was a possibility. I wanted to see how the spring field trial season went before I made a decision. Unfortunately, the performances I’ve witnessed from Zara lately have not been enough to justify the trip. If I thought she had it in her, I would absolutely make the drive. Maybe she does, but it’s hasn’t been present recently.

Instead, we are going to focus on local trials for the remainder of the season and hope for some success there. I imagine I will be able to attend the NGDC in the future. Best of luck to everyone attending and I can’t wait to follow along! 🐕
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#vcangdc #fieldtrialseason #fieldtrialdog #vizsla #huntingdog #versatilevizsla #birddogoftheday

Zara and I had the opportunity to train with @olym

Zara and I had the opportunity to train with @olympicvizslas at two beautiful, huge farm properties this week. I should have taken more photos. We worked on her running for field trials and trying to push her out. That is the one thing that is hard for me to do at home, because I don’t have easy access to properties like that. Zara also honored their vizsla Izzie’s point two times on her own, and I swear I will never get tired of seeing that. Of course I love seeing her on point, but I know how much work I put into backing, and it was another thing I thought she may never grasp.
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#birddogtraining #fieldtrialdogs #vizsla #dogtraining #fieldtrial

Episode 3 of the Accidental Bird Dog Podcast is li

Episode 3 of the Accidental Bird Dog Podcast is live! AKC Hunt Tests for Pointing Breeds + Junior Hunter. This episode discusses a brief overview of the AKC hunt test system for pointing breeds and goes into detail about the Junior Hunter level. Check it out on your favorite podcast platform.

Sponsored by @onxhunt and @bossshotshells
Part of the @herupland podcast network
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#accidentalbirddogpodcast #dogpodcast #dogsports #hunttests #juniorhunter #vizsla #gsp #weimaraner #wirehair #birddog

New blog post! 🐕 “Desire to Work” - link in

I went a field trial this weekend and feel like I

I went a field trial this weekend and feel like I learned some important lessons, which I’ll share in the near future.

The most important takeaway is that I think I’ve been babying Zara too much.

This winter, I’ve been paranoid about overexercising her because of her age. I suppose it started sometime last fall, which is interesting because because we trained hard for the invitational all summer and she showed me she was more than capable of doing the work.

I think seeing her recover so slowly after a week of woodcock hunting in January made me worry that her age is taking a toll on her energy level.

Since then, I’ve only been running her one or two days a week in preparation for field trials because I thought she needed a lot of rest days. But after seeing her run this weekend and talking to a bunch of other dog owners, I’ve realized that she A) needs to be conditioned better and B) that she can handle it.

I need to stop focusing on how old she is and look at the dog in front of me. She’s still in great shape and she’s been regularly active her whole life. So now it’s time to push a little harder, within reason of course.

She’s my first dog, so I feel like I’m often learning these lessons the hard way. 😕
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#vizsla #birddog #huntingdog #gettingolder #fieldtrialdog #dogmomproblems #sunset

In November 2021, Zara had a small spindle cell sa

In November 2021, Zara had a small spindle cell sarcoma removed from her ear tip. The vet got it all and they said there was a low chance of recurrence. In January, I noticed a similar-looking bump in the middle of the same ear. The vet aspirated it and said that it was likely another spindle cell sarcoma. Based on the location, they recommended surgically removing half her ear to make sure they got it all. 😕

Given her age (9.5), they also suggested doing a chest X-ray and abdominal ultrasound to check for any masses. We had those done two weeks ago, which is why her midsection is shaved. The good news is, the scans were clear and they didn’t find anything concerning. 🙌🏽 (Another reason to have pet insurance - the total was $1,200 and they covered almost all of it).

But now, the bump on her ear has almost completely disappeared. 😳 I can barely feel it. That’s good news, so I guess we’ll continue to monitor it and hope it doesn’t come back!
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#gettingoldsucks #vizsla #petinsuranceisworthit #birddog #huntingdog #birddogtraining #fieldtrial #navhda #ilovemyvizsla

The Accidental Bird Dog Podcast is live! Episode 1

The Accidental Bird Dog Podcast is live! Episode 1: Who is the Accidental Bird Dog? and Episode 2: An Overview of Dog Sport Organizations are available on your favorite podcast platform. Let me know what you think - I’d love to hear your feedback! 🐕

Sponsored by @onxhunt and @bossshotshells
Part of the @herupland podcast network

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#accidentalbirddogpodcast #dogpodcast #dogsports #hunttests #fieldtrials #navhda #akcdogsports #ukchuntingops #nstra #americanfield #uscomplete #jghv #hrc #sbha #nbha #nahra #vizsla #birddog

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