Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season!
Ours was busy with the arrival of the babies, but all are doing very well and Hazel is being a wonderful Momma!

Here are some pictures of each pup at one week old and again at three weeks old.

Note: All pups are sold

Yellow collar female at 1 week old
and at 3 weeks old

Maroon collar female at 1 week old
and at 3 weeks old

Green collar male at 1 week old

and at 3 weeks old

Red collar female at 1 week old

and at 3 weeks old

Orange collar male "Jack" at 1 week old and at 3 weeks old
Tan collar female at 1 week old

and at 3 weeks old

Blue collared male at 1 week old and at 3 weeks old

Purple collar female at 1 week old and at 3 weeks old

White collar female at 1 week old
and at 3 weeks old

Christmas Eve

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Video

Puppies!

Born on Monday December 12, 2011
6 Girls and 3 Boys

Hazel and her babies are doing great!

Click Here to Watch Puppies Video

Visit the "Puppies" page to see the puppies pedigree and for info. on the parents health clearances.

X-Rays!

Hazel had x-rays yesterday to get an idea of how many pups to expect in a few days and to make sure everything looked normal. The vet counted 9 little "Hazelets"! Can you find them? Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The glow of pregnancy....

It was a beautiful day out yesterday, so I took advantage of the sunshine to take some pictures of Hazel. She is now 44 days pregnant and has begun to trade in her "athletic" figure for a more "matronly" one!

She's still got "get up and go" when I told her she could "get the ball" though!

Only 20 more days to go!!!!!!!!!!!

Really Busy Summer/Fall 2011

Hello to everyone! Hope you all had a great summer!
Hazel and I were very busy this summer with training for hunt tests and obedience competitions, as well as traveling to trials and ACC specialties far and wide! All of our hard work payed off though and we were able to accomplish our goals that I had set for this year.

In July we entered our first Senior hunter test and passed!


We then traveled to Hibbing, MN for the ACC field trial specialty the first week of August and ran in the qualifying, but three days travel in the van and no training created a "wild dog" that didn't mark the birds very well! But she sure had fun!


After the specialty we ran a hunt test in Duluth,MN and suffered the same fate as above. But we did have fun traveling and seeing folks that we hadn't seen in a couple of years as well as, making new friends. Can't wait for next years field specialty in Idaho, what a sight-seeing trip that will be!
By the second weekend of August we were back on track and got our second senior pass, followed up with two more passes the last weekend of the month!


Senior Hunter title in the bag, now onto Utility Obedience title!
We had gotten one UD pass in June, but then put the obedience on the back burner to concentrate on our field training. The ACC Show specialty was held in Carlisle, PA so I planned on entering utility there. Even though it was outdoors, and very warm for the end of September, Hazel performed well and got her second UD leg!

We also earned an RAE leg and second place in Team Obedience where our team was the talk of the show!
Can't imagine why?


Then it was onto the working dog stakes on Sunday, and Hazel was happy again, doing what she loves most!
She performed beautifully and earned her WDQ title.


After all the excitement of the Specialty, we headed to VA for a little R&R on the Skyline Drive, where we had a great time in the mountains, saw lots of deer, black bears and even two rattlesnakes!!!!!




But the main reason for the VA visit was to meet Wes Christopher of Tugboat Kennels and his dog Rogue, who I was interested in using as a stud dog for Hazel. The meeting went well, I was pleased with what I saw and apparently so was Hazel! Two days after we arrived home, she came into heat (she wasn't really due until November)! So multiple progesterone tests and two weeks later we headed back to VA for the breeding to take place!
Check out the "Puppies" page for more info on that!

Finally back home and hopefully bred, our next stop was Burlington, VT for an obedience trial the first weekend of November. Again, Hazel didn't let me down and got two qualifying scores for her third leg and a "bumper" leg to spare!


So what's next on our plate for CH Blucollars Hocus Pocus RE UD SH WDQ TDI?
An ultrasound today confirmed that she is pregnant, so it's motherhood for the winter and then back to field training in the spring, with a whole new set of goals to strive for!

Hello!

Wow, I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated this blog site!
Last year brought some changes in our lives, with my husband losing his job (of 30+ years!), but then getting a new one which he really enjoys. The months in between jobs though proved to be very stressful on us and our pocketbook and therefore we did no traveling/dog shows/hunt tests etc.
But 2011 is off to a much better start, and I have attended some obedience trials (Hazel has earned one leg towards her Utility Dog title!), and plan to enter some hunt tests this summer in hopes of obtaining her Senior Hunter title!
We're also planning on attending the ACC Field Trial Specialty in Hibbings, MN and the ACC Show Specialty in Carlisle, PA. I am primarily attending these events to scope out the current "Studs" that may meet Hazel's and my "high standards", as I'm hoping to breed Hazel this winter!
While checking out the blog site to update it, I was pleased to see that there have been some new "Blogger" features added since I originally created the site. So I have re-vamped the look and added (and will be adding more) new "pages"! Check back to see the competition/travel and training updates and photos as Hazel works towards earning her obedience and hunt test titles and also for hopeful "maternity" news this winter!!!!!

Happy Birthday Hazel!!!

This month (April 16th, 2010) Hazel celebrated her third birthday!!!

It's hard to believe that three years have passed already,
and yet not a single day goes by that she doesn't manage to make me smile!

St. Patrick's day fun

Welcome to the official
St. Patrick's day
taste test!

I'm the "official" taste tester!!

Ohhhhh.....this is gonna be FUN!

First the Smithwick's
(I see Dad tasting this one all the time!)

Eeewww....
it kinda tastes like cardboard!

Lets try the Killian's

WAIT....!!
A SQUIRREL!!!

I'm pretty sure I'd rather be chasing that squirrel!

Alright, back to tasting

Phewww....
they BOTH taste like cardboard!

Enough with the beer....
bring on the Irish whiskey, lads!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

Welcome 2010!

Another year gone, and what a whirl wind it was. I'm amazed at how quickly the time passes. I did make my deadline of updating the blog while still in 2009. Check the December 31st post which has a few entries that encompass Sept.- Nov. 2009!
Sorry about that, we were so busy traveling and competing that it was difficult to keep on top of all the things we were doing, much less write about them!

In a February 2009 post, I listed my "title" goals which I hoped Hazel could earn for the year (CH, CD, JH, RN, RA, TD, and TDI). As I reflect back, I can't help but be amazed at how successful we were in reaching those goals. Although we didn't have time to train for a TD (tracking) title, Hazel managed to earn all the rest, as well as an RE title! The highlight was earning our CH title out of the Bred By Exhibitor classes and then receiving a certificate and medallion from AKC for the achievement!
I am so proud of my girl! She continues to amaze me with her talent and her shear joy for life, which always seems to make me smile (even when I catch her doing naughty things like chewing on my cell phone)!

2010 Goals
So now onto 2010, I do believe that everyone should have goals and here's mine:
Obedience - CDX and UD titles
Hunting - Senior hunter title

We have a lot of work and training ahead of us, and I'll be forging into new territory as I try to train her for senior and master level hunt tests. I'm sure there will be trying times and hopefully some victories along the way, thankfully Hazel is an extremely forgiving soul, as I'm sure I'll make some mistakes too.
But at the end of the day, when the training bumpers and obedience equipment is put away, the best part of all is wrapping my arms around and burying my face in the neck of a dog that I love, cherish and respect and who loves me back just as much, even if we don't earn any titles at all in 2010!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hazel with her 2009 ribbons and trophies

Christmas present from OFA

I received Hazel's OFA results on December 23rd.
Elbows - Normal
Hips - Excellent
WHOO HOO!!!!!

Hazel's "excellent" rated hips!

Last Titles of 2009

The show year has come to an end, and the last shows we competed in were in Syracuse, NY and Springfield, MA. Between those two shows, Hazel earned her Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent titles. Whoo Hoo!!
The Springfield, MA show was a tough one for me to attend as it was on opening day of our Southern zone deer season in NY. But I left my hubby at home to sit in the woods and like Hazel, he too was successful!
A nice 8 point buck!

Way to go honey!

ACC National Specialty Show

At the tail end of September, we headed off to Wilmington, Ohio for the American Chesapeake Clubs National Show Specialty. The weather was decent, seeing old friends and meeting new ones was fun, the food was great and the dogs were wonderful!! Hazel was entered in a few different competitions and overall did very well. Thursday, Oct.1st was Obedience day. Hazel competed for the first time in the Open A class and decided (among other things) that she was not going to allow me out of her sight for the stay exercises! Non-qualifying score for that one.
Next was Rally Advanced B where she was much happier to have me by her side and we qualified with a 94.
Our last endeavor for the day (and certainly the most fun) was the team obedience. We had an awesome team comprised of Jess Seebohm with Hazard, myself and Hazel, Jill Conroy with Abby and Chris Beste with Brin. Decked out in snow flake covered shirts and bandanna's (for the dogs) and labeled as the Nor'easters, we strutted our stuff and, despite a few "opps" moments, did quite well taking second place out of the six teams competing!

Oh, what fun this was!!!
I can't wait until 2011 in Gettysburg, PA!

On Friday, Oct. 2nd Hazel competed in the Hunting dog class and amongst the stiff competition came out with a 2nd place! I was thrilled! She didn't seem to care!

C'mon........
Stop taking pictures and THROW this bumper!!!

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the show, watching the other dogs that were competing, shopping, and chowing down at the dinners! Unfortunatly we won't be going to next years national as it will be in California, but we're looking forward to 2011 when it will be back east in Gettysburg, PA!

After our busy spring, summer and early fall, it was nice to be back home and do a little duck hunting. The season wasn't very productive, but we had fun anyway!

You watch that way Dad, and I'll watch this way!

Waiting is the hardest part,
and we seem to do an awful lot of it when duck hunting!
I think I like the hunt tests better!