New RAE, RE & RN (rally) titles

Three of our dogs completed 3 more rally titles at the Suhuaro State Kennel Club's rally trials in Phoenix AZ. Elizabeth Packer and Gryphon earned his Rally Excellent (RE) title. My Nova finally earned her last 2 legs of her Rally Advanced-Excellent (RAE) title and Tyro (Cdn CH Varazs Naplete Tyrone) completed his Rally Novice title in 3 straight trials and earned 2 First place finishes. Although the AKC website showed Nova only needed 1 more leg for her RAE title, it was wrong and I knew she needed two. Fortunately, I entered her in 3 trials and she had Q's in 2 of the three. Whew!

Unfortunately, Miska had come into season and so I had to scratch her 6 entries at $29 US each which added up to a lot of money that I wasn't able to get back. She is working on her RAE title and for that, a dog has to compete in both the Advanced and Excellent classes in each trial. Oh well, that's life. Because of her heat, I didn't have Tyro's complete attention even removed from her proximity so I was very surprised when he managed to snag two first placements. And it was nice for Mom (Nova) and Son (Tyro) to finish their titles the same day. Way to go!

The best veterans!

The Rio Salado Vizsla Club's veteran sweepstakes (Feb. 7, 2009) were sparsely attended in Phoenix AZ. Very sparsely in fact - only 3 veterans entered and two of them were my dogs. Traveling from California to visit us here in AZ was Elizabeth Packer who entered Gryphon (Am & Int'l CH Varazs Gryphon's Magical Mist JH CD RA) pictured at Right in the sweeps. I hadn't seen Elizabeth and Gryphon for a few years so it was wonderful to meet up with them again. Gryphon turns 8 on Feb. 21 and he is still so handsome with a beautiful dark, rich rust coat. He has a beautiful head and absolutely fantastic feet - probably the best cat feet I've ever seen on a Vizsla. And get this, in all the years Elizabeth has owned Gryphon, she's only had to trim his nails a couple of times when he was a puppy. His nails grow but they get worn down naturally. That's a dog owner's dream come true - and probably a Vizsla's too!



Back to the veteran sweeps . . . Gryphon was the only male veteran. My Nova (Cdn CH Ferngold Varazs Innovation JH, FDJ Am/Cdn CD, Cdn RA, Am RE, CGN) pictured at the left was one of only two female veterans. Well, she could have come 2nd out of two, but the judge, Mary Jane Mowry from Phoenix, liked her and gave her first. Gryphon and Nova then went up against one another and Ms Mowray picked Gryphon as Best Veteran and Nova as Best of Opposite. In both cases, I was the 'winner' being the breeder and/or owner of both dogs. But what was so nice to hear were the compliments from the judge who is an Irish Setter breeder. She loved both dogs and couldn't find enough nice things to say about them and commented that they were so much better than many of the Vizsla puppies she had just judged in the sweeps. That meant a lot. So here's to our veteran sweeps winners, Gryphon and Nova!