Busy Birthday Bees!

Stella and Bodi (from our 2011 breeding between Brick and Miska born May 31) who just celebrated their 3rd birthday, were very busy on their birthdays earning new titles!!!  Stella and her hu-mom competed in a Cdn Association of Rally Obedience (CARO) trial to earn her Rally Advanced (RA) title and Bodi was in the US completing his Americah Kennel Club (AKC) Rally Novice (RN) title.  So two sibs and two titles on their third birthday! 

Bodi in repose with his new title (Rally Novice) rosette and ribbons!

Stella's mom showing off their gorgeous rosette for Stella's new title (Rally Advanced).

And Bodi also earned two more AKC Coursing Ability Advanced legs while he was at it on his birthday weekend. That's as in "lure coursing"!

Bodi chasing the 'bunny'

Way to go kids!!!

PS - photos are courtesy of the dogs' owners.

Wonder Dog!

May was a great month for my Miska.  She earned 3 Canadian Kennel Club titles.

1. Rally Advanced-Excellent - RAE (CKC), May 26, 2013
2. Agility Intermediate Jumpers (Selected) - (AGJS) (CKC), May 18, 2013
3. Agility Intermediate Standard (Selected) - (AGIS) (CKC), May 18, 2013

The RAE is Miska's second RAE title as she also earned her American Kennel Club RAE title back in 2010.  Miska is my first Vizsla to earn RAE titles in two countries.  For those who know little or nothing about an RAE title, it involves passing BOTH Advanced and Excellent rally classes in one trial and requires 10 legs (i.e., 20 passes) to complete an RAE.  During our last rally obedience trials, I made a few handling errors in the Excellent classes where one can no longer repeat any stations if you do it wrong; this cost us lots of points but Miska still got very good scores. And Miska is also terrific in agility, usually earning clean runs and many placements.Her RAE title represents her 34th title before her 10th birthday.   I couldn't ask for a better dog!  Miska the WONDER DOG!

Great weekend miles apart

Thousands of miles apart, in two different corners of the continent . . .

Bodi and his Group 3rd placement

In Woodstock, Ontario Canada, Bodi (BIS (UKC), CKC/UKC CH Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban FDJ JH URO1 CGN NAVHDA NA PZ I) born May 31, 2011, took a Group 3rd in the Sporting Group at the Wildwood Kennel Club dog show on Saturday February 2.  Woot, woot!!  He was expertly handled by Edgar Rojas. This placement gave Bodi 41 all-breed points to put him into 1st place standings in Vizslas in Canada.  Congratulations to owner Corrine Sellars.

And in Phoenix AZ, Bodi's big sis, Diva (CKC/Int'l/UKC CH Varazs Kedves Quickstep FDJ, JH, NA, NAJ, AgNJ, AGI, Am RN, URO1 CGN CGC) from my 2008 litter, earned her AKC Rally Novice title on February 3 with scores of 100, 85 & 98 and 2nd, 3rd and 1st place finishes respectively.  Well done Diva! (And yes, it was chilly in Phoenix, the reason for the fleece vest!)

Diva with her mom and the nice judge

Awesome year for my V's

In terms of accomplishments with all 3 of my Vizslas, 2012 was one the best EVER!  In total, they (and I) earned 21 new titles in four different canine organizations.

At 9.5 years of age, Miska (Int'l BIS/RBIS (Veteran) AKC/CKC/Int'l/UKC CH Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem FD, NAVHDA NA Prize III, JH, AKC/CKC CDX, AKC/CKC RE, AKC RAE, AgNS, AgNJS, NJP, URO2, CGN, CGC, TDI) is not slowing down – in fact she’s speeding up!  Her year was outstanding with a total of 10 new titles plus legs towards 6 more! AND, she was # 3 Vizsla in obedience in Canada (CKC) in 2011 and currently sits in #1 spot for 2012.  Miska has earned a total of 28 titles in her lifetime, not including her International Best in Show awards. To earn 10 in one year accounts for 36% of all her titles!

Miska has proven herself and the breed, time and time again, that she lives up to the moniker of a Versatile Vizsla excelling in obedience, rally, field, conformation and agility.  (Next year, I will apply in Miska's name for the Vizsla Society of Ontario's Tibor Reiter trophy for versatility. She certainly is deserving of it. I applied for the trophy in the name of her mom, CH Ferngold Varazs Innovation Am/Can CD, Can/AM RA, Am RE, Am RAE, FDJ, JH, CGN, "Nova", for the year 2012.  Nova just missed out in 2011 so I am hoping she will be the top Vizsla for 2012. The trophy - if Nova earns it - would be awarded posthumously. Keeping my fingers crossed!  Miska's sire, Sasha, earned the Tibor trophy in 2007.)

Miska - 10 NEW TITLES in 2012!

Miska's New Titles!

1.    Therapy Dog International (TDI)
American Kennel Club (AKC) titles:
2. Canine Good Citizen (CGC)
3. Companion Dog Excellent (CDX)
4.  Novice Jumpers Preferred (NJP)
5.  Novice Agility Preferred (NAP)
Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) titles: 
6. Agility Novice Jumpers Selected (AGNJS)
7. Agility Novice Selected (AGNS)
8. Companion Dog Excellent (CDX)
United Kennel Club (UKC) titles: 
9. Rally Level 1 (URO1)
10. Rally Level 2 (URO2)

PLUS . . .
4 UKC High in Trials (Rally and Obedience)
1 UKC Group 3rd - Gun Dog Group
2 CKC Intermediate Agility Selected legs
2 UKC Companion Dog legs
1 UKC Rally Level 3 leg
1 AKC Novice Agility FAST Preferred leg
1 AKC Open Agility Preferred leg
1 AKC Open Agility Jumpers Preferred leg

#3 Vizsla in obedience in Canada for 2011
#1 Vizsla in obedience in Canada for 2012

TYRO - 4 NEW TITLES IN 2012!

Despite having bilateral elbow dysplasia, Tyro (CH Varazs Napkelte Tyrone CD Am/Can RE, Am RAE, URO2, CGN, CGC) is very active and loves to compete. In 2012 he earned 4 new titles.  Although the number of titles pales a little with Miska, his AKC Rally-Obedience title required him to compete in a LOT of trials.  Amazingly, he earned this title in just two (very long weekends), earning 20 qualifying scores in a row.  Anyone who has worked on an RAE title knows how hard it can be and how long it can take.  At 6.5 years of age Tyro appears to be pain free of elbow dysplasia.  I don't train or compete with him in field or agility, two sports which would put tremendous stress on his elbows.  However, he is terrific in rally and obedience and continues to compete in both. Once he turns 7, he will be able to compete as a senior in CKC obedience which means he can jump a much lower jump height in the Open class (2 jumps).

Tyro's New Titles!
AKC: 

1. Canine Good Citizen (CGC),
2. Rally Advanced-Excellent (RAE )

UKC:  

3. Rally Level 1
4. Rally Level 2

DIVA — 7 NEW TITLES!

Diva (CKC/Int'l/UKC CH Varazs Kedves Quickstep FDJ JH NA AgNJ AGI CGN CGC) is primarily my agility dog although I want to earn more hunting titles and some obedience and rally titles with her too.  She loves agility and can be quite fast (although not as fast as Border Collies and some of those other crazy breeds in agility, thank goodness, because I wouldn't be able to keep up with her at my age!).  I am still working on her focus and control which is why she didn't earn as many legs and titles this year as I had hoped.  At 4.5 years, she is still a young dog.  I was  pleased with her performances this year and we had a lot of fun competing although she had a lot more fun at times going off and doing her own thing on the agility courses!!

Diva's New Titles!
CKC:
1. Agility Novice (AGN)
 2. Agility Intermediate (AGI)
3. Agility Novice Jumpers (AGNJ) 
AKC:
4. Canine Good Citizen (CGC)
5. Novice Agility Standard (NA)
6. Novice Agility Jumpers (NAJ)
UKC: 

7. Rally Novice 1 (URO1)

UKC photos

When I saw the United Kennel Club's High in Trial rosettes hanging on the wall in the obedience/rally building, I really, really wanted to have one. Is that wrong??

Miska came very close on Saturday to earning one with her score of 100 in Rally but she was beaten in score time by a Corgi mix who moved much faster around the ring.  The Corgi team won two of these tosettes on Saturday.  All I wanted was one but Miska delighted me by earning two in the two obedience trials on Sunday.  They are HUGE! Bigger and taller than Miska but just the right colour for a Vizsla, don't you think?
  

2X High in Trial

Miska's handler & hu-mom, Isobel Hutton (judge) and Miska

Miska's Total Dog rosette (the black, red & white one) and her Group 3rd (on the right).

L-R: Miska & Tyro - new RO2 title; Diva - new RO1 title

More new titles!

Varazs-bred dogs have been busy lately. Four of them earned titles recently and I salute and congratulate their owners! (Well, 2 of the dogs happen to be mine but nonetheless. . . )

New Rally Novice Title!

On July 18 Stella (Miska's daughter from our 2011 litter) and her owner Teri Martin completed their CKC Rally Novice title with a High in Class!  Their scores were 96, 95 and 93 / 100!  This is Stella's second title just after turning 1 year of age.  Stella's name is now Varazs Kedvesem Final Dance RN CGN.   This is quite an accomplishment for such a young dog.  Way to go!

Stella and owner Teri

 

New Rally Excellent Title! 

Shandy (from our 2003 litter and sister to my Miska) and her owner Chrissie Diron earned their final CKC Rally Excellent leg for their title, also with a High in Class! Their scores were 86, 95 and 87. Congratulations!  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of Shandy in this event.  This is Shandy's 11th title.

2 New Agility Titles!

Miska  finished her Novice Agility Standard title (Selected class) with a clean run at the Barrie Kennel and Obedience agility trials on August 4 under brutally hot and humid conditions.  Her daughter, Diva, also finished her Novice Jumpers title with 1 fault and a score of 95.  This was Miska's 24th title and Diva's 8th.

Neither had a clean run in Intermediate jumpers on Saturday.  I felt like I was going to die out there especially since I was very jetlagged, had a bad head cold and had done something to my lower back.  The weather really fried my brain and I messed up badly on Saturday missing obstacles which resulted in NQ's for my dogs in trial 2 (Jumpers).  Great dogs - too bad about the handler!! Sunday was better for everyone although we did get rain but it wasn't as hot.  Miska earned her first Intermediate Standard leg with a clean run and a slightly faster time than her daughter!! Diva earned 2 Intermediate Standard legs with scores of 100 and 95.  Now I can't wait to finish their Intermediate titles!

Thanks to Shelley at Staurolite Photography for these agility photos. 

Diva weaving

Miska in the tire jump

Shandy earns a High in Class!

Shandy, a littermate to our Miska born June 26, 2003 out of our beloved Nova (dam) and Sasha (Sire) earned her first Rally Excellent leg at the Comox Valley Kennel Club (BC) trials and shows on June 10, 2012. And her score (bteween 85 and 89) warranted a High in Class! Congratulations to her owner and handler, Chrissie Diron.

Shandy with her High in Class rosette and prize

High In Trial & first UKC rally titles

Miska with her first High in Trial & score of 100 with judge Deb Beean, Ithaca, MI

Anyone who does obedience or rally-obedience likes to earn a High In Trial which means the dog has earned the highest score of all the dogs entered in a trial.  So I was thrilled that Miska earned not one but TWO HIGH IN TRIALs at the Oxford Dog Sports United Kennel Club rally-obedience trials held this past weekend in Princeton, Ontario.  I expected her to do well since she has several other rally and obedience titles but the venue was outdoors and the weather ranged from cool to damp, to drizzling to pouring rain to hot and steamy.  That means expect the unexpected or perhaps the expected since most Vizslas don't like doing anything in the rain unless it involves hunting and most dogs don't do well in extreme heat which we had on day 2.

Nevertheless, Miska didn't let me down and earned her UKC Rally Level 1 (URO1) title with 2 firsts and 1 second place along with the two High in Trials.  She also earned a qualifying score and second place towards her Level 2 title.  And her half-brother Tyro also earned his UKC Rally Level 1 (URO1) title with second and third placements and a Q towards his Level 2 title and a 4th place.

Miska finishing her URO1 title with a HIT under judge Laurie Soutar

Miska and Tyro, drenched after our rally trial

20 = 10 = 1

After another grueling five days of outdoor rally-obedience trials at the Fiesta Cluster in Scottsdale, AZ, where we had high winds, cold and heat, Tyro finished his AKC Rally Advanced-Excellent (RAE) title. This weekend entailed ten trials (two per day), one each in Excellent and Advanced classes, and required him to pass in both classes to each 1 leg .  Ten legs are needed to complete an RAE title.  Hence, 20 trials / qualifying scores = 10 legs = 1 title.

Earlier in February, Tyro earned his first 5 legs of the 10 needed.  Amazingly, he completed his RAE titlein just two weekends  within a five week period.  I've never completed an RAE so fast! In total, he was entered in 20 rally trials and successfully passed ALL of them, the majority with 1st to 4th placements.

On the final day, March 5th, of the Fiesta Cluster, he scored  84 / 100 in Excellent B (he got up on the honor when I said his name, resulting in 10 points off - aaaarrrgh) for a 2nd place finish (he would have been 1st if he had done the honor exercise correctly) and then scored a perfect 100 / 100 in Advanced B and 1st place.  What a great way to finish his title!  Tyro is my 4th Vizsla to earn an AKC RAE title.  Way to go Tyro!!

And his weekend was made extra special because, Kathy Rust, the owner/breeder of Tyro's sire,  "Hudson" (Am/Can/Int'l CH Kizmar Touch of Evil CD JH RE) was at these shows from N. Dakota judging conformation and so she had a chance to see him.

Exhausted from earning his RAE title

Green & other colours

Five days of dog competitions in Phoenix AZ (Papago Labrador Retriever Club of Greater Phoenix, Sahuaro Kennel Club and the Lost Dutchman KC) equaled 10 rally-obedience trials for Tyro and frankly, we were both fried at the end of them.  Tyro, however, did me proud and brought home a sea of green qualifying ribbons as well as several placement ribbons of various colours for a total of 10 "Q's" (qualifying scores) and 5 American Kennel Club RAE legs.  Ten RAE 'legs' are needed for an RAE title so he achieved 50% in one long weekend of trials.  Tyro had to pass both Advanced and Excellent categories at the same trial to earn one RAE leg.  And this weekend, he also earned 7 placements:  one First, one Second, four Thirds and one Fourth.  Well done Tyro!

Love the letter Q

I love the letter Q. Why?

Because in dog-competition-speak, it means a qualifying score. It probably means the same thing in human-competitions too but instead of a P = Pass, we use Q and NQ if our dog did Not Qualify. Anyway, at the Poodle Club of Canada's all breed rally and obedience trials on Friday and Saturday, we got a few Q's! Tyro finished his CKC Rally Excellent title with a 93/100 so he's now officially known as CH Varazs Napkelte Tyrone AKC/CKC CD, AKC/CKC RE, CGN. (Only the highest levels of titles are shown in his official name.)

Miska also got Q's in both Rally Excellent and Advanced classes to earn her third RAE leg in Canada (7 more Q's to go for her title).  And she had great scores - 100 / 100 in Excellent with 2nd place on time and 99 / 100 in Advanced with a 4th place, again on time - she was the fastest dog with a score of 99.

Miska with her 2nd & 4th place rosettes for rally excellent & rally advanced.

The sweetest Q came the next day (Saturday) when Miska competed in Open obedience.  After a heartbreaking NQ in the morning trial when she failed to drop on the Drop on Recall exercise (there is no forgiveness; if they fail to drop, it's an automatic fail regardless of how well they do in the rest of the exercises and she had done the rest really well), she finally Q'd in the afternoon trial!! And not only that, her score of 193 was good enough for First Place or High in Class!!  Rather than giving her a hand signal for her drop on recall in the afternoon, I gave her a verbal command and she followed suit and did it!  Her nemesis of late has been the broad jump when sometimes she walks through it rather than jumping over it but she did it flawlessly in both trials.  It helps that the Cdn Kennel Club's rules allow veterans to jump lower heights so she only had to jump 16" for the high jump and 32"for the broad jump exercise.  This means there is less space between boards in the broad jump. 

But it's never over until it's over and she still had to perform the 3 minute out-of-sight long sit and long down before we knew whether she qualified.  Boy those long stays seem to last forever at that point when you've qualified up to that point.   Before the long stay exercises, I promised her a Big Mac steak if she qualified.  Did she understand?  I dunno but it worked and I gave her some steak for supper as her just reward.

Miska with her High in Class (1st place) rosette in Open A

Miska's well deserved steak!

2010 Rally & Obedience standings

Well, I never thought to check Canuck Dogs (canuckdogs.com) for anything other than conformation standing until today.  What a surprise I got when I checked the rally-obedience standings for 2010!  Tyro (Ch Varazs Napkelte Tyrone) was #1 Vizsla in Canada, Miska (Ch Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem) was #2 Vizsla and Miska's sister, Shandy, Ch Varazs Artemis Vizsandy was tied for #5.  And in obedience for 2010, Milo (Varazs Mokany Ficko was #8.  Well done to our Varazs-bred Vizslas!!

Mr. CD

It's been over 2 years since I last earned an obedience title on one of my dogs. This weekend, it was Tyro's turn to complete his Companion Dog (CD) title.  Not quite a month ago, Tyro earned his first two legs and this weekend at the Georgina Kennel & Obedience Club's obedience trials, he earned his 3rd and final CD leg with a score of 190.5/200 and a 4th place on the Saturday - accomplishing this title in 3 straight trials! 

Since I had entered him in 2 trials this weekend, we returned on Sunday for a 'bonus' run.  And it was a really nice one!  Tyro earned 194.5 in Novice A and with that score, he placed 1st in his class!  Now his official name is CH Varazs Napkelte Tyrone CD, Am/Can RN, Am/Can RA, Am RE, CGN.  And topping off Tyro's Terrific Weekend, he earned two legs (with very good scores) towards his CKC Rally Excellent title on Friday.  Woo hoo Tyro!!!! Mama, Nova,(CH Ferngold Varazs Innovation Am/Can CD, Can RN, Am RE, FDJ CGN) would have been so proud! I know your daddy Hudson (Am/Can/Int CH Kizmar Touch of Evil JH RA) is.

Tyro with his 1st & 4th place rosettes (CD)

1,2,3,4,5 - bang, bang, bang

5 Trials, 5 Q's 
(& 2 Second & 2 First Place Finishes)

This past weekend was "Tyro's weekend". I entered Tyro (DOB June 17, 2006) in a combination of 5 rally-obedience and obedience trials in two days at the London Canine Association shows in Tillsonburg, ON on October 16 and 17. Since he had never competed in both types of trials at the same venue or even more than one trial in a day, I didn't know how he would handle the stress. Added to all of this is the fact that Tyro doesn't like to travel and we had had no opportunity to practice for about two weeks since I had been traveling and he's never been entered in a formal practice match before. So it was a big gamble and potentially very expensive (at $28/trial) if he didn't qualify.

However, Tyro not only achieved my hopes but exceeded my expectations:

1. Three qualifying scores in Rally Advanced with scores of 93, 96 and 100 to complete his RA title which included2 second place finishes and a first place (with his score of 100) in rally
2. Two qualifying scores in Novice A obedience with scores of 184 and 191 which included1st place / High in Class in Novice A with his score of 191 

 CH Varazs Napkelte Tyrone Am/Can RN, Am/Can RA, Am RE, CGN

Tyro's 'software' haul of ribbons & rosettes

So it was 1,2,3,4,5 - five trials and five qualifying scores, a new title and 2/3's of the way to another title which is how I like to do trials!

(Unfortunately Saturday's obedience trials were full so we only got into two trials on Sunday. Given his achievements, I am now confident Tyro would have finished his CKC CD (Companion Dog) obedience title if we had gotten into one more trial that weekend.  Oh well, it just gives us more time to practice his off-leash heeling (where he lost most points) in readiness for two more obedience and rally trials in mid-November.)

Shandy does well in Rally!

Today Shandy and her owner Chrissie Diron braved the elements (cold wind, torrential rain and on the way home snow too!) to attend the CKC rallyO trials in Courtenay, BC.  They had a great day though - brought home 2 "legs" towards her RA (rally advanced) title! Good scores (94/100 and 96/100 respectively), the latter earned her 2nd in class.  They will have to wait until the New Year to get to any more events like this, but with just one leg of her CKC RA to go and one leg of her CARO RE, Chrissie is confident they can look forward to 2 new titles in 2010 :-). Congratulations to Chrissie & Shandy!

Howling great Hallowe'en

Two of our dogs had howling great success this Hallowe'en weekend.

Milo (out of Am/Can CH Gardenway Gunners' Moon "Charlie" and CH Varazs Kincses Natasha FDJ "Tasha" born June 13, 2002) and owner Corrine Sellars earned Milo's 5th and final "C" leg in the Cdn Assoc. of Rally Obedience to give him Bronze Championship title!!! And this weekend, they also earned his 3rd Versatility leg - and 3rd place with a score of 191 - adding yet another title - Rally Versatility (RV). Milo is now officially known as CRB Varazs Mokany Ficko FDJ, CGN, SSGDC, SADC, AG.N.J., CL1-R, AG.N., Am/Can CD, Am/Can RA, RXCL, RAE, RNT, RV. If you want to know what all these title initials stand for, I suggest you click on the link to his name which will take you to his webpage. Great work Corrine and Milo!! Corrine, you're going to have to build an extension onto your home to house all of Milo's rosettes!!

Milo with more beautiful rosettes
(Above photos courtesy of Corrine)

Gunner (Varazs Kedves Quinn) out of CH Hubertus Quality Control FDJ (Ozzie) and Am/Can CH Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem FD, NAVHDA NA Prize III, JH, Am/Can CD, Am/Can RE, CGN (Miska) born June 2008 and owned by Donna and Scott Hildebrant of Oakville ON, was Winners Dog two of the three days of shows at the Trillium Dog Fanciers show in Etobicoke, ON. And on Sunday, he was also selected by Judge Patricia Laurens of Newton, CT for Best of Breed! This gave him 4 more points this weekend. He now only needs 2 more pts to complete his championship. Way to go Gunner!

Gunner handled by his breeder, Sylvia Dorosh

Gunner, natural 'stack'

Gunner (R) with his mom, Miska (L) taken October 2009

More titles

Milo (above) from our 2002 litter earned his AKC Rally Advanced (RA) title on September 5 and Diva (below) from our 2008 litter earned the final leg needed for her CKC Field Dog Jr. (FDJ) on Sept. 20/09.

More rally titles!

Congratulations to two Varazs Vizslas for more new Rally-obedience titles earned just recently!

Katya earned her American Rally Excellent (RE) title along with her 1st RAE leg. She's now Ch (Cdn & UKC) Varazs Sziv Jump For Joy RN, RA, RE, CGC CGN.

Milo continues to steam his way through more rally and earned his Cdn Assoc. of Rally Obedience Rally Novice Team (RNT) title, earning a score of 197 and 3rd place under extreme weather conditions. He's now officially known as Varazs Mokany Ficko FDJ, Am/Can CD,Am/Can RN, AgNJ, AGN, RACL (CARO), SSGDC, SADC, CL1-R, CGN.

Milo earns CKC RE title!

Milo became the first Varazs-bred dog to earn a CKC Rally Excellent title on Friday April 24 in St. Catharines Ontario. If you've been following my posts, you'll know that the Corrine-Milo team has really been on a roll this year, earning title after title - in fact, this is their 6th in four months! That too is a record. And they also happened to earn several placements as you can see from Milo's 'software' in the photo. As well, they picked up his first RAE leg (Rally Adv-Ex) on Friday of which 9 more are needed. AWESOME work you two! Keep it up!!!

Another Excellent rally title for Milo!

Wow, Corrine and Milo earned yet another title on April 19 - their 5th in four months!!!! This one is their CARO (Cdn Assoc. of Rally Obedience) Rally Excellent title and CARO also confers additional awards if the dog's score is above a certain level. In their case, Milo's scores earned him "cum laude" so he gets to add RXCL to his name. Fantastic! So he's now:
Varazs Mokany Ficko FDJ, CGN, SSGDC, SADC, AG.N.J., CL1-R, AG.N., Am/Can CD, Am/Can RN, RA, RXCL.