The winners

And the winning toys that withstood the jaws of two young Vizsla puppies as well as 3 adultsand remained intact, are Ballistic toys made by Kong!

The Ballistic Tug demoed by Miska

The Ballistic Ring demoed by Tyro

Small ring; they also come in a large size

The losers

These toys didn't survive visits from two 1.5 year old Vizsla puppies (Elsie and Charlie) last month.

Elsie liked to pull the stuffing out of Big Brute.

Tyro loved this Kong Airdog ring toy!!  His absolute fav!!

The remains of another Kong Airdog toy. RIP.

Puppy tails from our 2011 litter

For the second time in my career as a Vizsla breeder, I sent off docked puppy tails from a litter for DNA extraction to support the Canine Epilepsy Research Study. The proposal is to develop a genetic screening test for canine epilepsy.

Puppy tails

The first time I did this was our 2008 litter of six puppies and most recently our 2011 litter of six.  Unfortunately I either didn't know about this project with earlier litters. In 2009, I had blood drawn from Miska (who is the dam of the 2008 and 2011 litters) along with her brother Vadasz, half-brother Tyro and their mom Nova.  To date, none of these dogs have seized but it's still important to participate in health studies like this. It is hoped that one day, a genetic marker will be found for this health problem in Vizslas (as well as for some other breeds).

For more information about health issues and studies in Vizslas, go to the Vizsla Club of America's link at:  http://vcaweb.org/welfare/research.shtml.

New Jr Hunter title

Congratulations to Bodi (BIS CH Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban FDJ JH  URO1 CGN NAVHDA NA PZ I) from our 2011 litter between mama Miska and papa Brick (Ch Pirok Tegla MH) and his owner Corrine Sellars for earning his American Kennel Club Jr. Hunter title on October 7, 2012!! This is his first AKC title completed.  It's like the CKC Field Dog Jr. title but the differences are:

1) a dog is braced with another when being tested
2) a dog must earn 4 legs rather than 3 to earn a JH title.

Bodi earned his title in 4 straight passes.  Well done!! For more pics from the hunt tests, visit Bodi's Blog entry.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

If it were up to Miska, her choice for dinner would be wild turkey or squirrel on the Canadian Thanksgiving (Monday, October 8).
 

Miska's wild turkey - caught live!

How about squirrel pie?

You can take the dog out of the hunt, but you can't take the hunt out of the dog!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 

Where's the water gone?

Our local conservation area, Burns, has a small lake and a 2 KM trail where I often walk our dogs since it's so close to our home.  We've been visiting this conservation area for over 25 years and lived near it for 24 years.  I avoided it this summer largely due to the mosquitoes (despite the fact that we had a drought, there were still plenty of mosquitoes).  Now that it's turned cool(er), I ventured there with Miska, Tyro and Diva yesterday and was shocked to see what remains of the lake which might be better called a puddle or mudflats.   The water level is down at least 5 feet, which in a small lake, makes a huge difference.  I have pictures here going back 7 years and this is the lowest water level I ever recall seeing in 25+ years.

Burns Lake, October 6, 2012

No dock diving for the dogs!! The water is usually right up to the grassy area to the R of the boardwalk

Dogs started barking at the tree stumps since they (dogs) aren't used to seeing them there

Contrast this with the similar view (below) in 2008

Overflow channel; water in spring is usually up to the top of this structure

Tree stumps now visible in the middle of the lake.

View looking back at the dock area; all this mud is usually covered with water

The 'mud flats'

 Burns Lake, May 2005

The water table is always higher in spring due to melting snow and spring rain although it wasn't as high in May as some years,

Sasha in Burns Lake, May 31, 2005

 Burns Lake, October 2, 2008 (below)

These were taken 4 years ago, at almost the exact time of year as this fall.  Notice how much water there is in the lake four years ago.

Diva & Miska

Normal water levels in fall.

Burns Lake, November 6, 2011 (below)

The lake was filled with water when we took the Varazs Vizsla family for a walk almost one year ago.

Family visits

I love seeing our puppies/our dogs' relatives.

In September, Miska's son, Charlie and daughter, Elsie from our 2011 litter between Brick and Miska were here for dog shows. After Charlie and Elsie left to go back to their respective homes, I was exhausted!!

Miska and son Charlie

Charlie gripping sister Elsie's throat!

Elsie - perfect angel! (Not!)

Then Quest from Miska's 2008 litter arrived for me to take him down to the States for dog shows at the Wine Circuit in Romulus, NY.  He's pictured here with his sister Diva, mom Miska and uncle Tyro.  He took two third places in the Open Dog class, was 2nd one day and went Reserve Winners Dog but didn't bring home any points, unfortunately.

L-R, Quest, Diva, Miska, Tyro taken Oct. 1/12

While I was at the shows in Romulus, I stayed with my friend Pauline who owns Katya from our 2003 litter. Katya is a littermate to my Miska so it was nice to see her again after a two year absence.  The sisters get along very well.  As they age (gracefully), they are beginning to look more similar in their faces.

Two sisters - Katya and Miska taken Sept. 30/12

Then I got together with Gary who owns Vadasz, another littermate from our 2003 litter.  He's a brother to Katya and Miska and is shown below.  He is such a wonderful male dog and is so well tempered around other dogs and people, and of course, is very talented also.  It's a bit pity that no one has been interested in using him for stud.  He is still intact.

Vadasz & Miska, brother and sister taken Oct. 1/12

Wine Circuit 2012

I've been very very busy lately, doing a lot of 'doggie' stuff with little time to post on my Blog.  The last 5 days I was in New York state at Wine Circuit shows and trials at Romulus, NY.  I've been going to this venue/show for many, many years.  The grounds are beautiful, the area is absolutely gorgeous, there is lots going on at this show (conformation, obedience, rally, agility and sometimes lure coursing). plus there are lots of NY state wineries to visit in the area.  I will, however, go on record to state that Ontario produces far better wines than NY state but it's still fun to visit the wineries, if one has time.

In previous years I've done only conformation and other years conformation and rally with multiple dogs.  This year I also had multiple dogs and focused on conformation with Quest and agility with Miska (Quest's mom) and Diva (littermate to Quest).  The last time I did agility here was in 2004 with Keira and I can recall it being extremely wet and muddy.  I was so covered in mud, I had to find a laundromat to get clean for the next day's competition in '04.

Weather usually repeats itself at this show and didn't 'disappoint' in that regard in 2012.  Last year was a mud bath and so was the previous 2010 (especially muddy!) when I was last in attendance.  Of the 4 days this year, it rained for two and turned parts of the agility fields and conformation rings into muddy paths.  It simply wouldn't be Wine Circuit without rain or cold or sun or high winds or clouds. One year there was the threat of a tornado and the entire show was cancelled on Thursday.

I entered Miska and Diva in two agility trials per day - novice standard and novice jumpers.  That meant I did 4 runs per day, times 4 days which equaled 16 runs.  I was totally gobsmacked that I didn't have conflicts with conformation on any of the four days.  That's virtually unheard of there!!

I was thrilled that Miska came home with her AKC Novice Jumper (Preferred) title and two legs towards her Novice Standard (Preferred) title.  The preferred class means Miska can jump a lower jump height than her withers.  She's nine years old and jumps 16" although she measures just under 22". Due to my handling error, Miska missed the dog walk contact by a paw; otherwise she would have aced and qualified in another Standard trial and completed her Novice Standard title.  Miska  had an amazing run and was going so fast on the dog walk that I didn't want to slow her down.  She was crossing it faster than she had ever run it in her life and had only the tire jump to go through to finish the course.  I failed to tell her to "touch" at the bottom of the dog walk, figuring she would touch the contact zone on her own.  Instead, she was flying so fast, she leaped over the zone and flew through the tire jump to complete her course.  I was sooooo disappointed she failed to qualify but her speed and happiness thrilled me immensely and so that helped to make up for my handling error.  

Out of her five qualifying courses, Miska had 4 clean runs (100/100) and 1 score of 95/100. She had 1 first & 2nd place finishes in Standard, and 2 seconds and a third place in Jumpers.  I am so proud of her!!!

Miska with her rosettes

Diva earned her Novice Standard title with 90/100 (third), 95/100 (first) and 100/100 (first).  She also earned two Novice Jumpers legs, both with first place finishes (scores of 95 & 100).  Diva is very fast but needs a lot more training on her focus on me so that she doesn't take jumps on her own.  And I need to work more on my distance handling skills with her.  She will become, I am confident, an awesome agility dog.

Diva with 4 first place rosettes, 1 third and hwe finishing title rosette

Things come in 2s?

Things come in twos??

Last weekend was a good one for 2 of our Miska-Brick puppies born May 31, 2011.  Bodi earned 2 Jr Hunter legs at an AKC hunt test in Darien NY after earning his NAVHDA Natural Ability title last weekend and Charlie earned his first2 conformation points at the Oakville Kennel Club show.  Congratulations to the puppies and to their owners, especially Corrine who handled Bodi at her first US hunt test!

Corrine with Bodi

Charlie handled by breeder mom

 

NAVHDA Prize I

I am thrilled to announce (although rather belatedly I am afraid) that Bodi (UKC BIS, CH Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban FDJ, CGN, URO1; DOB: May 31, 2011) earned a Prize I in Natural Ability from the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Assoc. (NAVHDA) on September 2, 2012.  While the rest of us were enjoying the long, Labour Day weekend in Canada, owner and handler Corrine Sellars was busy competing in this field test at Luther Marsh ON with Bodi.

Bodi showed great field/hunting apititude as an 8-week puppy, immediately launching into a stiff point when he saw a wing-on-a-string.   He also scented and retrieved a dead quail.  I remember exclaiming to Corrine at the time,  "There's your bird dog!"

Bodi pointing

This is MY bird!

So I was pretty confident that Bodi would dog well in field. He earned his CKC Field Dog Hr (FDJ) in May at the age of one year with one near-perfect score of 97/100.  NAVHDA's Natural Ability tests cap the age of the dog at 16 months so he just made it at 15 months.  Not only did Bodi pass the NA test this time, he ACED it!!! He had perfect scores all seven categories:

1. use of nose
2. search
3. water
4. pointing
5. tracking
6. desire to work
7. co-operation

His seven perfect scores resulted in the highest accolade, a Prize I.  Several Varazs-bred dogs have earned NAVHDA NA titles, but this is the first of our Vizslas to earn a Prize I.  Others have earned a Prize III, including Bodi's mom, Miska. (Prize I is the highest and Prize III is the lowest of the passes.)

VERY, VERY proud owner/handler Corrine with Bodi

Not only was I (as Bodi's breeder), extremely proud of Bodi, I was thrilled for Corrine since she handed Bodi herself. This was Corrine's very first time handling a dog in a field test  since previously, her field trainer, Mike Wilshire of Ruffwood Brittanies, handled Bodi.  I can tell you it's such a big thrill to:

1. see your Vizsla do what it was originally bred to do: find game and establish point
2. handle your own dog in a hunt test.

 CONGRATULATIONS  to Bodi and Corrine!! I am very very proud of both of you!

Old dog, old & new tricks

Everyone knows it's a myth that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  Of course you can - if you are a good teacher/trainer that is and take into account the physical condition of the dog.  It's not that the  dog can't learn; the human often simply doesn't have the right skills to train a dog - and it's NOT using Cesar Milan's methods!!!!

Anyway, old dogs LOVE performing their old tricks as well as learning new ones. Here are a couple of photos of Kosmo (CH Szuni's Rising Star FD ADC CGC), who is a daughter of our Sasha and bred by Susan Scobie of Szuni Reg'd Vizslas in Vancouver, BC. Kosmo was born in July 1999. These photos were taken last June (2011) at agility trials in BC just before Kosmo's 12th birthday.  Because Kosmo had such a great time competing, her owner, Arlana Taylor, decided she wasn't ready to retire and so the decision was made to enter Agility Assoc. of Canada agility trails later this month in the Okanagan area of BC at Dog-o-Pogo trials. I am so thrilled that this happening!! I didn't ever retire Sasha and he lived into his 16th year and it was one of the best decisions I ever made for a dog.

So here's to senior dogs and all the wonderful things they are still able to accomplish and have fun doing!

Running through grass

Ruby (Varazs Kiralyi Rubicund, DOB June 26, 2003) running through grass during a recent visit to our house.
 

Oppose the Breed Standard changes!!!

VOTE NO 

TO PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE VIZSLA  BREED STANDARDS

Vizsla Canada Inc. has submitted proposed amendments to the CKC breed standard for both the Smooth and Wirehaired Vizslas.  Unfortunately only members of the Canadian Kennel Club can vote on these proposed changes.  To vote, go to www.ckc.ca and under Membership Services, select Publish for Comment to open the documents.  The deadline for voting and for comments is October 1, 2012.

I urge everyone to vote against the proposed changes which  are summarized below (additions are shown in bold and deletions shown in strikeout).

VIZSLA (SMOOTH)

FOREQUARTERS Dewclaws should be removed if not removed, should be held tightly against the leg.

TAIL A portion is may be docked, approximately 1/3 so that the tip of the shortened tail is level with the juncture of the upper and lower thigh. Full length tails are not to be penalized.

FAULTS
7. Dewclaws not removed.

VIZSLA (WIREHAIRED)

FOREQUARTERS Dewclaws should be removed if not removed, should be held tightly against the leg.

TAIL The tail is of moderate thickness and may be docked to 2/3 of its original length. Full length tails are not to be penalized.

FAULTS Dewclaws.

**********************************
Why?   

These standards have been in place for decades.  They were developed by people who had a lot of experience in Hungary.  Tails are docked and dewclaws are removed for good reasons. A breed standard is supposed to give you a clear picture of the ideal dog.  By stating something "may be done" or "if not done, should be . . . "  doesn't give a clear picture.  Should I or shouldn't I dock the tails or remove dewclaws?  The parent club, Vizsla Canada, is bending to the whims of the eastern Canada veterinary colleges which had adopted the policy that these are unecessary surgeries and may subject veterians to professional misconduct.

Many pet owners and veterinarians simply don't understand the history and function of our breed and operate under the misconception that these procedures are cruel and done only for cosmetic reasons.  They are NOT!!  Check out the case for docking on the Council of Docked Breeds website as well as other information and cases on the website of the Council of Docked Breeds.  In some  breeds, cases may be made that some procedures are cosmetic such as ear cropping but in an active dog such as the Vizsla, they are necessary for the safety of our breed.

The Vizsla's tail is very thin at the tip and is just as likely to be damaged inside one's house as outdoors in the field.  I am personally familiar with an undocked import from Australia, which had to have its tail amputated as an adult due to numerous injuries from hitting its tail against the walls of the house.  This was Ozzie, who sired my 2008 litter.  Amputation of a limb when an adult dog is much more serious and painful than when done as a 2-3 day old whelp.  Likewise with dewclaws.  Yes, there is pain when these procedures are done at 2-3 days but it is over very quickly and within a couple of minutes the whelps are asleep. Our standard should continue to advocate for tail docking and dewclaw removal.  The proposed wording changes water down the requirements for docking and adds confusion to the interpretation of the standard.   By not stating that a tail should be docked or that dews should be removed, it leaves things open.

In particular I find the statement about dewclaws "if not removed, should be held tightly against the leg" totally absurd!   I've been in Vizslas since 1978.  In those 34 years, I've seen thousands of Vizslas throughout Canada and the US. Of those thousands of Vizslas, I may have seen 1 dog with dewclaws.  How on earth can a breeder breed for "tight dewclaws" when virtually all Vizslas have had them removed as puppies????  This proposed amendment is absolutely ridiculous!!

So let's imagine I don't remove the dewclaws of a litter of puppies but when they grow up to be six months of age, I want to show one or more of them.  And now I find the dewclaws don't like close to their legs.  If approved, the breed standard no longer says they are a fault but the standard says they should lie close to the leg but they don't.  Now I am confused!! They don't conform to the standard so should I have them removed? Well, surgery is now going to be a lot more expensive and harder on an older dog so I have to think carefully about whether I want to do this to the dog.  However, the dog is a nice specimen except for the dews.  Can you understand where I'm coming from?

I would prefer this wording:

TAILS:

A tail docked one-third is recommended to avoid injury.  When docked, the tip of the shortened tail should be level with the juncture of the upper and lower thigh.  Tails that are somewhat shorter or full-length should not be penalized. 

DEWCLAWS

The removal of dewclaws, if any, on front and rear feet, is strongly recommended in order to avoid injury when running in the field. (This is the wording of the AKC Vizsla Breed Standard.)

I agree with removing dewclaws as a fault in both instances.

If you are a CKC member, PLEASE OPPOSE the proposed amendments to our breed standard.  We need more time to develop better wording if we really need to change the standards.

Failure

Failure is an opportunity to be introspective and reflective and learn from one's errors, omissions or less than stellar performances.  After last night's agility trials, I sure need to do a whole lot of learning!  I had hoped  expected to come home with 4 Q's (qualifying scores) and two completed titles in CKC Intermediate Standard.  Instead, the count was 1 Q.  What went so wrong?

Well, I'm not sure because I don't have any video of my dogs' runs to review and that's a big omission.  I didn't even bring my camera and I don't know how well it would have worked with the lighting anyway.  Without videos, I am simply not going to know what I need to do to improve.

Agility is all about handling and timing.  Clearly I must have done things which resulted in their screwing up.

Here's how things went.

Earlier in the day . . .

• Miska got stung by an insect on her tail and it bothered her for a while.
• Diva had been diagnosed with a bladder infection and was on her second day of treatment. If you've had a bladder infection before, you know how painful they can be.
• During agility training in the morning, there was one tunnel that Miska kept entering but not exiting & Diva was reluctant to jump over some of the jumps set at 22". Nevertheless, I finally had success with both dogs before we left class.

At the trial . . .

• It was an evening, indoor trial and neither dog has trained or competed indoors. They had been to this venue before but at outdoor trials.  However, the rings were nicely matted and very clean.  My dogs have done obedience training indoors on mats and trained in agility on grass, artificial turf and fine gravel and done well with the transitions.
• The courses were easy!!  There were only 18 obstacles and  6 weaves in each trial. There was one call-off and a discrimination. They flowed nicely.  In fact, I actually thought they were too easy compared to most of the courses we've been running recently at Companion Dog Training.
• I didn't get lost on the courses!!! 
• I warmed up my dogs and we played tug before going into the ring.
• Miska was the first to run and her first run was PERFECT!  She had a clean run! I was pumped and figured we were on a roll.
• Diva ran and had 1 off-course.  She does this quite a lot and I KNOW I need to work on her attention to me. This resulted in an NQ.

From that point, it really went down hill.  In Trial 2, Miska chose the wrong tunnel entrance even though I (thought) I gestured it clearly to her.  She doesn't work well at too far a distance (results from obedience training & competition) so I stay close to her.  Why she chose the wrong entrance is beyond me.  And in the second tunnel, she failed to exit (just like the morning) and came back out the entrance (another refusal). Then she went past the weaves which is considered a refusal. She ended up with 3 refusals, 1 wrong course and a fault (she knocked the last bar down).  Plus she had time faults because of all the mistakes.  SIGH!

I thought Diva would be redeemed in her second trial but she also went off course (I can't recall what she did) plus she had a refusal somewhere (can't remember where) and together these resulted in time faults too.  Big fat NQ!  She just needed 1 Q for her title and I was certain she would get it.  WRONG!!!

So I was very disappointed and lay awake thinking about our runs well into the early hours of the morning.  I clearly need to ask someone to video my runs because without my ability to analyze my handling, my dogs' performance will not improve to where I want it and they (WE) will continue to waste MY money and time.

Body language

Playing or fighting? Or play fighting? There's quite a difference in body language in dogs that are actually fighting and those which are playing. Here younger half-sister Elsie is beating up on her older half-sis Diva. In this case, it's all playing or play fighting since the barred fangs and the "dueling jaws" never go past a certain boundary.  Four-year Diva is being particularly tolerant of her younger sister's (15 months) antics.

[No dogs were harmed in the taking of these photos.]