Gr...r...r...

Grand Champion

 

August 25, 2013

 Markham Kennel Club
 Claremont, ON

Judge: Mr. Alan Ewles

Best of Breed 
 

with Judge: Mr. Alan Ewles and Jr Handler: Kelly Hatt

A great big thank you to Kelly for her beautiful handling skills, for having a great time with me in the ring and for being a part of this wonderful milestone.

My CKC name is now:

GCH Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban FDJ, RN, CGN

By some stroke of Vizsla magic, the photographer at the shows where I completed my CKC CH, my UKC CH and my CKC GCH was Garth Gourlay (a Vizsla breeder). Of all the shows in which I was entered, it appears that Garth was the photographer only at the shows in which I finished my Championships!

Wednesday's Work

 Bionic Bodi, the Self-Employed Vizsla, takes a trip to Sarnia

CKC Rally Novice title!

Napping with my new toy on Sunday afternoon
We were inadvertently given an Obedience rosette (wishful thinking).

A great big thank you to the most patient of judges:
Diana MacKenzie  and  Del Lunn

Kudos to the judges and all of the Sarnia KC members who worked so hard

in sweltering humidity to keep things moving along at a brisk pace.

 

GIGANTIC SPOILER ALERT !

If you believe me to be perfect and infallible, please do not proceed FORWARD.

HALT

SIT

DOWN

WALK AROUND

(do anything but read further)

270 Right
away from your screen

  if you choose to
360 Left
be prepared to

take

3 STEPS BACKWARD,

SPIRAL
out of control
and
toss your rose-coloured glasses!


Thursday Morning

In the 15 minutes I spent in the man-cave while Mom went to fill up
the vehicle and pick up bags of ice for the cooler this happened!!!

Once again, I was framed by the most evil of evil Bowser beds!!!
You see, I had to go-go and in the name of self-preservation, the evil Bowser bed decided to distract me by unzipping and spilling its contents everywhere!!!



Thursday Evening - Monday

On Friday morning, we needed to be in 3 rings at the same time so the decision was made to scratch my first Rally and Pre-Novice runs. Although they would have held up the Rally and Obedience rings and waited for us to return from the conformation ring, based on Thursday night's correction match, it did not seem fair to make the other people and dogs wait in sweltering 100% humidity for half an hour just to witness a Vizsla hell-bent and determined to perform the best imitation of a Bloodhound in recorded history. (A video clip of such has been submitted to the Academy of Canine Theatrical Arts for consideration in the category of Best Imitation of the Hallmark of Another Breed.)

Evil Bowser bed aside, filthy floors are my arch nemesis!!! My 125 million (or more) turbinates were like magnets to the mats (judging by my stellar imitation, I may actually possess closer to the 500 million turbinates of an actual Bloodhound). For some odd reason, many people suggested that my pair of you-know-whats was to blame - this I do not understand as they are nowhere near my nose (well, most of the time, anyway)!!

You know your run is not going well when you lift your nose off the floor and you hear applause! SIGH! Mea culpa, mea culpa but dang that floor was intoxicating!

On Saturday afternoon, the lightbulb finally turned on and we earned the first Rally leg with a score of 81. I will take credit for losing 9 points and only 9 points. The other 10-point loss sits squarely on the human's shoulders for becoming discombobulated with shock and disbelief when my nose came off the floor at station 5 and she led me off-course toward station 13 (good thing she immediately returned us to station 5 and got us back on course)!

I did it!  I did it!

Many thanks to Michelle Ross for helping to turn on the lightbulb by sneaking up on me and pinching my butt!!!

Perhaps if my one Pre-Novice attempt had been on Monday instead of Sunday I would have passed. As it was, my heeling pattern looked more like tracking but I performed the figure-8 reasonably well, held my sit for exam and passed the group sit (only once did I glance longingly at the floor but my nose did not fall below the level of my belly button). The recall (the only off-leash exercise of the weekend) started off with my signature full-throttle bionic leap in the air but ended up with my nose planted on the ground instead of my butt!!!

Although I know all the Rally exercises through Excellent, it was deemed unwise to move up to Advance for our 2 runs on Monday. It wasn't worth the risk of practicing more bad behaviour as the freedom of being leash-free would have provided the opportunity to explore all the nooks and crannies that were out of reach on a 6' (now 9') leash.

To be fair, on Monday, I was in the conformation ring (outdoors) within 10 minutes of finishing a Rally run ("indoors") and showed beautifully. For a young (male) dog, this, in and of itself, was a stellar accomplishment. My second Rally run of the day (and last of the weekend) was about 2 hours later and I would have had High in Class (with a 91) had I chosen not to sniff the floor during the Halt-Down-Walk Around with my elbows in the air!!!!!  
 
On Sunday and Monday, the lightbulb flickered a little (okay, maybe a lot) but at least I finished the weekend way, way, way better than I started it (and way, way, way better than anyone would have predicted on Thursday evening...Friday...Saturday morning).

Lesson Learned

To overthrow my arch nemesis, I must start training in a barn!!!!!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

I celebrated the occasion by earning 2 more Grand Champion points

at the Hamilton Kennel Club show on Saturday & Sunday.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun long weekend!

P.S.  We couldn't find the flag from Canada Day 2012 

Wednesday's Work

Random shots from Erie Shores

Checking out the bird activity

Littermate Elsie in the rain

Elsie and Sylvia ringside

Bodi and half-brother Quest

Taking a break while the girls were being judged

Uncle Vadasz

Miska-Mom

Boys going around the Specialty ring

(Quest is immediately behind me and Uncle Vadasz is the second last in line)

Wednesday's Work

June 6, 2013

Erie Shores Kennel Club

Best of Breed

Judge:  Mrs. G. Morison (S. Africa)

A lovely belated Birthday present and 4 more GCh points!

I also made the cut (Mr. D. Cline) in the Vizsla Society of Ontario Specialty on June 8th.

Once again, thanks to Edgar Rojas for a happy and successful ring experience.

Wednesday's Work

February 2nd

Wildwood Kennel Club Show
Woodstock, ON
 Judge Lynn Storeshaw (Alberta)
Expertly Handled by Edgar Rojas
  
Group 3rd

Driving in Ontario in February can be challenging! We spent about 18 hours in the car over 4 days. Since the temperatures and windchills were COLD, it was nice to have something fun and exciting to do indoors. Being awarded a Group 3rd for 43 Top Dog points on Saturday was very very exciting! A few candid shots from the ring:

Since we were finished by noon on Sunday, I got to enjoy a country romp in the snow (icing sugar compared to the amount of snow on the ground in Woodstock).

I don't think we were on Abbey Road!

Happy New Year!

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful 2013!

May 2013 be filled with events worthy of handstands!

 
 

The inspirations for the above handstands:

1)  SNOW

2)  Winning BEST OF BREED two days in a row over a

      dog currently ranked in the Top 10 (Canuck Dogs

      CKC rankings)!  Thank you to both judges for 

      recognizing and rewarding a beautiful working Vizsla!

      Mr. F. Cresci (Mexico) on December 28th; and

      Mr. F. Rodrigues (Portugal) on December 29th
      at the Elora Gorge Kennel Club show in K-W, ON

      Great big thank yous to Edgar Rojas (Dec 28th)

      and to Thomas Curly (Dec 29th) for bringing out 

      the best in me and for keeping my ring experience

      positive, fun and successful!

What an awesome way to finish

an awesome year!

2012 = 12 Months = 12 Titles

                       CKC:           CH, FDJ, CGN

                       UKC:           BIS, CH, URO1

                       AKC:            JH

                       NAVHDA:     NA Pz I

                       Trick Dog:    NTD, ITD, ATD, ETD

 

  A Dog with a Job is a Happy Dog!

What a Weekend!

August 10th and 11th
Stormy weather at Kilbride CKC show in Milton

One of the perks of waiting to go in the ring

Becoming a Conformation Champion was
very exciting and we went to Paris to celebrate.

WOW!
That was the most exciting fun ever
 AND
I earned my first Lure Coursing Q!!

August 12th in Paris, United Greyhound Club, United Kennel Club
Judge: Lee Warden

Thinking of my wonderful long weekend ...

... makes me want to break dance ...

Cha...Cha...Cha...

CHAMPION

August 10th
Kilbride and District Kennel Club
Milton, ON

Judge: Ms. Cecilia Martinez (Puerto Rico) 

 Best of Breed

Judge:  Ms. C. Martinez and Handler/Breeder/co-owner Sylvia Dorosh

My CKC registered name is now:

CH Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban FDJ, CGN




August 11th
Ontario All Pointing Breed Field Dog Club
Multi-Breed Specialty Show
Milton, ON
Judge:  Mr. Juan Carlos Vasconcellos (Paraguay)

 Winners Dog

Field Dog Junior

May 19th

German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Canada

CKC Field Test

Earned the third leg to complete my FDJ today! It was a scorching 27c so it was nice to be able to go for a brief swim in the middle of my test.

Here are the 8 categories of the CKC FDJ test: 

Desire to Hunt:     keen desire to hunt without constant encouragement

Style of Running:  distinctive of breed

Pace:                  consistent pace matched to terrain & weather conditions

Range:                hunts at a range suitable for a handler on foot; adjusts

                         range based on terrain to search quickly & thoroughly

Pattern:              searches forward; intelligent use of wind & terrain

Control:              responds to commands & movements of handler without

                         excessive/repetitive commands

Pointing:             locates game & establishes point long enough to 

                         demonstrate its natural ability

Reaction to Shot: dog exhibits alertness & eagerness at the sound of gunfire

                         (once a point is established and the bird is flushed (flies

                         off), the handler fires a blank starter's pistol into the air)

The dog must receive a minimum of 50% in each category with an overall score of 75/100. 3 Legs are required under 2 different judges. Dogs are run individually and have a minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of 30 minutes to complete the test. [In AKC, the comparable title is Junior Hunter (JH) and the tests are called Hunt Tests (as opposed to Field Trials which are competitive events) - there are other differences in how the tests are structured as well.]

 

Thanks again to Mike Wilshire!

And thanks to all the judges and volunteers who make these tests possible.

VSO Field Tests

After two successful days in the conformation ring, we drove somewhere completely new and I earned my first 2 legs toward the title of Field Dog Junior at the Vizsla Society of Ontario CKC Field Tests. The field tests were lots and lots of fun because I got to find birds and I got to get all muddy (can't do that on a "show" day).

May 13th
VSO CKC Field Test Highlights

All ready to go, Mike!  Is it our turn yet?

Wheeeee!

Bird!

Why are you flying away?

 Handler: Mike Wilshire     Judge: Mike Nelson 
Second Leg - Score: 97/100

Great big thanks to Mike Wilshire for his expert training and handling.

Many thanks to Elaine Hopkins for organizing the event and
keeping everything running smoothly and in an incredibly timely fashion,
to Liz Outram for hosting the event in such a lovely setting and 
to all the judges and volunteers who make these tests possible.