I am admittedly new to field trials. It's something I have wanted to do for a long time but I severely injured my back 3 1/2 years ago so Izzy never saw much field work and then she took off in the show ring... Oliver I never meant to field trial but he has seen plenty of field work. I had him evaluated the other week and it is now my intention to finish the breaking process and run him this coming fall. He is just a joy to work with and train. Even if he never places, I will learn a lot by running an adult dog. A little over a year ago Isabella was bred to Victor, and I knew the puppy I kept I would be here trying my best at trials. Little did I know I'd have two.
Because it can be expensive and I'm looking at added expense raising my upcoming litter of puppies, I have entered Merlin both days of the trials and Tristian just one day. In fact I almost didn't enter Tristian in this trial at all. I've grown him up intentionally but he is available to the right home, that won't waste his potential. Those homes are exceptionally hard to find however, and mix in my own requirements for a loving caring HOME first and foremost. SNEBC a few weeks ago didn't go as planned. I honestly was not healthy enough to be there but I am the stubborn type. Trist ran okay and Merlin was passed off to his grammy and did not. It was a learning experience.
CNEBC was also a learning experience. Merlin ran better for sure but he also was harassed on Saturday for a good 5 minutes starting off by the other puppy. He spent a lot of energy trying to get away and then did not work the woods like he normally does at home. That was where I was disappointed, normally he never fails at that. Sunday he ran far better, worked the woods but petered out getting towards the end. I couldn't make him drink the water, not that I blame him it had a bit of a sheen from gas on it. But he caught scent with just a few minutes left, ended up popping the bird and boy did he come to life! He worked those edges and wanted to find another bird! What an improvement! He'll get better the more he gets out. And I do need to work on his stamina.
Tristian was the last brace of the day, I said to his "grampy" Ed he's my rocket but he hasn't had near the amount of birdwork his brother has. His breakaway was very similar to Merlin's the day before, with one exception, the judges were having none of it. So the other dog was told to lay off and we let them advance pretty far up before we let Trist go again (we couldn't catch the other dog.) Trist still ended up in front, any time we saw him it was coming out of the woods or in it hunting. He set a pretty fast pace so we had time to spare when we finally reached the field, and he listened to my whistle and then my command to hit the treeline. Then he hit scent big time and..... yeah. Time was called and Trist was NOT DONE! Kind of embarrassing for me, he was not coming in when called but he did come around (at least so I spotted him look at me than take off around a upper field again.) It took a bit to get him in, he wanted to keep going. Ed had walked the brace and told me on our way back he thought he'd have a piece of the pie. It was a 8 dog stake so a pretty large entry for puppies. Trist had only ever run once before and I was quite ill at the time.
Listening to placements being announced was a bit nerve-wracking. Knowing what Ed said to me and hearing 4th-2nd called and none were my dogs... what can I say about how I felt when I heard Tristian's name and a blue ribbon was handed to me. Pride, joy, and a million other feelings swept through me. My first field trial ribbon and it was the blue. 8 puppies were entered so it was good for 2 Amateur Puppy points, he'll never need to run another Amateur Puppy stake again. When we had been driving to the trial Sunday morning I had turned and said to the boys, I'd like a ribbon, don't care what color but to keep in mind my favorite color is blue. Thank you Tristian for listening to your momma! This is just the beginning... and I can see all my plans and hopes and dreams in technicolor now not just a far off hazy vision. Out of that litter most are in active hunting homes and doing very well. Five had successful hunting seasons at just 6 months of age, and my two were not hunted. What an amazing breeding this is turning out to be, and I couldn't be prouder, not just of my blue ribbon boy, but all of them.
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