Trax Weimaraners - In The Spotlight

Back	Home	In The Spotlight

FEBRUARY 2012


JANUARY 2012

Lifesavers We launch the New Year by paying tribute to those TRAX dogs that earn their keep in whole or in part by doing Search and Rescue work. On the left, Eva, a 12 month old puppy is in training for tracking as well as off leash wilderness search work under the guidance of her trainer, Neda. Eva has a long tail and that is because she is from full German breeding with ancestors certified on following 36 hour old trails. On the right, Stuka, is well advanced in his training for SAR tracking specialist work under the tutelage of his trainer, Joan, who also has a nationally certified cadaver search specialist Weimaraner at home. In the center, Calvin, attended a SAR natural ability proving camp as 6 month old puppy and passed with flying colors and the summary "Works like a yearling dog that has had regular SAR training".
DECEMBER 2011


National Caliber Several youngsters took a road trip to the WCA National Field trial and with a combination of talent, training and luck came away with a number of placements. From the bottom left clockwise, Petra, Dixon and Annie placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the National Field Futurity stake. Petra, only just one month over 2 years of age also placed 3rd in the National Amateur Championship stake. Feist, pictured on the bottom right, at just 8 months of age took a 4th place in the National Derby stake. Appears to be a very bright future ahead for this gang. Special thanks to professional trainers Greg Dixon, Steve Reynolds, Josh McPherson and Diane Vater for help with preparation and handling of various of the crew.
NOVEMBER 2011
	Ms. November is Annie, an energetic yearling who made short work of the competition at the WCA Mid-America Classic Field trial to handily win both stakes she entered, the Field Futurity and the Derby Classic. Annie displayed her usual wide range and exeptional groundspeed to the task and she was trained by her owners Frank Sommer and Cydney Hansen and professional trainer Diane Vater and was expertly piloted around the course by Diane. Way to go girl!
OCTOBER 2011
	Sister Act A pair of carpetbagger sisters went south from their homes in Canada to spend a weekend at the same field trial in Oregon and came home positively laden with hardware and satin. Petra, pictured on the left, won the Weimaraner Club of America Western Futurity and an Amateur Gun Dog stake with her trademark ambitious race and impeccable birdwork. Chili, pictured on the right, entered four Derby stakes over the weekend and won every single one of them displaying her usual stamina, groundspeed and animation along the way, for which around these parts she's known proudly and affectionately as "the hardest working dog in the business". Meanwhile, yet another of their sisters, Navi, pictured on the bottom, has been busy elsewhere earning AKC Derby points with back to back all-breed Open Derby stake wins. Cheers to the Sisterhood!


SEPTEMBER 2011


Show Time PIctured from left to right in the top row Chili and Dixon and left to right in the bottom row Torey and Who Dat, all of these Trax younsters finished their CKC Show Championships - on the same weekend! In addition to strutting their stuff to titles in the show ring Dixon also earned his Companion Dog Obedience title at the show and Torey earned her Rally Novice and Rally Advanced titles. Nice work kids!
AUGUST 2011
	Different Fields, Same Story Both Betty, pictured on the left, and Petra, pictured on the right, competed in AKC Field Trials and NAVHDA tests this month and both showed that no matter what field they were in, they were in the top of the field. Betty won a pair of AKC Puppy stakes to earn her Puppy points and then followed up with a perfect score on her NAVHDA Natural Ability test. Petra earned her AKC Derby points by cruising to an Amateur Walking Derby Field Trial stake win and then, despite being still just a yearling, a few weeks later passed the very challenging NAVHDA Utility Test with a Prize 2 award. Huge congratulations go out to all involved in the success of these hand working and talented pups!

JULY 2011

Hotter than July Chili and her boss Cindy attended a CKC show in July and this team simply couldn't lose for winning as she took Best of Winners in the conformation ring twice for a pair of 3 point majors and then earned the first leg toward her Companion Dog obedience title on her first attempt with an all-breed High in Trial from the Novice B class with a stunning performance and a score of 197.5. Hearty congratulations go out to this terrific team.
JUNE 2011

These Girls Really Rock Over the past month the girls really showed the boys how it's done as all three puppies won all-breed Field Trial stakes. In the center is CJ who though still a puppy won an all breed Open Derby stake, on the left Lulu who won an all-breed Amateur Walking Puppy stake and on the right, Annie, who won an all-breed Open Puppy stake.
MAY 2011
Dixon launched his obedience career with a bang, earning the first two legs towards his Canadian Kennel Club Companion Dog title with a top score of 197 and a pair of High in Class awards. But....... there's a whole lot more to this story than a promising yearling doing a great job in his obedience debut. From the 'Sometimes it Takes a Village' file, the village responsible in this case are the following folks: breeders Charline and Courtenay Van Veenhuyzen who had a really nice female to breed and selected Lance Fargo's excellent dog Blitz as a mate, Virginia Alexander who tested the litter at 8 weeks and chose Dixon as the stud fee puppy, Shirley Nilsson who purchased Dixon from Lance and raised him for a few months and put a solid obedience foundation on him, then Anna Bartlett who took him over and has done a great job carrying on with his obedience training under the tutelage of Cindy Cerne and Shirley. A cast of local obedience characters assisted with trial preparation including Carrie, Shelley, and Jodi. And finally, when on the day of the trial a child-minding crisis prevented Anna from attending, Jodi Dedels pinch hit as Dixon's handler. Its a testament to Dixon's temperament and development that he would work so well for a new handler.
APRIL 2011

It's all about the field this month. On the left Finley, in a terrific instance of beginner's luck won the blue ribbon to earn his Puppy points in his very first competition ever. He is pictured at the breakaway and by all accounts it was nothing but tail lights as he simply torched the course. In the center Stuka earned his CKC Field Dog title in one weekend with a run of near flawless performances and a top score of 98/100 along the way collecting a pair of High in Test awards. On the right Annie, had a simply grand time at the Eastern Classic Field trial winning both the Open Puppy and Open Derby stakes and placing second in the Field Futurity and she continued her winning ways with an all-breed Open Derby win later in the same month. Congrats to all these hardworking and talented young dogs and of course to all of the people who helped to get them there.
MARCH 2011
	Dual Power Puppies Took these two puppies on a road trip to their first AKC events, a conformation show one weekend and a field trial the next with both showing dual power. In addition to having a whole lot of fun on the trip, Melvin, pictured on the left, won Winners Dog twice at the show and placed 3rd in the Field Trial puppy stake and Quinn, pictured on the right, won Winners Dog and Best of Opposite at the show and placed 2nd in the Field Trial puppy stake.
FEBRUARY 2011
	Ms. February is Holly for earning, under the tutelage and guidance of her boss Judy, both CKC and AKC Utility Dog obedience titles in short order and at the same time setting a new obedience trial personal best huge score of 198.5 from the Open B class. Way to go gals!
JANUARY 2011
	In the spotlight this month we salute all the TRAX dogs who earn their keep as real life hunting dogs. Pictured are two of them, Lenny and Calais both of whom in their first hunting season showed themselves to be outstanding hunting partners despite no formal field training - well there really can be no finer accolade for a TRAX dog than just that.
DECEMBER 2010
	The 2010 field trials have wrapped up and this month's spotlight is shining brightly on these TRAX dogs who proved themselves to be exceptional field trial competitors by wnning AKC or CKC all-breed field trial stakes in 2010. Above left, Petra, won a 16 dog all-breed Open Derby stake at just 11 months of age, with several broke finds and a hard driving run. Below left, Stuka,and above right, Dixon, each won Open Puppy stakes going away and below right, Torey handily won an Open Derby stake. All of these very promising youngsters were amateur trained and handled to their wins. Kudos to all involved in their development for a job very well done!

NOVEMBER 2010
	Petra went on the road to Bismarck, ND to take a NAVHDA Natural Ability test under the guidance of her traner and handler Paul and the judges there liked her so much they awarded her a perfect score (112 points) Prize 1 for her performance. Well, of course the only thing better than a perfect test score is having a terrific story to go along with it...see below for the skinny...
In training Petra for her NAVHDA Natural Ability test there was barely a day she didn't run great distances under my watchful eye...she is a big running dog with HUGE amounts of drive and confidence and we had a great summer together. She became a fanatical water dog and retriever and had done a lot of tracking with human/pigeon/pheasant drags and live flightless pheasants...getting ready for our NAVHDA test we spent the last 3 days familiarizing Petra with chukars and pheasants so, barring unforeseen circumstances on the day... 5am. Woken by the alarm in Top's Motel in the sleepy hamlet of Sterling ND early because I've gotta run Petra to get some of the steam out of her engine before she hits that bird field... it's still dark but with the help of a mini-flashlight that I turn on occasionally as she skeddadles around the hay field...all well and good and we are on the truckward leg when suddenly Petra slams on the brakes into a million dollar point...I am puzzled, no bird should be out this early...I strain into the gloom but can't see anything so I release her to sprint forward and charge headlong into - a SKUNK! - followed by a bunch of Lord of the Rings type snarling, then me running towards the melee and wondering 'Why Me? Why Now? and Can a skunked dog even smell a bird?' Off to the more usual type of gas station for much needed coffee then a scramble to de-odorize my charge as best I could. Stress. Tension. Despair. Our turn. I release Petra for the field search component of the test...she immediately takes a long line across the breeze to my right and I think 'That's my girl'...she cuts back in front of us and ignores the shots fired to establish she isn't gunshy, she's working off the group at distances of up to 200+ yards. I know she's the biggest running dog of the day and I feel the judges liking that...I leave her be to work the field which she does like a much older dog...finally she wild flushes a chukar and stops while it flies off - no chase...I say nothing - she spins around and keeps working hard out there...but for a long time with no other birds...'Is it because of the skunk?. The judge asks me to call her and my double-whistle and hand signal bring her instantly back...power steering, I can tell they like that...finally I breathe a sigh of relief as she slams a million dollar point that isn't on a skunk...she's rock steady til I flush and soon afterward time is called. Next up, the pheasant track where the judges explain to me that the bird took 2 jumps before vanishing...I hold Petra by the collar and have to straddle her to stop being pulled off my feet as she takes the scent at the feather pile indicating the start of the track...'Fetch!' - she bursts forward all business on the track but within a few strides has locked up on point and will not budge. I sense the judges' puzzlement but what a show it turns out to be as the pheasant had dug itself in right there...'Good Girl!'. Due to the shortness of the track a do-over was required and on that track Petra resembled a cross between a Bloodhound and a vacuum cleaner as she methodically and accurately pursued the run-off pheasant. The last part was the swimming test and examination of the dog by the judges for teeth, coat and temperament. My over-eager charge had spent the last 30 minutes whining in jealousy of the dogs going before her and on her turn leapt several feet over the water, making the entry with a big splash and retrieving to hand the dummy I threw for her...she repeats and would've done it another thousand times...they check her over and all was good... Two pups took home perfect scores that day and Petra was one...she stepped up to the plate and hit a home run for me...I was giddy with pride and joy...the local crowd all complemented me on her performance - I think we won a few Weimarner converts that day. Yours in the love of a great bird dog, Paul James
OCTOBER 2010
	Stuka is Mr. October by virtue of earning his NAVHDA Utility title at just 16 months of age - a remarkable achievement for such a young dog - the passing rate for the UT test is low and usually dogs that pass are 4 years or more in age. He capped the NAVHDA success off with an AKC Derby stake win a week later. Stuka is trained and handled by his boss Rick who is an avid long time hunter but new to field competition. While Stuka has tremendous natual talent and biddability, practically breaking himself to wing and shot, Rick has spent the time and effort needed to bring out the best in Stuka, teaching him all the advanced water search drills, retrieving steadiness and tracking work and developing their teamwork. To give you an example of just how type A, intrepid, dauntless, tenacious, hardworking, and committed Rick is in the pursuit of his goals with Stuka, he took Stuka to Montana for a week's hunting prior to the NAVHDA UT test and on that trip alone had minor skirmishes with porcupines, a major skirmish with a badger, had to negotiate very carefully a field infested with giant rattlesnakes in weather rocketing from frostbite to sunstroke temps, then, at a warmup NAVHDA UPT test, which Stuka also passed, Rick's camper was struck by lightening while he was in it, throwing him to the ground - all in a day's work for this dynamic duo who are really destined to go places together.
SEPTEMBER 2010
	Overachiever's Anonymous Gets a New Member This month we had to take out a membership for Holly in the Overachiever's Anonymous club for the crime of being an obedience and aglity prize pig. Holly, in a single weekend was piloted by her trainer and handler, Judy, to the following AKC titles: Companion Dog Excellent, Rally Excellent, Novice Agility, Versatile Companion Dog 1 and Canine Good Citizen titles, mostly with first places in her classes. Ugh, some people's kids.
AUGUST 2010
	Mr. August is Dixon who couldn't lose for winning at an AKC field trial this month. Entered in the Open Puppy, Amateur Walking Puppy and Amateur Walking Derby stakes he won them all going away, boy, does this fella ever have a bright future in the field trial game. Never been to a field trial? Check out the report below from a typical field trial road trip - you too will want to get in on the non-stop fun and adventure to be had at field trials.
The Travelin' Circus, Blessings and Curses Took the circus on the road to Madras in central Oregon with Wendy as co-pilot, thank God she agreed to come before she heard about what happened on the last trip, lol. Eight dogs, 2 gals and Shorty the horse along with the usual minor hitches and glitches attendant such enterprises. Wendy and I drove separately half of the way thru a region with the remarkably magnificent scenery typical of the West as I mused about the fantastic wide open spaces we have in this part of the world and how often it is that a blessing is also a curse when you have to drive for 10 hours across those self-same wide open spaces just to get to a dang field trial. On the way I also determined once and for all that there definitely is a God, based on the simple fact that in those long spaces between Western towns, when you haven't even been able to get a Mexican radio station in fuzzy for over 40 miles, you can still have your pick of three religious stations coming in clear as a bell, gospel talk and Christian rock. Meeting up with Wendy in eastern WA I teased her mercilessly for wearing this thick pink scarf as it was 80 degrees and sunny but, in the vengeful way of these things, twas only a few scant hours later that Wendy looked the wiseacre as, temperatures plummeting and a monster storm underway, we hummed the theme to Gilligan's Island and admired our waterfront property by lightning flash, such are the vagaries of field trials. At the trial itself we were short on sleep but long on fun. It was only Shorty's second field trial and though suffering a minor ruckus due to all the flashlights swinging around when we arrived, he did a great job taking on the horse jobs of birdplanting and roading dogs. Eve clocked the best run of her life and only got taken out late by a misdemeanor on a divided find. Uma in her broke debut, showed tremendous groundspeed and good range and application but was out on a felony on her first bird aided and abetted by her bracemate in some fashion all details concealed by the sagebrush shrubbery, thankfully no birds were seriously chased or caught in this evil caper. The judges made very favorable comments on these two and I had a real blast running them. Meanwhile, back at camp, one of the pups had squirmed off her stakeout and a giant snake was cruising within inches of the crate of one of our pups. Aaagh. Never a dull moment in this game. In the puppy report Chili improves each time she gets turned loose and by Sunday she was handed a blue ribbon in the Amateur Walking Puppy stake for her efforts. The teenager, Dixon, was off his game due to camping next door to a very in-season Petra, especially by Sunday when there wasn't much left upstairs, but nevertheless managed to win the Amateur Walking Derby on Saturday when he still had partial faculties. Most people get their young dogs ready for trials by giving them some exercise, maybe putting them on some birds, getting them used to blank shots and horses and I suppose Wendy did this with her dog too, but, perhaps to see what Navi was made of, or maybe working some odd kind of handicapping system also had her pup run across a bunch of broken glass a few days before the trial leading to a mess of stitches in her paw. While limpy on the stakeout, Navi, never the weak pointer sister, slowed some afield but didn't quit and along with a broke find on a pair of chukar that was good enough for a pair of red ribbons. The MVP this weekend was Petra, who in her first trial and also in her first season went from wet behind the ears to all systems go. On Saturday, I cast her off on foot and leading the horse as she wasn't used to horseback handling. A haphazard start, checking in a lot, she found a chukar leg and ran around with that in her mouth for a while, but soon she scented some hot spots and woke up and smelled the field trial coffee. She got rolling, I mounted up and we were off to the races with a broke find towards the end on a pair of chukar up on a ridgeline. Sunday, picking right up where she left off, Petra's first cast was 400 yards with awesome groundspeed and independence, and followed up with a series of great moves. Despite no previous formal training Petra was broke on her first find and toward the end the judge and I crested a rise to see her standing looking like a million bucks, I flushed the bird which flew over her head and shot, she didn't move a paw, just turned her head to mark the flush. What do you say to a dog like that? Well, I said "Good girl" and on that cue she took off like a rocket hurtling in a new direction and running strong to the end. A spectacular performance by a 10 month old Weimaraner pup and with a new handler to boot. It was a 22 dog stake and Petra placed third. Over the past many months Petra's owner has been randomly calling me to report in wonder and amazement over the natural talent in this dog and no doubt now I'll be doing that too, this creature has simply phenomenal natural ability. Yours in the old field trial adage, "Win Some, Lose a Lot", Shirley Nilsson
JULY 2010
If you have a Trax dog, there's a very good chance that the dog you're scratching behind the ear right now was brought into the world and reared by our human den mother, Cindy. This month yet another new generation of Trax puppies are heading out to make their way in the world, the second of three litters that Cindy will raise for us this year. Puppies require endless day to day chores - feeding, cleaning, weighing, worming, toenail trimming, making observations and notes, exposing the pups to a variety of environments, car rides, sights and sounds, swimming, bird wings and socializing pups to new people, kids and other dogs and pets; Cindy does all of this and then teaches her little charges to recall to a whistle and gets them started on housebreaking and crate training. In addition, she is a top notch photographer, cook, gardener, and world-class quilter. For getting our puppies off to a such great start - thanks a million, Cindy!

JUNE 2010
	In the spotlight this month is Torey, who was handled by her boss Jodi to a CKC Field Dog Junior title in a single weekend with two High Scoring Dog in test awards and a top score of 95/100. In addition to the many chukar she pointed during the tests, Torey provided a light moment during one of her runs by locking up and pointing a duck decoy that she happened to spy lying in the field - despite lots of encouragement she could hardly be made to budge.
MAY 2010
	Ms. May is Lyza in honor of earning her AKC Companion Dog obedience title in two consecutive weekends under the direction of Shirley with an all-breed High in Trial award for each leg of that title and a top score of 198 out of 200.
www.traxweimaraners.com

Back

FEBRUARY 2012

JANUARY 2012

Lifesavers

We launch the New Year by paying tribute to those TRAX dogs that earn their keep in whole or in part by doing Search and Rescue work.

On the left, Eva, a 12 month old puppy is in training for tracking as well as off leash wilderness search work under the guidance of her trainer, Neda. Eva has a long tail and that is because she is from full German breeding with ancestors certified on following 36 hour old trails.

On the right, Stuka, is well advanced in his training for SAR tracking specialist work under the tutelage of his trainer, Joan, who also has a nationally certified cadaver search specialist Weimaraner at home.

In the center, Calvin, attended a SAR natural ability proving camp as 6 month old puppy and passed with flying colors and the summary "Works like a yearling dog that has had regular SAR training".

DECEMBER 2011

National Caliber

NOVEMBER 2011

Ms. November is Annie, an energetic yearling who made short work of the competition at the WCA Mid-America Classic Field trial to handily win both stakes she entered, the Field Futurity and the Derby Classic.

Annie displayed her usual wide range and exeptional groundspeed to the task and she was trained by her owners Frank Sommer and Cydney Hansen and professional trainer Diane Vater and was expertly piloted around the course by Diane.

Way to go girl!

OCTOBER 2011

Sister Act

A pair of carpetbagger sisters went south from their homes in Canada to spend a weekend at the same field trial in Oregon and came home positively laden with hardware and satin.

Petra, pictured on the left, won the Weimaraner Club of America Western Futurity and an Amateur Gun Dog stake with her trademark ambitious race and impeccable birdwork.

Chili, pictured on the right, entered four Derby stakes over the weekend and won every single one of them displaying her usual stamina, groundspeed and animation along the way, for which around these parts she's known proudly and affectionately as "the hardest working dog in the business".

Meanwhile, yet another of their sisters, Navi, pictured on the bottom, has been busy elsewhere earning AKC Derby points with back to back all-breed Open Derby stake wins.

Cheers to the Sisterhood!

SEPTEMBER 2011

Show Time

AUGUST 2011

Different Fields, Same Story

Both Betty, pictured on the left, and Petra, pictured on the right, competed in AKC Field Trials and NAVHDA tests this month and both showed that no matter what field they were in, they were in the top of the field.

Betty won a pair of AKC Puppy stakes to earn her Puppy points and then followed up with a perfect score on her NAVHDA Natural Ability test.

Petra earned her AKC Derby points by cruising to an Amateur Walking Derby Field Trial stake win and then, despite being still just a yearling, a few weeks later passed the very challenging NAVHDA Utility Test with a Prize 2 award.

Huge congratulations go out to all involved in the success of these hand working and talented pups!

JULY 2011

Hotter than July

JUNE 2011

These Girls Really Rock

MAY 2011

And finally, when on the day of the trial a child-minding crisis prevented Anna from attending, Jodi Dedels pinch hit as Dixon's handler. Its a testament to Dixon's temperament and development that he would work so well for a new handler.

APRIL 2011

Congrats to all these hardworking and talented young dogs and of course to all of the people who helped to get them there.

MARCH 2011

Dual Power Puppies

Took these two puppies on a road trip to their first AKC events, a conformation show one weekend and a field trial the next with both showing dual power.

In addition to having a whole lot of fun on the trip, Melvin, pictured on the left, won Winners Dog twice at the show and placed 3rd in the Field Trial puppy stake and Quinn, pictured on the right, won Winners Dog and Best of Opposite at the show and placed 2nd in the Field Trial puppy stake.

FEBRUARY 2011

Ms. February is Holly for earning, under the tutelage and guidance of her boss Judy, both CKC and AKC Utility Dog obedience titles in short order and at the same time setting a new obedience trial personal best huge score of 198.5 from the Open B class.

Way to go gals!

JANUARY 2011

In the spotlight this month we salute all the TRAX dogs who earn their keep as real life hunting dogs.

Pictured are two of them, Lenny and Calais both of whom in their first hunting season showed themselves to be outstanding hunting partners despite no formal field training - well there really can be no finer accolade for a TRAX dog than just that.

DECEMBER 2010

The 2010 field trials have wrapped up and this month's spotlight is shining brightly on these TRAX dogs who proved themselves to be exceptional field trial competitors by wnning AKC or CKC all-breed field trial stakes in 2010.

Above left, Petra, won a 16 dog all-breed Open Derby stake at just 11 months of age, with several broke finds and a hard driving run.

Below left, Stuka,and above right, Dixon, each won Open Puppy stakes going away and below right, Torey handily won an Open Derby stake.

All of these very promising youngsters were amateur trained and handled to their wins. Kudos to all involved in their development for a job very well done!

NOVEMBER 2010

Petra went on the road to Bismarck, ND to take a NAVHDA Natural Ability test under the guidance of her traner and handler Paul and the judges there liked her so much they awarded her a perfect score (112 points) Prize 1 for her performance.

Well, of course the only thing better than a perfect test score is having a terrific story to go along with it...see below for the skinny...

Yours in the love of a great bird dog,

Paul James

OCTOBER 2010

SEPTEMBER 2010

Overachiever's Anonymous Gets a New Member

This month we had to take out a membership for Holly in the Overachiever's Anonymous club for the crime of being an obedience and aglity prize pig.

Holly, in a single weekend was piloted by her trainer and handler, Judy, to the following AKC titles: Companion Dog Excellent, Rally Excellent, Novice Agility, Versatile Companion Dog 1 and Canine Good Citizen titles, mostly with first places in her classes.

Ugh, some people's kids.

AUGUST 2010

Mr. August is Dixon who couldn't lose for winning at an AKC field trial this month. Entered in the Open Puppy, Amateur Walking Puppy and Amateur Walking Derby stakes he won them all going away, boy, does this fella ever have a bright future in the field trial game.

Never been to a field trial? Check out the report below from a typical field trial road trip - you too will want to get in on the non-stop fun and adventure to be had at field trials.

The Travelin' Circus, Blessings and Curses

Took the circus on the road to Madras in central Oregon with Wendy as co-pilot, thank God she agreed to come before she heard about what happened on the last trip, lol. Eight dogs, 2 gals and Shorty the horse along with the usual minor hitches and glitches attendant such enterprises.