The Spaniel Annals
working and living with performance spaniels
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about
I’m a retired English instructor, now devoted full-time to training, showing and enjoying my spaniels in many sports.
- agility
- Behavior
- competition
- conditioning
- dockdiving
- dual champion
- English Cocker
- English Springer Spaniel
- Fetch!
- field work
- Freestyle
- Gordon Setters
- heeling
- heeling journal
- Irish Water Spaniel
- match
- mental preparation
- new freestyle behaviors
- puppy training
- rally obedience
- retrieve
- scent work
- TEAM
- tracking
- training
- Uncategorized
- Utility obedience
Category: Uncategorized
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Best early Christmas present ever! 12-year-old Rozzie’s vet checkup went fine, and her labs came back looking great. She does have a wear a diaper at night now, but that is her only flaw. I’m hoping for a lot more time with this precious girl. We’re going to play more in barnhunt next year, and…
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It’s getting a bit late to post this, but I’ve tried to annually post fall photos of the dogs around the property with some pumpkins or other fall paraphernalia. So here they are, with the warty pumpkins I grew this year. Happy fall!
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Sometimes love wins. I know this; I see it in my home everyday. And so I don’t despair. But other times even the greatest love can’t heal the ills of this world. We both tried so hard, my good boy. “Reardon” Melchris Royal Bard, UD, TD, RN, FD (freestyle dog) October 5, 2007 –…
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Happy 9th birthday to Gael, my exuberant and beautiful Gordon Setter. I can’t believe she is 9, and she certainly doesn’t act like it. Gordons are known for aging well, and Gael exemplifies that youthfulness. With the recent changes I’ve made in her training, I do have hopes we can get her Open and…
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Journey retired at the end of 2018, still 27 points from her OTCH. While her heart was always there, her body just couldn’t jump or sit precisely any more. She ended with a wonderful 2 days of passing Utility at the Whidbey Island Kennel Club shows, earning her Obedience Master 2 and placing both days. …
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Since the writing of the previous post of Journey earning her UDX in February of 2018, I resolved that we only show in Utility, as Journey turned 11 in June. Utility is where many of the OTCH points are, and she only has to jump twice. But our showing went into a rapid decline in…
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Originally printed in the IWSCA newsletter in Spring 2018. What better way to update this blog than with Journey’s UDX earned back in February? Journey (Ch. Whistlestop Journey to Freedom [now] UDX, RN JH) began her quest for her UDX at the Collie Club’s all-breed obedience trial in Feb. 2017, and ended it at the…
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There’s always the first time of taking a dog into the “real” ring that all the matches can’t really imitate, where there’s a real judge, an audience (however small), and the requirement for all the aids to disappear, at least temporarily. I’ve learned to make these first times very targeted in my goals, and typically…
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I like to hold a photo shoot every year to commemorate my dog family. Sometimes I get this done professionally, but this year decided to try it in the garden on my own. I’m pretty happy with the result! First, the 2018 obedience team! Looking forward to lots of fun times with them next year:…
The Spaniel Annals 