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
Tag: Irish Water Spaniel
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Journey’s never gotten a professional win photo with me. I vaguely remember reasons why; when she got her CD, I was quite ill with thyroid disease (heading into surgery). We pretty much finished the title and she returned to her breeder. Then she’s been bounced back and forth since then, although she’s now here to…
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The first obedience trial weekend of the year at the Puyallup Fairgrounds affirmed the mental and physical training I’ve been working on the past few months. Lanny Bassham, founder of the Mental Management program and an Olympic gold medalist, described the difference between accomplishment and attainment: “accomplishment” is the fulfilling of external goals. “Attainment” is…
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I’m feeling exhausted but happy from a demanding schedule of 3 trial weekends in the last 5 weeks, occurring at the end of a school year. Roz finished us up with a bang, by earning her second novice leg yesterday at the Puyallup shows and a 1st place! Her score was a very respectable 196. …
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Journey is 6 weeks pregnant with 8-9 puppies (!) and soon she’ll be heading over to Colleen’s to whelp her litter. But right now, she’s still eager to work despite the fact that she’s becoming quite rotund. I’m not sure if this picture really illustrates how full Journey’s belly is, but those 8 puppies are…
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As I mentioned in an earlier post, Journey the Irish Water Spaniel, is happily back with us for additional obedience training. I’m stunned to report that she has learned her scent discrimination articles in slightly over one month. Journey arrived here in early December; she’s now at the stage where she is selecting the article…
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The first week of a new school quarter really slowed my blogging down. I’m catching up with some photos of a wonderful Thursday during spring break spent visiting a local retriever trainer who is the choice of many Irish Water Spaniel folk: Andy Fontenot of Waterdog Kennels. He is respected for his patience and understanding of the…
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The more I’ve worked with different breeds, the easier it’s become to recognize some of the signs of a natural retriever. Unfortunately not all hunting breeds have retained this ability, like the show-bred English Springer Spaniel and many setters. In my recent introduction to the Irish Water Spaniel, I’ve found an intensity for retrieving in…
The Spaniel Annals 