Awkard Snapshots Part 1

Anyone who runs their dog in a hunt test like those offered by NAVHDA or the VHDF realizes that what the judges see is just a snapshot of the dog on the day of the test. The dog may be good or bad or somewhere in between, but how it performs on test day is what is recorded on paper.

One of my dogs ran his NAVHDA UT this weekend, and the snapshot that developed could be in the hall of fame on one of the best sites on the net: Awkward Family Photos.

The site features a collection of the kinds of family photos we all have. You know, the ones of special occasions when everyone puts on their best photo face and favorite outfit...but when we look at the image now we can’t help but cringe?

But it is not really a sense of horror or shame that makes us cringe. I think it is more of a tender sympathy for the awkwardness of the photo and knowing that we have ALL been there. We all have awkward family photos tucked away somewhere in our photo albums. And now I have a new awkward snapshot of my own to file away. It is a big, glossy snapshot of Henri, my 2 year old Weim, without a doubt the most gifted, athletic dog I have ever owned.

Here's how the image was made:

Over the course of last year's hunting season I saw so much potential in Henri, I thought he would be ready for UT level training this year. But since I am, at best, a mediocre trainer and I really needed more time to finish off my book project, I decided to send him to one of the most well respected pro trainers out there, Al Burhart. Al agreed to train him and then run him in the UT.

For the most part, the training went very well, Al really liked Henri and Henri settled in to kennel life easily. But I think I may have miscalculated, I probably sent him a year too soon.

In retrospect, I can now see that over the summer, Henri turned into a typical teen. If he were human he would probably have a mohawk hairdo and be yearning to get a dozen tattoos. But he was sneaky about it, he actually waited until test day to reveal his "new look" to Al and the judges. So the snapshot that we got was the equivalent of the captain of the high school wrestling team showing up for class pictures in a t-shirt that says F##$% You and then choking the photographer out with an arm-triangle.

You see, Henri is the kind of dog that lives to gobble up a field at 100 miles an hour and churn up the marsh searching for a duck. His test scores perfectly reflect that. In every category that evaluates natural ability and drive …stamina, field search, duck search, pointing, desire… he earned the highest scores, all 4’s. But when it came to steadiness, the snapshot clearly caught that F##$% You t-shirt he was wearing. In fact, on the Saturday, Henri did not even prize due to a low steadiness score. Al ran him again on the Sunday and managed to steer him to a prize 2.

I visited Al the next day to collect Henri and he ran him through his paces. The snapshot on that day was pretty. I saw a hard hunting, happy dog with good manners. Henri still had all the "go" and style I could ask for and handled well, was steady to wing, shot and fall and was exactly where I want him to be for the upcoming hunting season.

But as he ran, I could see a sort of teenage edge about him. He was in control, but only just. I could see he is in his “terrible-two’s” right now and Al agrees. He knows Henri has what it takes to earn a prize one and more. And like the true pro he is, Al took the awkward snapshot of the weekend in stride. He said "Years ago, I would have been looking for hole to crawl into when he came unglued. But now, I know that it's just one day, one snapshot of the dog. Henri is a nice dog, and he loves to really get out there and roll. You will just need to keep on him for a while until it all sinks in".

And that is exactly what I am going to do. Henri's upcoming hunting season will be a training season. I want him to have fun, hunt his butt off, but I will also expect good manners. And I know I will need to rely on the most powerful tool in a trainer's tool box and the greatest asset of a parent of a teenager...patience. Henri needs time to grow up, to lose the mohawk and desire for tattoos and settle back into his normal temperament.

The whole situation reminds me of a now famous photo of President and Mrs. Obama with Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his family. The Zapatero daughters were clearly “going through a phase” at the time and when they look at the snapshot a few years from now, I am sure they will cringe. But I am also sure they will laugh a bit at how awkward they were, just as we should all laugh at how awkward each of us...and our dogs...can be!




Next: Awkward Snapshots Part II: Can't Stand the Heat!

Blame the Victim

Ah yes, the old "hunters abandoned the breed" screed. I thought it was dead and buried, but no. It seems that there are still people out there that believe the Weim sucks as a hunting dog because...wait for it....hunters abandoned it!

Yes indeed. Hunters ruined the hunting Weim. You know, just like the Gulf of Mexico...it sucks right now because all the fishermen are abandoning it!!

I've come across this blame the victim kind of thinking on several occasions. It is always the last line of defense of the non-hunting crowd who simply do not understand what a hunting dog does and why a breed's natural hunting abilities matter so much to a hunter.

So please, let's just get one thing straight about the once-great breeds of hunting dog: hunters do not abandon them. Despite their best efforts, they get washed away by massive tsunamis of piece-of-shit dogs bred to saturate the pet market. In the case of the Weim the p.o.s dogs even came dressed in freakin red riding hood costumes!

Try this: gather up a large group of very hungry and thirsty people and head down to the watering hole in your town that is always packed with hunters. You know the kind of place, it serves thick steaks, has good beer on tap, deer racks on the walls and country music on the juke box. Let's call it the "Grey Dog Tavern"

Now tell everyone in the group to go ahead and take down all the deer racks except for one (you want to keep it up as a reminder of the good old days and can dress it up with a bit of tinsel or a feather boa). Next, have them replace the beer on tap with double mocha lattes and load the juke box with Lady Gaga and/or Madonna tunes. Finally, when the whole place has been redesigned to look like a swanky hotel lobby, announce to the world that the Grey Dog Tavern is now a vegan bistro!

Ya think there'd be any hunters left in the Grey Dog Tavern? Not a chance. They would have high-tailed it down to the GSP Inn across the street or the Pudelpointer Pub around the corner where they could be with other hunters!

And if a hunter from out of town ever shows up at the Old Grey dog tavern and asks "what the hell happened to this place?" just tell him:

"Oh, hunters abandoned it! We did our best to keep them around, I mean we care deeply about 'the field'. Look, we even have a deer head on the wall right there next to the poster for the new Sex and the City Movie...have you been to see it yet? Its FABULOUS!!!

We're BACK!

After a busy late winter/early spring I've finally carved a few minutes out of my schedule to post an update to my poor, neglected blog!

The first bit of news is that Henri and Zeiss are now at training camp in the US. We've sent them to a well known pro trainer for few months. Our hope is that they will both run in the NAVHDA UT in August.

I decided to send them there for a couple of reasons. The first is that I have vowed to complete my never-ending mega-book project this summer and will not have enough time to do much training with them. The second is that even if I had all the time in the world to train them, my training skills are right up there with my dancing skills....ie: really, really bad.

So watch this space for updates on the boys in bootcamp and cross your fingers that they pass their UT in August!


And stay tuned for some NEW TRAINING VIDEOS!

The Braque Saint Germain

I have a real soft spot for the French breeds of pointing dogs. One of my favorites is the Braque Saint Germain. But I must say tracing its history and reviewing its current situation has been like following the tracks of a roller coaster. From a royal beginning in the court of a French king to a series of gut-wrenching ups and downs, the breed has flirted with fame, fortune – and extinction – for over a hundred years.

Currently, we are in an upturn. From an all-time low of just a few years ago, it looks like things are set to improve dramatically over the next few years.

Why?

Because Xavier Thibault is back.

Xavier is a hunter and gifted dog trainer who has amassed an impressive collection of awards. He is also the polar opposite of a diplomat. He’s the kind of guy that will tell you straight up what he thinks of your dog’s hunting abilities…good or bad. That sort of honesty can cause ripples in any breed. In a breed dominated by show breeders and non-hunters, it can cause a lot of panties to get all bunched up.

For over 20 years, Xavier did his best to breed top quality Braque Saint Germain and raise the overall hunting qualities of the breed. But several years ago, facing an impasse with the breed club and a series of personal difficulties Xavier abandoned dog breeding entirely; and the Braque Saint Germain lost the last hard-core breeder of world class hunting dogs.

Fast forward to December of 2009. A notice appeared on one of the French gundog forums that I frequent announcing that Xavier was back. He’d bred a litter of pups from a combination of two of the lines he established when he was active. The pups represent a new start of his kennel and the culmination of over 20 years of dedication to the breed as a hard hunting gundog.

So what is a Braque Saint Germain like? Well I’ve seen a few over the years and I can honestly say that the dogs from Xavier’s line are head and shoulders above anything else in the breed. Comparing them to the average Saint Germain is like comparing a late model Ferrari to a Minivan with bald tires and empty gas tank.

When I first saw his dogs Muse and Malice in the field, they were, to me, exactly what a Braque Saint Germain should be. They ran fast and wide with the grace of a Pointer, yet with the ease of handling of a Braque. Around the house they were as affectionate and calm as any dog I’ve ever met. In fact, Malice had her head in my lap within five minutes of meeting me.

In terms of appearance, they do look like white and orange Pointers - almost. The head is definitely more ‘Braque’ in shape with a much less defined stop. The coat seems thicker, the muscles less pronounced. The eyes are round, the ears are rather long and attached lower on the head than those of a Pointer. My wife and I agreed that they had a softer, kinder look than many of the Pointers we’ve met.

In action they were really something to see. They ran with long, flowing strides, head held high. Their range was a comfortable 100 meters in open areas, although I am told that they would sometimes run much wider than this. Points were sudden and intense, their coulé very stylish. Compared to Pointers, there is a definite difference in the style of movement. But it is hard to describe. The Braque Saint Germains just seemed to run with a more elegant stride. Xavier explains the difference this way: “if a Pointer can be compared to Mozart, then a Braque Saint Germain would be more like Chopin.” ( for you rock and roll fans, 'if pointers are like Black Sabbath, Braque Saint Germain are more like U2)

The other Braques Saint Germain I’ve seen in field trials in the north of France where less impressive. They were not terrible, but they were definitely not in the same league. It seems that there is a deep split between show and field lines in the breed, and that’s a shame. The Braque Saint Germain deserves more: more attention from hunters, more support from its club for field activities, and more respect among hunters.

If you are interested in finding out more about the breed or about the pups Xavier has available, drop me a line or leave a comment. This may be an excellent opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a GREAT line of Braque Saint Germains that could be exactly the kind of gundog you are looking for.

Read more about the breed, and all the other pointing breeds from Continental Europe, in my book Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals

Winter Blues

Ever heard of a Blue Weimaraner? Ya, blue. As in blackish. Sorta. 

Most people know the Weim for its grey coat. But other coat colors popped up in the breed years ago and continue to pop up from time to time even now. 

There are dogs I called "Whitemaraners" and I've seen ads on the net for 'fawn' and 'red' Weim pups. However, the most common "off" colour is a dilute black. It looks kinda blue. Cool eh? 

Well, it depends on who you ask. 

I once mentioned blue Weims to a Weim Club of America member and she went from being a friendly dog-show lady to Linda Blair in the Exorcist in less than a second! I soon found out that instead of saying 'hey look what nature gave us' a LOT of folks in the Weim world see the blue as one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Who knew?

Anyway, I wrote something about the blues a while back on a forum and thought I would post it here.

What to Do About the Blues?

As an interested observer munching popcorn on the sidelines, I'd like to offer some perspective on the whole Blue Weim debate. First off, we need to understand that it is an old debate in the US, but relatively new in Europe. While the intensity had died down for a time in North America, it has increased greatly as of late because blues are now being bred on the other side of the ocean.

In addition, we should remember that debates surrounding accepted colour(s) are not new. They have made their way through a good number of breeds, including most of the continental pointing breeds at some point in their histories. In fact, this is actually the second time that a debate about colour has raged among Weim breeders. The first, which occurred around 1908, was not about blue coats but about yellow markings that sometimes occurred in certain lines. As result of the debate the word “silver-grey” was dropped from the name of the “The Club for the Pure Breeding of the Silver-Grey Weimaraner Pointer” due to the fact that yellow occasionally occurred in the coat and that, while it was not to be encouraged, dogs with yellow markings could be used for breeding if they were outstanding field performers.

But back to the blues: What are the options?

Option 1. Status Quo. Nothing changes, Blues remains in limbo. Back yard breeders of "rare" blues continue to make quick bucks and grey breeders either ignore them or continue to treat blues as if they were toxic lepers bred by members of Al Queda.

Unfortunately, this is the most likely scenario, simply because it is the easiest. It costs nothing to do nothing. It takes very little effort to belittle the blues. All you need is access to a computer and an axe to grind. And for some people - the ones who drink a lot of the "purebred" cool-aid -  hurling holy water at what they believe is the Devil’s blue spawn is just plain fun.

Option 2. The German club takes a decision similar to that which it took in 1908. They simply acknowledge that the blue exists, restrict the coat/color score to no more than “good” but allow blues to be bred into grey lines if they prove to be outstanding field workers. This is an eminently sensible thing to do, and could be based on the 1908 precedent. However, the chances of it ever happening are exactly zero.

The German club is a rigid monolith today and is struggling to keep the breed out of the hands of non-hunting breeders in Germany. The club has a hard enough time even allowing the breeding of long-haired to short-haired weims among the good breeders. Asking them to open the studbook to blues would be like asking them to open it to horny red foxes. And even if, by some miracle, they did allow blues into the club, finding an outstanding blue field performer is harder than locating a lawyer's heart. So finding a good blue, testing it in the German system and getting them to allow it to breed would be like hitting a golf ball to the moon and sinking a hole in one.... with a 9 iron.

Option 3. A new breed and breed club are founded. Again, this would not be something new. The Langhaar and  Large Munsterlander folks did it. The Picardy and Blue Picardy people did something similar.

So there is a tried and true formula for establishing a club and a new breed. But it is difficult. In fact, it is probably much more difficult to do nowadays than it was 100 years ago. There are big $$ involved and lots and lots of time required…probably on the order of 10-20 years. But the biggest difficulty would be to somehow develop a consensus among all the blue supporters. Unfortunately, like most of the folks that fancy the grey, supporters of blue Weims are for the most part non-hunters in love with the looks and personality of the breed, and pretty well convinced that the sun shines out their dogs’ ass. But other than that, they are as diverse a group as can be. Getting them all on the same page at the same time would be monumentally difficult...but probably the only way out of the current dilema.

Option 4. Go your own way. The main issue we are dealing with is trying to fit a square peg (blue weim) into a round hole (the existing purebred dog world structures). Why not dispense with it all? Forget the AKC, forget the FCI and go the way sled dogs have gone. Breed good hunting dogs. Period. Breed healthy hunting dogs. Period. Breed and exchange them with other hunters and HUNT WITH THEM.

Let the club folks continue the endless circle jerk of "improving" the breed. Go your own way, build a better Blue and see who shows up each morning in the hunting field ready to take on the day!

I am sure there are other scenarios and sub-scenarios to explore, but in a nutshell that is how I see it.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

Winter Blues

Ever heard of a Blue Weimaraner? Ya, blue. As in blackish. Sorta. 

Most people know the Weim for its grey coat. But other coat colors popped up in the breed years ago and continue to pop up from time to time even now. 

There are dogs I called "Whitemaraners" and I've seen ads on the net for 'fawn' and 'red' Weim pups. However, the most common "off" colour is a dilute black. It looks kinda blue. Cool eh? 

Well, it depends on who you ask. 

I once mentioned blue Weims to a Weim Club of America member and she went from being a friendly dog-show lady to Linda Blair in the Exorcist in less than a second! I soon found out that instead of saying 'hey look what nature gave us' a LOT of folks in the Weim world see the blue as one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Anyway, I wrote something about the blues a while back on a forum and thought I would post it here.

What to Do About the Blues?

As an interested observer munching popcorn on the sidelines, I'd like to offer some perspective on the whole Blue Weim debate. First off, we need to understand that it is an old debate in the US, but relatively new in Europe. While the intensity had died down for a time in North America, it has increased greatly as of late because blues are now being bred on the other side of the ocean.

In addition, we should remember that debates surrounding accepted colour(s) are not new. They have made their way through a good number of breeds, including most of the continental pointing breeds at some point in their histories. In fact, this is actually the second time that a debate about colour has raged among Weim breeders. The first, which occurred around 1908, was not about blue coats but about yellow markings that sometimes occurred in certain lines. As result of the debate the word “silver-grey” was dropped from the name of the “The Club for the Pure Breeding of the Silver-Grey Weimaraner Pointer” due to the fact that yellow occasionally occurred in the coat and that, while it was not to be encouraged, dogs with yellow markings could be used for breeding if they were outstanding field performers.

But back to the blues: What are the options?

Option 1. Status Quo. Nothing changes, Blues remains in limbo. Back yard breeders of "rare" blues continue to make quick bucks and grey breeders either ignore them or continue to treat blues as if they were toxic lepers bred by members of Al Queda.

Unfortunately, this is the most likely scenario, simply because it is the easiest. It costs nothing to do nothing. It takes very little effort to belittle the blues. All you need is access to a computer and an axe to grind. And for some people - the ones who drink a lot of the "purebred" cool-aid -  hurling holy water at what they believe is the Devil’s blue spawn is just plain fun.

Option 2. The German club takes a decision similar to that which it took in 1908. They simply acknowledge that the blue exists, restrict the coat/color score to no more than “good” but allow blues to be bred into grey lines if they prove to be outstanding field workers. This is an eminently sensible thing to do, and could be based on the 1908 precedent. However, the chances of it ever happening are exactly zero.

The German club is a rigid monolith today and is struggling to keep the breed out of the hands of non-hunting breeders in Germany. The club has a hard enough time even allowing the breeding of long-haired to short-haired weims among the good breeders. Asking them to open the studbook to blues would be like asking them to open it to horny red foxes. And even if, by some miracle, they did allow blues into the club, finding an outstanding blue field performer is harder than locating a lawyer's heart. So finding a good blue, testing it in the German system and getting them to allow it to breed would be like hitting a golf ball to the moon and sinking a hole in one.... with a 9 iron.

Option 3. A new breed and breed club are founded. Again, this would not be something new. The Langhaar and  Large Munsterlander folks did it. The Picardy and Blue Picardy people did something similar.

So there is a tried and true formula for establishing a club and a new breed. But it is difficult. In fact, it is probably much more difficult to do nowadays than it was 100 years ago. There are big $$ involved and lots and lots of time required…probably on the order of 10-20 years. But the biggest difficulty would be to somehow develop a consensus among all the blue supporters. Unfortunately, like most of the folks that fancy the grey, supporters of blue Weims are for the most part non-hunters in love with the looks and personality of the breed, and pretty well convinced that the sun shines out their dogs’ ass. But other than that, they are as diverse a group as can be. Getting them all on the same page at the same time would be monumentally difficult...but probably the only way out of the current dilema.

Option 4. Go your own way. The main issue we are dealing with is trying to fit a square peg (blue weim) into a round hole (the existing purebred dog world structures). Why not dispense with it all? Forget the AKC, forget the FCI and go the way sled dogs have gone. Breed good hunting dogs. Period. Breed healthy hunting dogs. Period. Breed and exchange them with other hunters and HUNT WITH THEM.

Let the club folks continue the endless circle jerk of "improving" the breed. Go your own way, build a better Blue and see who shows up each morning in the hunting field ready to take on the day!

I am sure there are other scenarios and sub-scenarios to explore, but in a nutshell that is how I see it.

Of course, your mileage may vary.