Moved in!

Well we are moved in to our awesome new home! (Minus the internet for now, don't ask...) Here is Winnie breaking in the new yard by trying to get Buck to throw the dummy for her.

The front of the house.

The view from the back deck! It's misleading in the photo, the river is very far down the hill, it looks closer in the picture.

We took the week off to move in and were busy almost the entire time. But I did find some time the other morning to wet a line under the shadow of our own back yard. A dream come true.

This is the basement. There is a door going out to a patio facing the river from here, so this will be a fishing/kayaking staging area, and the tile floors make it a perfect mud room. And there will be mud!

A view of the front porch. (Sorry for the random order of the photos, it's just how they uploaded.) The front yard here we have completely fenced in (with wire behind the paddock fence) and both the front and bedroom doors open onto the porch, very convenient to let the dogs out into a secure yard.

Closer view of Buck and Elmo and the barn.

The living room, featuring Sandy finally getting to put her feet up after a long day. Winnie, Scooter and Gromit (not pictured) were not helpful, of course. But they didn't hinder too much (okay Scooter hindered) and they settled in very quickly to their new home.

This is kind of an office, with built in shelves. It isn't a very big house, I worried about finding a place for the dog crates but I think this solution works fine.

This room is one step down from the dog crate room, and we made this part of the room the office. The view from the desk is the river, which should do a good job of suppressing any thoughts of productivity.

The view from the living room at night is beautiful. I absolutely love this house!

Family Photo...

Peg sent me this family photo today. That's Miles closest to the camera, he's Winnie's grandfather. Then Bitz and Chris, Winnie's littermates, and camera shy Carly at the end, Winnie's mother. They will all be reunited in a little over a month at the National Specialty show in Michigan!

I am adding this additional photo Peg sent me of Chris doing some bird work. What a handsome boy he's turned into! At eight months, they are most certainly not puppies anymore...

Road Work Confusion

In preparation for our new house and property, we purchased this used ATV. It'll be great for hauling kayaks and gear and people and beer up and down the steep path to the river. But I've also heard that people use ATVs to do road work conditioning with their dogs.

We've done a little bit here at our current house as you can see in the picture, but honestly I just don't see the big deal. I mean, how much exercise can it be??

Seriously, what's funny about this is, she doesn't seem to like it at all unless she's on it! At my friend's farm she did a little running alongside us as we drove in a Gator, but at that time she was following Douglas' dog Enzo. Plus she was at an entirely new place and the prospect of staying behind in the dark was probably scarier than running alongside a loud machine.

But here, with this ATV, she steers clear of it until I stop. Then she very much wants to climb up on it. I was surprised when I found I could drive off with her aboard and she didn't try to jump off. Curious.

Anyway, I think it'll be so much fun for her down by the river at the new place that she'll follow me in the ATV no problem. But, if not, we can always go back to sharing the seat!

Microchip and Other News

It wasn't long after we got back from getting Winnie microchipped this morning that she started showing unmistakable signs of keener vision and other bionic qualities. For instance, here she is noticing a large lizard that she has walked by 31,410 times in her life and had apparently never noticed before today.

The implant came with a tag for her collar that contains her unique I.D. number and draws attention to the fact that she does have a microchip. And when added to her name tag, rabies tag and county license tag, the sound she now makes walking around the house is like that of a janitor roaming the halls jingling his keys.

Winnie weighed in at 52.8 pounds at the vet! I figured she was over the 50 mark but it was still surprising to hear it. My German Shorthair topped out at 48.5 pounds. At 8 months old I don't know how much taller Winnie will get, she's pretty leggy now. But I wouldn't be surprised to see her fill out to about 60 pounds, which is what her Mother Carly weighs if I'm not mistaken.

And finally, yesterday we received a very special package from the UKC. Winnie's Champion certificate arrived! We're moving in less than two weeks, but I still want to hang this up somewhere even if it's just for a few days! I'm so proud of Winnie and how great she has done in the show ring.

Zoldmali Iris and Quail - Up Close and Personal!

Iris from Zoldmali Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla Kennel is an amazing dog, trained by the equally amazing Zsofia. If you want to see highly trained, hard working, beautiful wirehaired Vizslas, spend some time on her web site. I have a lot of admiration for her ability to train these dogs to such a high level of performance. And look closely, you won't see an electronic collar in any of those photos!

She holds a week-long training camp each year, but I don't think I need to go all the way to Hungary to learn that both Winnie and I are probably too soft for her work ethic. She'd probably find both of us on Day Two at the nearest pub, nursing a pint and resting sore feet!