Back in the mother land

I'm back in Canada for a little while and enjoying seeing friends and family.

On the way up I spent a few days training in the "middle of nowhere" (AKA Wyoming).

Miss Libby is still a star, at least in my eyes.  She is going through Basics with tail wagging and a great attitude.  She thinks everything is funny and for her benefit, just like her mother.

While in Wyoming I took a few pictures with my zoom lens of Libby marking a bird I threw.  I run her 99% of the time, but once in a while it is nice to get out in the field and watch my dogs from a different vantage point.

This past week-end I ran a field trial in Alberta.  I had three dogs entered; Darbi, Miikka and Ollie.  Ollie is FC Mr. Oliver D. Place and I brought him up with me in the hopes of qualifying him for the Canadian National in September.  Ollie and I got SECOND place in the Open, which qualified him!!  Nice to get that out of the way early.

We ran two opens on the week-end.  Darbi was having a great trial up until the last bird of the last series in the first open...that's how trials go sometimes.  And she had two hunts in the first series of the second Open, which was not good enough to play.  She sure is fun right now and I'm having a great time running and training her.

Miikka went out in the first series both days.  Still not herself of course, but I did see a big improvement...I think we're on the right path.

And a BIG congrats to "Matti" (Elmingo's With One Twist - Shaq x Miikka 2007) who was second in the qualifying this past week-end!!

I had two goals when I came up here to run the trials.  One was to qualify Ollie, which I did.  The other is to finish Darbi's titles.  We have three more Opens to run in the coming week, so I still have time.

Fingers crossed.

Yeah Meg!

Congrats to "Meg" (Elmingo's Prime Suspect - Prime x Darbi 2008) for not only finishing her FIRST qualifying, but getting THIRD place!!

Meg is not yet two years old and also has some Canadian Derby points.

This was also the first time that owner Jill ran her in a field trial.

Way to go Meg & Jill!!

Coming around...

So...about Peanut.

I've been writing about what a frustrating spring we've had with her.  She hasn't been herself since she had her puppies.

We've tried playing nicey nice with her and we've tried digging into her too.  Nothing was working.

Well...it seems we've turned the corner.  She has been training gang busters the last couple weeks.

Fingers crossed, but it seems Miikka is back.

Happy Campers

All smiles today.

FIRST and third

Darbi WON the Open at the trial in Colorado this week-end!!!!  Her first US Open placement is a win and I'm over the moon.

Darbi and I have had a lot of bad luck this year and I asked Kenny run her hoping to change her luck.

It worked!

Big thanks to Kenny as usual.  He is behind all our successes in the past couple years.  When he got Darbi he told me "she's a nice dog, just not very well trained".  A blow to my ego, yes, as I had done most her training myself, but it opened my eyes.

And Pedro was THIRD in another stakes race this week-end.  He ran hard, but was battling on the front end in fractions that were too fast for him and he tired at the end.

Three goals for Darbi this year now:
Qualify for US National
Finish her Canadian titles
Have a good showing at the Canadian National

I have a full waiting list for Darbi's fall litter, but it looks like the litter will have to wait until we see if Darbi qualifies for the US National or not.

Pictures to come...

Another fourth!

I got to run Turq in the Derby this week-end in Colorado and we had a blast.  He was such a good boy.

We received a 4th place and I am very proud of his efforts.  There was more than one occasion that he reminded me of running his mother in Derbies many moons ago.

I ran Darbi FIRST of 80-plus dogs in the Open and we didn't do the test.  She was a bit wild with me on line and that is a first for her.  It did make me giggle, but it also showed me that she needs to be nailed down.  Kenny is going to run her all week and in the trial next week-end.  That will burst her bubble a bit I think.

Miikka is still acting weird.  She is also nesting here at home and showing signs of false pregnancy from her heat cycle a couple months ago.  I'm hoping she comes out of it soon and we're nursing her along as best as we can right now while her brain seems to be on vacation.

My training group had another great week-end!  First, 3rd and Reserve JAM in the Open!
Arson (the dog I won with in Canada) WON and this titled him in the US.

Miss Libby continues to be a star and she's starting to run the Open marks as singles now and doing great!  She still makes me laugh every single day and I love her personality.

Fourth and Fourth

Congrats to "Turq" (Backwater's Smokin Turq - Prime x Darbi 2008) who got a Derby fourth this past week-end!  He is 3 for 4 in finishing US derbies so far!
It was a great week-end for my training group.  Kenny and "Ollie" WON the Open and Joe and "Rosie" WON the Amateur.  There were smiles all around on Sunday.

And my racehorse "Pedro" was fourth in his Stakes debut.  He ran against stiff competition in the Graduation Stakes in Manitoba.  Horses shipped in from the US and Canada to run the race. He was in the lead until the final few jumps and was only a length behind the winner at the wire!  I really thought we had it...and he ran so well.

Pedro is being shipped to Alberta to run in the Alberta Sales Stakes for his next start August 14!