December 2015 – National Champions

A record number of the crew attending the WCA National Field Trial this year plied talent and training along with a pinch of luck into wins in 3 of the 5 stakes offered. Annie warmed up by winning the Open All Age stake at the Mid America Regional Field trial and put on a really terrific show in the National Championship stake to add a National Field Champion title to her name. Annie was handled by Diane Vater. Taking home blue in the inaugural running of the Open Puppy stake was Puck, with a stellar run and staunch, stylish birdwork. Puck’s journey to this win was remarkable as he hitched a ride to the NFT with folks he barely knew and then was handled, without benefit of any training sessions, by a gal he had only met once before. Talk about natural ability shining through. Winning the trophy in the Open Derby stake was Carmen, who impressed the judges with a mature, independent, consistent and intelligent run along with several finds handled with her usual staunchness and style. Carmen was handled by Diane Vater. Congratulations to these fine dogs and all of the peeps that helped to get them to the top of the podium.


November 2015 – New Kids on the Block

A new crop of Trax kids have made their mark with all-breed Puppy or Derby field trial stake wins. From left to right: Tilde is this month’s superstar; while still a puppy she applied her wide range and strong inclination to point into wins in the first Open and Amateur Derby stakes she entered, both in NJ, and also won the Open Derby at the WCA Mid America Regional Classic field trial in MI, later collecting Open and Amateur Puppy stake wins in DE. Beck won an Open Derby stake in WA with a wide, mature run and impressively striking point on a limb find and holding for well over 5 minutes until his handler arrived on the scene. Winning Open Derby stakes while still puppy aged were both Citori in AZ and Mira in OR. Though at 7 months old both the youngest dog and only Weimaraner in the stake Kenny’s range and groundspeed prevailed for a win in an 11 dog Open Puppy stake in WA.

                                           


October 2015 – Great Listeners

Listen up. And so they did. Lyza won a pair of CKC Obedience competition High in Trials from the Utility B class with a top score of 197.5. Chili won a pair of CKC High in Trials from the Open level. Bowie earned an AKC Companion Dog Excellent title with a top score of 197. Prim really showed off by finishing her CKC Companion Dog title with a top score of 197.5 then won back to back CKC High in Trials before heading south to earn her first AKC CD leg with a score of 197 and yet another High in Trial. Even better the next day Prim switched venues and handlers to run in her first broke field trial stake and won that too. Congratulations to all these great listeners and their terrific trainers too.


September 2015 – Spectacular Bid

Impressive. Outstanding. Athletic. Adorable. Amazing. That’s our Bailey in a nutshell. Bailey simply blazed through her juvenile field trial career, undefeated in AKC Amateur and Open Puppy and Derby stakes including winning both Open Puppy and Open Derby stakes at her very first competition at 9 months old. Crossing into Canada she won Puppy and Derby points in consecutive trials. All of her wins have been in all-breed and Regional competition, often in huge and very competitive stakes. Bailey has won on grasslands, desert, prairie and farmland courses, handled by three different handlers in 5 different states/provinces, and I believe, ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’ from this young superstar.


August 2015 – Well Balanced

This month the spotlight shines brightly on Petra who used her fleet feet and hallmark intelligent and ambitious application to her work to complete her AKC Field Championship with a 4 point major all-breed Open Gun Dog win in WA state, becoming well balanced and making history in the process by being the first Weimaraner ever to hold both Canadian and American Field Championships. Along the way Petra had a lot of help and a heartfelt thank you goes out to those trainers, scouts and handlers who all had an important role to play in this terrific achievement.


July 2015 – Madly Off in All Directions

A host of Traxters were styling in show rings all over the place. Shiraz finished his CKC Show Championship in Manitoba. Big winner Rizz finished her AKC Show Championship with one 4 point and two 5 point majors in Idaho and also her CKC Grand Championship and Companion Dog obedience titles in BC, Dixon finished his AKC Show Championship in Washington state, Sloane earned her AKC Show Championship in New Mexico, and Syver completed his CKC Show Championship in Manitoba. Hats off to these good lookers who were all owner handled to their new titles.

                             


June 2015- Performance Plus

The Spotlight is shining on some star performance Trax dogs this month.  Holly leaped and twisted her way to a Canadian Agility Championship, Chili heeled and fetched to a CKC Obedience Trial Championship and Lyza snuffled her way along an extremely challenging test course to a CKC Tracking Dog Excellent tittle. But this month it was Betty who outshone them all by first speedily and accurately passing her CKC Tracking Dog Excellent test, then hunting and pointing her way to a CKC Field Dog Excellent title and then earning the 6 legs required for an AKC Master Hunter title in rapid succession over just three test weekends showing great versatility too as each test weekend ran on different grounds and on a different species of bird: first bobwhite quail, next pheasant and lastly chukar partridge. Congratulations to these Trax performance event superstars and the talented and dedicated trainers that got them there.

                                 


May 2015 – Classic Style

A number of Trax dogs turned in stellar performances and came away with trophies and blue ribbons at the Weimaraner Club of America Regional Classic Field Trials. At the Western Classic Navi won 3 point majors in both the Western Classic Amateur Gun Dog and Open Walking Gun Dog stakes, Brynn won the Open Walking Derby stake, Bailey won the Amateur Walking Derby stake and at the Eastern Classic CJ won the Open Gun Dog stake. Congratulations to these terrific dogs and their owners, trainers, handlers and scouts as well as to the many other Trax dogs that won placements.

                           


April 2015 – Public Servants

This month the spotlight shines brightly on the many Trax dogs that serve their community in the realms of therapy dog work, personal service dogs for the disabled, and search, rescue and recovery dogs. A few are pictured above including Vida, who recently was certified by her local police jurasdiction as a wilderness search dog, Stuka, who is a certified search and rescue trailing specialist and Yetta who is a certified Therapy Dog. Kudos to these all of the wonderful Trax teams that devote their time, energy and expertise in pubic service.


March 2015 – Hey, Good Lookin’

Brava, Reese and Trace all finished AKC Show Championships in the past month and, impressively, all of these gals also are AKC field trial stake winners; Navi and Cooper recently finished CKC Show Championships, Navi is also a field trial stake winner and Cooper competes in NAVHDA and scored a Prize 1 on the Natural Ability test.

                                       


February 2015 – Whiz Kids

Beck went to two consecutive weekends of CKC conformation shows at 7 months of age and slam bam thank you ma’am had a Chamionship title in front of his name, this nice working fella also earned his CKC Tracking Dog title while still a puppy. Bailey went to her first field trial at 9 months of age and boom won her juvenile points with back to back wins in a 12 dog all breed Open Puppy stake and a 16 dog Open Derby stake, handled by Diane Vater. This doll has simply oodles of talent afield.


January 2015 – Win, Place, and Show

Only 3 Trax owned/bred dogs attended the WCA National Field Trial this year but this small crew made the most of it by placing either first, second or third in every event they entered. Annie was the star of the team with a win in the National Amateur Field Championship. Sam placed 2nd in the National Field Futurity and 3rd in the National Open Derby stake with those placements sending him to the #1 spot on the WCA Continuous Top Ten Derby list. CJ was Runner Up in the National Championship and placed 3rd in the Amateur Championship with those placements putting her at the prestigious #1 spot on the 2014 WCA Top Ten All Age/Gun Dog list. Thanks to the owners, trainers, scouts and breeders of this talented trio!


December 2014 – See CJ Run

The sport of field trialing was pretty much tailor made for CJ and her field career has been a steady stream of success from the start. CJ earned her AKC Field Championship title with an Open Gun Dog major win and shortly thereafter set herself apart from her peers in winning a 27 dog all breed Open Gun Dog stake. Congrats to this class bird dog and the peeps who got her where she is!


November 2014 – Dynamic Duos

The handsome dude Sako earned his CKC Grand Championship title but what makes this title extra special is that he was handled, as usual, by his 7 year old person Brooklyn. 18 month old Prim finished her CKC show Championship with a Sporting Group 2 placement, owner-handled by her boss Carrie but what makes this title extra special is that, later the same day, Prim completed her Rally Novice obedience title with a High in Rally Trial award.  Kudos to these dynamic duos!


October 2014 – Gunsmokin’

Mr. October is Rossi who hit a field trial home run by earning the points required for his AKC Field Championship with a 5 point major all breed Gun Dog stake win at just 2 1/2 years of age. Along the way Rossi had many other impressive all breed wins. Rossi’s amazing achievement was a classic team effort, the culmination of a nice breeding, thorough juvenile development, excellent formal training and very capable handling and scouting. Thanks a million and hats off to everyone involved!


September 2014 – History in the Making

Petra ran right off the hunt field and into the record books by completing the requirements for her Canadian Kennel Club Field Trial Championship thereby becoming the first Weimaraner in recent history to do so. Petra’s winning run on the prairies of Alberta was dramatic – on one bird find she struck point way out on a limb and then a hawk was seen circling and when the handler, judge and gallery finally arrived the hawk lifted off the chukar it had flushed and killed right in front of Petra who remained staunchly on point! Petra applies herself to field competition with tremendous range, groundspeed, intelligence style, and desire. Click on this link to footage taken of her during actual field trial competition. http://youtu.be/yNd-HGNWDeo A sincere nod of appreciation and hearty congratulations goes out to all the members of Trax team Canada involved in this terrific accomplishment!


August 2014 – Shooting Dog Excellents

Dixon and Betty both passed their Weimaraner Club of America Shooting Dog Excellent test on the first try. In fact, despite killer heat and some very challenging birdwork they made it look pretty easy. Congratulations to both of them on a job well done!


July 2014 – Triple Threat

These enterprising youngsters are the latest Trax dogs to distinguish themselves as dual champion prospects by virtue of having earned both show and field points. Hilda won an AKC Open Puppy field trial stake and earned 4 show points her first weekend in the CKC show ring. Brava won an all-breed AKC Open Puppy field trial stake and earned AKC show points her first weekend in the show ring. Trace took a 3 point major her first day in the AKC show ring and in addition to having amassed 8 show points as a puppy she has already won 3 AKC Puppy field trial stakes. You go girls!


June 2014 – Synchronicity

Bowie and Lyza were right in sync with their handlers in obedience this month. Bowie earned his AKC Companion Dog title with a top score of 198.5 from the Novice B class and Lyza earned her AKC Utility Dog title with a top score of 198 from the Utility B class. Wow, talk about nice work!


May 2014 – Trax Puppy Raisers

Quite often at Trax a pup is grown out from a promising breeding before placement in a forever home. This month the spotlight shines on the many wonderful folks and talented dog trainers that have volunteered as Trax puppy raisers over the past few years. A heartfelt thanks goes out to each and every one of them.


April 2014 – Sibling Rivalry

On the west coast Maren made a few laps around the show ring and finished her AKC Championship with a pair of 5 point major wins. Meanwhile, on the east coast her brother Beezer made a few laps on his own, around the dock diving pool where his athleticism and drive came in handy as he soared to #1 Weimaraner (Dock Dogs and Splash Dogs) and easily earned his Master Dock Dog title.


March 2014 – Jumping Jehoshaphat

Trax resident jumping bean Holly, aka Air Holly, has been smoking in several agility competition venues this month. Holly is always mighty speedy which makes steering her around the course a major challenge but at an AAC event this month Holly qualified in 4 out of 5 runs with a blue ribbons for each of those Q’s and in other weekends this month she qualified in 6 out of 7 AKC runs one weekend and 3 runs at a CKC trial on another with more blue ribbons in those events.


February 2014 – Western Pleasure

Rossi and Annie attended the Weimaraner Club of America Western Classic field trial, had great runs and spectacular bird work and came away with blue ribbons to show for it. Annie won the Amateur Gun Dog stake and Rossi won the Open Walking Gun Dog stake. Congratulations to the breeders, owners, trainers and handlers of these two fine bird dogs!


January 2014 – Fancy That

Yetta had her first show major win at just 6 months of age and has finished her AKC Grand Championship while still a yearling, along the way winning a Sporting Group placement and an Award of Merit at the AKC National Show. This well-rounded gal also has field titles and has placed in all-breed puppy and derby field trial stakes. Meanwhile in Canada, the rookie Tikka went to her first show and came home with a Best Baby Puppy in Show award. Congrats to these gals and to their people too.


December 2013 – Class Acts

The field trial season has wrapped up for another year and the spotlight this month is trained on those Trax dogs that won blue ribbons in all breed field trial stakes over the course of the year. Petra won Amateur Gun Dog stakes on both sides of the border, Marshall and Rossi won AKC all breed Open Derby stakes, Reese and Kal won CKC all breed Open Derby stakes, Jetta won all breed Open Puppy and Amateur Walking Puppy stakes and Sloane won her Derby points while still a puppy in the first all breed trial she entered. Kudos to these high class bird dogs and the team of breeders, owners, trainers and handlers that helped them to get the job done!


November 2013 – The Sisterhood

This pair of sisters are the spotlight for huge success afield this month. CJ, on the left, charged to victory in both a 4 point a Open All Age stake and an Amateur Limited stake. Annie warmed up by placing 2nd in 28 dog all breed Open Gun Dog and then went on to have a fantastic showing at the WCA Mid America Regional Classic winning the OGD stake to finish her AKC Field Championship in outstanding style. Congratulations and thanks to the owners, trainers, scouts and handlers who made these gal’s field trial achievements possible.


October 2013 – A Real Go Getter

Reese is an eager, gorgeous and enterprising yearling with outstanding natural field talent and style leading to success in show and field events on both sides of the border. Reese earned her CKC Show Championship in a few shows with a Best Puppy in Sporting Group along the way, she has also earned AKC Show Points with a Best of Breed win along the way and in the field she scored a perfect 112 NAVHDA Natural Ability test and has AKC and CKC Derby stake wins to her credit including a CKC win in all breed competition.


September 2013 – Showing Off

Several of the Trax crew spent time in the show ring this spring and summer and, clockwise from the top left, Who Dat, Beezer and Yetta posed and trotted their way to AKC Championships and Alli and Betty to CKC Championships in the process. Congratulations to all involved in their show ring success.


August 2013 – The Boys of Summer

Kal made waves this summer in Canada by finishing his Show Championship with a pair of Best of Breed wins and earning his Derby points in stellar fashion by winning an all breed Derby stake. Rossi surfed to back to back blue ribbons by tearing it up in the field and acquiring in the process both his Open and Amateur Derby points in a single weekend.


July 2013 – Dual Purposeful

Sloane established herself as a player in her first ever competition by winning the Open Puppy stake at the WCA Western Classic Field Trial. Shortly thereafter Sloane garnered an AKC 5 point major show win and, at her very next AKC Field Trial and while still puppy age won an all breed Open Derby stake.  Nice work kiddo!


June 2013 – Top Guns

At CKC hunt tests a High Scoring Dog in Test award is given to the best dog of the day and over the past year Trax hunters making it to the top: Petra took top dog of the day honors for all three legs of her Field Dog title with monster scores of 100, 99 and 100, Betty finished her Field Dog title with a top score of 99 and a High Scoring Dog in Test award for her final leg, Chili notched a High Scoring Dog in Test award for the second leg of her Field Dog title, Uma earned the first leg of her Field Dog title on her first try with a dandy score of 98 and a High Scoring Dog in Test award to go with it, Navi finished her Field Dog title with a score of 96 and taking home her second High Scoring Dog in Test award and, Tommy completed her Field Dog Junior title with a perfect score of 100 and a High Scoring Dog in Test award.


May 2013 – Natural Ability Naturals

May’s spotlight is trained on some Trax NAVHDA naturals. Reese, Maren and Rossi attended the same Natural Ability test and all came home with Prize 1 scores, the gals both with perfect scores. Making it even more special all three pups were handled by ladies that had never previously been to a NAVHDA event and in fact only Maren was handled in the test by her actual owner/trainer. Congratulations to breeders, handlers and owners of this fine crew!


April 2013 – Sibling Show Offs

Sako is handsome and loves an audience. This show ring natural earned his Canadian Kennel Club Show Championship in short order with a Sporting Group placement from the classes and in his first weekend showing as a Special he made a real splash by taking a 1st and a 4th in Sporting Group. Precocious Rizz earned her CKC Show Championship at 7 months and her Tracking Dog Excellent title at just 16 months of age with a Rally Novice obedience title to boot. Congrats to a dynamic duo and their fantastic owner/handler


March 2013 – Western Roundup

Talent and luck collided for both Calvin and Sloane at the WCA Western Classic field trial. Calvin, pictured on the left, showed strong ambition, drive, range and intelligent application to win the Open Derby stake. Calvin was handled by Leslie Like. Sloane, pictured on the right, was a complete field trial rookie but won the Open Puppy stake with a mature, wide, forward pattern, hunting hard and handling kindly from start to finish. Thanks to all involved in the success of these youngsters!


February 2013 – Dual Fuel

Trax Weimaraners is dedicated to producing Dual Champions and this month the spotlight is on the Trax youngsters that earned both show and field points in the past year and on the Trax dogs with show and field points that made further progress toward Dual Championships in the past year. Best of luck to those carrying on with the journey to a Dual Championship. Dixon earned 2 AKC show majors and won a 3 point major CKC field trial stake. Betty finished her AKC Show Championship and won a 3 point major AKC field trial stake and 1 point in a CKC broke stake. Who Dat earned 2 AKC show majors and won an AKC Derby stake. Lyza earned an AKC show major and won an AKC field trial stake. Petra earned an AKC show major, won an AKC field trial stake and won a 3 point major CKC field trial stake.Alli earned CKC show points and won both AKC and CKC Puppy stakes and an AKC Derby stake. Maren earned AKC show points and won an AKC Puppy stake. Congratulations to all on a job well done!


January 2013 – Spotlight on the Trax Rookie Handlers

This month the spotlight shines proudly on the Trax rookie handlers that took the plunge and entered a competition event for the first time in 2012. Aimee has been training Tommy for tracking, show, field and obedience and Tommy has earned AKC field trial placements and CKC Ffeld Dog Junior test passes. Nicole has been training Alli for show, field, and tracking events and Alli has earned both show points and field trial wins. Sarah has been training Willa for agility, obedience and field events and Willa has field trial wins and a Rally Novice title.Terry has been training Kal for tracking, field, show and obedience events and Kal has earned Tracking Dog and Field Dog Junior titles as well as show points and field trial placements. Cheers to these gals and to rookie handlers everywhere!


December 2012 – National Team

Of this year’s Trax contingent at the WCA Nationals it was three high spirited youngsters that came away with satin and hardware. From left to right, Feist combined a very exciting and ambitious race with several stylish finds to win the National Open Derby stake, the youngster Alli placed third in that stake with her signature groundspeed and wide ranging foward pattern and yet another youngster, Annie, just 2 years old and newly steadied to wing and shot, placed 4th in the Open Championship with half a dozen high style finds and followed that up with a win in the inaugural National Weimaraner Association National Field Championship a few days later. Annie was handled by Diane Vater. A thousand thank yous go out to everyone involved in helping these young gals to get trained, to get there, and to get the job done.


November 2012 – High Class Bird Dogs

One of the primary Trax breeding program goals is to produce high class bird dogs and this month the spotlight is trained on those Trax dogs that distinguished themselves in 2012 by winning field trial stakes that were open to dogs of all pointing breeds. Feist won a pair of CKC Open Puppy all breed stakes and a CKC all breed Open Derby stake. CJ won an all breed AKC Open Derby stake. Betty won a 3 point major all breed AKC Open Gun Dog stake. Dixon won a 3 point major CKC all breed Amateur Shooting Dog stake. Who Dat won an AKC all breed Derby stake. Calvin won 3 AKC all breed Open Derby stakes. Willa won an AKC all breed Puppy stake. Alli won an AKC all breed Derby stake and a CKC all breed Open Puppy stake. Petra won an AKC all breed Open Limited Gun Dog stake and a CKC 3 point major all breed Amateur Shooting Dog stake. Congratulations to one and all.

                                                        


October 2012 – Practice Makes Perfect

This months spotlight is on the power of practice. Been working very hard at fieldwork all summer long with progressively better trial results topped off by a veritable winnning spree at the last trial of our season, a 3 day field trial held in WA hosted jointly by Weim and Setter clubs. That trial offered 7 all breed stakes and 2 Weimaraner only stakes and when all was said and done 6 different members of the Trax crew won 7 of the 9 stakes at the trial with Petra placing second in both of the stakes won by other dogs. A grand total of 12 field points were earned by the Trax crew over the weekend. Alli won OD and AWD stakes – she is still just a puppy and she is also notable for never having yet lost a field trial stake. The rookie Maren at just 7 months old earned her puppy points by winning the OP stake on her very first try. Willa won the AWP stake. Petra, a 2 year old, won the OLGD stake. Who Dat won an AWD stake. Betty, another two year old, old won a 3 point major OGD stake.


September 2012 – Beauty is as Beauty Does

….and what beauty does is get you somewhere in the show ring. Chili and Betty earned AKC Championships this summer. Reese won a CKC Best Puppy in Sporting Group at 6 months of age her very first time in the ring and Rizz earned a CKC Championship at just 7 months of age.


August 2012 – The Rookie Done Good

This past month Alli entered her first conformation show and earned her first show points by going Best of Winners. Shortly thereafter she entered her first field trial where her desire, groundspeed and natural forward pattern netted her wins in both the Open Puppy and Amateur Puppy stakes and batting 1000 a few weeks later she won her Derby points with an Amateur Walking Derby stake win.Might be just beginner’s luck but here’s hoping it’s actually a case of a pup with strong dual potential getting off to a good start.


July 2012 – Hot Stuff

Stuka is a field specialist and his intensity, ambition, range, groundspeed, water love, and high style on point have won him not only titles but also accolades and an ever expanding fan club. In recent weeks this busy guy has earned a Prize 1 on his NAVHDA Utility test, a Shooting Dog Excellent Rating, 2 legs towards his Master Hunter title and placement in an all breed field trial stake.As a bonus, Stuka was awarded this month #1 Weimaraner in the Field by the Weimaraner Association of Canada for his success in field competition in 2011.


June 2012 – Skitter Scatter Let’s Get At ‘Er

Ms. June is Feist who was off to a running start in her CKC Field Trial career by winning an 18 dog all breed Open Derby stake her first kick at the can and then winning the Open Puppy stake the next day and another all breed Open Puppy stake the very next weekend to garner her CKC puppy and derby points in short order. A few weeks later she had back to back AKC Derby stake wins for her AKC Derby points. Feist is a very wide running dog with a strong natural forward pattern and a very staunch point and these native talents were as much admired by the judges as they are by us.


May 2012 – Triple Play

Uma attended three different types of CKC performance events in the past month with grand success in each and every one. In the field she entered a single Field Dog test and with three stylish broke finds earned the first leg of her Field Dog title with a score of 98/100 also good for a High Scoring Dog in Test award. The next day Uma placed third with a single, well handled limb find in her first all breed Amateur Shooting Dog field trial stake. On to tracking where she handily earned her Tracking Dog title and a few days later as a bonus passed her AKC Tracking Certification test. Next stop, the obedience ring where she earned her Companion Dog title in a single weekend with an all-breed High in Trial award for the second leg.


April 2012 – Looking and Listening

This months achiever is Dixon for listening good in his first AKC obedience trial to win High in Trial from the Novice B class with a score of 197 and also looking mighty fine too at the same show for a 3 point major.  Hearty congratulations to everyone on team Dixon!

                                                                                                        


March 2012 – Shout Out to the Pros

This month the spotlight is on the professional field trainers that have played a major role in the success of TRAX bred dogs in the field over the past year. Big thanks to pros Greg Dixon, Diane Vater, Steve Reynolds, Terry Chandler and Mike Mullineaux. 

                                                               


February 2012 – Dual Potential

One of the primary goals of the TRAX breeding program is to produce dogs with the potential to become Dual Champions. We are proud to recognize these TRAX youngsters that have taken the first step in proving themselves to be dual competitive by having earned championship points in both field trials and the conformation ring. Who Dat, Dixon, Quinn, Chili and Betty – all have AKC show points and AKC field trial stake wins. Betty and Dixon both have earned AKC major show wins and Who Dat, Dixon and Chili are CKC Show Champions. Petra and Torey, both have CKC field trial Derby wins to their credit; notable in that CKC field trial stakes are open to all pointing breeds. Petra is CKC show pointed and Torey is a CKC Show Champion. Some of these pups will continue to compete in the show ring and in the field in pursuit of AKC or CKC Dual Championships.


January 2012 – Lifesavers

We launch the New Year by paying tribute to those TRAX dogs that earn their keep in whole or in part by doing Search and Rescue work. Eva, a 12 month old puppy is in training for tracking as well as off leash wilderness search work under the guidance of her trainer, Neda. Eva has a long tail and that is because she is from full German breeding with ancestors certified on following 36 hour old trails. Calvin attended a SAR natural ability proving camp as 6 month old puppy and passed with flying colors and the summary “Works like a yearling dog that has had regular SAR training.” Stuka is well advanced in his training for SAR tracking specialist work under the tutelage of his trainer, Joan, who also has a nationally certified cadaver search specialist Weimaraner at home.


December 2011 – National Caliber

Several youngsters took a road trip to the WCA National Field trial and with a combination of talent, training and luck came away with a number of placements. Petra won the National Field Futurity stake and, only one month over 2 years old also placed 3rd in the National Amateur Championship. Dixon and Annie placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the National Field Futurity stake. Feist, at just 8 months of age took a 4th place in the National Derby stake. Appears to be a very bright future ahead for this gang. Special thanks to professional trainers Greg Dixon, Steve Reynolds, Josh McPherson and Diane Vater for help with preparation and handling of various of the team.


November 2011 – Annie!

Spotlight shines this month on Annie, an energetic yearling who made short work of the competition at the WCA Mid-America Classic Field trial to handily win both stakes she entered, the Field Futurity and the Derby Classic. Annie displayed her usual wide range and exceptional groundspeed to the task and she was trained by her owners Frank Sommer and Cydney Hansen and professional trainer Diane Vater and was expertly piloted around the course by Diane. This gal is destined for greatness!


October 2011 – Sister Act

A pair of carpetbagger sisters went south from their homes in Canada to spend a weekend at the same field trial in Oregon and came home positively laden with hardware and satin. Petra won the Weimaraner Club of America Western Futurity and an Amateur Gun Dog stake with her trademark ambitious race and impeccable birdwork. Chili entered four Derby stakes over the weekend and won every single one of them displaying her usual stamina, groundspeed and animation along the way, for which around these parts she’s known proudly and affectionately as “the hardest working dog in the business”. Meanwhile, yet another of their sisters, Navi, pictured on the right, has been busy elsewhere earning AKC Derby points with back to back all-breed Open Derby stake wins. Ya Ya Sisterhood!

                                        


September 2011 – Show Time

Chili, Dixon, Torey, and Who Dat. All of these Trax younsters finished their CKC Show Championships – on the same weekend! In addition to strutting their stuff to titles in the show ring Dixon also earned his Companion Dog Obedience title at the show and Torey earned her Rally Novice and Rally Advanced titles. Nice work kids!

                               


August 2011 – Different Fields, Same Story

Both Betty, pictured below, and Petra, pictured above, competed in AKC Field Trials and NAVHDA tests this month and both showed that no matter what field they were in, they were in the top of the field. Petra earned her AKC Derby points by cruising to an Amateur Walking Derby Field Trial stake win and then, despite being still just a yearling, a few weeks later passed the very challenging NAVHDA Utility Test with a Prize 2 award. Betty won a pair of AKC Puppy stakes to earn her Puppy points and then followed up with a perfect score on her NAVHDA Natural Ability test. Huge congratulations go out to all involved in the success of these hard working and talented pups!


July 2011 – Hotter than July

Chili and her boss Cindy attended a CKC show in July and this team simply couldn’t lose for winning as she took Best of Winners in the conformation ring twice for a pair of 3 point majors and then earned the first leg toward her Companion Dog obedience title on her first attempt with an all-breed High in Trial from the Novice B class with a stunning performance and a score of 197.5. Hearty congratulations go out to this terrific duo.


June 2011 – Grrrl Power

Over the past month the girls really showed the boys how it’s done as all three puppies won all-breed Field Trial stakes. From the left, CJ who though still a puppy won an all breed Open Derby stake, Lulu who won an all-breed Amateur Walking Puppy stake and Annie, who won an all-breed Open Puppy stake.

                                      


May 2011 – It Takes a Village

Dixon launched his obedience career with a bang, earning the first two legs towards his Canadian Kennel Club Companion Dog title with a top score of 197 and a pair of High in Class awards.  Making this achievement remarkable was that a last minute emergency precluded Dixon’s owner from handling and it is a testament to Dixon’s temperament and sound development that he would work so well for a brand new handler.


April 2011 – All About the Field

It’s all about the field this month. Finley, in a terrific instance of beginner’s luck won the blue ribbon to earn his Puppy points in his very first competition ever. He is pictured at the breakaway and by all accounts it was nothing but tail lights as he simply torched the course. Stuka earned his CKC Field Dog title in one weekend with a run of near flawless performances and a top score of 98/100 along the way collecting a pair of High in Test awards. Annie had a simply grand time at the Eastern Classic Field trial winning both the Open Puppy and Open Derby stakes and placing second in the Field Futurity and she continued her winning ways with an all-breed Open Derby win later in the same month. Congrats to all these hardworking and talented young dogs and of course to all of the people who helped to get them there.

                                                 


March 2011 – Dual Power Puppies

Took these two puppies on a road trip to their first AKC events, a conformation show one weekend and a field trial the next with both showing dual power. In addition to having a whole lot of fun on the trip, Melvin won Winners Dog twice at the show and placed 3rd in the Field Trial puppy stake and Quinn, pictured on the right, won Winners Dog and Best of Opposite at the show and placed 2nd in the Field Trial puppy stake.


February 2011 – Miss Holly

Ms. February is Holly for earning, under the tutelage and guidance of her boss Judy, both CKC and AKC Utility Dog obedience titles in short order and at the same time setting a new obedience trial personal best huge score of 198.5 from the Open B class. Way to go gals!


January 2011 – The Real Life Huntin’ Dogs

In the spotlight this month we salute all the TRAX dogs who earn their keep as real life hunting dogs. Pictured are two of them, Lenny and Calais both of whom in their first hunting season showed themselves to be outstanding hunting partners despite no formal field training – well there really can be no finer accolade for a TRAX dog than just that.


December 2010 – The Field Trialers

The 2010 field trials have wrapped up and this month’s spotlight is shining brightly on these TRAX dogs who proved themselves to be exceptional field trial competitors by wnning AKC or CKC all-breed field trial stakes in 2010. Petra, won a 16 dog all-breed Open Derby stake at just 11 months of age, with several broke finds and a hard driving run. Stuka and Dixon, each won Open Puppy stakes going away and Torey handily won an Open Derby stake. All of these very promising youngsters were amateur trained and handled to their wins. Kudos to all involved in their development for a job very well done!

                                       


November 2010 – Spotlight on Petra

Petra went on the road to Bismarck, ND to take a NAVHDA Natural Ability test under the guidance of her traner and handler Paul and the judges there liked her so much they awarded her a perfect score (112 points) Prize 1 for her performance.

Well, of course the only thing better than a perfect test score is having a terrific story to go along with it…see below for the skinny…

In training Petra for her NAVHDA Natural Ability test there was barely a day she didn’t run great distances under my watchful eye…she is a big running dog with HUGE amounts of drive and confidence and we had a great summer together. She became a fanatical water dog and retriever and had done a lot of tracking with human/pigeon/pheasant drags and live flightless pheasants…getting ready for our NAVHDA test we spent the last 3 days familiarizing Petra with chukars and pheasants so, barring unforeseen circumstances on the day…

5am. Woken by the alarm in Top’s Motel in the sleepy hamlet of Sterling ND early because I’ve gotta run Petra to get some of the steam out of her engine before she hits that bird field… it’s still dark but with the help of a mini-flashlight that I turn on occasionally as she skeddadles around the hay field…all well and good and we are on the truckward leg when suddenly Petra slams on the brakes into a million dollar point…I am puzzled, no bird should be out this early…I strain into the gloom but can’t see anything so I release her to sprint forward and charge headlong into – a SKUNK! – followed by a bunch of Lord of the Rings type snarling, then me running towards the melee and wondering ‘Why Me? Why Now? and Can a skunked dog even smell a bird?’ Off to the more usual type of gas station for much needed coffee then a scramble to de-odorize my charge as best I could.

Stress. Tension. Despair. Our turn. I release Petra for the field search component of the test…she immediately takes a long line across the breeze to my right and I think ‘That’s my girl’…she cuts back in front of us and ignores the shots fired to establish she isn’t gunshy, she’s working off the group at distances of up to 200+ yards. I know she’s the biggest running dog of the day and I feel the judges liking that…I leave her be to work the field which she does like a much older dog…finally she wild flushes a chukar and stops while it flies off – no chase…I say nothing – she spins around and keeps working hard out there…but for a long time with no other birds…’Is it because of the skunk?. The judge asks me to call her and my double-whistle and hand signal bring her instantly back…power steering, I can tell they like that…finally I breathe a sigh of relief as she slams a million dollar point that isn’t on a skunk…she’s rock steady til I flush and soon afterward time is called.

Next up, the pheasant track where the judges explain to me that the bird took 2 jumps before vanishing…I hold Petra by the collar and have to straddle her to stop being pulled off my feet as she takes the scent at the feather pile indicating the start of the track…’Fetch!’ – she bursts forward all business on the track but within a few strides has locked up on point and will not budge. I sense the judges’ puzzlement but what a show it turns out to be as the pheasant had dug itself in right there…’Good Girl!’. Due to the shortness of the track a do-over was required and on that track Petra resembled a cross between a Bloodhound and a vacuum cleaner as she methodically and accurately pursued the run-off pheasant.

The last part was the swimming test and examination of the dog by the judges for teeth, coat and temperament. My over-eager charge had spent the last 30 minutes whining in jealousy of the dogs going before her and on her turn leapt several feet over the water, making the entry with a big splash and retrieving to hand the dummy I threw for her…she repeats and would’ve done it another thousand times…they check her over and all was good…

Two pups took home perfect scores that day and Petra was one…she stepped up to the plate and hit a home run for me…I was giddy with pride and joy…the local crowd all complemented me on her performance – I think we won a few Weimarner converts that day.

Yours in the love of a great bird dog,

Paul James


October 2010 – Utilitarian

Stuka earned his NAVHDA Utility title at just 16 months of age – a remarkable achievement for such a young dog and capped this success off with an AKC Derby stake win a week later. Stuka is trained and handled by his boss Rick who is an avid long time hunter but new to field competition and entering all of these competitions for the first time.  To give you an example of just how type A, intrepid, dauntless, tenacious, hardworking, and committed Rick is in the pursuit of his goals with Stuka, he took Stuka to Montana for a week’s hunting prior to the NAVHDA UT test and on that trip alone had minor skirmishes with porcupines, a major skirmish with a badger, had to negotiate very carefully a field infested with giant rattlesnakes in weather rocketing from frostbite to sunstroke temps, then, at a warmup NAVHDA UPT test, which Stuka also passed, Rick’s camper was struck by lightening while he was in it, throwing him to the ground – all in a day’s work for this dynamic duo who are really destined to go places together.


September 2010 – Overachievers Anonymous

This month we had to take out a membership for Holly in the Overachiever’s Anonymous club for the crime of being an obedience and agility prize pig. Holly, in a single weekend was piloted by her trainer and handler, Judy, to the following AKC titles: Companion Dog Excellent, Rally Excellent, Novice Agility, Versatile Co mpanion Dog 1 and Canine Good Citizen titles, mostly with first places in her classes. Ugh, some people’s kids. 


August 2010 – Can’t Lose for Winning

Dixon who couldn’t lose for winning at an AKC field trial this month. Entered in the Open Puppy, Amateur Walking Puppy and Amateur Walking Derby stakes he won them all going away.


July 2010 – Den Mother

If you have a Trax dog, there’s a very good chance that the dog you’re scratching behind the ear right now was brought into the world and reared by our human den mother, Cindy. This month yet another new generation of Trax puppies are heading out to make their way in the world, the second of three litters that Cindy will raise for us this year. Puppies require endless day to day chores – feeding, cleaning, weighing, worming, toenail trimming, making observations and notes, exposing the pups to a variety of environments, car rides, sights and sounds, swimming, bird wings and socializing pups to new people, kids and other dogs and pets; Cindy does all of this and then teaches her little charges to recall to a whistle and gets them started on housebreaking and crate training. In addition, she is a top notch photographer, cook, gardener, and world-class quilter. For getting our puppies off to a such great start – thanks a million, Cindy!


June 2010 – Junior Achiever

In the spotlight this month is Torey, who was handled by her boss Jodi to a CKC Field Dog Junior title in a single weekend with two High Scoring Dog in test awards and a top score of 95/100. In addition to the many chukar she pointed during the tests, Torey provided a light moment during one of her runs by locking up and pointing a duck decoy that she happened to spy lying in the field – despite lots of encouragement she could hardly be made to budge.


May 2010 – Smarty Pants

Ms. May is Lyza in honor of earning her AKC Companion Dog obedience title in two consecutive weekends under the direction of Shirley with an all-breed High in Trial award for each leg of that title and a top score of 198 out of 200.

 


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