2011
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January 2011
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Moxie is pregnant with her litter due on February 21st, we will be taking reservations for 3 more puppies!! I'm hoping to keep something from this breeding, just don't tell my husband...
Our show season has started out nicely with Melissa showing Glory and young Booker; and Jesi is taking Rowan into the specials ring and doing quite well as a Novice Handler!! Glory finished her Grand Champion title and Rowan picked up a Best Of Opposite win for major points towards his Grand!! Booker went Best of Winners for another major, he is a Colby son and half brother to Rowan, way to go everyone!! So far Rowan has 3 majors towards his Grand Championship, we are very proud of these TEAMS!!
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NBISS GCH Jakra's Vivid Morning Glory RN JH
Glory finishes her Grand Champion Title!! Way to go girls!!
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February 2011
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To the right is the AKC Weekly Winners Gallery Ad Melissa designed for Glory as an introduction for her trip to Westminster!
Reveling in our Glory...Entered 5 weekends resulting in a NBISS, GroupPlacments, A Grand Championship & An Invitation to the Garden!
January 22, 20011
CH Jakra's Vivid Encore JH becomes the VCA's Registry of Merit #271 !! Forever in my heart Vivienne...
February has been a whirlwind! First our trip to New York City and Westminster, left on late Friday afternoon Feb. 11th for Madison Lake and spend the night at Melissa's. It was good to see Jeff and Avery, brought something for Valentines Day for Avery, we had fun with that. Then Melissa had a really funny Valentine card for me, great strart for the trip! Saturday morning, up early so Jeff could get us all packed into the Yukon and run us up to the Minneapolis Airport. Getting through checking Glory in and us was a pain there, long line, but once Melissa got confirmation Glory was on board, sighs of relief. The flight was on time, we knew several people on our flight and their dogs also going to Westminster. In New York the "Pet Chauffer Service" was promptly on time, but what a goof ball he was, no accidents thank goodness! The Pennsylvania Hotel was quite an experience, so many people all checking in at once for the dog show. It's really well organized for the numbers of people staying there, the dog potty area in the lower level works fine, Glory caught on and did the duty quickly so she could go back to our room for her chicken breast bait in our room refrigerator. It didn't take Glory long to open the fridge on her own, we had to block the door shut a couple of times. On Sunday Feb. 13th we took a very interesting Bus Trip & Water Taxi trip to see many of New York's sites. We got a good feeling for the layout of Manhattan, it's various communities, and architectural structures. This was too funny, we 4 tried to figure out how to use the Subway to our Bus Trip location, no luck; ended up grabbing a taxi which was cheaper anyway! That evening we did the Times Square all lit up, that was really cool, tons of people and window shopping. We grabbed some great grub in NY, lots of restaurants and cafes, very few grocery stores in Manhattan. We were up again bright and early Monday for the Westminster Dog Show, we watched quite a bit of judging on Monday, met Melissa's aunt Terri and second cousin Beth, they are a hoot to hang with like all of Melissa's family. The "Garden" is quite an experience, something a dog show fancier should experience at least once in their lifetime! On Tuesay Feb. 15th Vizslas showed at 10 am, I believe 40 were entered with 39 there. It was really exciting watching Melissa show Glory, and getting a really good look at some of the dogs I didn't get an opportunity to see at Nationals. Unfortunately, we didn't win the breed or make it on TV with the Groups, but Melissa and I did make CNN, a Newscaster was going around while we were doing our lunch at the Garden on Monday, wanting to know if we had Leonberger's (a breed of large dog) anyway being the smart asses we are Melissa made her burger move like a dog's mouth and I did my best deep big dog bark...our attempt at being a Leonberger. Westminster is a Bench show so Glory had to be there for approx. 12 hours that day, we took turns with us and our friends from Ill/Wis. watching our dogs and supplies, so we could get out for lunch and dinner. That evening we sat with Lindsay Fetter's on ground level seats just 6 rows from the exhibitors, we could see the handlers sweat as the judge would walk by and cut someone else, we all know that sinking feeling...Anyway they were awesome seats, and we can't THANK Linds enough for that treat!! The next day we all made it home, Lois was at the Minneapolis Airport to pick us up, I drove on to Sioux Falls, home sweet home!! Fast paced to say the least!!
Moxie has given birth to 8 lovely puppies on the wee hours (3am to 8am) of Sat. Feb. 19th, 2011! 6 boys and 2 girls! Grandma Carol Lee (Justice's mom) is here helping with her "grandpuppies" it's been an easy few days to a fast paced week.
March 2011
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Time has flown by! The puppies have grown up so quickly, such a sweet and beautiful litter, nothing to worry about as Moxis is an excellent mother! Go to Moxie'sSavvyLitter page and scroll down to see their weekly progression. Jak and I are having a hard time deciding who should stay here...
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April 2011
It was a very busy and trying month. My Mother passed away on April 12, 2011 after making it through surgery, her lung function just didn't return. She could no longer breath off the Ventilator tube and she opted to have the machine turned off, and we lost her. It was good to be very busy with the puppies going home at this time, it really saved us. Click on this link to see the new happy owners of :
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May 2011
As we rolled into May it became apparent we weren't going to have a warm spring...wet and cold.
We look forward to attending the Central Wisconsin Vizsla Club's Specialty the first weekend in May, if we like the judges. Political judges aren't worth the trip for us, but those who know movement and type are...but we give everyone a shot before making that distinction. Long story short, Melissa, Kym, Jesi and I all went to the Wis. Specialty in Melissa's RV! We had an absolutely relaxing time, good fun, good food, we all did a little winning, watched some great movies and would love to do this type of trip again anytime!! We bonded and became Team Vagenius, you had to be there...Best Juicee did was Reserve Winners on the day of the Specialty.
The end of May on Memorial weekend the Twin Cities Vizsla Club holds their first Specialty show of the season in conjunction with the St Peter MN all breed shows. We had Juicee and Reese entered all three days and on Sunday Juicee went BOWs for another major and Reese went BOS for another Grand Major! Selma debuted at her first match, with 6 year old Avery Lembke handling it was too much fun - my bladder could barely take this...
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June & July 2011
During June and July we spent our time opening the swimming pool, planting annuals, planting and maintaining the garden and putting in some new rows of shrubs. We raised up 6 baby chickens, once they were moved outdoors into the Chicken pen a mink chewed through the wire and killed 4 of them. So we have only two chickens, Buford a Buff Bhrama rooster and Scarlett a Rhode Island Red hen. I entered and wanted to do the shows in Cambridge MN, but I hit a deer on our road and took out my van for the weekend, so a blew that opportunity. Selma was growning up nicely and seemingly a natural at free baiting, there isn't much to tweek on her, we have most of our work centered on gaiting and keep our feet on the ground!
August 2011
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August was a bittersweet month, we lost Montana on August 22nd, he was blast to hunt over, Jak took him to many different states where he was able to hunt Scaled Quail, Bobwhites, and Chukkar. Of course Pheasant was his favorite, and he retrieved as well as he found game. RIP CH Jakra's Big Sky Venture JH Winner of the Nebraska Vizsla Club's 2005 Shoot to Retrieve contest!! November 23, 1997 to August 22, 2011.
The last weekend in August we missed Montana as we all embarked on a RV trip to Lake Elmo,MN to show our Vizslas at the Twin Cities Vizsla Club Specialty and the all Breed shows by the StCroix Valley Kennel Club. We had a super great time camping, visiting and seeing Jak's cousin Richard from Still Water, MN. We had 3 girls entered and baby Selma was victorious!! Juicee pulled off a couple of Reserves but Selma was Winners Bitch and Best of Winners all three days for 3 Four Point Majors!! Selma also Won BEST PUPPY IN SWEEPSTAKES!! We took home a lot of LOOT!! Reese picked up some select points as well.
Selma Jakra's Simply Savvy at 6 months and one week taking Best In Puppy Sweepstakes!!
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September 2011
One of the high lights from the weekend, was Jak taking a Major Reserve with Juicee having not shown a dog since the early 1990s!
September was busy in preparations for our trip to Denver, CO for Nationals!! Off to Nationals the end of September for another RV trip!! Ready for a good time!
Selma and I had a blast in the show ring at Nationals, she's a little naughty on leash but loves to free bait for those "cookies"! In the VCA Nationals 6 to 9 month Puppy Sweepstakes Class our baby Selma Won!! That was a blast! Then in the Regular Classes for the points, Selma took First place again in the 6 to 9 month class, we were one of three class winners to be cut for consideration for Winners Bitch, very proud of this youngster!
October 2011
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Fall is most likely our favorite month, South Dakota's pheasant opener is a tradition for the state, the dogs know when it's time!!
Our local Kennel Club holds it's show the end of the month as well. It's always fun seeing all the club members doing their thing.
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November 2011
December 2011
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We had such a lovely fall, long fall many day hunting trips for pheasant!!
The end of Nov. and first couple of weeks of Dec. Jak and his friend Dave from Salt Lake met in Kansas for nearly 3 weeks of Bobwhite hunting. The dogs had a blast, came home thin from all the running, but were all pleased with themselves. Jak had many tales to tell me about bird finds, honoring-backing, and wonderful retrieves.
The year ended on a sad note, our Cash who has always been a challenge to live with, passed away from what appeared to be a clot he'd passed either in the heart or lungs. He was 8 3/4 years old. RIP CH Jakra's Vivid Jonquil and please be good! Cash 3-21-2003 to 12-27-2011
