Tessa

Sunday, October 31, 2010

My Little Thin Mint

October 21, 2010
Athens, GA

Tessa makes herself very thin. Actually, she has regained all the weight she lost in the kennel and is back to her normal 52 lbs.

On our way back from a successful training day in Jersey, we stopped at the Bostwick gin and came across the abandoned movie set for the remake of the 1984 classic "Footloose" which was filmed here in Bostwick a few days prior. The crews had moved on to Social Circle and beyond but left part of the set behind, and I really liked the ghostly yet festive and somewhat surreal feel it gave to the gin ("Beamis Mill" in the movie), with no one around.

Tessa was a little less excited and was in no mood to dance, and probably just wanted to go back to the bird fields. But no matter, girl's gotta pose on the movie set, for posterity.

End of Training Season

October 16, 2010
Jersey, GA

Today was our last official NAVHDA training day of the year.

I was dreading it a little bit, as we missed last month's, and the one in August consisted of a short and chaotic run in the rain on birds that did not fly. Also, Tessa just spent 3 weeks in an indoor kennel with plenty of playtime but no training at all. Overall, we have not been on top of our game this year, and I did not expect a lot, only to find - much to my surprise - that her steadiness has much improved. She was steady to shot, not quite yet to wing but very easy to handle and re-whoa, and her recalls were snappy, even from a bird pursuit - not only did she come right back but she also positioned herself where she had whoa'd next to me, so I think she is starting to understand what is expected of her. She also had her first "voluntary" honor. I had made her honor a few times during our run, and towards the end of the 2-hour session Paul and I were talking at the edge of the field and when we turned around, Shane was on point in the middle of the field and Tessa was behind him honoring. Both held their positions until we released them. Where this all came from I don't know...maybe after 3 weeks in the kennel she learned that there is worse than not being allowed to chase birds?