Harmony, the Weimaraner

Mona just after we arrived to Estonia (2 mnths old).

Mona 4 mnths old.

Mona 5 months old.

We are sooooo tired.

Choosing best female

Mona and Ronja

BIS junior ring

 BIS junior ring

 Best 4 juniors of the day have been chosen; Mona is BIS-3!!!

Mona with her prizes.

This weekend we attended an international show in Tallinn, Baltic Winner 2009. 7 Weimaraners were entered and Mona was the only junior. Here are Mona´s results:

1st Excellent
Baltic Junior Winner 2009!!!
BOB junior
Best female III

We could not take JCAC because Mona already has three.

Judge was Mr. Sean Delmar from Ireland and his critique was:

“Would like stronger and longer forface, good expression, little high in shoulder, little too soft in lavina, good hind quarters and coat, body needs to shape up.”

I thought about the last comment – body needs to shape up – and I am not very sure what the judge ment. I talked to some other Weim owners and they thought that Mona is in very good shape and so do I – she is quite muscular and in shape as I can see it. Maybe he ment something else… or maybe not

But I saved the best part to last – Mona was chosen BIS junior III and the competition was fierce, approximately 70-80 juniors as the show Baltic Winner is quite a big show (appr. 3000 dogs are entered in two days). Usually we have no luck in BIS ring but this time I could see how the judge was looking at Mona and I could see that she really liked her. This is something I am in particularly proud of!

We also met up with two Weim owners with whom we had a great time talking and comparing our dogs. As soon as I will receive pics from the show (thanks to Marge) I will post them.

This weekend we attended a show in Väimela (almost at the other end of Estonia) and Mona gained her third and final juniorCAC which means that she is now the unofficial champion of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and all together Baltic juniorchampion. Unofficial means that this is not yet confirmed by the Estonian Kennel Union and this will take some time as these things do. Most probably we will have it official at the end of this year. Mona gaiend from Väimela´s show:

JCAC
BOB junior
Best of Opposite Sex

Judge was Tina Sulce from Latvia and her critique was:

“Very proportional body, very nice and feminine head, good neck line, very good moves, a little bit too tall in form and alltogether a nice presentation in the ring.”

Next weekend on the 22nd of August we will attend an international show Baltic Winner 2009 and the winners will be presented with the title Baltic Winner 2009. The last show in junior class will be in September and then we will take a brake. Our “show program” will start again after Mona is 2 yrs old and then she would need only one CAC or CACIB to become Estonian champion but as an extra we need to pass bird trials before she can gain the title. So I will use the time in between to start introducing Mona to that activity.

This weekend 12th of July we attended a national dog show in Valga. Mona was once again the only junior female and the only junior. Here are her results:

JCAC
1st Excellent
BOB junior
BOB 2nd (Best of Opposite Sex)

Judge was Mrs. Ing-Marie Hagelin from Sweden. She told me right away that Mona was a very beautiful dog and here is her critique:

Lovely feminine head, good moves, good topline.

We will do 3 more shows before Mona turns 18 months old and hopefully we will receive one more JCAC and then Mona will be Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian junior champion, alltogether Baltic junior champion.

Summer has not quite started yet and we have had only a few really warm and sunny days. Most of the June it was raining and even if the sun was shining it was not warm. But the water for Mona is quite OK. When we first started to go to the seaside, we discovered that although Mona really likes the water and always goes into the sea, she doesn´t swim. Last summer when she was a baby we took her to the seaside all the time but as she was quite small we never took her to deeper water. She was scared of deeper water. So this year we started rehearsing and as the water got more warmer we could go inside as well. We just allured her to the deeper water and held her body so that she would feel more secure and in about a week she really got used to this and she now swims quite well and doesn´t need our guidance so much. 

It now has been more than a year when we have been going to dog school with Mona. As we are beginners and all this is new to us, training just takes more time. From now on we are trying to do obedience more and more without food but this will take time before we can do it without any rewards. We also are starting to use toys as rewards.

I have not been a very consistent writer lately… 6th and 7th of June a biga international dog show was held in Estonia, “Winner 2009″. This was the first big show for us and two other female juniors competed with Mona. This in itself is quite rare because usually 2 or 3 other Weims (depending on the show) compete with Mona and never have we had a chance to compare Mona to other Weims. This time Mona was awarded 2nd Excellent. I must admit that it was a bit of a disappointment but I think that Mona was good and compared to the winner they were quite equal. I think that the problem actually was in my handling skills. Here is her critique:

“Correct size, feminine head, soft topline, correct chest, missing angle in front, correct in back, good coat, correct movement.”

As to the missing angle, I also consulted my dog trainer and she said that Mona has and angle in the front but as I thought, it was probably my lack of skills in showing it. So stacking is now the thing we reharse the most.

Our next show is on the 12th of July and two more shows are in August, one of which is probably even bigger than W2009; we will be competeing in “Baltic Winner 2009.”

In this weekend we attended a national dog show in Plunge, Lithuania. It was quite a drive – appr. 1300 km in 24 hours but fortunately the outcome of the show was worth it. Although I have some negative things to say about the arrangement of the show, at the end we did well! Here are Mona´s results:

Junior Winner = juniorCAC
BOB junior
BOB II
2nd best junior in FCI 7th group

The judge to both competitions was Lilian Haniste from Estonia.

We will do another show in June in Estonia and depending on the outcome, one or two more shows in Estonia before Mona turns 18 months old.

Waiting to enter the ring.

Judge points Mona BOB 2nd

My boyfriend is stacking Mona.

Selecting best junior in FCI 7th group.

One year ago I went to Belgium to collect Mona. The welcome there was really warm and memorable, I cannot believe it has already been a year! We have come a long way and even a longer way we need to go when it comes to training Mona but I am pretty sure that she is happy with us.
It is funny how Weims are. They can be really passionate and stubborn, very quick and tricky but what I can see from Mona, is that they are really affectionate and loving and on some terms (when we ignore the fact that they are hunting dogs) real family animals. When Mona came to live with us, she had her separate room which also ment that she has developed a fixed idea that she has to come once during the night to check if we are home and asleep. She never bothers us, just a quick check and back to bed We have never used a cage and I must say that even though we have managed the puppy months without big damage to our apartment and shoes
Before Mona also slept in her room but this ment that in the evening when we were at home she couldn´t go to sleep unless she could sit at least 5 minutes in my boyfriends lap (not mine of course, because she is really heavy) and then off to bed! Now that she has her sleeping couch in another room where she can see and hear us – she is not so persistant about the hugs before sleep.
I must say that before I had no idea that owning a dog can contribute so much to my life. It is hard work, yes, but in the same time Mona is a real companion who travels with us practically everywhere. She makes me laugh all the time, just her little habits – when she wants to go out she sits in front of the door and waits, when she really wants to go out, she licks the door just to give the signal! When she needs to scratch herself, she never does it sitting down, which means that she takes really funny poses and sometimes tries to scratch herself while walking or running.
I am really happy to have Mona and really grateful that I was given the chance to have her!

 

Our next show will be on the 23rd of May in Lithuania!