In Our Hearts Forever...
Ch. SandStorm's Smokin' Stogie JH NAVHDA NA
Stogie was my stud fee pick, a son of my cherished GWP "Boise". He has always been a wonderful dog to live with, train and exhibit. The ONLY dog I have ever been withheld on in the ring, twice in fact because of his solid liver color which most judges had never seen or simply didn't care for. Never mind that fact - I finished him by the age of 15 months and he had many Best of Breed wins and group placements in his career, due to his structure, floaty gait and harsh, correct coat which is a hallmark of the breed and I finished his Junior Hunter title before he was 7 months old. I even brought Stogie out to a show at age 11 and the Australian judge awarded him Best of Breed, telling me how impressed she was with his condition and coat. Stogie has been on several wild bird hunts and done extremely well, loved to hunt, had a keen nose, lots of desire and was happy to run the fields every day. Lost him Labor Day weekend due to a mass between his stomach and liver. Took a piece of my heart with him...
Pictured above: Stogie wins Best Veteran at Waukesha Kennel Club in 2008.
Pictured above: Stogie wins Best Veteran at Waukesha Kennel Club in 2008.
Ch. Tickle Your Fancy N'Co
Crystal going Group 3 her first weekend out as a special under Dorothy McDonald!
We were soaking wet as poured rain between group ring and building where pictures were being taken.
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Grace & Crystal: IKC Show Chicago 2006
Ch. CT. SandStorm's A Lady Of The Lake RATN
Lady was a singleton puppy out of Ari. I was determined to not let her believe that the world was only hers so made sure she had plenty of socialization with other dogs and people that included having to learn to share a meal with a chinese crested puppy(neither was too happy about that initially) as well as teaching her not to just stick her tongue in people's drinks when she was 7 weeks old at the Tiki Bar in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
She earned her name "A Lady Of The Lake" when she accidently toppled off the pier in front of our house one day and tried to swim away.....
When she was about 4 months I tried her at tracking.... she was a genius and I thought "she's really good at this, I can't stand in her way". So off to the field every day I went with her and on her first try at 6 months, 1 day old she passed the test to become a TD. I had been challenging her by lengthening and aging the tracks, adding different articles as well as a variety of surfaces and going over, under and through places where most rabbits wouldn't go. At 11 months she passed a TDX on her first try (and there WAS a rabbit on the track that day - fortunately Lady went right back to work after he hopped away). In her 2nd year I let her grow up a bit, showing and finishing her Ch as well as bird work. One day a friend said "are you going to enter her in the VST test the Weim club is having"? I was traveling for business quite a bit at the time, but thought that she probably knew enough and I could probably read her well enough so I entered. Lady prevailed after working start to finish for 57 minutes and became a VST that day which made her the first show champion/champion tracker in Weimaraners as well as the youngest to become a CT. I later learned that she was the first Weimaraner to pass a VST at the Weimaraner Club of Northern Illinois test.
Lady gave us a gorgeous litter of 6 beautiful Weimaraner babies in April 2010. She was a great mother and all those pups turned out to be very pretty with lots of ability, earning show and field titles, but mostly being great family companions/hunting partners with their people.
In 2013 I had Lady ready for Master Hunter and had planned on titling her in spring 2014, but we did some Barn Hunt trials and she became a RATN with no problem earning placements. Bad luck came our way in January of 2014 and we lost the sweetest dog ever to Blasto. No idea where she got it and she got treatment right away, but she just couldn't recover fast enough. It was devastating... 11 months later and I still tear up just writing this paragraph. She had such a great temperament and was so wonderful with all people and animals. Everything I ever did with her was easy and she was just a joy to have around the house, never mind her talent. It is absolutely the hardest part of partnering with such great animals (especially one that you purposefully brought into this world) and we will always miss Lady.
She earned her name "A Lady Of The Lake" when she accidently toppled off the pier in front of our house one day and tried to swim away.....
When she was about 4 months I tried her at tracking.... she was a genius and I thought "she's really good at this, I can't stand in her way". So off to the field every day I went with her and on her first try at 6 months, 1 day old she passed the test to become a TD. I had been challenging her by lengthening and aging the tracks, adding different articles as well as a variety of surfaces and going over, under and through places where most rabbits wouldn't go. At 11 months she passed a TDX on her first try (and there WAS a rabbit on the track that day - fortunately Lady went right back to work after he hopped away). In her 2nd year I let her grow up a bit, showing and finishing her Ch as well as bird work. One day a friend said "are you going to enter her in the VST test the Weim club is having"? I was traveling for business quite a bit at the time, but thought that she probably knew enough and I could probably read her well enough so I entered. Lady prevailed after working start to finish for 57 minutes and became a VST that day which made her the first show champion/champion tracker in Weimaraners as well as the youngest to become a CT. I later learned that she was the first Weimaraner to pass a VST at the Weimaraner Club of Northern Illinois test.
Lady gave us a gorgeous litter of 6 beautiful Weimaraner babies in April 2010. She was a great mother and all those pups turned out to be very pretty with lots of ability, earning show and field titles, but mostly being great family companions/hunting partners with their people.
In 2013 I had Lady ready for Master Hunter and had planned on titling her in spring 2014, but we did some Barn Hunt trials and she became a RATN with no problem earning placements. Bad luck came our way in January of 2014 and we lost the sweetest dog ever to Blasto. No idea where she got it and she got treatment right away, but she just couldn't recover fast enough. It was devastating... 11 months later and I still tear up just writing this paragraph. She had such a great temperament and was so wonderful with all people and animals. Everything I ever did with her was easy and she was just a joy to have around the house, never mind her talent. It is absolutely the hardest part of partnering with such great animals (especially one that you purposefully brought into this world) and we will always miss Lady.
April 2008: Lady passes VST to become the first AKC Weimaraner show champion / champion tracker.
The first Weimaraner to pass a VST at the Weimaraner Club of Northern Illinois test too!
L-R: Me, Lady, Mary Reich (Tracklayer) Terri Everwine & Wally O'Brien - Judges.