RedDogRunnin: Oh what a weekend!

Sing the title of this post like you would the song "Oh what a night"! This was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time - it was ALL about the puppies!

To start off the excitement - Karen Hocker (http://www.karenhocker.com/), Kristen Hocker, Nikon (Cash's uncle), Snapshot (Cash's half-sister), and Trey (Cash's 'little' brother) came down on Friday night. They spent the entire weekend with us! Karen and Nikon were signed up to participate in the Lorie Jolly (http://www.rosehillretrievers.com/) Seminar being held on my property on Saturday. The seminar was hosted by New Jersey Pine Barrens Golden Retriever Club.

The seminar started fairly early Saturday morning - but this was no big deal because all we had to do was walk out the back door to attend! Lorie was instructing the seminarians on 'transitioning from Junior to Senior and Master Hunter work' - WAY above my head, but very interesting none the less! It was very interesting to watch these talented dog and handler teams work. I learned a great deal - and was able to see the connections between what I already train for obedience/agility and how they would apply to field work. Very cool! The only down side was the weather - it was cloudy, on the cold side and WINDY! Karen and I almost blew away a few times! Exhaustion and windburn followed the day of fun in the field!

On Sunday morning we started the day with a good breakfast and some agility. Karen had offered to teach me some of the skills she uses to take her amazing photographs and Kristen ran the dogs so I could practice shooting. The Hockers also helped me to practice taking more posed shots - stacked poses, seated poses and head shots using Nikon, Snapshot and Trey. And lastly we did a little field work with the young boys and Sophie - both on land and in the water. Oh how the boys love the birdies! Karen was nice enough to take some shots of Jesse, Sophie and Cash doing some agility, field stuff and posed shots as well. I can't wait to see what she got!

My photos were better than what I've taken in the past. Karen taught me so much - I just need to practice now and get the timing right! Here's some of the best shots from the day... focus isn't always 'on' - but I'm a green to doing this the right way, so give me a break and in time, my shots will ROCK! Or at least I hope they will :)

This is Nikon jumping the double - and he's not quite in focus...

Here's Trey jumping - again, not quite in focus and the composition is poor...

Here's another shot of Trey jumping - better focus and composition (better, not GOOD!), but POOR TIMING! Way too early with those dangling feets!

This is a shot of half of Snapshot on the bottom of the teeter. Of all the teeter shots, it was the only one where the dog was in focus.

This is Trey - stacked - looking like a big boy - but he's SOOO the 'little' brother compared to my MOOSE - Mr. Cash! I like this image though and there's not too much for me to complain about :)

Uncle Nikon stacked - and his face isn't quite in focus...

I think this image needed that reflector thing to eliminate the shadow on Nikon's right side (left side of image), but other than that, its an OK shot I guess...

Trey was the last of the Hocker dogs to pose for portraits, so all of his are nicer, in my opinion! This one just looks cute and dignified :)

Then there's Snapshot's head shot... Do you see her PINK nose? At first we all thought the poor baby had sunburn - she has a very light nose. But nope - she rubbed it raw trying to escape her crate in the house! Silly Girl!