In Quest of a Masters Title

[Greg P]

It's been a bittersweet fall. in the quest for Kona's ME. In Turner, OR, Kona had a virtually perfect run for a Q on Saturday. The next day, he didn't indicate to the judges satisfaction. 1 leg down!

Then off to Crosswick's NJ for a little earthdog around the national specialty. A great run...the 2nd leg down.

Now off to Moses Lake. We were in the lower field, and it was a very nice venue and the weather was glorious. We had very high hopes in completing Kona's ME title here in 2007. He earned his first JE earthdog leg last year in September, so we had a chance to title out in Masters in less than 13 months.

Kona's first run was PERFECT! High praise for the hunt up. Beautiful indication. 17 seconds to the rats. Worked like a terrier, did a wonderful job honoring the other dog.......3 legs down.

Now its Sunday, the big day. Hope was in the air. Kona came to the venue excited........perhaps a little too excited. As we came around the corner to the field where the den was, the little poop stain bolted! All fours off the ground, going as fast as he could to the den area. I did manage to call him all the way back to the false den, but the judge failed us for lack of control. RATS! Kona's hunt up has always been spectacular.......I would have never figure he'd bolt. Everything else was perfect.

Sooooooo at this point it looks like we'll have something to do in 2008. (No. Cal is a remote option in November....)

[bradl]

Heh, Katrina's been practically commuting back and forth to Turner from San Jose, looking for Fiona's last Master leg; maybe NorCal is not so remote

It's certainly been a great year for Kona and congratulations are earned and due! Well done to Kona and his handler/partners. You are This >< Close.

With our gang, the pass rate seemed to average about 50% on the Master journey, so Kona is still ahead of that. Every day in the field is a new day, and as long as Kona is having fun, all is right with the world. Plus, if you wait and title at Turner, you get a handsome blue embroidered bandana

[mattoleriver]

> but the judge failed us for lack of control.

Yep, sounds familiar, that's just about how we did it last spring! My fault, I was afraid of overhandling and ended up underhandling! (

Greg, has Kona had any digestive problems since leaving Moses Lake? A poster on another list has two sick dogs after returning from the tests.

George

[dianer]

We just mailed off our entry for Dixon on 10/27 and 10/28. I am really looking forward to it. This time we are just entered in Junior

Earthdog, not Conformation. The premium says Senior, Junior and Intro to Quarry are offered by the Northern California Dachsund Club.

The weather here is very wet right now. It might just be our bad luck that we baked last time and so I hope this time we don't drown.

[Greg P]

George, No, the dogs are all fine from Moses Lake. Thinking back, I should have been more assertive with him at the beginning. That being said, that was the first time he ever bolted like that, so it caught me a little by surprise.

We went to a PSEC practice and fun day today. Hattie had a couple of good junior runs. She's getting very, very close.

One of the PSEC members has a stuffed badger cacrass that he scented with a raccoon scent (just couple of drops on the carcass). He dragged the carcass on the ground and left it in the woods. I didn't know it was there. Kona and I were enjoying the big field, working the brush line of the field and he started working down a road. He was really working it! He started barking and when I came up on him, he was barking at that badger. As I started to praise him, he gave it a vicious "death shake". Again, he found it -- we had no idea it was out there.

Later in the afternoon, the owner moved it to a different location (scenting the ground the same way). This time we went hunting on purpose. Kona picked up the scent at exactly where it started -- and followed it about 100 yards to find the badger again. He attacked it again.

It was quite thrilling to watch him pick up the scent and to work it to find the stuffed badger. It was amazing how they can pick up scent line made from just a couple of drops on that badger that was dragged through the grass and brush