On April 18th, 2009
Jules got 2nd place in Amateur Walking Puppy from Saturday- fun! On Sunday- she ran like a maniac in Open Puppy- wizzed by a coyote on the horse trail and kept on going... I really needed a scout for her- but the judge let me wrangle her back in and she finished her brace hard.
In Amateur Walking Derby- she was braced with the 1st place GSP pup from the day before. It was a nice race and Jules ran big. The path was difficult to walk as it was rainy, muddly and had deep horse foot prints. Luckily Jules stayed to the front and I did'nt have to call her too much. We found both dogs on point as we turned a corner and when the bird flew- my brand new blank gun failed to fire...My bracemate shot hers so I was covered. We kept going and Jules had 3 more finds and held point until the bird flushed and thankfully my bracemate was nearby to fire her gun. Her GSP had a back on one of the birds. Both dogs seemed a little tired towards the end-and Jules didn't have her huge finish. At least she slowed down enough to point a few birds. Four bird finds in 20 minutes is A LOT.
As it turns out Jules got 4th and her bracemate got 3rd.
A placement in Derby is very exciting as dogs need to establish point to even be considered. Seeing Jules hold birds after all she went through with Lyme Disease was very gratifying. Having her handle for me at all after only 3 months in foster care, is a feel good for sure.