The Life and Times of Johnny Ringo

In my last post when I told you about our awesome vacation I mentioned that my super model sister, Princess Halo, was going to be bred to a really cool dude, Buddy (CH Southwind’s American Pie MH), and I told you I would have a post about the puppies.  Actually this is probably going to take several posts to tell and the puppy saga won’t be done until they go to there forever homes in early October, and even then two of them will stay, one with Mom and me and my sisters and the other with MeMaw and PaPaw.  I have to get all the details in and get it right because I am now (drum roll please)….UNCLE RINGO!!  So, the part I left out last time was that Halo was pregnant while we were on vacation.  So that meant mom was extra careful with Halo and it meant that Halo never let us forget she was expecting.  It wasn’t too bad though because Halo kept up and really didn’t look or act pregnant until after we got home. After we got home though things started to change.  Mom was pretty sure Halo was pregnant while we were on our trip, but the actual pregnancy wasn’t confirmed until July 6 when the Doggy Doc did an ultrasound.  It was pretty cool and everyone was really excited.  The Doggy Doc could actually see five puppies in one view which meant that Halo would have at least 5 puppies and likely more. Mom brought home some pictures of the ultrasounds. They didn’t look like much to me, but she seemed really happy so they must have been good. This one Mom tells me shows 3 puppies. They are the little round dark objects in the pictures. They don’t look much like puppies to me, but Mom said they were and you could see them moving and their heartbeating in the live ultrasound.  Mom also said they were really tiny right now, but in about 34 days they would pop out and be beautiful German Shorthaired Pointer puppies.  Mom is pretty smart, so if she says they will be puppies I guess they will.  Me, I just think it will be really cool to have some new playmates.  Maybe I won’t be bottom guy in the pack any more.Well the days passed pretty much normal and it was getting hotter outside, so we all hung out in the AC and just relaxed.  Halo did start getting bigger, so I guess Mom was right about the puppies.  Papaw teased Mom all the time and kept telling her Halo was going to have 14 puppies.  Mom did not think that was too funny, but me and Papaw did.  Here Halo is trying to pose like she does for her super model pictures, but it is getting pretty hard as she is showing her pregnancy now.Mom says we don’t have to wait much longer because Halo is due on the 10th of August.  Mom and her best friend, my Aunt Marcia, are planning to hang out together with Halo the day and night Halo is due.  For some reason Mom thinks Halo will start delivering the little rug rats during the wee hours of the morning. Just a couple of days before the big day. Mom and Halo went to visit the Doggy Doc again and when Mom got home this time she looked like she had seen a ghost.  She was also muttering something about going to shoot PaPaw and that he had wished this on us.  I finally figured out what she was talking about when I overheard Mom talking to MeMaw.  Apparently, when the Doggy Doc saw Mom and Halo she did an Xray to figure out how many puppies Halo was going to have and they counted, at least 11 puppies and maybe as many as 13 puppies.  Holy cow, but that is a big litter.  I guess that explains why Halo was sort of looking like a blimp and really didn’t feel like doing much but eating and sleeping.Well the evening of the 10th came and Halo was in labor and pacing and shredding.  Aunt Marcia and Mom stayed up all night with Halo and were getting kind of worried by 5 am when no puppies had been born.  So, Mom call the Doggy Doc and she said to bring Halo in by 9 am if we didn’t have any puppies by then.  Well 9 am came and no puppies, so mom and Aunt Marcia packed up Halo and headed to the vet.  At the time I figured they would be back soon, but that was not to be.  About 15 minutes after arriving at the doc’s office Halo started having puppies.  The doc gave Mom a choice to either stay and have the puppies there or try to come home.  Mom chose to stay and a good thing too, because several hours later when puppy number 5 was on the way, he got stuck.  The Doggy Doc tried all kinds of things, but nothing worked so they ended up doing a C section on my sister.  If I had known, I would have been worried.  As it turned out Mom had picked a really good Doggy Doc and Halo and puppies came through with flying colors.  Halo had a total of 13 puppies all arriving on August 11th.  It was a happy day except that one of my new neices and one of new nephews didn’t make it, but we still had 11 very healthy puppies, 3 girls and 8 boys.  Mom and Aunt Marcia brought my sister and the nieces and nephews home that evening and Belle and I were very happy to see everyone.Now I can’t wait for them to get bigger and their eyes to open so I will have more playmates. Of course, I am very proud of my nieces and nephews as I am absolutely sure they will all be just as handsome as me, especially Brown who looks kind of like me. Oh yeah, they didn’t get names yet, but Mom did put colored Ribbons on them so we can tell them apart. And one more thing, German Shorthaired Pointers are born with only their liver patches and the rest is all white. Makes us look kind of funny when we are born, but the spots will come in and actually start showing up around day 3. Just trust me, you will see the spots soon enough.  Oh, and PaPaw is still in trouble with Mom.  She says it is his doings that Halo had such a big litter.  I still haven’t figured that one out, but I guess Mom knows.  Well better go check on Halo and the rug rats to make sure everyone is ok.  I will have some more puppy adventures for you next time. This is Uncle Ringo signing off for now.

So my mom’s youngest nephew, Thomas, graduated from High School this year and we had been planning a hiking vacation, my mom, her two nephews and us dogs.  We were excited because we were headed to Ouray, CO.  The goal was to get in some good hiking and for the finale we were going up to Blue Lakes.  Well, Halo almost messed us up.  Leave it to The Princess to decide to come into season early.  Now if you don’t know dogs, that means she was ready to be bred, and mom was planning on breeding her to this really cool dude named Buddy (CH Southwind’s American Pie MH).  So, what to do.  As it turned out Halo’s timing was pretty close to perfect because she was bred to Buddy the weekend of June 12th and we weren’t leaving until the 18th.  So, things were cool.  Even the vet said it would be no problem for her to go hiking in the mountains.  So, we were good to go.  I will tell you later about the puppies, but for now I want to tell you about our trip.We loaded up the Shorthair Express (mom’s fifth wheel) and picked up the nephews and headed out.  We took two days driving up, stopping just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico the first night. The trip up was pretty uneventful and B-O-R-I-N-G, so by the time we got to Ouray I was bouncing off the walls and ready for a hike.  We had a long discussion about where to hike that first day, but finally decided to try a “moderate” hike up Mt. Baldy.  We drove up and were looking for the trail head when we came to a steep dip in the road down to a creek.  We got out and looked because it looked pretty rough.  We were in mom’s big red truck, but we decided that it probably was not worth the risk.  About that same time some other hikers stopped and told us the trail head was less than a quarter of a mile up the road and was an easy walk.  So, we parked the truck and got our gear on.  While we were waiting my sisters and I had a good romp in a mountain meadow.That’s me running across the meadow.  Remember I said I was bouncing off the walls, well running really did help take the edge off.That is Thomas, mom’s youngest nephew that just graduated from High School, waiting with  my sisters Belle and Halo.  And this next picture is my sister, Belle.  Looks like she needed to take the edge off too.Finally we were all ready, so we headed out and it was only about 5 minutes of walking before we ran into our first water crossing.  Of course, I volunteered to check out the creek and lead the way across, but Belle and Halo weren’t far behind me.We got across the stream and headed up, and when I say up I really do mean up.  The trail was vertical and whoever said this was a moderate hike must have been part mountain goat.  I, of course, did not have any problems with the hike at all.  Mom and the boys did pretty good too, although mom did make us stop and take breaks.  My oldest nephew, Louis, had camera duty and was taking the pictures.  Mom is usually our photographer, but Louis is really good too and it gave mom a break so she could just enjoy the hike.  We were hoping to hit the wildflower season, but it turned out we were a bit early.  Still there were some beautiful flowers on this hike.After a long while and not seeing any more creeks for a long time, we decided we needed to take a break. Mom wanted to get us dogs some water out of the pack too because she was worried we were thirsty.  She was right.  It was hot and dusty, so we took a load off.  Mom had forgotten our hiking water bowl so she improvised and used a plastic bag.  It worked great. Belle and I found some shade and Belle who is older and wiser laid in the cool grass while I just stood in the shade.Once we got up pretty high the views were incredible as usual.And we even saw a mountain squirrel. Actually, I didn’t see the squirrel because I was out in front, but Louis saw it and got a great picture.Well after the squirrel we hiked a long time and finally took a break and ate lunch. We got some jerky for lunch which was pretty good. Mom, Louis and Thomas were trying to decide whether to go on as we hadn’t reached the summit yet, or to turn back. They finally decided that we should turn back because it was late in the day and we had a long hike down. When we got back to the rig we were all tired.The next day wegot the boys ready for their overnighter. They had decided they would do the Oak Creek hike which was supposed to be fairly easy. spend the night on the mountain and then come back down the next morning. Mom had promised us that we would drop the boys off at the trail head and then she would take us swimming at Ridgeway reservoir. We needed a break anyway as we needed to rest up for the big hike to Blue Lakes. So, we loaded up the truck and headed to the trail head which was actually in the town of Ouray. When we got there mom, of course, had to have some pictures of the boys.That is Louis on the left and Thomas on the right. They were pretty excited about the trip. We watched them head up the trail,And then we headed to the reservoir. The water was cold,but we went for it anyway. We all three were wrestling in the water and having a great time.Before long it was time to dry off and head back to the rig. We were going to watch a movie and then get to bed early. So we loaded up into the truck and headed back. Of course, as soon as we round a curve in the road we saw this.The next morning we slept in and did some laundry and mom was relaxing and reading while we slept. We didn’t have to go get the boys until the afternoon, so we had lot’s of time to just chill. Around lunch time Mom got a text and was surprised when it was from Thomas. He was letting her know that they had gotten down early and had hiked into Ouray and were eating burgers at a local restaurant. We picked them up a little while later and boy were they glad to be back with us. They were both pooped and Louis even took a nap with Halo.The next day was our big hike day. We were going to do Blue Lakes. Blue Lakes is a long and vertical hike, about 8 miles round trip. Mom had done it about 14 years ago and really wanted to see the lake again. We were all excited. We headed out early the next morning as we had to drive over by the Dallas Divide and find the trail head.  We got started and were thinking there would be allot of water on this trail.  It wasn’t too bad.  We hit a couple of creeks on the way up and it was shady off and on too which helped.  We knew we were hiking to right at timber line, but were still surprised to find quite a bit of snow on the ground.  At first it was just small patches of snow and I loved it because it gave me a place to cool off.Even Halo liked the snow and she figured out you could eat it and it was almost as good as a creek for a drink which was good because we were thirsty.But then the snow patches got bigger and Halo wanted to show us how to run in the deeper snow.Belle and I just stood on the snow and watched her in awe. I was thinking there she goes showing off again.Mom finally said enough playing in the snow. It is time we get to the lake and rest and have some lunch. So, we headed on up. It was a long climb and I think we were all wondering if we would ever get to the lake when we rounded a curve and there it was, Blue Lakes.It was beautiful and cold. Heck, there was even snow in the lake.Halo wanted to go swimming again, but the water was icy cold. So, we waded a little and relaxed on the bank by the lake.Then it was time to head back down the mountain. It was much easier hiking down than up, but it was still a very long day and we were all very tired when we got back to the rig. The next day was our last day before we had to head home, so we all decided to just hang out, rest, get everything ready to go and play cards. It was Thomas’ idea to play cards. So, we played Rummy and it was pretty funny too. Mom beat the socks off of the boys. Thomas so wanted to win, so he kept challenging her and finally he started doing ok, but mom was still the master of the card games on this trip. We left the next morning and took two days to drive home. It seemed to take twice as long because we were all so anxious to get home, but we finally arrived and as they say – There’s no place like home. It was a great vacation though, and I think the boys want to do it again next year.

I have been really busy this summer, but wanted to catch everyone up on my adventures.  Last Spring, I went back to visit Uncle Ronnie at Bird Camp (I graduated from Bird Boot Camp, so it is just Bird Camp now.).  My goal was to really work on steady to wing. That means I had to give up chasing the birds.  That is hard for me, because I love to chase birds, and I am pretty good at catching them too.  Still Mom wants me to someday get my Senior Hunter so I have to work hard on the Steady to Wing stuff.I was at camp for about 2 months and had a really good time.  Every morning Jamie let me out to help her around the camp.  I got to do that because I was a good boy and didn’t run off.  After the morning chores the real work began.  I would get to work with some birds and then later I ran and ran and ran.  They called it conditioning.  I must have been conditioned pretty good because I could run forever.  Anyway, after the run I went for a swim to cool down and then I got to rest for the hot part of the afternoon.  That was nice.  Sometimes I was in my kennel, sometimes in an outside run and sometimes they put me on a tie out under a tree.  Wherever, it was nice because I could watch all the stuff going on or sleep.  Uncle Ronnie and Jamie would also talk to me and stop and scratch my ears from time to time too.  In the evening, Jamie let me out again to help get dinner ready.  Boy, I like dinner and eating so I was always eager to help.  My dinner was special because they were trying really hard to keep weight on my. So, I always got an egg in my dinner.  Now this wasn’t just any old ordinary store bought egg.  Nope.  It was an egg straight from Jamie’s chickens, and those eggs were delicious.  After dinner it was lights out for the night.  I was always ready to hit the sack though because I worked so hard during the day. My days were pretty much the same and I got into such a routine that I knew where I was supposed to be and when and I would be waiting when Jamie or Uncle Ronnie wanted to be somewhere.  In case no one has ever told you, us dogs like routines.  Routines make us feel safe and secure.  So life was good at bird camp.Mom came up from time to time on the weekends, so I got to show her my stuff.  Here are some pictures of me and Jamie working a bird.  Uncle Ronnie was handling the bird, and mom was taking pictures and watching.  Even if I say so myself, I did awesome.In this picture I had found the bird and was pointing.  They had the check cord on me so I couldn’t bust in and flush the bird.  That is part of being steady.  Jamie was holding the end of the check cord.  I like the check cord because it reminds me to be good.

Jamie slowly worked her way down the check cord in preparation for the flush.

And the flush.  I got to watch, but couldn’t move from my spot.  Jamie was helping to remind me what to do.

I did good because Jamie just had to hold her hand on my collar as a reminder.  I didn’t really try to move to chase that bird.  Mom was really proud of my work. After working I got to run the fields while Mom was walking, and then take a dip in the tank.  Jamie and Uncle Ronnie had gone back to the camp to work some other dogs. This is a picture of me heading out in a field.  I was pretty tired, but still wanted to see if I could find a bird and show Mom how good I was doing even without Uncle Ronne and Jamie.

I was disappointed we didn’t find any more birds, but I do like to cool off in the tank.  Mom let me swim for a while before we headed back to camp.  Mom had to get home and I had to get back to my job of helping out around camp.

But the day wasn’t quite over yet.  I still had one more surprise for Mom.  On the way back I decided it would be good to run the fence line.  After all allot of birds hang out on fence lines.  And just as I was about to give up, there it was, that heavenly scent that I had been looking for so I could show my stuff.  The only problem was this bird wasn’t sitting still, so this was going to be really hard.  Boy did I want to give chase to that bird.  Then in  my mind I heard it, “Steady Ringo boy, steady.”  So, I locked on point.  Mom was watching, I could see her out of the corner of my eye, but before she could get the picture of my pointing that dang bird flew.  ”Steady Ringo boy!” I did it!!! Steady to wing and all by myself, and mom got my picture as I watched that bird fly away.

THAT is Steady to Wing!!

Day 2 of our vacation was a much more solemn day.  Mom doesn’t talk about it much, but she had another reason for this special trip to Colorado.  She had promised my two legged dad that she would take him and his heart dog, Sassy, to a special place in Colorado for their final stop on earth.  Now I didn’t get to know my two legged dad very well because when I came home he was really pretty sick already.  Mom said he had cancer.  She tells me that it was because of my two legged dad that I came to live with her and the girls.  He had been in remission when he and mom decided they needed another bird dog and that was perfect timing because my two legged grandma was ready to have another litter (that was me and my brothers and sisters).  Mom had already put the deposit down on me and it was just weeks before I was born when my two legged dad found out that he had a very limited amount of time left.  Mom was ready to give me up when he told her in no uncertain terms that she was to go ahead and get me because she would need me.  I am sure glad he felt that way because I love my mom and sisters.  I can’t imagine not having them around.  Anyway, mom picked me up the end of July and I did everything I could to make her smile during the dark time.  Dad insisted I learn to swim, so we spent the last few weekends we had together with mom teaching me to swim and dad supervising from his chair on the beach area at Lake Travis’ Pace Bend Park.  I even wrote an earlier blog on my swimming lessons.  At the time, I was really too little to understand much, but I just knew I had to make mom laugh whenever I could.  She still calls me her happy boy to this day, and I am sure that is because of my early efforts. 

My two legged dad crossed the Rainbow Bridge in September 2008 when I was just a few months old, but it took almost a year before mom could make the final trip to scatter his ashes in a place he loved just about more than anywhere else on earth.  So, we rented a jeep and made the trek over Cinnamon and Engineer Passes.  I know why my mom calls it God’s country.  Here are some pictures so you can judge for yourself.

 And some pictures of the view from my dad’s resting place on Earth.  Pretty awesome isn’t it.

Cinnamon Pass:

 Engineer Pass (It was snowing when we got to Engineer Pass, but still magnificent):

 And for those folks wondering about my reference to the Rainbow Bridge, that is a place where all dogs go and someday get to meet up with their people.  My dad and Sassy met at the Rainbow Bridge on 10 September 2008. No one knows who wrote this poem, but my mom is partial to it and so was my dad.

The Rainbow Bridge

Author Unknown

 

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

 

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

 

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

 

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

 

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

 Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

Love you dad and Sassy.

Boy, it has been almost a year since I last posted.  I have been one busy boy, and my mom and sisters have been busy too.  After I got home from Bird Boot Camp we took it easy for a few months.  At least that is what mom called it.  We were actually trying to get Halo finished.  That means her Championship in the conformation ring.  We had a long dry summer of shows and mom said Halo was Reserve Queen again.  Finally, she did it in Canton, TX.  She finished.  That meant we really got to stay home for a while.  Here is a picture of Halo finished…I mean CH Madrone Heavenly Halo CD CGC.  Geesh, she gets mad if I forget any of the letters before or after her name.  I am proud of my sister, Halo, but don’t tell her I said that.  That’s my mom with Halo, and the judge is holding the ribbons.

I am also proud of my sister, Belle.  She is a certified therapy dog with Therapy Pet Pals of Texas.  She has been a therapy dog now for almost a year and goes every other week to the Austin State School to visit with the kids.  They love her there and call her Miss Belle.  Her favorite thing to do there is to entertain the kids by doing her tricks.  Their favorite is saying Howdy do to Miss Belle.  She then shakes there hand.  I don’t have any pictures of Belle and the kids because they have privacy rules and no one is allowed to take pictures with the kids. 

As for me, well where do I start?  I guess I should tell you first about my first vacation to Colorado hiking.  It was a real good time.  Belle and Halo got to go and mom invited our nephew, Louis, too.  We took the Shorthair Express (aka mom’s fifth wheel) for the trip and headed out to Lake City, CO.  It took us two days to get there, but once we were there…WOW.  We did three big hikes and a jeep trip over two passes. 

The first day there we took it easy.  We did a pretty flat 2 mile hike up William’s Creek to the beaver pond.  Mom said we needed to get acclimated since we had come from pretty much sea level to about 9000 feet.  Lake City is 8,666 feet and William’s Creek was a little above that.  It was a nice hike.  I was expecting to be tired, but as usual I had energy to spare.  Even Belle, the oldest, wasn’t tired. Here’s a picture of me and Belle waiting on Mom, Louis and Halo.  I was the one in front, and notice that I am not on a leash.  Mom said as long as I was reliable I could hike like a big boy.  I was about 1 and ½ years old when we went on vacation.

And this is a picture of Halo and our nephew, Louis.

And, of course, the Beaver Pond.

And a few of us playing in the pond.  Notice we found the mud too.  We even got to retrieve a stick for mom. The water was cold, but we didn’t care because we knew we would have a chance to run off the cold.

Notice who has the stick in this next picture. Yep, that’s me.  Belle and Halo were not happy with me because I kept beating them.

So we compromised and all brought the stick to mom.

And me on the way back down.  I was pretty tired when mom took this picture, but I was still in front of the girls.

Louis also took mom’s favorite picture on this hike.  She had been wanting a new one with me and the girls, so we agreed reluctantly to take a few minutes and take pictures.  This was the result.  It made mom happy, so it was worth it.

That was our first day on vacation, hiking in Colorado and I was pretty sure I was going to like the rest of the trip too. 

That’s if for now.  Tomorrow I will tell you about Cinnamon and Engineer pass and the jeep trip over the passes.  That was spectacular and it snowed on us too.

Wow, I had a great time at bird boot camp, but I was sooooo happy to get to go home.  I really wanted to deploy to California with Mr. Ronnie, but I was also a little worried about getting homesick.  I was also missing my sisters, allot.

Mom got to camp early Saturday morning and Mr. Ronnie picked out a couple of quail and I hopped into the kennel on the back of the mule, and mom and Mr. Ronnie hopped in and we drove out to the fields for some bird work.  Mom hadn’t seen me work birds in a couple of weeks, so I really wanted to impress her.  Mr. Ronnie still keeps me on a check cord even though I know whoa because I sometimes still get carried away when birds are around.  Mom held me behind the mule while Mr. Ronnie put out the first bird.  Even though I couldn’t see, I knew that is what he was doing because I could smell those birds.  Once the bird was planted mom led me out.  I was already picking up some scent so all I needed to do was zero in on the birds location.  We walked a ways and I was working off the check cord, then I had it.  Wham, I locked on point and at the same time I saw that big smile on moms face.  She was surprised because the last time we did bird work I was busting in and chasing birds.  Not this time, I gave her the prettiest point I could muster. Mom was still holding the check cord, but not very tight.  She was also giving me the whoa command while Mr. Ronnie went in to flush the quail.  The bird flushed and I was all set to chase, then that dang bird wouldn’t fly.  I was gonna get if for mom, but Mr. Ronnie told mom, “Hold him.”  He went in and grabbed the bird, then mom walked in and released me and heeled me off in the opposite direction.  Mom and Mr. Ronnie were really happy with my work, so they decided to let me run and hit all the swimming holes before mom and I headed home.  Mom told me later that Mr. Ronnie said I had allot of natural ability.  She told me I stayed out in front really good and worked the cover like a much older dog.

After all that work I was really tired.  I was happy I got to swim allot because it was already getting hot.  I live in Texas you know and in the summer it gets into the 100′s.  This year has been really bad with the temps already climbing to 105. Mr. Ronnie and mom discussed my continuing education.  He told mom she didn’t need to worry about bird work as I was great with that, but he wanted her to continue working the basic obedience stuff. That means more whoa training and heeling.  I will be going back for more advanced work in a couple of months, but for now I am home with mom and my sisters.

Oh I almost forgot, mom told me and my sisters we are going to the beach for the 4th of July.  I have never been to the beach, but Belle and Halo tell me it is really fun.  Lot’s of swimming and birds to chase.  Can’t wait to get to the beach.

Until next time…..

Dear Ringo,

The girls and I miss you so much.  You have only been away for about a month and it seems like forever.  I know you are studying hard and doing very well at bird boot camp.  I am so looking forward to seeing you this coming Saturday.

I wanted to write and let you know that Mr. Ronnie and I have been talking about the trip to California.  It seems that Mr. Ronnie is now agreeing with me that you may not be quite mature enough yet.  We are thinking about the possibility of you staying here with me and the girls this summer while Mr. Ronnie is away in California.  I know you will be disappointed not to deploy with your other shorthair friends, but look on the bright side, you will get to go to the beach over the 4th of July with me and the girls.  You haven’t ever got to go swimming in the ocean.  I know you will like it, probably even more than swimming at the lake.  So, this weekend when I come up to visit, Mr. Ronnie and I are going to discuss the next steps in your training.  If you do stay home this summer you will still have to study and work hard.  We will visit the bird lease in Cibolo and also continue your work on whoa, heeling and here.  I know it is not as exciting as going to California, but a part of me is really happy that you may actually be staying home.  As I said in the beginning of this letter, I really miss you and so do your sisters.

Love,

Mom and your sisters, Belle and Halo

PS – Can’t wait to see you this weekend.  I will be there bright and early.

Dear Mom,

I really miss you most of the time except when I am working with Mr. Ronnie and the birds.  It was fun seeing you last weekend.  I liked showing off my whoa skills.  Still hard for me to whoa though when there are birds around.  It is just so much fun to catch them.  I am really having allot of fun with Mr. Ronnie.  We work hard early in the morning because it is cooler and I get to go swimming in the tanks when I get too hot.  I also sometimes get to work with Paris.  She is the cute GSP that you met on Saturday when you visited.  I think Mr. Ronnie told you she got her name because she was queen bee in his house when she was little.  She is named after Paris Hilton.  She is really good on birds for a girl.  Oh, and she is kinda cute too.  She is a little older than me, just three months, but she sometimes acts older when she is ignoring me.  I think she likes me though.

Mr. Ronnie says we will be deploying to Northern California soon.  I probably won’t be able to write much when I am deployed as I will be working allot more on bird training. I think it is Special Ops training for bird dogs.  It is supposed to be much cooler in CA.  The place we are going to is a 600 acre totally fenced area which is setup for training dogs for bird hunting.  I should get some real quality time on wild birds while I am there.   I am looking forward to the trip, but I think I will miss you and the girls.

How are Belle and Halo doing?  Have they gotten to go swimming again?  I am jealous if they did because I really like swimming at the lake.  The lake is nicer than the swimming tanks here because it is so much bigger.  Tell the girls I said hi and that I miss them.  Tell Halo I really miss the fun and games with her, and tell Belle I miss laying around and sunbathing during the day with her.

Well I gotta go as it is getting close to dinner time.  I know you aren’t coming up this weekend, but I am looking forward to seeing you next weekend.

Miss you and the girls.

Love,

Ringo boy (that is what Mr. Ronnie calls me all the time)

PS – Tell the girls if they want to write a few blogs this summer while I am gone that it is ok by me.

I got my birthday present a little late this year, but it was worth the wait.

I am now a year old.  My birthday was May 30th, but I got my present today.  Mom wouldn’t tell us where we were going.  All she would say is we are going somewhere for a belated birthday for Ringo.  I think Halo knew where we were going though as she just kept doing that whimpering thing she does when she is excited.  I should have known too that it was something Halo liked to do, but I never guessed what my present was going to be. 

We got up early this morning and got ready to go.  Mom put our hiking collars on and we loaded up in the car and were off.  We drove for what I thought was a long time.  Not as long as going to the Nationals, but still we were excited so to us it seemed like forever.  Finally, we turned off of the highway and Belle and Halo knew where we were going.  They started getting really excited.  For me, it sort of seemed familiar, but not really. Finally, we got to the gate and paid the entrance fee to a really nice lady.  That was when I got my first clue.  She told mom the dogs had to be on leash except when they were in the water.  Swimming, we were going swimming.

After paying we headed into the park and turned off the main road and I saw Lake Travis.  We were heading to Pace Bend Park where I had learned to swim almost a year ago.  I was excited and a little nervous because I hadn’t been in a big lake since I was 4 months old.  Mom said I would be fine and not to worry. We went to the exact same spot out on a sandy peninsula.  There were some birds around, but I was so excited about the water that I didn’t even pay the birds any mind.  Well they weren’t quail.  Anyway, we jumped out of the car and never slowed down until we hit the water. Mom was right behind us with the bright red bumpers. We spent over an hour swimming and retrieving those bumpers.  It was a fantastic birthday present.

Here are some pictures.  This one is Belle, Halo and me in the back waiting for the throw.

And this is Halo with the bumper (she is still the fastest swimmer) and then me and Belle.  Belle and I were doing our best to keep up with Halo. Of course, Halo has an advantage because she is smaller than me and Belle.

And this one is me telling mom to hurry up and throw the bumper, please.

And this is Halo and me goofing around with the bumper.

And this last one, well I was expressing my enthusiasm for my birthday swimming trip.

I had a great day swimming and have been resting since I got home.  Mom was smiling all the way home and mumbling something about tired GSPs.  You guys probably know what she meant.

Well I am probably not going to be blogging much at least for the next few weeks as I am going off to bird school tomorrow.  Mom is taking be back to spend some time with my trainer.  She says she will be coming up on the weekends to work with me.  I will miss mom, but Mr. Ronnie has all kinds of birds at his place.  I think I will have fun at bird school, and when I get back home sometime in late July or early August I should be all ready to start the fall round of hunt tests and maybe even some field trials. 

So, I will try to get a blog with some pictures while I am at bird school, but until then just remember….Got Birds!!!!

Wow, it has been 3 months since I last wrote something for you guys.  Allot has happened to me in that 3 months. I have been to several hunt tests, a field trial, I made my first appearance in the conformation ring at the Nationals, and I am now one year old.

It has been a while since I have written anything, but I have been really busy.  First, we had the marathon run of dog shows for Halo as mom was trying to finish her.  Belle and I were along for the ride.  We went to Glen Rose which I wrote about, San Marcos, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Midland (actually I was in bird school for Midland).  Halo won her second major in Fort Worth and then picked up two more points in Midland.  She only needs two more points to finish. In between the dog shows with Halo, mom took me to four hunt tests and one field trial.  I got three legs of my Junior Hunter and then figured out it was more fun to catch the birds than it was to point them.  Anyway, I think mom is getting ready for the summer round of dog shows as she wants to finish Halo before the end of the year.  Boy am I glad I will be in bird school for a big portion of the summer. Mom says I need to learn to point again.

Speaking of bird school and pointing, I spent April in bird school learning to heel, whoa and perfecting my recall.  The trainer was real impressed because I already was good at heeling, unless there was a bird around, and I had what he called the best recall he had seen on a dog my age.  April was a fun month for me even though I missed mom a little bit.  I lived in the kennel and had my own private run which was next door to an English Pointer.  I even got to sleep in a barrel filled with hay.  It was great.  Mom picked me up from bird school in late April because she wanted to take me and my sisters to the Nationals.

The Nationals are the big German Shorthair Pointer dog show that happens every year somewhere in the US.  This year it was in Denver.  Mom had plans for all of us.  Belle was entered in Open Obedience, Halo was entered in Novice Obedience and Conformation and me, I was entered in Sweepstakes and Conformation.  It was my debut in the ring.  Mom was handling Halo, so I got to meet Kristina Chandler.  She handled me.  I really liked Kristina because she had the best treats.  She could even get me to free stack.  I guess that is important because mom was really proud of my free stack. I had fun in the ring, but I have to say birds are a whole lot more fun.  I didn’t win anything, but mom said I did really good for first time in the ring.  One of mom’s friends said my mom was brave debuting me at the Nationals.  I think I did pretty good though. 

Halo didn’t win anything in conformation either, but she made a haul in obedience (more about that in a minute).  Belle…mom said Belle put on the performance of a life time.  I didn’t get to see it, but allot of people were talking about it.  Something about her retrieve on the flat where she was supposed to retrieve the dumbbell.  Apparently, she decided the exercise needed improving.  When Belle improvises look out.  Mom said she went out for the dumbbell nicely and picked it up, but when she turned around to return the devil was in her eyes.  At that point, she tossed (not a little toss, but about 10 feet up) the dumbbell in the air and the folks watching started laughing and clapping. She of course retrieved the dumbbell again and raced toward mom (I think she was supposed to return the dumbbell to mom), as she got about 5 feet from mom, she tossed the dumbell right at her feet.  I think that is pretty good, but I guess that was not what she was supposed to do.  The judge told mom later that if she could have qualified Belle she would have as she had never seen a shorthair with that much enthusiasm in the obedience ring.  Belle told us she had fun too.

Halo on the other hand stuck to the script.  After a complete bust at the early obedience show on Wednesday (Halo got up from her sit), she came back on Friday and nailed her performance.  Mom was walking in the clouds for at least two weeks.  Halo scored a whopping 196 in her obedience run and won her class, and she also won High in Trial.  She was the best Obedience dog at the GSP Nationals this year.  Her picture is even going to be on the cover of the Shorthair Journal.  As I said earlier she made a haul.  She got a blue ribbon and pewter dish for winnning her class, and she got a beautiful trophy, a nice bag from the Purina lady, and an enormous ribbon for winning HIT, that’s High in Trial.  Here is a picture of her and mom after the win.  It is hard to see the shorthair trophy, but it is really a nice statue (about 8 X 8) of a shorthair pointing on a wooden base.  We were all really proud of Halo.

This one is me showing in Sweepstakes.  This was my very first time in the ring, ever.  That is Kristina with me.  She stacked me just like mom did all those times we practiced stacking at home.  It sure makes me look good when I get stacked.

Not bad, huh?

And here are some pictures of us in the fifth wheel in Denver at the Shorthair Nationals.  We are all watching TV after a long day of showing. I think Belle was actually napping.

And of course, Princess National Halo after her big win.  She was really tired.

We had allot of fun at the Nationals and are all looking forward to going again next year when it is in Gainesville, Florida.  Mom says it will be hard to top this years Nationals, but we intend to try.  Yippee, another road trip.

I am going to close off this post now because I want to do one more post about my birthday. Here is a hint; mom took us swimming for my birthday.