good luck

It's a busy week in vizsla-land. The Vizsla Club of America is holding its annual National Gun Dog Championships starting on Thursday, April 9th, till 'conclusion'... as the field-trial world likes to put it. Finding the best dog will take as long as necessary, all the while assuming that the weather will cooperate. Incidentally, for the gun dog championships, the primary difference between it and most conventional field-trial gun dog stakes is that it is a one-hour walking stake, and birds will be shot (and retrieved) throughout the course.

We're rooting for Upwind Kismet Rapid Fire (aka. Mason) who had such a good outing with his owner, Lisa DeForest, at the VCA National Field Trial in Arizona this past November, ultimately taking 3rd in the Amateur Field Championship. While trying to find the running order for this week's event, I found that Mark Spurgeon had posted a slew of pictures from the fall event including this one. There's some great pictures of the scenery as well as the dogs -- and it includes a pic of a coyote that had to be chased off from harassing the dogs.

On a side note: it's coyote whelping season... here in the Bronx! Our two had to chase off a coyote this morning that was probably just trying to protect its cubs but which, in turn, was getting too close to Meg. Somehow, the idea of coyotes whelping in Van Cortland Park doesn't seem like a hazard wethought we'd have to worry about -- but then again, nor was toxic poop.

In any case, think happy thoughts for all the red dogs competing in Portage, WI, this week -- but especially for Mason. (Mason is actually an uncle to our own Mr. Enthusiasm... his mother also produced Jozsi's father.)