First some news!  Storm had her puppies yesterday.  Even though we weren’t involved in the whelping, it was a long stressful day.  (Maybe because we weren’t involved it was long and stressful.  )  She ended up needing a c-section late in the day.  There were a total of 12 puppies, but one did not make it.  The final count is 7 girls and 4 boys.  For those of you who asked about the ultrasound Storm had, it showed 10 puppies so we knew it would be a good-sized litter.  I guess that is why Storm was a good size too.    We have been told Storm and pups are doing fine.  Sorry I don’t have a picture.

I was not able to visit many blogs in the hop yesterday and I was already behind from the weekend, so I hope you will bear with me as I catch up.

We had a wonderful visit with Freighter this weekend.  Our original plan was to pick him up and go to our cabin.  However, the weather turned very nasty and they were expecting freezing rain so we decided to bring Freighter home instead.  I was a bit worried about putting him and Thunder together since they have been apart for several weeks.  But they were fine and I think Thunder was actually happy to see Freighter.  Freighter did not seem to torment Thunder as much with puppy antics so they had a nice little visit too.

We wanted to get out and work Freighter a little.  He was ready to work because after sitting around the house a few hours, he was bouncing off the walls.  He has a lot of energy.  Also, there is a test in about a month.  He will not be ready for Seniors yet since our very late Spring means he has not yet begun to tackle the dreaded water blind and I am not sure where he is on doubles either.  Right now, our plan is to try to finish up his Junior title in May and look to Seniors later in the Summer or even early Fall.

We ran marks and blinds.  His training is coming along very nicely.  I will write more on his blind work another time, but for now here are some pictures of the marks we ran, which were long singles.  We had him on some ducks in preparation for the upcoming test, but we also used bumpers.

These pictures are from Saturday.  We went to a local park.  This park always has large water puddles in Spring.  We figured we could use them as running water.

Freighter Is Off

Through A Puddle

On The Bumper

Scooping It Out

On His Way Back

Good Boy!

On Sunday we went to Omega (where we have our training membership).  We had to be careful where we went because there is so much water this year, we did not want to get stuck on a muddy farm road.  We ended up in the same field as the week before.  We threw the marks into a cut corn field.  The first mark was a bit too easy for Freighter so his handler moved him back and ran him from the road.  This required him to go down a ditch and up again losing sight of the mark.  No problem for Freighter.  I took some pictures with my cell because it was snow showering too hard to use the good camera.  I was too far away to get good pictures with the cell.  Toward the end of the day, I was able to take out my camera and get some shots.

Freighter Is Off

And Running Hard

He Has The Bumper

Good Boy

We Also Had Him On Birds

Cell Phone Picture Of His Return (You Can See The Ditch He Had To Run Through)

Freighter is much more difficult to photograph than Thunder, or even Storm.  I am trying some different focusing options to see if I can get more of the pictures I want.  I am also experimenting with some different lighting options for when it is cloudy or sunny.  My camera has many options so pictures will be a work in progress, especially where there is cover in the way. 

Our visit was much too short, but we were really happy with how his training is progressing.  Darrin is doing a wonderful job with him.  His handling is improving every time we see him.