2008 was quite the year for us. Since Jan, we have finished 2 senior hunters, 4 junior hunters, and 2 show champions.

October was the very best though. We attended the 2008 GWPCA National Specialty in Lincoln Nebraska with 7 dogs.

There were 86 wonderful GWP’s entered from all over the country

On Friday, we had 2 dogs entered in the National Futurity.  Eli (Jay-Mar’s Over The Limit JH) won the 12-18 month class and

his sister River (Jay-Mar’s Thank God For Credit Cards JH) also won her 12-18 month class.

We then had 5 dogs entered in the regular classes. Eli was first in the ring in the bred by class. He won his class!!

We then went back in the ring with his brother Cash (Jay-Mar’s We Don’t Do It For The Money) and went 2^nd in his class. Not bad for a dog who had never stepped foot in a ring!   Next was River again in bred by and she won her class as well!!

I was thrilled as the bred by class was large with some really nice dogs entered.  Not to be outdone, Sizzle ( Jay-Mar’s Too Hot To Handle JH) was next in the American Bred Class and was awarded a 2^nd place.

For the winners bitch class, to my amazement and absolute thrill, River was awarded winner’s bitch for a 5 point major and her first points!!!   I was so overwhelmed and surprised that I actually shouted out “NO WAY” when the judge pointed to me. What a thrill!!!

Banner (BISS Ch. Jay-Mar’s Star Spangled Banner MH) was shown in the field bitch class and the GWPCA Invitational.  She was a crowd pleaser.                                                                                 

Brock got to show her in Junior Showmanship and did a terrific job with her. Look for him to be a real pro handler in the future

The day was incredible and we were all thrilled that the dogs did so well. While I have won at nationals before, this was the first time for me to win the points and to come form the bred by class was incredibly special. This was a special litter in so many ways and taking them to nationals and doing so well just was icing on the cake. I only wish Jay could have been to share the moment. I think he would have been very proud of the way the Jay-Mar’s dogs have blossomed over the years.

The next day was the GWPCA Regional Specialty. After the previous day, who could even imagine doing anything more exciting? Well…our imaginations got to go into overdrive!!

First was the GWPCA National Sweepstakes. The 12-18 month class in both sexes was the biggest class with 10 plus entries. Both Eli and Cash made the cut for placements which was very exciting. And Little Miss River again was on a role and won her class!!! Wow...she can’t seem to do anything wrong this weekend!!

On to the regular classes….

Eli and Cash did us proud by placing in their classes and Sizzle won her American Bred Class. River once again won her bred by class. Now I had 2 bitches in for winners bitch…could I even dream that and beyond??!!
 

Well, sure enough….that River dog earned another 5 point major!!! This is a dog that came to nationals with not even a first place ribbon to her name. How amazing when the timing turns out to be just right.
 

Everyone was so nice and excited for us and I so appreciate all the nice things other exhibitors had to say about my dogs. There are so many great breeders out there who had some really nice dogs in the ring and they all had nothing but nice things to say about River and the others.

We had one more day of showing…another specialty so another change for sweeps wins and points.  If River were to win again, she would have finished her championship title with 3  5 point majors.  Well, as we all know, judging can change from day to day.
 

For sweeps, Eli and River both placed second in their classes. Exciting placements for both dogs as I think they were getting tired. After all they are only 15 months old. Despite the enormous pressure of the last couple of days, I think they held up very well and I am very proud of how stable they stayed throughout the whole weekend. Many young dogs can have quite a melt down with that much showing in such a short amount of time and these two never flinched an eyelash! 

We still stayed in the ribbons though as River’s sister (Jay-Mar’s True Worth At Ebbtide) was awarded Best In Sweeps. Her owner and I were thrilled beyond belief!! She is a beautiful bitch and has the happiest personality. Look for her to do big things in the future!!


                                                              
 

In the regular classes, Eli was second in the bred by class and River worked hard for that win in her class but ultimately placed second.  The bitch that beat her went on to win the points so it was a clean sweep over the weekend for the points from the bred by class …that was cool!!  Sizzle was our star that day as she again won her class...she doesn’t know the meaning of tired!! lol

On a side note, besides doing all of that, I also brought Mimi the cavalier for agility. In between showing the wires we would run over to the agility ring and run our courses. It was lots of fun even if it was a little hectic to fit it in between showing. Mimi did me proud though as she finished her Novice Standard title!!

                                                        

We weren’t done yet though as we still had 2 days of hunt tests with Fancy (Ch. Jay-Mar’s Little Miss Hot To Trot JH).  No one knew how this was going to go as the terrain is very different from what our dogs are used to running on.   Fancy was amazing though. She handled the grounds beautifully and ran a nice course with great style and range. She was the only dog to qualify in either the Master or Senior test and over the two days, earned two more legs toward her SH. Chris and she are a really team and they impressed many who watched them.
 

She also earned her water test title so one more leg and she will be a senior hunter. (something she accomplished a couple of weeks later!

                                                                 

 

After all was said and done for the weekend I am so proud of the dogs. They traveled 1200 miles and handled everything we threw at them with good attitudes and a willingness to please us that any breeder would be proud of. I came to nationals to just show off a litter that I am very proud of and ended up coming home with so much more.
 

I could not have done any of this without the help of the entire Hieber family. They were always there to help and support the cause from.  Chris and Patty kept me sane on the road there and home and kept the dogs in great shape along the way. Patty did an amazing job of getting the dogs ring ready and showing the dogs that I could not take in the ring. She especially earned high praise for showing Sizzle to her wins. Chris was the muscles of the group and did so much to make sure we had everything we needed. He was also the man in charge for the field events and made us proud there!!
 

Hannah and Brock were always there to help walk dogs and bring things to the ring when needed and do whatever we needed them to do. They were both so good when they took the dogs in the ring. I can’t wait to see them start showing their own dogs in the future…I am going to have some real competition!!