Vampire Sky resting at the hotel during the Maturity in Perry. Sky is a silly girl and is showing her "wilder"side lol!

Best Bitch in Sweeps- Tarheel Specialty Mar 2010

Sky was awarded Best Bitch in Sweepstakes in Raleigh on 3/27/10 at the Tarheel Weimaraner Club Specialty. She showed beautifully for me that day and we were excited to win at the Sweeps. Had a super time during this weekend staying with our friends the Parron's at their lovely property in Clayton NC. Sky's half sister Mia with owner Jessica came up to show also, with our friend Erin and her lovely Viszla pup Remy, who completed her Rally Novice title in Raleigh. Gretchen Stephenson, who owns CT Obie, was kind enough to work with Sky and I on some tracking and article indication, and started Mia and Remy in tracking. We even were able to attend a Tarheel Weim Club meeting after the show on Saturday, a treat for me living so far away. A good time was had by all this weekend!

Sky's 1st RN Leg - 98 1st place 03/25/10

Sky and Debbie took the plunge at the Raleigh NC shows Mar 25, 2010 and entered Rally Novice. Sky has not had much obedience training but was very responsive to voice and scored a 98 and 1st place her first time in the ring. The next day she qualified, but wanted to go to the "handler trade in tent" since I failed to complete a left spiral and cost us 10 pts for a score of 90, if not for me she would have had a perfect score and another 1st place. She very generously has not held this against me and agreed to come home with me that day. We plan on completing her RN title soon.

Max Patch w Margo & Samira 4/10/10

We had the opportunity today to go hiking at Max Patch with our good friend Margo Gray and her GSD Samira. Today was Samira's first anniversary with the Gray family, after finding out she was available thru rescue on the Tracking Dog list in 2009. Sky and Samira made friends quickly and we had a lovely time enjoying the beauty of Spring in the mountains. Sky was being silly and ran away with her water dish

Easter 2010 - Sky

Sky wishes everyone a very happy Easter and Spring Greetings! Spring is slow in coming to Western NC but there are new flowers emerging every day and the trees are beginning to bud out. After a long, cold winter it is very welcome. Sky stayed home with Joe while Debbie spent the weekend with her parents in SC, where the redbuds were in full bloom.

Mountain To The Sea Trail 03/20/10

View at Devil's Courthouse

Parking area for Devil's Courthouse on the Blue Ridge Parkway, elevation 5700 ft. The Parkway is still closed due to snow and ice, so we hiked here from Hwy 215 on the Mountain To The Sea trail.

Sky alerting to another hiker approaching, she is very attentive on the trail and always lets me know when other hikers are close by.

Pictures above and the next 2 sets are from our hike today. Since the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed due to snow and ice still on the ground at this elevation, we decided to try a trail from Hwy 215 that is part of the Mountain To The Sea trail system. There is a series of trails both thru wonderful natural areas in Western North Carolina, and incorporated green ways and small town Main streets that will take you all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, some 400 + miles across North Carolina. A good deal of the trail in my area runs parallel to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and at times runs together with other area trails. Sky, Joe and I are so fortunate to live in this area with so much natural beauty, no matter the time of year. And hikes like this make for a very tired puppy, and we all know a tired Weimaraner is a very good Weimaraner!

Mountain To The Sea Trail 03/20/10

A fellow hiker on the trail agreed to take this photo of Sky and I

Sky at the observation platform of the Devil's Courthouse.

Just prior to the previous photo, Sky jumped up on the retaining wall, with a sheer drop on the far side. After I recovered from my near heart attack (I think it spooked her as well), her lead wisely went back on!

This was my first visit to Devil's Courthouse. It is a steep 1/2 mile walk from the parking area off the Parkway to this observation platform, where you can view peaks in GA, SC, NC, and TN, even my very favorite hiking area, Max Patch some 40 miles away.