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| Anna (Anna vom Haus Hessling), Born 11/18/01 |
|
Anna was imported from Germany in February of 2002. We
picked her up at the Minneapolis airport and when we got there
instead of waiting for two hours for her scheduled flight we
found that she was already there! It's not often that an animal
picked her up at the Minneapolis airport and when we got there
instead of waiting for two hours for her scheduled flight we
found that she was already there! It's not often that an animal
flown as cargo gets in two hours early, but she went through customs in Atlanta much faster than
anticipated. When we opened the kennel door she came prancing out like she had just been put in
the kennel without a trace of trauma from her 10 hour plane ride. As we drove home she slept
after her plane ride gave us hope that she was going to be a good one.
Anna was NAVHDA Natural Ability tested on September 14, 2002. She earned an 86 points Prize III at
9.9 months of age. I was fairly happy with the score because she wasn't where I wanted her to be
when she was tested. Because we didn't want to drive to the West coast to test her a few months later
we tested her before she was really ready. She was not one of those Small Munsterlander's that
matured quickly at a young age and she was also at a disadvantage in that she had to test before
her first hunting season. I greatly prefer that a dog can go out and learn on wild birds in real
hunting situations before being put into a testing environment. At her test she didn't show the
desire that she developed in the months after the test. Although, I agreed with the judges on most
of her scores I thought she searched the field better than her score of "2" indicated. She stayed in
gun range most of the time and found four birds with three points, one a double.
Now that Anna's NA test was done the real learning would begin during her first Iowa pheasant
season. While she came a long ways during that first season she managed only four pheasant
retrieves in the 26 times that we took her out. This is not uncommon as she was hunted with older
dogs that usually found the dead birds before she did. But she got to learn a lot from being out
there and doing it herself.
A dogs second season is usually where they show the most improvement and Anna was no
anticipated. When we opened the kennel door she came prancing out like she had just been put in
the kennel without a trace of trauma from her 10 hour plane ride. As we drove home she slept
after her plane ride gave us hope that she was going to be a good one.
Anna was NAVHDA Natural Ability tested on September 14, 2002. She earned an 86 points Prize III at
9.9 months of age. I was fairly happy with the score because she wasn't where I wanted her to be
when she was tested. Because we didn't want to drive to the West coast to test her a few months later
we tested her before she was really ready. She was not one of those Small Munsterlander's that
matured quickly at a young age and she was also at a disadvantage in that she had to test before
her first hunting season. I greatly prefer that a dog can go out and learn on wild birds in real
hunting situations before being put into a testing environment. At her test she didn't show the
desire that she developed in the months after the test. Although, I agreed with the judges on most
of her scores I thought she searched the field better than her score of "2" indicated. She stayed in
gun range most of the time and found four birds with three points, one a double.
Now that Anna's NA test was done the real learning would begin during her first Iowa pheasant
season. While she came a long ways during that first season she managed only four pheasant
retrieves in the 26 times that we took her out. This is not uncommon as she was hunted with older
dogs that usually found the dead birds before she did. But she got to learn a lot from being out
there and doing it herself.
A dogs second season is usually where they show the most improvement and Anna was no
exception. Most SM's I have owned usually take a
little time to get going, but once they do they really take
off. I liken it to turning on a light switch, if you are
paying attention you can almost see it go on. In 2003
Anna decided that she liked to find pheasants and
started to retrieve them with abandon, so much so that
she was rarely beaten to a retrieve is she saw it fall.
She really began to work the cover and showed us that
she has tremendous stamina.
little time to get going, but once they do they really take
off. I liken it to turning on a light switch, if you are
paying attention you can almost see it go on. In 2003
Anna decided that she liked to find pheasants and
started to retrieve them with abandon, so much so that
she was rarely beaten to a retrieve is she saw it fall.
She really began to work the cover and showed us that
she has tremendous stamina.
| Anna Napping in Her Crate |
and it shows at the end of the day. She works hard and is always hunting when in the field and
shows very good cooperation. She is often hunted on pheasants without an e-collar, which can be
a challenge for dogs on running pheasants.
2004 was more of the same except that my brother took Anna to South Dakota with him while he
doves, ducks, or geese. Doves were not a problem, but she was a little leery of waterfowl the first
time out. On her second duck hunting trip she started to bring the ducks back, but she has not
found a taste for geese. She will drag the geese a little way, but as yet has not brought any back
all the way. I think she would have started bringing them back, but after a couple of trips my
brother has not gotten her on any more geese to try her out. Where she really began to excel was
in finding cripples. She is tenacious on track and rarely looses a bird.
2005 brought a heavier workload for my brother in school so his hunting trips declined in South
Dakota, but the bird numbers in South Dakota were really good so Anna had another excellent
year both in SD and Iowa. In 2004 she established herself as a bird finding machine and she didn't
slow down in 2005.
When my brother took her to South Dakota she was made a full time house dog and she has
flourished in that role. As much energy as she has in the field she shuts it off when in the house,
most of the time you wouldn't even know she is there. It is hard for me to imagine a better dog for
both the house and the field.
Anna has had two litters for us both sired by the late Brian Boy v O'meara/Sengpiel (Whip). The
first was an accidental breeding that occurred when I let Anna (in heat) out when I thought Whip
was away; I found out really fast that he wasn't. They tied one time for about 5 minutes and that
was all it took. She whelped 4 pups on 7/13/03 (our "F" litter) without incident. She turned out to
be a great mother and her pups were large, healthy, and grew fast. Her second litter was a repeat
of the accidental one only planned this time. She had eight pups on 4/4/05 (our "G" litter) without
any problems. We kept a female out of this litter (Grace). Anna should be bred again in 2006,
the stud has not been determined. Information regarding Anna's upcoming litters will be in our
"Puppies" section as it becomes available.
shows very good cooperation. She is often hunted on pheasants without an e-collar, which can be
a challenge for dogs on running pheasants.
2004 was more of the same except that my brother took Anna to South Dakota with him while he
doves, ducks, or geese. Doves were not a problem, but she was a little leery of waterfowl the first
time out. On her second duck hunting trip she started to bring the ducks back, but she has not
found a taste for geese. She will drag the geese a little way, but as yet has not brought any back
all the way. I think she would have started bringing them back, but after a couple of trips my
brother has not gotten her on any more geese to try her out. Where she really began to excel was
in finding cripples. She is tenacious on track and rarely looses a bird.
2005 brought a heavier workload for my brother in school so his hunting trips declined in South
Dakota, but the bird numbers in South Dakota were really good so Anna had another excellent
year both in SD and Iowa. In 2004 she established herself as a bird finding machine and she didn't
slow down in 2005.
When my brother took her to South Dakota she was made a full time house dog and she has
flourished in that role. As much energy as she has in the field she shuts it off when in the house,
most of the time you wouldn't even know she is there. It is hard for me to imagine a better dog for
both the house and the field.
Anna has had two litters for us both sired by the late Brian Boy v O'meara/Sengpiel (Whip). The
first was an accidental breeding that occurred when I let Anna (in heat) out when I thought Whip
was away; I found out really fast that he wasn't. They tied one time for about 5 minutes and that
was all it took. She whelped 4 pups on 7/13/03 (our "F" litter) without incident. She turned out to
be a great mother and her pups were large, healthy, and grew fast. Her second litter was a repeat
of the accidental one only planned this time. She had eight pups on 4/4/05 (our "G" litter) without
any problems. We kept a female out of this litter (Grace). Anna should be bred again in 2006,
the stud has not been determined. Information regarding Anna's upcoming litters will be in our
"Puppies" section as it becomes available.
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