Performance Poodles
Misfire Kennel was founded on the principle of owning practical hunting and performance dogs.
Some photos of our long weekend last week 🥰 Trixie came out for once (because we packed a big enough tent to keep her dry and brush her coat out 😆). Glad we got a hike in before she goes home in a few weeks! Follow her further at her at: https://www.tiktok.com/.poodles?_t=8orxweK8iMd&_r=1
Beautiful hikes and scenery around Medicine Bow National Forest. Of course the old men came too and showed the rest of them how we do it 💪
Cece and I in one of the ringside shots 🥰 Not many to pick from so we both don't certainly look our best.
Cece' s limiting factor is me 😅
We went chasing our grand championship last weekend for fun against some big competitive dogs and she kept us in the ribbons! Came back with at least 2 legs and one Group 1! Every judge commented on her structure, balance, and tempermant as "ideal". The only negative comment she received when we took reserve is she is too small 😂. She is a ✨️ pocket rocket ✨️. We will see how far we go showing, it isn't her favorite but she brings out the pizzazz for me 💛
Happy birthday to my little pocket rocket Cece ✨️ UCH Misfire & Mount Zion's Call Your Bluff ✨️ This last year may have left you a little ignored but I am so happy I can pick you up right where we leave off anytime. Adaptable, sweet, with a heck of a nose stuck to the end of your little brain. Here's to many more years 💛
Big congratulations to Cannoli, 🧁 Mount Zions C Icing on the Cake 🧁 for finishing his UKC championship with his mom 🥰 She did awesome learning how to handle him!
Cannoli is a Gus puppy and shows a lot of his dads character in him 💖
People forget they're raising dogs, not just "prospects"
Dear future "working home,"
While I know you have dreams of podiums when you bring your little working line puppy home, you have a much bigger responsibility to this little puppy I'm trusting to you.
That's great that you've researched pedigrees, have a club and maybe even a solid mentor. That's amazing that you have all the latest tug toys and a custom wide agitation collar with his name embroidered on it. And I'm really stoked that you already have his instagram loaded with fire emoji's detailing his daily puppy training sessions.
But over and over, my puppies are FAILED by their working home owners. Owners who look amazing on paper. Owners who have all the goals and dreams for their little puppy. And it's not just MY working home owners. I know other breeders who feel this same pain as they send their little ones out into this world. Knowing that these puppies who could excel at so many things are going to be set up for failure by the first people who have their hands on them.
How are they being failed?
By s**t advice. S**t advice from the clubs that are mentoring them. S**t advice from the internet. S**t advice from those around them.
I'll scream it from the roof tops ....
Stop taking these working prospects and shoving them in crates, only to come out for "work" in the name of drive building. If they need full deprivation to "work" then the genetics aren't there in the first place.
Stop taking these working prospects and controlling every single morsel of food to the point of deprivation, over long periods of time. If the food drive is that bad, the genetics aren't there in the first place.
Stop taking these working prospects and never letting anyone touch your puppy. "He should treat people like furniture." Yeah ... solid advice for some puppies but I know when you wash this dog in 18 months, I now have a full size adult intact male Rottweiler who's never been handled by strangers. Great, thanks.
Stop taking these working prospects and never letting them interact with another dog or animal. "He should be neutral to dogs." Yeah ... great ... now you wash this dog in 12 months and I have a full size intact male Rottweiler who doesn't know how he feels about his own species.
Stop taking these working prospects and never telling them "no" because you want them to be strong on the field. Great....now when you return King Kong to me, he isn't really going to know what to do with those big feelings when that's not how the world works.
Stop depriving your working line puppies of a solid start in life ... because when you wash that dog from sport for an issue YOU created .... now I have to clean up the mess.
Raise your puppy for sport however you want, but at the end of the day if that dog doesn't pan out for sport you are giving them a death sentence if you haven't also raised them with a pet dog life in mind.
Sincerely,
A Working Dog Breeder
Cece had the very important job the past few days helping us haul cattle. She doesn't get enough credit for being the absolute best truck dog and livestock savvy 🥰
🌟 Pending placement 🌟
Avaliable for rehome:
🖤"Trixie" 🖤
It is high time this girl finds herself a forever home! This is a rare and unique opportunity to get a young started dog, and even more, potentially a co-own.
She came to me in Novemeber, after her old co owner could no longer keep her, and discussions with her breeder. We decided I would review and house her to see what sort of dog we were working with before placing her. Now it would be a disservice to her to say I have poured training into her, this dog is always ready to learn when I reach for her, perfect for any training method. She was with a professional trainer for schooling on and off most of her puppy hood, which set a decent foundation. I have trained and helped rehome more difficult and challenging dogs than this. She is eager but not over the top, driven but not to a point that mirrors her high-octane sister. She has good food drive, good prey drive, but happily work for just praise as well. She is the perfect blend of her parents, independent enough to handle alone time but still sociable and cuddly.
She enjoys showing and would probably love to continue at a basic level. She is good on the table and we have been working on training her coat as it was never worked before. She has DENSE coat, real durable, albeit slower growing than some of her siblings. Her litter was bred as a performance litter and all of the puppies have at least moderate drive, many have more. She falls in the weekend warrior category in my opinion. She is very intune with her handler and will do absolutely anything you want to. She can be aloof with strangers, but still very friendly, especially to children.
For all intents and purposes this is a phenomenal opportunity to get a young dog (DOB: 6/16/22) that's ready to immediately start running and training. She has already received her UKC Championship, and will continue training up until the point she leaves. She will be introduced to birds this spring if she likes them, will be ran and then sold as a retriever started dog as well.
UCH, INTCH, UH, SHR, Tropheous' Moritasgus TKN, RN - X- RACEN UCH Mount Moriah by the Timberline TKN ICN : Bred and owned by Mount Zion Standard Poodles .
More photos and video upon request. I will be throwing together a video for her at some point. Please contact either if interested, the Co Own if interested will be held with her!
Easy day introducing Trixie to the launcher, also worked Cece on her holds. Her marking is still subpar but she is a baby mentally still, however I can say I'll never have to worry about her desire to search the area of the fall 😆 Gus also came out too to add pressure.
Going to be putting together a post for Trixie's rehoming soon 🖤 She's such a easy dog for us, you can tell she had the training when she was younger. She's much lower key than Cece, and definitely not as needy. Honestly a great opportunity for someone to do a co-own on a good little starter girl. Moderate drive across the board, higher energy but not intense, adaptable and easy going. Keep your eye out for the post!
The Importance of Connection and Confidence
I have a learned a lot about confidence in the dog world, both mine and theirs, and most of it has been hard won. A lot of the talk I hear on poodles is that they lack the "intensity" found in other breeds. A common rebuttle being is that their thoughtful dogs, not untrue but I would like to challenge that. I've seen lots of poodles, and dogs, run. I've seen lots of different handlers and dog relationships and I think a lot of the time watching a dog for even an hour doesn't paint the whole picture, especially in older animals. But circling back... part of building a robust working dog is first and foremost building a trust in their handler. I for one, have been lucky (and sometimes tested violently), choosing to share my life with aloof and sensitive dogs. They do not naturally walk into a setting and trust that their handler will provide a firm base, or able to hold up their end of the bargain. I have met some poodles who excel by simply being overly outgoing, friendly, or for lack of a better word lackadaisical. But loosing the aloofness does not give me what I originally wanted in said dog. If I wanted a intense happy constantly dog I'd be running labs (great dogs just not my favorite to live with).
However you take a dog with some natural hesitation and questioning of your ability and throw them into a situation they're not used to, they will often balk. This is often interpreted in many ways in many dog breeds, I've heard everything from shy, reactive, nervous, ect. and the standard protocol is to just expose them more. Get them to trust you as a handler and teacher that they will be alright in these situations. Which is true, and you should but it doesn't always need to be blamed on the environment, sometimes the dog simply has not had the time to connect and trust you as their handler.
But circling back to the world of competition, directly hunting, I have seen and found more often than not the handlers confidence in the field will almost always translate to the dogs confidence. Retriever tests are one thing, we have tried to remove any variance so each dog gets the same opportunity for the sake of fairness. We are always at the mercy of nature, but once we include wild game as more often seen in the upland tests, we start to loose control.
I have always been a huge proponent in poodles of, if you choose to, forcing fetching your own dog. A pro can help you, (as many many years ago I was also shown) but more often than not an aloof independent dog will quickly test you and find you to be not as consistent or competent as the pro handler was. This is seen across many sports and even just regular obedience house training. Which means you as a handler must learn and more importantly become confident in your own abilities.
And just to note, finding handlers for my dogs has relied in patience in knowing I had to wait for my dogs to open up and trust them before expecting results; finding handlers that would walk in knowing that on some level they had to prove to my dog they are trustworthy teachers. Regardless of sport or activities you run, if you have a dog with some natural questioning results will come slower and you'll have to put in just as much work as them but it will be worth it.
My argument has never been against poodles as thoughtful but that they are so intrinsically connected to their handlers, that without that connection they simply do not trust you and showcase it in a lack of confidence in the entire situation. Anyone who has had the pleasure of running off breeds I have spoken to will talk about this sensitivity to handlers, this questioning of your partnership and your ability to guide them. However I will argue that there is nothing wrong with the tempermant of a naturally questioning or aloof dog, they will demand a quality handler before ever showcasing their skills. Do not wash a dog out of a program or sport over the fact that you did not meet their expectations. I have always been a believer of there are three things tied to greatness when it comes to dog sports, the handlers abilities, the dogs natural abilities, and the timing in which those two meet.
Flashback image of Cece and her litter mate, bred by Mount Zion Standard Poodles
Been 2 years since Gus and I got some professional photos done of us. I guess he was technically a senior then too, not that he notices 💖 This collection got him in two publications of Pheasants Forever, celebrating the best boy who introduced me to the upland field!
🩶UCH IntCH UH SHR Tropheous Moritasgus TKN RN🩶
Apparently mommy can't count points and it looks like Cece actually finished her UKC Championship at the Southern Classic! Just sent in her permanent registration to UKC so we will make an official statement when that is secured 🥰
It was 40F today finally! After weeks of -10 and colder temps so we took a nice drive to the grasslands for a big run with the pack! Everybody got cabin fever last week for sure 😅
Be worthy, be humble 💗
Amazing opportunity for any ladies in the PNW!
Never been to an AKC fun match before and I wanted to give it a go! Was happily surprised by the quality and professionalism given to the show and the number and quality of dogs there really solidified it. Gave Cece to someone for their first dog show experience to which she was a little jealous but it was good for her to have other people handle her. Trixie was shaved into a pattern last week and had an absolute blast. The non sporting judge raved about her movement and how she could move out, gave us the group one. She had never stayed at a show before and you could tell when they opened up the ring for Best of Show she absolutely took off for a minute 😂 but got it back together. Took home a killer swag bag from ProPlan for our efforts. This girl is still avaliable for a new home through Mount Zion Standard Poodles and will make someone a fun dog. This was only her second show with me and her second month with us, I'm enjoying seeing her personality bloom.
Was going to grab a photo on our hike Sunday but she was very much done holding still by then 😆 Trixie got a 4 hour groom and rough in. We practiced laying on our side for fluffing on hair that hadn't been straightened, which people who have poodles know is quite the adventure. I was very happy with her, and can't complain about her antsy stack here for dealing with all of it. We will get better photos next week when she gets tidied up.
Trixie is owned and bred by Mount Zion Standard Poodles
Trixie had her first "naked" run today without an ecollar. Other than being absolutely covered in burs with her sister 😫 she did perfect. She still checks in regularly unprompted, comes when called, and drops any gross dead things 😆. It is super important to me my dogs understand rules are to be respected regardless if I can "reach" them. Now I do bring collars and leashes just in case they're needed but I think she's off to a great start.
Why Fenced Yards Make Bad Dogs
It's taken me a hot minute to figure out why I always felt fenced yards made my dogs worse, well why fenced yards made me make my dogs worse. It came to me today when someone spoke on the pressure fences add to dogs, the restraint on a working dog will be exponentialized and lead to some serious lashing out often in other behavioral aspects.
Now back to me, a fenced yard is a gift, it is also a curse. It becomes way to easy to have the yard be the only other place your dog sees, usually without full supervision, and they are allowed to indulge every whim (usually likes to expolde out as reactivity in some form). Now my dogs often get free walks, in the forests and fields, but these are much more satisfying. There's no pressure of a boundary, there is constant change of environment and the energy of walking WITH the group. This isn't often, if ever, found behind the chain link that encases our yards.
I couldn't name the number of dogs I've met that suffer issues from the fence they live behind. The dogs with drive to work being the worst to suffer. They get reactive, jumpy, loose all interest in engaging in the team. The best dogs I have raised were raised without the help of a fence or yard, the easiest dogs to retrain come from the freedoms of leaving the yard.
Now don't get me wrong, the fenced yard is nice when I'm sick and those dogs just need to run their stupids out, but it becomes a crutch easily. I have to become intentional about dragging us all out to explore this great wide world, engage in that history of partnership with a dog. Many of our loved breeds who require a job desperately feel the constraints and pressure from living inside a box with no outlet.
And one last note, I wish rescues stopped seeking fenced yards like the holy grail of dog ownership. A dog needs a committed partner regardless of living situation.
Flash back to Trendy another dog who I was told was problem but really just needed space to breathe.
Trixie has been doing absolutely awesome at settling herself in the house so far. We do always have ample things to chew on as she still has puppy brain but she will happily pick herself up, take something and sit down to chew it without any prompting!🥰
Had a whole pack walk today! Trixie (her new nickname for Patsy) is still getting the hang of how to be a dog out here. She still default heels and is learning that making mistakes is okay but we are making progress.
New genomic research on the recent canine outbreaks
Researchers at UNH’s New Hampshire Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (NHVDL) and Hubbard Center for Genome Studies (HCGS) may have made significant progress in better understanding a respiratory syndrome that has affected hundreds of dogs throughout the country and has thus far confounded veterinar...
In thanks to all the dogs that have made me a better handler 🖤🩶🖤
Much to no one's surprise the new girl is settling in fairly quickly. We have been floating through some names other than her original one simply because what's a dog without at least 3 extra names 😆 We will see which ones if any stick!
Very happy to be able to finish this girls championship for her mom, she beat Cece a few times but we can't complain. 😁 This girl kept herself in the ribbons!
New UKC Champion!
Patsy finished her championship at the Southern Classic in TX this past weekend!
She is currently with Misfire Kennel doing some training, and will be available as a sport/hunting prospect or to an active pet home!
She is a smaller bitch from my C Litter (Gus x Moriah), full sister to Lucian & Cece!
Message me for more information!
❗️Spreading awareness ❗️
There has been a sudden and swift rise in cases around the nation. Luckily we didn't socialize with too many new dogs at the Texas show but we will be locked down for a few weeks to be safe. Sadly that was probably our last show of the year then.
STAY SAFE EVERYBODY!
Sparkle sparkle girlie and I had our first show weekend together! In total I handled six dogs but figured I'd start reporting with her.
✨️ Friday 2x reserve - she was trying so hard to figure out what I was asking and why it wasn't sit 😅
✨️ Saturday 2x BOW - WOW she brought it that day, the spice was there she moved and handled herself like a dream
✨️ Sunday Reserve/BF - we were tired by this day but she still held it together even though there were birds in the ring which was understandably unfair. Can't complain as it meant I was able to finish her sister!
All said and done we got the majority of her points and all her competition wins against some of the best competition in the country. She held her own and brought out the happiest bouncing you ever did see 🥰
A Rough Shooting Dog
Rough shooting, a term coined in the UK, was distinctly different then more organized and "civil" forms of shooting and hunting especially during the last turn of the century. There is no single quary, no kept fields, and the bag is always deeply varied because the goal was to fill the pot.
It is, in my humble opinion, the truest form of hunting with a dog. A partnership that drove the domestication and separation of dog breeds. Where the odds are stacked in the favor of the creatures who call those places home, while you attempt to outwit them with this partnership you have hopefully cultivated.
A rough shooting dog should therefore be adaptable, willing, and intelligent. Adapting to whatever challenges they may be presented with. Willing to work toward this mutually beneficial goal. And intelligent enough to learn along the way, amassing vast knowledge in their own form of bushcraft.
It is my love of these wild places that drives me to them, and there is no better way to experience it than behind the most loyal friend that will never speak a word to you.
Yesterday Dru started on his long trip to his forever home and it was such a bittersweet moment. Dru came to me supposedly for part time but it turned into a full time/ forever situation. However just because he didn't end up a dog I would breed (many reasons some conformation some temperament) doesn't mean he wasn't an absolute joy to house and run. His happy attitude made him the first dog my daughter trained and titled, he easily was handled by many strangers (he never met a stranger though 😂), and his quiet demeanor in the house has made him a phenomenal pet to live with. Now with all the things I do I just didn't have time for him and I looked for a while a perfect place he could stay forever. I will always say a dog's primary purpose is a partner in life, or a pet as it is easily summarized. Pet homes are the pinnacle of a life of luxury in my humble opinion. We were so blessed that he now gets to live with his half sister, after loosing Savvy he and I struggled and I don't think he ever got his spark back. Having her in his life, plus having other human children made this such a great place for him. We wish him the best, safe travels Dru. Aka Druberrymore, Dru Dru bees, Druthers, and lovingly little fruit loop.
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