09/21/2025
Short story- Gimli is now:
AKC CH pointed Rebellion's Lockbearer from Hazelnut Farms JH (AKC pending)
Gimli completed his Junior Hunter title this weekend, passing 4 tests in a row.
Ok now here's the long story: this dog made me work my ass off for it.
You may hear, or even feel "They're all Labradors. Show bred, field bred, a pedigree full of titled dogs or not. They'll all go out and pick up a duck."
No, no they wont. Gimli is from a pedigree that is pretty deep in specializing as very well tempered pets. Beautiful, lovable, happy pets. Dont get me wrong- Gimli loves ducks. He's been chasing them since he was 8 weeks old. Gimli loves retrieving. Gimli loves swimming. Put it all together and that = one duck dog, right?
Nope. Because a duck dog has to want to work with you. Through the high cover and long swims and weather that just doesn't cooperate. 'Working dog' is far more mental, than any amount of training. Early on, I learned he had a "limit" to his workload. No big deal, most puppies do. As he got older, i realized that work limit wasn't physical- it was mental. He loved it, until a swim was too long or the cover was too thick. Then he didn't feel like it.
That was a tough patch. A mix of gradually increasing the workload as his tolerance grew, and days where he simply had to be reminded that "No thank you" wasn't an option.
So here we are. 14mo old and a Junior Hunter. And truthfully he may be my youngest JH. He's eager, willing, and knows the work. Now to get back in the show ring and chase some different color polyester!
