News & Updates

August 2010

On August 14th, the Club had a successful day for its Annual Meeting, Versatility Testing, and Intro to Birds sessions. Nine dogs tested entered one or more of the Versatility elements -- Conformation, Obedience, and Field -- and nine dogs took part in our Into to Birds/Hunt Test 101 sessions including Rudi, a 9yr-old recent Rescue dog, who took to his first bird exposure like an enthusiastic puppy. We also held a MH demonstration featuring Mike + Kim Barry's Kyler and Jennifer + Denis Hazel's talented GSP, Sally. Thanks to all who helped out with bird-planting, marshaling, gunning, mentoring, as well as all those who entered their dogs.

The Club received the sad news that longtime Club member, C. Howard Lister, passed away on August 11th at the age of 77 in MN in the company of his family. Howard bred both German Shorthair Pointers and Vizslas and competed in hunt tests, field trials, and conformation and was, amongst other responsibilities he took on as an avid sporting dog lover, a past President of the Merrimack Valley Kennel Club. He bred under the Big Buck Kennels name and his bloodline can still be found in many prominent GSP and Vizsla lines in the northeast. He will be missed by all who knew him.

On August 8th, the Club had a very successful Specialty show hosted by the Cheshire Kennel Club at Wheelock Park in Keene, NH. There were over 40 vizslas entered in the Sweepstakes and Regular Classes with dogs coming from as far away as Connecticut and Maine. Thanks go to Julie Smith for chairing the Specialty once again -- and to all the members and friends that showed up to help and support the Club, especially those that were kind enough to donate all kinds of food for hospitality.

May 2010

The Club held its first Viz-Whizz -- an informal gathering of vizsla owners and their dogs -- for a group hike at the Leyden WMA in Leyden, MA. Hosted by Mike + Kim Barry and Stephanie Gutierrez, it attracted roughly 15 red-dogs (and a few other canine friends of less-distinguished heritage) from as far away as 2.5hrs! Pictures are posted in the 'Members Gallery' section of the site. Stay posted for details of the next VCCNE Viz-Whizz!

There was an informal gathering of the VCCNE at the Mayflower GSP Club hunt test at Crane WMA in East Falmouth, MA (the site for our Fall hunt test, details to be announced shortly). Mike + Kim Barry's Kyler earned her third Master Hunter leg and their Cedar earned his second and third legs towards his Senior Hunter title. Andrew Campbell + Meg Riordan's Momo earned his fifth and final leg to claim his Master Hunter title.

December 2009

The club now has its own 'Fans of the VCCNE' page on Facebook. Click on the button above to view photographs, keep track of spontaneous get-togethers, and stay in touch with club members and friends.

The club received a letter of appreciation from the Vizsla Club of America for its sponsorship of the National Field Championship Trophy in memory of club member, Lisa DeForest. This year the National Field Championship saw a repeat winner, Berry's Taking Chances ('Lotto'), owned by Carrie and Mike Syczylo of Martinsville, IN. To repeat as a winner is impressive, especially in country as diverse as Arizona (2008) and Virginia (2009).

August, 2009

The VCCNE Annual FUN DAY was held on August 29th in Franklin, MA. Masterpeace Dog Training Center provided a wonderful indoor space for off leash play, agility and socialization for both dogs and their owners! It's a good thing we opted for indoors, as the passing hurricanes provided plenty of rain on Saturday! More than 20 families and close to 30 Vizslas attended the event! It was a day of comparing 'war stories', watching our silly red dogs play and appreciating time spent with other folks who feel the same way we do about this breed. A brief agility and obedience demonstration was given (very short given the fact that my Belle was really not in the mood!!) and a relay race with 10 dogs on each team was held involving three jumps and a tunnel - it was a lot of fun. We had some fantastic raffle items - everything from pajamas to paintings! Raffle proceeds were $140 with further donations bringing the RESCUE donation total to $171! From the event entrance fees we were able to pay for the facility rental and had an additional $65 to go to the VCCNE general fund! We had 10 RESCUE dogs in attendance including Big Bella, who was just picked up that morning! Rescue dogs and their owners were given a parade of appreciation with booklets - "Rescues Are Special" - and toys provided for the participants. The potluck meal was absolutely wonderful and believe it or not we managed to keep the food on the table and the dogs off the table! Thank you to all who came to this event and made it a success! A number of pictures from the event have already been posted to the Members Gallery section. Submitted by: Lesli Hyland

On August 1st the Club held its Annual Meeting and Versatility Testing day at Sharpe’s Farm in Hopkinton, NH. In addition to the Versatility Testing, we also offered mock Hunt Test braces and an Intro to Birds session for younger dogs. It was a full day but we managed to accommodate 28 dogs. In addition to the usual single round of Field testing, it was the first year we had offered two rounds of Obedience and Conformation testing and as a result attracted a number of entries from our neighbor club, the Connecticut Valley Vizsla Club. Four dogs finished their Versatility Certificates at our event, including two from the VCCNE.

July, 2009

On a sad note, we lost one of our Lifetime members, Lisa DeForest, in early July to a debilitating, and not fully understood, illness. Lisa was a modest, perhaps even shy, person who devoted herself to the breed for well over 25yrs. She was committed to breeding hard-running dogs, believing that field-trialing was the proving ground for a dog’s character and quality – and bred two Dual Champions along the way. She also won the National Field Championship twice – and was the first person (of only two ever) to produce a dog to win both the National and the National Amateur Field Championship in the same year. (The events are generally run in the same week.) With this in mind, the Board has sponsored this year’s National Field Championship trophy in her memory.