# Master Hunter!



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Winter earned her Master Hunter title this weekend. 
She ran a great test. I knew when we left the line after each series we were through. I'm so proud of my Master Hunter!


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Congratulations!! You've worked really hard. Can you fill us in on your journey to give the rest of us hope that we will get there too? You are my hero!


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

oh Holly that is just fantastic! When Barb was being so mysterious I was hoping she was referring to you and Winter. Congratulations and here you were thinking it wasn't going to happen this season!!! I'm super proud of you!


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Congratulations!


----------



## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Huge Congrats to both of you!


----------



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

You are my hero, too.
Someone who has never trained a dog before, and took a dog that was not from a high powered field pedigree, and trained her yourself. Ran her yourself in every test. Hit obstacles, stepped back and re-grouped, and went on to get the title.
Very, very proud of you guys.


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

You and Winter are a true inspiration. What an *amazing* feat!


----------



## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

MOP, I thought I was done for the year too but my Pro and my DH talked me into entering the last test of the year. 
Yes Barb, Winter is my first dog ever and I have been told repeatedly by training partners that I would be lucky to get a "Winter" at any time but especially as my first dog. Winter has always been owner trained/handled we learned to play this game together. However, I work with a really great Pro who has given me a program to follow and then without blowing a whistle or touching the remote he can talk me through every stage. He is patient and answers every question that I have even when it is the same ones over and over and over. He just keeps answering until I get it. 
So Stacey how did we get there? We followed my Pro's program but he had to brake it way down and give it to me in baby steps. Over time we slowly put the steps together that turned her into a dog that could run Master. He never let me patch holes because to him we were always building a MH dog. So if we had to back up, tear it down and rebuilt it. And since most of the time I only train a couple of times a month with him, we did get holes. I have always run more drills then test set ups because I could understood what I was trying to teach/achieve and I was talked though what to do if it went wrong. 
When I do train with him I watch a lot of dogs run and on any given day we may talk about, the timing of corrections, late whistles, whether the dog is giving effort, teaching vs testing, and a whole host of things. We talk a lot about momentum. It took me awhile to realize that the Pro was not helping me train my dog but he was trying to build me into a retriever trainer and MH handler. 
Also, I have awesome supportive training partners! 
Winter and I will be running MH next year so that I can learn how to get a dog though those 30% and below pass rate tests. I made too many handler mistakes this year.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

GREAT JOB I was so happy to hear this. Congratulations!!!


----------



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

That is amazing. Congratulations to both of you! And thanks for sharing the story of how you got there.


----------



## 2golddogs (Oct 19, 2009)

This is awesome - Congratulations!!! Sounds like you have a wonderful teacher in your pro. Your hard work has really paid off.


----------



## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Congratulations!


----------

