 Anna was born on September 26, 2007. Both Anna's sire and dam are German imports. Anna has a dense, soft, silky, medium-length, slightly wavy coat with lots of feathering. She has russet brown eyes and an expressive face. Anna weighs 49 pounds and is of average height and length (approx. 21 inches tall and 23 inches long).
THE HUNTRESSAnna breezed through her NAVHDA Natural Ability Test at age 7 months, earning a Prize I (112 pts), which is a maximum score. Whether in the field or in the water, Anna is a tireless hunter, an exceptional tracker, and an oustanding natural retriever. She uses her nose extensively, winding, tracking, and searching. She tracks as well in the water as she does on land, and swims as well as she runs. Not only is she skilled at marking and making water retrieves, she absolutely loves it.
Anna has a very soft mouth, retrieving pheasants, quail, chukar, and ducks, without putting so much as a toothmark in them. If the bird is alive when she picks it up, it will still be alive when she delivers it to you. Anna is a relentless retriever. She will track a wounded pheasant as long and as far as it takes, and has made some amazing retrieves of pheasants that have fallen over the bluffs to the floor of the creek bottom.
It's unmistakeable when Anna's on a bird. As she closes in on the scent of a pheasant, her tail begins to wag back-and-forth at an ever-increasing speed. As she gets nearer to the bird, she slows her pace, and her body gets closer and closer to the ground, until she's practically on her stomach.
.JPG) Anna has a stylish, intense point. Depending upon the circumstances, she may stop on a dime from a full run and lock on point, or she may approach cautiously and establish point from several feet away.
One of Anna's greatest strengths is her high level of cooperation in the field. No negative reinforcement, nor yelling, is needed, just verbal queues as to direction, distance, and pace. People who have hunted with Anna and Michelle are amazed by Anna's grasp of the English language and seeming ability to read Michelle's mind. She is truly a pleasure to hunt with.
THE HOUSEPET
Anna lives in the house, as do all our dogs, although she spends much of her time in our yard, which is enclosed by an underground fence. In the home, "Anna Bear" is extremely calm, sweet, unassuming, gentle, friendly, and loving. She is an obsessive face licker who will do just about anything for a kiss. She loves everyone, including small children, and gets along well with all members of the household, including Cleo, our Siamese cat. She has passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. Although Anna is very quiet in the house, she will bark if someone pulls into our driveway or comes to the door.
Anna can be quite comical. She often eats while lying down. She likes to sleep in the basket of dirty laundry. She is obsessed with the kitchen dish towel and the hand towel in the bathroom - after they've been used, of course. She pulls them down off the racks and carries them into the living room, where she uses them for couch pillows. Anna is equally enamoured with Mark's dirty socks and underwear, and she can be quite sneaky about it. She'll quietly grab something of Mark's out of the dirty laundry on her way out the basement door, without anyone noticing. Later we'll find them in the yard where Anna had been lying on them.
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