Tiffany Occhiogrosso

By: Angela Bradley

Tiffany Occhiogrosso, Dallas sophomore, is not just hunting for a major; she is also hunting for her dog. Dusty, the family Weimaraner, has encouraged Tiffany to participate in hunting trials.

A Hunting Trial is a competition for dogs and their owners in which the owner runs the dog to point for birds. Birds are neck-rung and buried in a field earlier that day. Once the competition has started a judge will fire a gun to let the dogs know the hunt has begun. The dog will then follow owner’s commands and a scent to find the birds. “It’s all about commands and how well the dog listens to you,” Tiffany said.

Tiffany’s dog belongs to the American Kennel Club. “When my family got the dog we decided that we wanted to show him and hunt him, and we just started doing it,” Tiffany explained. The dogs’ previous owners were members of the Trinity Valley Weimaraner Club, a place where Tiffany volunteers.

The hunting trials start at the end of October and generally run until March. Tiffany returns home to Dallas once a month where she competes. Tiffany and Dusty also compete in water retrieving. “We show him also, we just don’t like it as much,” Tiffany added, “it’s not as much fun.”

When Tiffany, 19, is not hunting, she is living on campus in Wisely Hall. Public relations is her major at the moment but she is still technically hunting for her future. She is “trying to figure it out.”