Oh Yeah, You Blend

Zhora’s progesterone was at 1.3 on Thursday (day 6), which was higher than I expected that soon (she ovulated on day 14 last time, but day of ovulation can vary wildly from season to season, as any repro vet will tell you, Nina didn’t ovulate until day 21 when we did the frozen semen breeding for the B litter!), and then late yesterday (day 7) she was already at 2.5, which is associated with the LH surge, which happens before ovulation. So we could be looking at breeding as soon as Monday (eggs take 24-48 hours to mature and live for about 5 days after they are ovulated).

So the plan right now is to do another blood draw late tomorrow (Sunday, of course), drive it to my repro vet (the awesome Alliance Animal Hospital) in addition to sending some out to IDEXX so we know whether or not the numbers match. And then we may know about travel plans (one of the reasons Vallhunds are tough to breed sometimes is that you generally have to travel, or ship dogs or semen, to get the breeding you want).

Even when I have my ducks in a row, this time-critical stuff is always stressful!

We had EIGHT Vallhunds competing, super exciting, including the #2 (#1 until recently) dog in the country. So grateful to everyone who came and showed! Rebecca James, Pat Ray, Becky Lueth, Kat Klein and Ruth Travers!

Friday May 31, 2019 Judge Mrs. Murrel Purkhiser: Alice Winners Bitch for 3 point major, Orbit Best of Winners for the crossover major

Saturday June 1, 2019: Judge Dianne P. Miller. Alice Winners Bitch for 3 point major #2, and Orbit BOW for the crossover major again for major #2!

Sunday June 2, 2019: Judge Donna Conod. Alice BOS for a FOUR POINT MAJOR (3 point major for WB and then another point for beating the bitch special), Orbit BOW again for the crossover FOUR POINT MAJOR! What an incredible weekend!

Zhora JUST started her season this evening…plans are being made! Watch this space!

Lavonda Herring designed some technical, tricky, tough courses with low Q rates. My dogs LOVED them! NINA HAD A PERFECT WEEKEND! Zhora went 4/5, and Alice had an Excellent FAST Q and some really awesome runs, including a JWW NQ that felt gorgeous.

I am so honored to have these dogs.

Zhora Saturday JWW (Q, second place, 4.8 YPS, 17 points):

Nina Saturday JWW (P QQ#2, first place, 4.9 YPS 23 points):

Zhora Saturday Exc FAST (Q):

Alice Saturday FAST (Q):

Zhora Saturday Standard (NQ):

Nina Saturday Standard (P QQ#2, first place, 3.7 YPS, 33 points):

Alice Saturday Standard (NQ):

Alice Saturday Jumpers (NQ, but what a GORGEOUS run after the weaves):

Zhora Sunday JWW (QQ #106, first place and only 8″ R dog to Q, 4.49 YPS, 15 points, she hates this kind of opening and it shows):

Nina Sunday JWW (P QQ #3, first place, 4.77 YPS, 22 points):

Alice Sunday Time 2 Beat (NQ but some nice stuff):

Zhora Sunday Standard (QQ #106, first place and only 8″ R dog to Q again, 3.7 YPS, 27 points):

Nina Sunday Standard (P QQ #3, first place, 3.8 YPS, 34 points and a PERFECT WEEKEND):

Cora (formerly Popcorn) is the little sister (actually niece) of Lobo (Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS), who was the first Swedish Vallhund to earn a drafting title (he was the first Vallhund to earn SEVERAL different titles, but drafting is what we’re talking about here).

Drafting is when a dog pulls a cart, to put it simply. It’s traditionally done by dogs like Bernese Mountain Dogs. Its traditional function was to allow the dog to pull a cart to move goods from place to place. Dogs are smaller and cheaper than horses.

So drafting as a sport, is basically obedience while pulling a cart, with some extra maneuvers in there to demonstrate a useful skill.

So here’s Cora at drafting practice. Cora (Alkemi Corona del Roble LS) is 20 months old and she lives in North Carolina with her owner Jan and her uncle (Zhora’s brother) Lobo.

Judge Ginger Robertson gave us some tricky but fun courses. Alice earned her second NAP leg and did TWO SETS OF WEAVES and we felt some mojo happening! I am thrilled with her. Zhora uncharacteristically knocked a bar in JWW yesterday but won Standard, and then double Q’d today, AND SO DID NINA! Nina earned her first PACH QQ today and looked and felt awesome. The trial was tiny this weekend and today I only had 3 dogs between my girls but it worked out just fine.

And then we came home and Tish killed a rabbit. So…circle of life or summat.

Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (NQ):

Nina Saturday Standard (would have been a Q if I’d slowed up to pull her over ther 180):

Zhora Saturday Standard (Q, first place 29 points, 3.86 YPS):

Alice Saturday Standard (NAP leg #2!):

Alice Saturday Jumpers (NQ but nice run):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (PACH QQ #1, first place, 23 points, 4.7 YPS):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (QQ#105, second place, 16 points, 4.44 YPS):

Nina Sunday Standard (PACH QQ #1, first place, 34 points, 3.845 YPS):

Zhora Sunday Standard (QQ#105, first place, 29 points, 3.896 YPS):

Zhora had a perfect weekend, Nina earned two Standard Q’s, and Alice ran really well. All in all a good weekend under Pamela (Candy) Nettles!

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (QQ #103, third place, 17 points, 4.732 YPS):

Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ):

Zhora Saturday FAST (QQQ):

Alice Saturday FAST (debut in Excellent P FAST, NQ but LOVE the enthusiasm!):

Zhora Saturday Standard (QQ #103, third place, 29 points, 3.8 YPS):

Nina Saturday Standard (Q, third place, 35 points, 3.9 YPS):

Alice Saturday Standard (NQ, a long delay meant she lost her mind, that’s something to work on!):

Alice Saturday Jumpers (NQ but the first half is lovely):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (QQ #104, fourth place, 16 points, 4.444 YPS):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (NQ):

Zhora Sunday Standard (QQ #104, third place, 29 points, 3.879 YPS):

Nina Sunday Standard (Q, first place, 35 points, 3.949 YPS):

Some coursework and some weave work. We also worked her running dogwalk but I needed Sue to toss the reward so no video!

I am learning I can trust her and she is learning to be responsible for her obstacle performance. I can’t get over how awesome her attitude and work ethic are!

Some videos from today. Worked on some accel/decel work, weave entries, etc. She’s so much fun.

Alice’s first time in a two ring trial environment and she did great! Some zoomies, some slow runs, but overall really happy with where she’s at. Plus she earned her Open FAST Preferred title today!

Nina was Nina, every run is a blessing. Some almost Q’s.

Zhora was awesome, 5 for 6 with a triple Q today (QQ #102). Especially considering we had a huge ring conflict at the end of the day today and I basically ran Alice in Novice Standard and the other two girls in Mast Jumpers in a space of like 10 minutes. Two ring trials are so stressful when you have dogs in different levels.

Zhora Saturday Master FAST (Q, second place):

Alice Saturday Open FAST:

Alice Saturday Novice Jumpers (OMG I AM SO THRILLED WITH THIS RUN! I wish the start had been videoed, but holy moly I could really feel some mojo happening here!):

Zhora Saturday Standard (Q, first place, 3.72 YPS, 27 points):

Nina Saturday Standard (NQ):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (NQ):

Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ):

Alice Saturday Standard (NQ):

Zhora Sunday FAST (QQQ, third place):

Alice Sunday Open P FAST (Q and OFP title, zoomies but came back and worked and how about that distance?):

Alice Sunday Jumpers (NQ but weaves on first try! Focused = slow with this baby dog):

Zhora Sunday Standard (QQQ, third place, 3.723 YPS, 28 points):

Nina Sunday Standard (NQ):

Alice Sunday Standard (NQ but some good stuff):

Zhora Sunday JWW (QQQ, second place, just a few minutes after Alice’s Std run, 4.283 YPS, 15 points):

Nina Sunday JWW (NQ, handler error after the blind cross disconnect):