What a GREAT weekend we had at the Tamarack Lake trial! One of our favorite judges (Zach Davis) at one of his last judging assignments, and WOW! The courses were very technical, I’m still rehabbing my knee/Achilles issue…AND ALICE DOUBLE DOUBLE Q’d! AND EVIE FINISHED HER OA TITLE, WON T2B, AND WAS GENERALLY AMAZING!
Zhora was off this weekend since we were staying over and she doesn’t love staying in motels (and at 12 years old, with a long career, she is allowed to more or less have what she wants). I crated out of my car, which I think really helped.
Alice Saturday Standard (QQ #4, first place):
Evie Saturday T2B (NQ but nice run):
Alice Saturday JWW (QQ #4, second place):
Evie Saturday Novice Jumpers (NQ):
Evie Saturday Open Standard title (OA):
Alice Sunday Standard (QQ #5):
Evie Sunday Standard (Excellent debut, NQ but wow what a nice try):
Evie Time 2 Beat (WON THE CLASS, look at how she reads and follows my decel/turning cue to the weaves!!!):
Alice Sunday Jumpers (QQ #5):
Evie Sunday Jumpers (NQ thanks to HALF A BAR DOWN):
I’d thought last year was the last year Zhora and I would travel to Florida for the Invitational.
Then she got invited again, and I thought “why the fuck not?”.
So we went. Ruth and Orbit came with us to show. The drive down was a doddle.
In all the years I’ve gone to the Invitational thanks to the awesome dogs I have and have had the honor of running with, I have never had a dog have a perfect weekend. There’s always been one little thing that costs us a Q.
Not this year.
At 11 years old, Zhora managed to lay down FIVE OUT OF FIVE clean runs. She was pretty over it by the last round, and needed some cheerleading. Jumpers has never been her favorite, and you do TWO Jumpers courses at the Invitational, you start and finish with them. At the time I wondered if she was sore, but watching the videos, I think she was just tired and rolling her eyes at another Jumpers course. She was bright and sparkly in the courses with contacts (Standard and Hybrid), so while I came home feeling guilty for making her finish her weaves in the last round because I was worried she was uncomfortable, I don’t think that was the case.
That Sunday Jumpers course, the last of the weekend, was the only time I think I have ever asked Zhora to do agility “for me” like that, and I didn’t like that feeling at all. I have always seen agility as absolutely a team sport, and my dogs absolutely do get to have opinions about what they do and don’t do. It goes against my basic philosophy to “insist”, but once in a blue moon maybe it’s ok.
She finished 35th out of 175 dogs. and was the 15th out of 66 bred by exhibitor dogs.
I couldn’t be more proud of her. She has been an amazing and professional partner (in addition to just being a great pet and lovely dog to live with), she has always given 110%, and I feel like we both laid it down this time. She will go back into semi retirement now, she’ll still run until I feel like she doesn’t want to anymore, but she’ll do one day a weekend or so.
Zhora Friday Time 2 Beat:
Zhora Saturday Round 1 Jumpers:
Zhora Saturday Round 2 Standard:
Zhora Sunday Round 3 Hybrid:
Zhora Sunday Round 4 Jumpers:
.
The drive back….was something.
I glanced at the forecast and saw there was a storm pending, but it looked like we’d outrun it.
We didn’t.
Partway through Virginia the road signs started warning about winter storms and a need to be prepared. The skies up ahead started looking threatening and I started getting a bit worried.
Then, halfway up a mountain in West Virginia the snow appeared and literally we went from dry roads and normal visibility to 20 feet or so of visibility and so much snow I was finding the road using the rumble strips. If we hadn’t been behind a truck so I could follow its wheelmarks, I don’t know what we’d have done.
And then when we got to the top of the mountain, back to dry roads. But that was enough, we stopped for the night in Clarksburg.
Despite my doomscrolling about the weather, we made a later start the next morning and the roads and weather were absolutely fine the whole way home.
I am so very, very proud of my amazing Zhora. She’s a consummate professional working dog. She travels well, she tolerates changes in temperature, climate, location, you name it, with grace. She tolerates hotels, cars, loud and oppressive environments, other dogs, people, and lots of crate time, with equanimity. She’s amazing.
I’m sharing this mostly for myself, but I am proud of the hard work Evie and I have done over the last six weeks or so.
Evie stresses UP, which is a good thing, but it also means that she needs to learn how to channel that up stress and not let it explode her brain. She was disconnecting, zooming, visiting, and just checking out, because she didn’t know where to put the energy she was getting from a trial environment.
For the past several weeks I have only entered her in games classes, only did FEO, and often only did two or three obstacles and then got out of the ring, and we stayed for matches (even if it meant I didn’t get home until after 9 PM).
I am proud that I have been disciplined about not going for the Q but playing the long game, getting her the experience and training and mileage she needs.
I am grateful for the folks who were willing to be pretend ring crew in the classes we dropped into, and for Sue’s help and support as always!
It is ALWAYS worth putting in the effort. It is ALWAYS worth taking a step back and working your foundations. It is ALWAYS worth throwing a Q in order to give your dog the right experience (DON’T FIX ALL THE THINGS!).
Train the dog you want to have in a year. Be patient, but don’t be lazy. And VIDEO EVERYTHING, because seeing even small improvements can be the cookie YOU need to keep going,
It’s obviously a work in progress, but we are for sure several big steps along the right road!
I am so excited about what the future could hold for this little dog!
(Also she earned her very first title – Novice FAST!)
Here’s a little sample of what Sue helped me with today: working Evie through distractions. It is SO helpful to have someone to train with who knows a lot and has good ideas (not to mention, it’s more fun).
Evie is very friendly and also stresses WAY up, the visiting is less about her being friendly though, and more about being an outlet for stress (remember even good stress is still stress).
I am absolutely THRILLED with this! Plus LOOK HOW FAST SHE IS, and look at how quick also – you can see her deke towards me and then back to the dogwalk when she isn’t sure where to go. And this is probably the best set of weaves in a course I’ve ever had from her.
Good girl Evie! She loves to work and is such a trier.
What an incredible journey this dog and I have taken. Once we got our mojo Zhora became a qualifying machine. Forgiving of my mistakes, a dog who usually chooses to slow down and look to me for direction rather than grabbing any obstacle or zooming or stressing. So many of our runs were Q’s because of this. She’s my comfy slippers, my cozy home feeling. When we’re in the zone with each other, it truly feels like we have one mind.
I always thank her for the privilege of her efforts, for her impeccable, unflappable working temperament. For her kindness and the joy she shows at the start of every run. She’s nearly 11 now (August 5), and she’s slowed down as you’d expect. But she still sometimes manages a miracle run, like our Friday Standard run where she ran it in 4.2 yards per second, which I think is her personal best. She’s a long and quite massive dog even though she’s lean and muscular. She isn’t a light and quick little hummingbird like Evie is, or a squat little speedy fighter jet like Nina was. Zhora is a dragster, straight lines are her milieu, collection is expensive for her. But even when I ask her to do something she really dislikes (like pinwheels), she does it, even if she does it slowly, she still does it.
She’s done everything I’ve ever asked of her. I am so grateful to her and for her. I don’t know what the future holds for her, she still comes to the ring with joy and good energy, but I think we can slow down a bit, put more energy into the up and comers. Whatever Zhora wants, I will (to the best of my ability to ascertain it and provide it) give her.
Dan Wolfson’s courses were fun and challenging. They got the better of Alice and I, but Zhora just scoffed at the traps and had a perfect two days.
Thank you my ZhoZho.
Friday Standard (4.2 YPS, first place):
Friday Jumpers:
Part 1 (Standard) of MACH8:
Part 2 (Jumpers) of MACH8 (featuring skipping Sue):
I’d kind of had Westminster on my bucket list for a while, but it’s a pretty expensive agility weekend and it’s a big hassle and blah blah blah.
But after losing Nina I got to thinking that if I was going to go with Zhora, I should just go. Zhora will turn 11 in August and while she’s still healthy and sound and running well, she isn’t getting any younger and neither am I. After all, it’s better to regret something you have done, than something you haven’t.
So while lots of folks overnighted their entries and all that, I handwrote our entry the day before the trial opened and snail mailed it. I figured if we got in, then the universe was telling me we should go. I was shocked when I got word that we were 13th on the waiting list. I realized then that there was some danger we might actually get in! And then less than 24 hours after closing, we were in!
Of course I hadn’t made any arrangements and had to hustle to find a (very expensive) hotel.
So off we went!
Nina (thank you Sue) came with us of course
We hit terrible traffic in New Jersey trying to get into the Lincoln Tunnel because of course we did. I’m used to city driving but we were at a standstill with no shoulders or anything packed in like sadines and I got a bit panicky about it and had to call Jim. Once I got into the tunnel though it was fine, and then driving through Manhattan on our way to Queens was just wonderful. Such a beautiful city.
Checking into the hotel I had to drive around the block four times before a spot opened up where I could stash the car while I went to check in. There was a guy screaming in the lobby, hotel staff were trying to calm him down, police were being called, two different women told me how much they liked my hair. It was so NYC.
Our room was in a half basement and tiny, but it was clean. A nice agility person saw me with Zhora and showed me where I could walk her. And then Zhora and I went for a stroll around the block to stretch our legs after being in the car all day.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous facility. Purple and gold was everywhere (yes, the dog show starting tomorrow is the big draw, but there were still a LOT of people there as the day went on).
We checked in and got our awesome swag (an embroidered North Face knapsack, a picture frame, a dog toy, a bandana, a really nice t-shirt, and a ticket for a free lunch).
Standard was in the stadium:
Jumpers was in an outdoor ring under a tent (this is actually where the biggest crowd was – most were just bystanders and they were AWESOME! The cheered LOUDLY for every team, it was so much fun!):
And then! We walked and ran standard, had lunch, then walked and ran jumpers:
Standard was first (Q and 14th place!). There are supposed to be “official” videos coming but Jesse kindly videoed too:
ProPlan gave us a lovely, healthy, and delicious free lunch (not dog food but I did share my sandwich with Zhora):
Then Jumpers (Q and 12th place!!):
I was hoping for one Q, and instead we doubled! And Saga the Vallhund was in the top 10 (awesome!) so made it to finals, but if she hadn’t, we’d have likely gone to finals too!
I am always humbled and amazed by Zhora. She always rises to the occasion, she thrives under pressure. I am so very glad we went, it was a whirlwind, tiring, crazy and expensive two days, but it was so very worth it for the amazing experience we had. Thank you Zhora for being the wonderful partner you have always been.
Finally, I just want to say that it was so awesome to see so many of my usual agility peeps there being supportive and having fun running their dogs and doing wonderfully. And it was so nice to see Whitney and Susan with their amazing Vallhunds (ALL FOUR VALLHUNDS QQ’d!), and it was just so lovely to feel the support we gave each other, we were all genuinely happy for how well each other did. Agility might just be dogs jumping over plastic but wow can it bring out the best in people sometimes.
“Official” standard video:
“Official” JWW video:
(and finally, as if my heart wasn’t full enough, tomorrow Zhora’s son Orbit and his co-owner Ruth will compete at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. I wish I could have managed to stay and watch but it wasn’t to be, I’ll be watching on the live stream though!)
Jim and I are very excited to welcome Kleinhaus Trulli Madly Deeply at Alkemi LT to our pack! Two weeks ago I drove to Massachusetts to meet these little monsters, and this little girl cuddled into me, took a deep breath, and melted. And then so did I. So on Friday after the agility trial I went and picked her up. She’s been doing great: stable, brave, bold, sassy, smart, and adaptable (just my kind of dog).
Trulli (pronounced “truly”) is out of a very genetically diverse breeding (as diverse as you can get in Vallhunds, with parents who carry the least common alleles, this was a BetterBred “10” breeding for those who follow that), so I knew I might be interested just from that standpoint when I learned Kat Klein was planning this litter. That, combined with the fact that Kat does an absolutely stellar job of raising her litters, meant that I just couldn’t say no once I met her.
Trulli is named after the Formula 1 driver Jarno Trulli (because of course she is). Because she was born near Valentine’s Day I knew I wanted a Valentine’s sort of name, and her name just came to me as I drove home from meeting her that first time.
The last puppy in our house that I didn’t breed was Nina, so it’s been a while since I didn’t grow my own. Thank you so much for trusting us with this little girl Kat!
Alice and I had a great time at the Kayl McCann and Jamie Moreau (both Canadian world team members and certified OneMind Dog instructors) seminar! We learned some really useful things. I usually think if I learn one or two things to keep in my training toolbox it’s worth the price, but we learned so much more from these two, including some really good ideas about commitment!
Our first trial of 2023, and what a great day it was! I’m only doing one day per weekend at Countryside during the winter because that way if the weather is bad, I don’t mind eating a day’s entries. If I enter a whole weekend and the weather’s bad…it’s irksome.
Anyway! Judge Laura Kuterbach designed some really difficult courses with very low qualifying rates, and I’m horribly out of shape, and the dogs aren’t in great shape either (we’re working on both), and we haven’t trialed (other than Zhora at the Invitational) since November, and we haven’t been training at all…and and and….but somehow, my amazing girlies pulled off a PERFECT DAY!
Zhora earned her sixth QQ towards MACH8, and Alice earned her very first QQ (and it was actually a triple Q, towards her TQX, because she also qualified in FAST). It was a very small trial, and there were only 5 8″ dogs, so I had almost no time to warm up properly, so I was running even slower than usual, but we did it! The courses didn’t have much room to open up and let the dogs run, and they don’t like that, but it also meant that Alice didn’t get high and zoomy and stayed controlled. Not as much fun, but better for qualifying. AND! They went 1-2 both times with very close times. Alice might have edged out Zhora for first place in Standard if we hadn’t had a miscommunication that led to a wrong turn and ate some time.
Alice Saturday FAST (part 1 of QQQ #1):
Alice Saturday Standard (part 2 of QQQ #1, second place):
Zhora Saturday Standard (QQ #146, first place):
Alice Saturday Jumpers (part 3 of QQQ #1, second place):
Ruth and Orbit worked very hard in 2022 to qualify for the National Owner Handled Series Finals, and Orbit took Best of Opposite in the Finals! Annie and Diane won BOB.
BUT! Since we were down there, I also entered him in the AKC National Championship and! He WON BEST OF BREED! Which meant he got to go to group and be on TV on New Year’s Day! What a thrill that was! And the judge gave him a really good look for the final cut too! I got to be the “assistant” and crouch down at ringside with his treats and brush and other goodies.
Orbit – TV star!
Our win pic. Orbit was bored and I was all sweaty from running agility.
Orbit finished 2022 as the #2 Swedish Vallhund all systems, and he has been invited to the 2023 Westminster Kennel Club show!
Ruth and Orbit in the staging area!
The board showing the order we were to go in
Waiting for their chance to shine!
On the fabled red carpet!
Lovely professional shot from the red carpet
Here’s my “from the secret hidey hole” behind the scenes footage (you can see the judge really giving Orbit a good consideration for the cut!):
Here’s Orbit on TV January 1, 2023:
A lot of people will tell you never to co own, that it’s a recipe for disaster for both breeder and co-owner. They say that if you want to keep a dog in your breeding program you should just keep it yourself. I only have so much room and time, and the dogs themselves are often much better off in a home where they can be someone’s whole world instead of just a part of mine. I feel very fortunate that I have such awesome co-owners for several Alkemi dogs. Thus far it has been a wonderful arrangement (I hope for all sides). I am very fortunate that Ruth set such high goals for Orbit, and that she wanted to do all the things she needed to do to get there. To say I am proud of what they have achieved so far would be an enormous understatement!
