Well the first trial of 2016 is in the books. Judge Janet Budzynski set some really tricky courses with low Q rates. They were really fun to run but certainly not “vanilla”! Nina broke her longish NQ streak in STYLE with double Q #12 on Friday right out of the gate. At 8 1/2 she is running faster than ever. I am posting her Standard NQ from Saturday (in which I gave her the walk of shame for an egregious teeter bail), because she was in complete rabies mode and still was accurate (other than skidding off the table because who needs brakes?). This run ended up costing us a Q in today’s Standard run, in which I overhandled the table and made her spin in front of it for a refusal call. Zhora had a nice jumpers Q yesterday on a tricky course where the only way to Q seemed to be to jam a bunch of front crosses in (not how I normally run my dogs), so it was ugly, but a Q. And today she qualified on a tricky standard course for a SECOND PLACE! Running against some of the top 12″ dogs in the country here, even a placement is a big deal in 12″, but she has never taken a second place before, and she actually beat some of the dogs who usually beat her, so that was awesome. I couldn’t be happier with how my girls are running just now, although Zhora and I need to come to an agreement about her start line stay, since she seems to think it’s merely a suggestion…
Zhora Friday Standard (NQ but a nice run):
Nina Friday Standard (part one of QQ #12, first place and 29 points):
Zhora Friday Jumpers (NQ):
Nina Friday Jumpers (part two pf QQ #12, first place and 15 points):
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Q and 8 points):
Nina Saturday Standard (holy CRAP she is running fast, skidding off the table because I was so far behind):
Zhora Saturday Standard (HEARTBREAKER, wrong end of the tunnel, the LAST OBSTACLE, costing us a double Q):
Nina Sunday Jumpers (really nice run):
Nina Sunday Standard (stupid handler trick at the table, what a gorgeous run):
Zhora Sunday Standard (Q, SECOND PLACE! And 19 points):
Bow Wow Video sent my “official” videos last week. They look great! My favorite part of the videos is I can see how much fun we’re all having, the dogs and I are loving every minute (except in Nina’s standard run where she knocked like four bars in a row, and even THAT was funny, even though I made some handling errors that I wish I hadn’t with both dogs):
What an AMAZING Invitational we had this year! To start things off, Zhora was invited as the #6 Vallhund after only being all the way into Masters since MARCH (the Invitational qualifying period was July 1 2014 to June 30 2015)! And THEN she qualified 4 out of 5 times running in a very overwhelming, loud, echoing environment on a portable turf surface like nothing she has ever run on before. And she knocked it out of the park. Nina ran fast and had a great time, if she could have left the bars up she would have been a serious contender for the breed medallion and maybe even the finals.
The girls all packed up and ready to go! Orlando or bust!
The courtyard at our La Quinta hotel, super nice!
Sherry and the Vallhunds on Thursday, heading in to check things out!
Sherry fulfilling her Sherpa duties on our way in to set up on Friday!
All set up!
Officially official!
Super nice leash tags this year!
Numbers!
Zhora’s Time 2 Beat ribbon!
The Eukanuba fairies came overnight!
Zhora and her loot!
Sherry Sherpa-ing our stuff back out.
The superstars played on the beach at Amelia Island for a well-earned break!
Zhora’s stats:
finished second in Swedish Vallhund breed rankings
Friday: qualified in Time 2 Beat, earning 7 points, placing her well into the top third of dogs
Saturday: qualified in both runs, placing 60th out of 123 dogs in Jumpers and moving up to 48th out of 123 after Standard
Sunday: a bobble at the weave poles cost us a Q in Hybrid for 95 points, dropping us down to 68th out of 123, but she pulled back to qualify on a very tricky Jumpers course (after us going out to the start line, and then having to go back off the course when there was a problem with the timer for the dog ahead of us (our friends Roger and Keebler, who placed second in the finals), pulling back up to finish 54th out of 123 12″ dogs overall, not too shabby at all
finished 20th out of 60 in the Bred-By Exhibitor standings
Nina’s stats:
finished 99th out of 157 8″ dogs overall, not bad at all considering she didn’t actually qualify once, that just shows you how speedy she is!
Saturday: Jumpers finished 113th out of 139 dogs with a score of 85 (three faults, five points off for each), Standard, a score of 70 after a disastrous run in which she knocked 5 bars kept her in 113th spot
Sunday: Hybrid with a score of 90 moved us up to 108th out of 139 dogs, and then a very fast run for a score of 90 on a tricky Jumpers course pulled us up to 99th out of 139 dogs
Jim was unable to come with me because of teaching, so my dear friend Sherry very kindly offered to come with me instead. As it turned out, I was SO glad Sherry was there, aside from being fabulous company on the long trip, fulfilling Sherpa duties, and videoing, Sherry is a physical therapist and the day before I left I had a really bad attack of plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonopathy which made even walking horribly painful, without Sherry’s knowledge and skills, I likely would not have been able to run. My awesome friend Zap, who usually videos at trials, packed us awesome care packages for the trip (for the dogs too!). Having good friends is the best thing.
So overall, it was an awesome Invitational. I was very aware every time I stepped to the line with my amazing dogs what an honor it is to run with them each and every time, whether it’s at a prestigious national event, or a local trial. The privilege of their efforts and the sheer joy of that incredible connection with another species is what makes it an addiction. A wonderful addiction through which I have learned so much about myself, met so many amazing people, and become so much more deeply connected to my wonderful dogs. We dedicated Zhora’s runs to our friend Hattie, who lost her awesome dog Vaasa (who was the #1 dog in Invitationals rankings this ear) last month, and at the trial we learned that Lisa Glick had lost her dog Scout after being entered at the Invitational. It’s a cliche to say we should cherish every run, but it’s so very true.
Congratulations to Chris Buryta and Riley (Alkemi Aston Martin LS) on finishing Riley’s Novice Jumpers title (in under 19 seconds) at Countryside Agility! This is Riley’s first title and he and Chris have had many JOLT (just one little thing) runs but when it comes together for them, they are amazing!
Well, today was one of the best agility days I have ever had, at the Admiral Perry Obedience Training Club AKC Agility trial, under judge Windle Ewing, BOTH Nina AND Zhora double Q’d! Nina for #11 and Zhora for #10 (halfway to her MACH already, in less than 8 months!). The courses were tough and technical, and the Q rates were low, but my girls really liked them and ran them beautifully. I am so very, very proud of my girls, they gave their all today, they listened beautifully, and they did their jobs with style and joy.
We joke in agility if you’re having a bad weekend in terms of Q’s, that maybe it’s “double Q Sunday”, well today was DOUBLE double Q Sunday! I am on cloud 9.
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Q and 10 points):
Nina Sunday Jumpers (Q, third place and 16 points, part 1 of QQ #11):
Zhora Sunday Jumpers (Q and 11 points, part 1 of QQ #10):
Nina Sunday Standard (Q, third place and 26 points, part 2 of QQ#11):
Zhora Sunday Standard (Q, fourth place and 18 points, part 2 of QQ#10):
Here is a very lovely note from Jan Robles, who owns Lobo (Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS CDX CGC RATM):
“Lobo, Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS (Mystarz Baileys Blazer X Vastogota Nina Ricci), was first introduced to the sport of Barn Hunt on July 13, 2013 in Pendleton,OR just shy of his first birthday. On August 24, 2014 Lobo was entered in his fist Barn Hunt trial. On November 1, 2015 Lobo earned his Master’s title. From day one Lobo exhibited the drive and passion that one hopes to see in a working dog. After the initial workshop, we did not compete in Instinct and went straight to Novice. We went months between trials and never had practices or workshops in between. Lobo clearly showed the drive and desire to work despite the lack of practice.
In this day and age when stock is not readily available to many Vallhund owners I think Barn Hunt is a reasonable option to verify working ability. Our breed was supposed to herd cattle, control rats and be a general purpose farm dog. The sport of Barn Hunt gives us an option to cultivate our breed’s working ability, drive and desire. If we don’t use it, we lose it.
To date, there are 19 Vallhunds with Barn Hunt titles. 6 have Novice and 2 have Open. There is 1 Master.
For almost 25 years I raised, titled and bred Belgian Malinois. I always bred Champion/performance titled dogs. I did not produce litters that were all working dog capable even though that was my goal. We need to pay special attention to the qualities that define our breed or we will end up with dogs that can not or will not work.
In the sport of Barn Hunt, I have seen way too many Rat Terriers with absolutely no desire to hunt. That is appalling and I don’t want to see us go down that path with our incredible Vallhunds.”
Such a fun trial with judge Christy Bowers! Zhora went 3/4 and continued to increase her speed yet again, breaking 5 yards per second in jumpers, placing two out of three times (and in the run she didn’t place in, she came 8th and the top 8 dogs were within 2 seconds of each other), and earning double Q #9. Nina was one stupid handler trick away from double Q #11 today. I was hoping it would be double double Q Sunday today, especially since Christy was playing Neil Diamond this morning while we walked, and since he was mum’s favorite, I was hoping it was an omen! And then both girls got jumpers but…so close!
Zhora Saturday jumpers (NQ but nice run):
Zhora Saturday standard (Q, fourth place, 23 points):
The score sheets from 12″ Standard on Saturday
Nina Saturday standard (NQ but nice run):
Zhora Sunday jumpers (Q, no placement but over 5 yards per second, 17 points):
Nina Sunday jumpers (Q, second place, 21 points):
Zhora Sunday standard (QQ #9, third place, within a second of first place! 24 points):
The score sheet from Sunday 12″ standard
Nina Sunday standard (NQ, all I needed to do was tell her “come table” after the jump after the dogwalk, lovely run anyway, AND she came to the table so fast her front feet came off, which isn’t a fault, just restarts the countdown, and she pulled them back up to save us a table fault, what a great girlie!):
HUGE congratulations to Jan Robles and Lobo (Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS) on becoming the first Swedish Vallhund to earn the Master Barn Hunt title (RATM)!!!
This is a tough title to earn. Lobo had to earn five qualifying legs at the Master level, with a RANDOM number of rats to find (there are eight tubes on the course and anywhere between one and five can contain rats, it’s decided by the judge and is different for each dog). He also had to negotiate tunnels with up to five turns.
And all in under 4 1/2 minutes!
Jan and Lobo (who is just three years old) are an incredible team!
Wonderful courses as always from Lavonda Herring (who is one of the Invitational judges this December!). Zhora was a superstar, going 2/3 both days, just not managing to put a double Q together. We were a slip in the weaves away from a double today. So happy with how she is running.
Nina finally broke her NQ streak today with a smoking fast standard run.
Both girls ran Premier Standard today and did amazingly well, Zhora qualified, I made an error with Nina and cost her a Q.
Zhora Saturday Time 2 Beat (Q, first place for 10 points):
Zhora Saturday Standard (Q and 4th place for 19 points):
Nina Saturday Standard (table bounce but nice run):
Zhora Sunday Jumpers (Q for 12 points):
Zhora Sunday Premier Standard (Q and first place):
Nina Sunday Premier Standard (NQ but nice run):
Zhora Sunday Standard (NQ due to slipping in the weaves but nice run):
Nina Sunday Standard (Q and first place for 33 points):
