After arriving on Friday morning with just two dogs to run before my walkthrough (Jenn and I went to see Adam Ant on the Thursday night, well worth it!), we ended up with just one Q (in Jumpers) for the weekend (one Q is better than no Q’s!). And this run was a nailbiter at the end, when I ended up out of position and nearly cost us the Q, thank goodness Nina knows to drive to an obstacle! We did get a stay almost every time, a stay with LOTS of sass, but a stay! She was starting to knock the first bar with the “drop and run”, so we’re back to trying for at least enough of a stay to get combobulated.
Nationals tally hasn’t changed much: 8/20 legs, 163/500 points, 0/4 double Q’s. So 12 more legs to go, 337 points, and 4 double Q’s.
Nina and I trekked to Cheswick, PA this weekend for another trial. I am at the “soul searching” stage of our 2014 Nationals quest, since we went into this trial on a string of NQ’s and I am beginning to wonder if I should withdraw from some upcoming trials if we’re not qualifying and save some money.
So Nina went and qualified twice this weekend for 48 more MACH points (if we qualify, we get lots of points, since she is a fast little thing), a HUGE improvement over recent trials! Even better, she stayed at the startline when asked to every time today, and actually STOPPED on the teeter today in Standard, something she does every time in practice but has only done ONCE at a trial. I was very happy with her!
Updated Nationals tally: 7/20 legs, 147/500 points, 0/4 double Q’s. So 13 more legs to go, 353 points, and 4 double Q’s. We’ll see!
Nina’s Standard Q from Friday 7/19:
Nina’s Standard NQ from today 7/21 (but with a start line stay and a stop on the teeter!):
Nina’s Jumpers Q from today 7/21 (recording started part way through due to technical glitch):
Lobo (Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS) went to his first International All Breed Canine Association show today (two actually, since there were two shows in one day). I’d say he did pretty well, here’s what his mom Jan says:
“Our Little Man did well. Although he was the only Vallhund, he took the Group in the first show and went on to Reserve Best In Show Puppy. Lobo took a Group 3 in the second show.
A judge told me there were three things that were important with the Vallhund – temperament, structure and balance and Lobo was A+, A+ and A+. :-)”
He has two more tomorrow!
And here’s what Jan says about Sunday’s show:
“Lobo took a Group 2 in the third show this morning, but nothing in the fourth show this afternoon.  Unlike some dogs that get exhausted when competing in two day shows, Lobo was not exhausted. In fact, my friends who were watching the group judging said that Lobo was the only dog that leaped into the air in joy as he was supposed to be gaiting around the ring.  That may have been a factor in him not placing, but he was having a great time.
As we did yesterday, he was walked this morning and when we came home this afternoon he went swimming/retrieving in the lake. Â When I finally stopped and took up the dummy he swam into the water to play with some boys.
Given the amount of life stress my family has had for the past year (showing no sign of stopping, in fact we got more bad news about my mum last week), I decided one way to take my mind off sad, worrisome things was to try and qualify Nina for the 2014 AKC Agility Nationals (they are in Harrisbug, PA, the closest they’re likely to be for a long while).
The requirements are: 500 MACH points, 20 legs (in Master JWW or Standard), and 4 double Q’s (qualifying in Master Jumpers and Master Standard on the same day – the double Q legs count towards the 20 legs). We have until November 30.
So far we have: 5 legs (4 JWW, 1 Standard), 99 points and no double Q’s. Not exactly a slam dunk, eh? Still, it’s fun and an effective diversion.
We still need: 401 MACH points, 15 legs and 4 double Q’s. Still technically possible, but not if we keep having trial weekends like the last couple. Nina is being a “one bar wonder”, with perfect courses with ONE BAR DOWN.
Here are some pictures of Lobo (Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS) at his very first show in Puyallup, both outside the ring and inside the ring. He won Best of Winners both days, and the Best of Breed dog was the dog who won the National Specialty last year so…
(You can see he was very stressed and had trouble relaxing…):
Pretty good day today. Tish earned her Novice Fast title, and WEAVED (a bit), Nina earned an MXJ leg (#4) for 16 more MACH points and was close in Standard, she did all the tricky stuff but I put her down wrong and she knocked the first bar (she knocked a bar later, too, but that was because I decided to book it and just run like hell!).
Nina Master Standard NQ:
Nina MXJ Leg #4:
Tish Excellent Jumpers (NQ but she did 10 weaves and ran well):
