Oh Yeah, You Blend

Mother of my sweet Rakki, great-grandmother of my beloved, amazing Nina, great-GREAT-grandmother of the loving Tish and wonderful Zhora. Such a wonderful, wonderful dog who only seemed to get better as she got older. I loved that sweet Cranberi, and I know she will leave a huge hole in Ulla’s home and heart. She had such a wonderful and long life, I am sure she is chasing anything and everything up in heaven now, leaping over tractors and running her heart out. Rest easy Cranberi, you live on in so many pedigrees, Nina dedicates her agility runs this weekend to your memory!

Some really tough courses this weekend from judge Carla Boudrot. Not Nina’s best weekend, with just a Time 2 Beat Q (and win), but Zhora was the star of the weekend, earning her first two Open Standard legs AND her first Excellent Jumpers leg! It is tricky running a green dog, since you are still building what I call the “mojo”, which is your communication with each other, where you learn to predict what your dog will do and what your dog will need from you in order to succeed. With an inexperience (“green”) dog, this is challenging, because what the dog will do and what the dog needs from you changes all the time, as they develop more confidence and gain experience. I am trying to be less cautious with Zhora and let her run and trust she is learning her job.

Zhora Saturday Open Standard (Q and OA leg #1):

Zhora Sunday Excellent Jumpers (Q and AXJ leg #1):

Nina Sunday Master Jumpers (NQ because of LAST BAR down, nice run though):

Nina Sunday Time 2 Beat (Q and first place for 10 points):

Zhora Sunday Open Standard (Q and OA leg #2), she actually looks like she would have got her weaves on the first try, but I assumed she was going to pop out when she looked at me, but then she headed back in:

Great time this weekend with great friends and my favorite AKC judge, Mary Mullen.

Zhora continued her Jumpers streak by earning her third OAJ (Open Jumpers) leg yesterday and her OAJ title! I moved her up to Excellent for today and while she didn’t Q (missed two weaves), she ran really, really well.

Nina got FAST and Standard on Friday and Jumpers yesterday and today. A heartbreaker of a spin in front of the table (my fault) cost us a double Q today.

Love my girls!

Nina Master FAST (Q):

Nina Friday Jumpers (Q and 17 points):

Nina Saturday Standard (Q and 27 points) – close call on the teeter there!:

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Q and OAJ title), the best part of the run didn’t get recorded unfortunately:

Nina Sunday Jumpers (Q and 15 points):

Nina Sunday Standard (I showed way too much deceleration going to the table, so she spun, bad handler, I was worried about her overshooting it and overhandled it):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (Excellent debut!):

Zhora Sunday Standard (Open, no Q, but a decent run, she is speeding up):

A very fun weekend, even though I started off sick and got sicker as the weekend went on. Zhora Q’d in Time 2 Beat on Friday, AND she earned her first TWO Open Jumpers legs, going 2 for 2 in Jumpers. We had no weaves and a bar down in Standard today, and a teeter bail-off yesterday. Nina was a one bar wonder in Jumpers today, but pulled off a lovely Q in Standard today on a VERY tricky course with a very low Q rate.

Zhora Saturday Open Jumpers (OAJ Leg #1):

Nina Sunday Master Standard (Q and 26 points):

Zhora Sunday Open Jumpers (OAJ Leg #2):

No Q’s, but some really nice runs. Tricky but fun courses from judge Tim Pinneri.

Nina’s JWW run Saturday, such a nice run but one bar:

Zhora’s JWW run Saturday, also a wonderful run but she got distracted by the judge:

Nina Sunday Standard (one off course):

Zhora Sunday Standard (no weaves, they were in a really distracting spot, but a lovely run):

This was our first trial after 2 months off…we sure had fun. No Q’s that counted, although Zhora finished her Novice FAST title, and Nina finished her Time 2 Beat title. I was VERY happy with how Zhora ran, her Jumpers run was gorgeous other than a handler error at the start (twice) costing us a Q.

Zhora Saturday Open Jumpers (I needed to set her up straighter and lead out further, both times!):

Nina Saturday Time 2 Beat (first place and Time 2 Beat title):

So Pat Hastings is in town to give her famous “Structure in Action” seminar tomorrow (which I saw when I still lived in Texas, and which I have posted about here before). Today she was doing private evaluations, so I took Zhora. She was very complimentary about Zhora (telling me she was a “lovely, lovely bitch”), and giving me some things to watch for in a potential mate for her.

AND! Her OFA hip and elbow results came back: hips are Good and elbows are normal! Eyes also normal!

Yay Zho!

This was our last trial until September. Nina had been off for a while since she was in season, I think she was excited to be back! We were standard specialists this weekend, with 2/2 standard Q’s, and bars down in Jumpers. She ran wonderfully and judge Tom O’Brien remarked that Nina was “sure something”. Zhora did great yesterday, running like a real agility dog, reading my cues excellently and driving to equipment and lines very well. Her weaves are not ready for primetime, so we have a project to work on until the fall! Very happy with her!

Nina Saturday Standard Q (28 points):

Zhora Saturday Open Jumpers:

Zhora Saturday Open Standard:

Nina Sunday Standard Q (29 points):

Nina Sunday Time 2 Beat (not a Q thanks to teeter fault but such a nice run):

Nina’s 2015 Nationals tally: 3/4 double Q’s, 25/20 legs, 510/500 points

And I just reserved my hotel room for the Invitational! OMG!

So Nina decided to go into season YESTERDAY, so I had to pull her from this weekend’s trial (also the last trial we were entered in for the Invitational qualifying period, so fingers crossed that we hold onto our spot!). So Zhora and I went to play. In a way, Nina not being there was a plus, since it meant I could concentrate on Zhora. Judges Candy Nettles and Laura English set some fun and fast courses for us!

She did GREAT Friday! Got her first Novice FAST leg in her first-ever Novice FAST run, finished her Novice Jumpers (NAJ) title, did two sets of weaves on the very first try. The puppy brain kicked in about halfway through Open Standard, but I was thrilled with her speed and joy in running with me. I moved her up to Open Jumpers (even though she is not really ready) because I really want her to get used to seeing 12 weave poles. Very happy with my baby girl! She just turned 22 months old.

Friday Novice FAST (Q):

Friday Novice Jumpers With Weaves (Q and NAJ title):

Friday Open Standard (NQ):

We had no Q’s Saturday but I was VERY happy with how she ran in Jumpers, a really hard weave pole entry (only about 3 dogs Q’d in the entire level), and she alllllmost got her weaves, missed a couple, but ran fast and happy and listened well, the mojo really felt like it was starting to germinate. This was especially good after her Novice FAST run today, which had the puppy brain on TILT the whole time. Standard was wilder but still fast and happy, and her table performance was hilarious. Overall very pleased with the Z dog! I saw Demi today also, she is looking great! Fast and sassy and shouting at her dad Ron on the table (hmmm…is that genetic?).

Zhora Saturday Open Jumpers:

Zhora Saturday Open Standard:

One of my favorite places to trial, PISA, in Cheswick, Pennsylvania. I don’t love the 4 hour drive, but it’s a lovely facility and some of my favorite peeps are always there! I got to go to Primanti Brothers last night for dinner, thanks to Sherry and Zap!

No Q’s for anyone yesterday, although I am going to post Zhora’s NQ’s since she is running so fast, and is almost listening some of the time, I am really seeing some good things happening there. Once again, she stressed up and not down, which is exactly what I want! She is a wild thing, which is wonderful at this stage.

Nina got called on her teeter today so no standard, but she got jumpers in a real nailbiter, since I gambled on having a start line stay that didn’t happen so I was WAY out of position, but we made it, for 13 points.

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Novice):

Zhora Saturday Standard (Open):

Nina Sunday Standard (NQ):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (13 points):

Nina’s 2015 Nationals tally: 3/4 double Q’s, 23/20 legs, 453/500 points