Oh Yeah, You Blend

Zhora seems to LOVE this trial site in Niles, Ohio! She went 3 for 4 last time, and 3 for 4 this weekend, including pulling off double Q #7, and working through a reverse sneezing fit at the start of her Jumpers run today! Her work ethic really impressed me, she also worked through a stupid handling mistake I made and saved the Q (I would never have gotten away with the mistake if she’d been running at her normal speed).

Judges Sandra Moody (LOVED her!) and Howard Etzel set some tricky but fun courses with subtle traps.

Nina had three JOLT (Just One Little Thing) runs, including what would have been a Standard Q yesterday that I STOLE FROM US by screwing up a front cross placement and ending up having to jump a jump, Nina was perfect, I was….less so. Her last run today had two bars down so I took her off (an experiment I am trying).

Takeaway pluses from this weekend (other than Zhora’s QQ of course!): Nina had PERFECT contacts, Zhora got 4/4 weaves and didn’t even blink at the teeter after bailing off it at Countryside a few weeks ago, plus really getting a concrete example of her work ethic.

Nina Saturday Standard (in which I entertain the crowd and throw away an all-too-rare Q):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Q and 11 points):

Nina Saturday Jumpers (JOLT!):

Zhora Sunday Standard (Q and 21 points and part 1 of QQ #7):

Nina Sunday Standard (JOLT!):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (Q and 7 points and part 2 of QQ#7, work ethic to spare, she is slow because she is reverse sneezing, bad handling error that she saves, you can see she starts running more normally once we reach the triple):

Not our best weekend. In fact, I think I would rather not talk about it.

Judge Candy Nettles designed some really tough but fun courses.

Zhora went berzerk and entertained everyone in Standard on Saturday, so happy to see her having so much fun, she ran really well other than that!

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Q and 6 points):

Zhora Saturday Standard (in which she goes berzerk!):

Our first trial back at Countryside in two months! Judge Abbie A. Hanson had some interesting, trappy courses, most with “country driving” and “city driving” sections. Zhora earned her Time 2 Beat title, and had some lovely runs, Nina got two standard legs.

Zhora Saturday Time 2 Beat (first place, 10 points, T2B title):

Nina Saturday Standard (second place, 31 points):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (NQ but a lovely run):

Zhora Sunday Time 2 Beat (first place, 10 points):

Nina Sunday Standard (second place, 26 points):

Zhora Sunday Standard (NQ but a nice run):

This was the last qualifying weekend for the AKC Agility Invitational, so the Gordon Setter Club cleverly invited two judges with wonderful courses and generous wheels to their trial, and ended up with a full trial (Saturday and Sunday anyway), which is unusual these days! We were in North Olmsted, Ohio.

Judges Christie Bowers and Dan Faulkner set some lovely, flowy, fast courses for us, and the dogs had a blast.

Nina got double Q #10 on Friday, Zhora had a beautiful standard Q Saturday but then a HUGE crack of thunder and heavy, loud rain started just as we entered the ring for Jumpers, and that put the kibosh on a double Q. She ran beautifully all weekend, but couldn’t pull off another Q.

Nina Friday Standard (3rd place, 32 points (against some of the fastest 8″ dogs in the country!) and part 1 of QQ#10!):

Nina Friday Jumpers (16 points for part 2 of QQ#10!):

Zhora Saturday Standard (20 points, almost her best points to date, her best ever is 21):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (gorgeous run with a heartbreaker last bar down for an NQ!):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (not a Q but a really nice run):

This was our first time traveling to Niles, Ohio for a trial. What a lovely venue and a great bunch of people! The dogs loved running there, Zhora did some of her best yards per second to date, and Nina was 1/100th of a second out of a placement in Jumpers today (some of the fastest 8″ dogs in the country were at this trial, so no surprise!). Zhora and I took a lesson with our friend Sue Verbocy to try and figure out what happened to Zhora’s weaves last weekend, and what Sue helped us with worked! Zhora went 3 for 4 this weekend and earned double Q #6! Nina ran beautifully, only pulled out a Jumpers Q today (on a course with a really tricky weave entry), but had some gorgeous JOLT (Just One Little Thing) runs. Louise McCombs was there from Colorado with her two Vallhunds, so we had a miniature regional specialty with just the two of us! Judges Ron McClelland and Deborah Funk designed some tricky but fun courses.

Nina Saturday Jumpers (what a heartbreaker, my fault for not handling that jump after the tunnel near the end):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Q and 9 points):

Nina Sunday Standard (such a nice run but that off course got a lot of dogs, Nina was no exception!):

Zhora Sunday Standard (hooray for startline stays! Part 1 of double Q #6! 18 points):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (Q 1/100th of a second out of fourth place, 12 points):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (5 points, double Q #6!):

Not our best trial weekend! Zhora wasn’t feeling it, just a Time 2 Beat Q for her, Nina nearly doubled both days but didn’t, although she won Standard on Saturday and Jumpers on Sunday. We only qualified on Terry Brown’s courses, which was odd, although we really liked judge Lisa M. Selthofer, she was super nice and had lovely courses.

Nina Saturday Standard (first place and 32 points):

Zhora Saturday Time 2 Beat (8 points):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (first place and 17 points):

What a great trial weekend! Our friends Zap and Sherry stayed with us and we had a great time with them and their dogs. Sherry hurt her leg yesterday so I ended up pinch-running their Corgi Lexy. That was fun! She almost ran for me! And we couldn’t have asked for a nicer judging team! Mary Mullen and Kimberly Reeher gave us some fun, challenging courses, but flowy and motivating for the dogs. Zhora earned double Q #5 AND her Master Jumpers (MXJ) title on Friday, and NINA!!! Nina finally broke her two trial NQ streak! She was one bar away from a double Q yesterday, but qualified twice this weekend, which is a huge improvement over not qualifying at all! More importantly, I felt like we were really connected when we were running, which was a huge relief. I am trying to talk to Zhora less when I run her, I feel like I need to cheerlead her, and I think she actually runs better when I only talk if I need to. She is really coming into herself, and had a couple of moments this weekend where I really saw her understanding the game, like Friday’s jumper’s run (her MXJ), when I ended up farther away from a jump than I’d intended, but she read the line anyway and took the right jump. Love my dogs!

Zhora Friday Standard (THIRD PLACE (best placement yet)! Part one of QQ #5 and 21 points, I knew we were going to have a good run when she was barking at me in the weaves!):

Nina Friday Jumpers (broke our NQ streak! Third place and 14 points, almost a disaster at the start, since she started before I was ready):

Zhora Friday Jumpers (part two of QQ #5 AND MXJ title AND 7 points):

Nina Saturday Standard (second place and 31 points):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (9 points):

Nina Saturday jumpers (one lousy bar away from a double Q):

Nina Sunday Standard (NQ thanks to teeter but a nice run):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (NQ but nice run and a reverse spin!):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (8 points and a reverse spin, baby!):

Lobo Earns His Novice Draft Dog Title 5/31/15

Bernese Mountain Dog cart on the left, Lobo’s cart on the right.

Lobo’s trophy!

Lobo (Alkemi Beowulf del Roble LS) earned his Novice Draft Dog title today (NDD), making him the first Swedish Vallhund to earn a drafting title! Lobo also has his Senior Barn Hunt (RATS) title (and was the first Swedish Vallhund to earn the Open Barn Hunt (RATO) title, along with another Vallhund who earned hers on the same day), AND he has his Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) obedience title, earned in just four trials. HUGE congratulations to Lobo and his awesome owner Jan Robles!

Cheswick, our favorite place to trial, even if it is a 3 1/2 hour drive! There’s a creek to swim in and tons of crating space, plus awesome fun hanging out with peeps!

Nina didn’t Q but I finally felt like we were connecting again, and Zhora! Got double Q #4 yesterday (on two tricky courses that she didn’t really enjoy) AND got jumpers today for a 75% Q rate! Good girl. (also Nina pooped in the ring today…I took her out just before she ran, but when you’ve gotta go…I was actually glad it was poop and not injury, since she slammed on the brakes before the second last jump and I thought she was hurt, but no…it was poop, I have included this video for your viewing pleasure).

Zhora at this point is a moderate-speed dog, not the slowest in her height, but nowhere near the fastest (plus 12″ has tighter times and is a more competitive height), I hope she will build speed as she gets more experience (I can see in the videos that she is having to think about things as she is running). It’s a nice change to run a dog where I actually have time to do some handling instead of just holding on by my fingernails, but nothing beats Nina’s balls to the wall style for sheer exhilarating fun! It’s nice to qualify once in a while though. Love my girlies!

Zhora Saturday Standard (Q and 17 points):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (Q and 3 points, she was poky mcpokerson!):

Nina Sunday Standard (NQ but actually felt the mojo working again):

Zhora Sunday Standard (NQ but nice faster run for her, I think she likes standard better than jumpers):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (POOP! But a really nice run up until then…):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (Q and 5 points):

REALLY not our best weekend! Nina and I just couldn’t connect all weekend. But Zhora saved the day today with double Q #3! Yay Z Dog! They were both tired and hot, as was I! Judges Kitty Bradley and Robert Long.

Zhora Sunday Standard (QQ #3 and 13 points):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (QQ#3 and 7 points):