Oh Yeah, You Blend

Well, this was about the best weekend ever! After a pretty fraught couple of days with some very sad news about my beloved aunt, Zhora earned double Q #19 on Friday (at which point I called Jim and said “James Battista, PACK YOUR BAGS!”), and then yesterday she earned her MACH! She picked up double Q’s 18, 19 and the magic 20 in three trial days in a row. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster!

I have to say a word about my friends and agility peeps, just about every single person there was amazing to me, and my close friends, well…a gorgeous plaque from Sue Verbocy, and a new crate tag from Zap and Sherry (both say MACH Zhora and both were made AHEAD OF TIME, which somehow didn’t jinx us, by my awesomely talented friend Suzanne at Giftware by Felcor), cards, chocolate…I couldn’t ask for a more generous, wonderful, supportive, awesome group of people. I love you all, thank you so, so, so very much for everything, you made this just the best. And thank you to my awesome husband Jim Battista, for putting up with being an agility widower, and for driving down and getting up at o dark thirty to come with me and be there, it meant so much to me that you were there.

During our Standard run for the MACH, the whole place was so quiet (for an agility venue), you could have heard a pin drop, and then the place exploded. I was happy that once I stepped to the line, I followed my dear friend Sue Verbocy’s advice and looked at Zhora, smiled, told her I love her, and then just ran my course. It really wasn’t until I saw her go into the right end of the final tunnel that it hit me that she’d done it! I mishandled the chute with her and was out of position (“if she knocks the triple, it’s on you”, I remember thinking to myself, after thinking “what the F&*% are you doing on this side of the chute!??!”), but she just sailed through.

This was the Hamburg All Breed Obedience Club (HABOC) trial, we always love HABOC’s trials, they take excellent care of their workers, and their ribbons are second to none. I used to teach at HABOC so that made it extra special to get Zhora’s MACH at their trial. The original judge, Michele Fletcher, broke her ankle (heal soon Michele!), so Oksana Syrkin kindly stepped in to judge for us, using Michele’s courses. The courses were fun but quite tricky, but Zhora just rocked them. Oksana told me when we were getting the MACH pictures taken that she’d just earned her first MACH a few months ago. Everyone talks about your first MACH like they talk about losing your virginity: about how special it is; how you always remember it; how there’s nothing like the first one; etc. And now I am in a position to say that it’s all true. I burst into tears as soon as Zhora took the correct end of the tunnel at the end, and then HABOC president Ellen Schopp handed me the ribbon and MACH bar, and then went back to her ring crew job of fluffing the chute…which I didn’t see, and sent Zhora into the chute as part of our celebration lap (Zhora loves the chute), thank goodness Ellen was on the ball and jumped back so Zhora didn’t run into her! Zhora was SO happy, she knew everyone was thrilled with her. She got a whole donut (she LOVES donuts), and our friend Barb Teplesky gave her some steak, and later she got a hamburger. Afterwards, I took her to the beach with her dog friends Jackson and Lexy (Zap and Sherry’s Corgis), and her boyfriends Blaze and Zest (Sue Verbocy’s Vizslas), so she could celebrate in a way that was meaningful to her. I went out for dinner afterwards with my dear friends, there was a song (ABOUT WHICH WE WILL NOT SPEAK, IT WAS SUE’S FAULT!), and I generally just had the best. day. ever.

I am so privileged to have this amazing dog who is so happy to play this game with me. Like her mother Nina, Zhora’s work ethic and sheer joy at getting to play with me is priceless, and I try very hard to never forget how fortunate I am to have these awesome little dogs.

Zhora is now MACH Alkemi Blade Runner MX MXB MXJ MJB NF T2B, and she is my first home-bred champion at three and a half years old!

In other news, Nina picked up another Premier double Q (on the same day, no less!) and a Standard Q. She had some gorgeous runs, but the Q’s were elusive. That said, she now just needs 2 more double Q’s (and can use one more Premier double Q if she gets one) and a few points for 2017 Nationals. Running Nina, who turns 9 this month, is an exhilarating ride every single time, and I love every single run.

Nina Friday Premier Standard (Q and first place):

Zhora Friday Premier Standard (Q and second place):

Zhora Friday Standard (part 1 of QQ #19, first place and 30 points, thanks for videoing Clark!):

Zhora Friday Jumpers (part 2 of QQ #19, second place and 15 points):

Nina Friday Premier Jumpers (Q and first place):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (part one of MACH, second place and 17 points):

MACH run! Zhora Saturday Standard (second place, 29 points and oh yeah, MACH ZHORA!!!):

Another video:

Nina Sunday Standard (Q, second place and 33 points):

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 8th, 2016 at 5:41 PM and is filed under 2012 litter, 2016 litter, agility, awesome, breeding, Dog Training, dogs, Nina, vallhunds, Zhora. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.