I can't believe it's already Memorial Weekend! With a busy weekend the boys only got to play agility 1 day... they both had some very nice runs tho. The rest of the weekend they were just playing and acting like dogs!
Dylan ran very nicely in both Std and JWW... his *only* problem in each run were his weaves. Big D even hit every contact nicely and never dropped any bars. Our next goal is to get those weaves! He would have Qed in each run otherwise... oh well, he still had a blast and made me laugh -- what a happy boy.
Rumor's JWW run didn't start out on the best foot. He went into the wrong end of the tunnel at obstacle #1! The rest of the run was beautiful... oh well, sill mistakes. His Std run was very nice too. Rumor's consistent problem is the weaves as well...
We're taking almost 1 month off of agility and trials... time to act like "dogs" and play more DockDogs too! When we come back, our main focus will be the weaves... both boys have to improve in that area and it will be a *huge* step in the right direction.
Happy Memorial Day!
Upcoming Events
- 4/22: Merrillville, IN (AKC Agility)
- 4/23-24: Barrington, IL (USDAA Agility)
- 5/7-8: FCI World Team Tryouts, Minnesota
- 5/20-22: Ft. Worth, TX USDAA Regional
- 6/3-5: Perry, GA USDAA Regional
- 8/5-7: IL USDAA Regional
- 10/11-16: Cynosport Championships (Louisville, KY)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Let the DockDogs Season Begin!!!
This was definitely a great kick-off to the DockDog season this year... I can't wait! Chicagoland DockDogs hosted an event in Berwyn this weekend and the weather was great. Dylan and Rumor both played in Big Air and in Speed Retrieve. They had a blast. It was even more fun because Chris came home from Poland this weekend so he came to hang out at the event and Dylan got to play with Chris too... he loves Chris.
Both boys had fun at Speed Retrieve. Rumor's time was around 7.7 sec and Dylan time was in the low 8s, I believe. Neither one made it to the finals as 6 of the top 8 dogs were in the 6 second range. I really think Rumor can get in the low 7s/high 6s once he practices a bit more. He has only done this 3 times now so I'm not too worried about it.
For Big Air, both boys had some nice jumps. Dylan jumped over 16' and was having a blast. Rumor had a jump over 19' that put him into the Senior Finals. In the Finals, I totally messed up his throw and his 1st jump was only 15'... his 2nd jump was much better.... 18' 8" which was good enough to win the Senior Division -- good boy Rumz!
We had a blast and our friends did really well too. Ollie won the Masters Division... Fergus was 2nd in the Masters Division. I believe Ryder also got 4th in the Novice division -- everyone did a great job!
Both boys had fun at Speed Retrieve. Rumor's time was around 7.7 sec and Dylan time was in the low 8s, I believe. Neither one made it to the finals as 6 of the top 8 dogs were in the 6 second range. I really think Rumor can get in the low 7s/high 6s once he practices a bit more. He has only done this 3 times now so I'm not too worried about it.
For Big Air, both boys had some nice jumps. Dylan jumped over 16' and was having a blast. Rumor had a jump over 19' that put him into the Senior Finals. In the Finals, I totally messed up his throw and his 1st jump was only 15'... his 2nd jump was much better.... 18' 8" which was good enough to win the Senior Division -- good boy Rumz!
We had a blast and our friends did really well too. Ollie won the Masters Division... Fergus was 2nd in the Masters Division. I believe Ryder also got 4th in the Novice division -- everyone did a great job!
Monday, May 11, 2009
a little AKC and a little USDAA
Saturday I took both the boys to an AKC trial in Villa Park. I wasn't expecting much b/c the footing there is horrible, but I had to be around that evening for a Bday party (which worked... was a total surprise!) so I wanted to stay around the area. Dylan had a great Std run and hit all his contacts (A-Frame was close) and I was thrilled with that! He missed his weave entrance, but ran very nicely on the course. His JWW run was also awesome.. he GOT the weave entrance except the little turd ran behind me to take the wrong end of the tunnel after the weaves. What??? Since when does he cross behind me for anything? Oh well, was still a good run. Rumor had a *really* tough time with the footing. In JWW he was trying to turn and took a couple face plants :( it was sad. His Std contacts were really nice, but he couldn't collect and missed the teeter... I was ok with that, I knew he was trying, but it was just too slick for him. They were both good boys.
Sunday we went up to Franklin, WI for a USDAA trial. Rumor needed a Q under a 3rd judge to finish his Agility Dog (AD) title so he was entered in Gamblers, Standard and Pairs. He has only trained outside once and has shown outside once (last Sept) so he was a little crazy in Gamblers. We didn't get the gamble, but he was trying and at least running. Our Standard run was very nice, but I ran down a line (tunnel, tire, chute, tunnel) and Rumor missed the tire and I couldn't stop him before going into the chute... but the rest of the course was great. Very nice contacts and he was listening much better :) Our last run of the day was Pairs and we got our Q there! So, Rumor is now Rumor AD!
The most fun part of the trial was that the judge was Lianne (Lisa Baird's daughter) and I had no idea! She has known Rumor since day 1... when his name was still Forest. She didn't know I was going to be there and thought he was a very nice looking dog when I brought him to the line. I think once she heard me say his name she put it together -- I was thrilled to meet her!
Overall, a very nice Mother's Day gift for me from Mr. Rumz
Sunday we went up to Franklin, WI for a USDAA trial. Rumor needed a Q under a 3rd judge to finish his Agility Dog (AD) title so he was entered in Gamblers, Standard and Pairs. He has only trained outside once and has shown outside once (last Sept) so he was a little crazy in Gamblers. We didn't get the gamble, but he was trying and at least running. Our Standard run was very nice, but I ran down a line (tunnel, tire, chute, tunnel) and Rumor missed the tire and I couldn't stop him before going into the chute... but the rest of the course was great. Very nice contacts and he was listening much better :) Our last run of the day was Pairs and we got our Q there! So, Rumor is now Rumor AD!
The most fun part of the trial was that the judge was Lianne (Lisa Baird's daughter) and I had no idea! She has known Rumor since day 1... when his name was still Forest. She didn't know I was going to be there and thought he was a very nice looking dog when I brought him to the line. I think once she heard me say his name she put it together -- I was thrilled to meet her!
Overall, a very nice Mother's Day gift for me from Mr. Rumz
Monday, May 4, 2009
Dylan OAP
Dylan is FINALLY back in Excellent for both JWW and Std. We had a fun weekend in Grand Rapids this weekend... I got to run Zane along with both my boys. Dylan's Std Q was our only Q for the weekend, but lots of nice parts to runs. Poor Zaners... he would have gorgeous runs and 1 off course each time -- bummer. Rumor ran beautifully and just had a tough time with the weaves... other than that, he was great!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Rumor: more USDAA
Rumor got to do his 2nd USDAA trial this weekend. I was a bit concerned b/c last weekend he ripped up his pads pretty badly, but he was looking good so I figured he would be ok to run.
Rumor had some very nice runs... on Saturday he had a long day. Starting out with Starters Jumpers -- he pulled out of the tunnel b/c I didn't wait until he was committed, but the rest of the run was nice. He did his 1st tournament class ever... Steeplechase... we had a tough time with the weaves (he still doesn't feel like hitting the entrance in trials), but the rest was very nice. Rumor got his 1st Starters Gambler Q as well as a Starters Standard Q. We ran in Grand Prix too... it was a bit over Rumor's head, but we got through the course... just wasn't super pretty :)
Sunday Rumor started the day out with a Starters Standard Q so he finished his Starters Standard title -- woohoo! We also got a Starters Pairs Q with teammate Zeke. Zeke did very nicely and Rumor/I almost NQed the team, but we saved it at the end... a Q is a Q :) We finished Sunday with a great Jumpers run! 1 dropped bar, but I didn't care... the rest of the run was really fun.
So, Rumor now has all the Qs he needs for his Agility Dog (AD) title... but we just need to get a Q under a 3rd judge. The rules online under the USDAA site says you need 3 judges to finish the AD title... so, I'm going to enter 1 day at the next USDAA trial we can find and hopefully just pull off 1 Q to finish Rumor's AD!
Rumor had some very nice runs... on Saturday he had a long day. Starting out with Starters Jumpers -- he pulled out of the tunnel b/c I didn't wait until he was committed, but the rest of the run was nice. He did his 1st tournament class ever... Steeplechase... we had a tough time with the weaves (he still doesn't feel like hitting the entrance in trials), but the rest was very nice. Rumor got his 1st Starters Gambler Q as well as a Starters Standard Q. We ran in Grand Prix too... it was a bit over Rumor's head, but we got through the course... just wasn't super pretty :)
Sunday Rumor started the day out with a Starters Standard Q so he finished his Starters Standard title -- woohoo! We also got a Starters Pairs Q with teammate Zeke. Zeke did very nicely and Rumor/I almost NQed the team, but we saved it at the end... a Q is a Q :) We finished Sunday with a great Jumpers run! 1 dropped bar, but I didn't care... the rest of the run was really fun.
So, Rumor now has all the Qs he needs for his Agility Dog (AD) title... but we just need to get a Q under a 3rd judge. The rules online under the USDAA site says you need 3 judges to finish the AD title... so, I'm going to enter 1 day at the next USDAA trial we can find and hopefully just pull off 1 Q to finish Rumor's AD!
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