tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73520087799007089372024-03-08T04:09:32.864-06:00Dylan & RumorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-80115202211023740072010-12-14T07:34:00.000-06:002010-12-14T07:34:27.656-06:00Agility & the Holidays!We have been keeping busy between agility trials and getting ready for the Holidays :)<br />
We just finished a weekend at 1 of my favorite trials of the year, Hounds for the Holidays. We were just there 2 days, but I think Rumor and I had 1 of our best JWW runs to date! It was a very fun, competitive 26" class and less than 0.5 or 1 sec separated 1st through 4th place! Rumor got 2nd by a couple hundredths of a second. <br />
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It feels as though we are working together and finally a team. It is nice going to the line and feeling confident that we can get through the entire course, and in good style :) <br />
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Dylan has been amazing me recently as well. He now has 2QQs and so I might try and qualify him for Nationals next year, along with Rumor. We are done with agility trials until 2011 so now it is time for some R&R!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-74160318200941686652010-10-18T08:19:00.000-05:002010-10-18T08:19:07.932-05:00DockDog Nationals!Wow, what a fantastic weekend! We had the DockDogs National Championship in Dubuque, IA this weekend. To start off the weekend we had an 8 pin bowling tournament... it was awesome and I had a major personal best of 226!!!<br />
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Rumor only jumped in the Super Elite Big Air waves as that is the top level to jump so it is against all of the best dogs (mostly Malinois and Labs) in the World... I was very proud of Rumor! My 37 lb peanut did a very good job... he pulled out a great jump of 25' 2" on Saturday with a huge crowd and that got him into the Super Elite Big Air Finals on Sunday! 3 years that Rumor has been to Nationals and 3 years he has made it to his divisional finals -- I was thrilled! We ended up 7th in the Finals... we really had a wonderful weekend and I couldn't be prouder of my little boy!<br />
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In addition to jumping well this weekend, Rumor also won 2 awards at the banquet on Saturday night:<br />
Most Improved Dog (People's Choice Awards)<br />
Top Ranked Border Collie for 2010!<br />
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Dylan was entered in Express Speed Retrieve and he had a fantastic weekend! He just squeaked into the Finals on Sunday with the 8th position, which I was thrilled about. I was trying really hard to make sure my reaction times were right on... and it was working! In the Finals, Dylan had a new personal best of 7.74 seconds! He gave me everything he had and enjoyed every second of it... we ended up in 5th place -- I am so proud of my black boy! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-23322340522007036742010-09-29T10:42:00.002-05:002010-09-29T10:42:44.822-05:00I think it's Fall...We had our annual agility trial in Michigan where we play some agility in the morning and the dogs get to play on the beach in the afternoon... what more could you want?!?! It was definitely very chilly this weekend, but Rumor still had no problem swimming and running on the sand.<br />
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Rumor had 2 really nice Jumpers runs where he knocked the double in the 1st run and I pulled him off a jump in our 2nd run. We had a clean Standard run on Saturday and I pulled him from Sunday b/c the dogwalk approach was really scary to a slick dogwalk... not worth the risk. <br />
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Chris ran Dylan on Saturday and they had a couple very nice runs! Dylan was being a stinker about the weaves, but they did beautifully besides that.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-14102354945342480192010-09-06T16:11:00.001-05:002010-09-06T16:11:40.218-05:002010 STIHL Dogs & Logs World ChampionshipsRumor and I just returned from Salem, OR yesterday from the STIHL Dogs & Logs World Championships! It was quite an event and just an honor to be invited. <br />
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We competed in the Big Air division against the top jumping dogs in World and the competition was tough. Little Rumor (about half the size of all the other dogs) held his own and had at least a 24' jump in each of the waves... unfortunately, that wasn't enough to move onto the Quarter Finals... but we still had a blast and he definitely had quite the fans! <br />
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I'm glad we made the trip out West and it was a great experience... the toughest competition I have seen at a World Championship yet!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-10603078252380272242010-08-30T14:42:00.000-05:002010-08-30T14:42:20.952-05:00Great weekend for the black dogs! ... and my 1st QQ!Rumor had an amazing agility weekend! We have been struggling a little in JWWs, but this weekend it felt like we worked as a great team! I couldn't have been happier with him.<br />
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On Saturday Rumor had a nice Standard Q to finish his MX title! To top off the day, we Qd in JWW for our 1st QQ! He blew me away on Sunday when he was clean on both courses again and got his 2nd QQ! All 4 scores counted towards World Team Tryouts scores as well... so it was a fantastic weekend!<br />
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The thought of maybe getting 4 more QQs before the end of November to qualify for AKC Nationals seems within reach! It'll be a lot of work, but we're going to give it a shot :)<br />
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Dylan also had a fantastic weekend! He was so happy to be back playing... it was fun running him! D had a great start to the weekend with a nice Q in JWW. He popped out of the weaves in Std, but the rest of the run was lovely. On Sunday he bounced out of the weaves (his big head got in the way!) in JWW, but he finished the weekend strong with a great Standard run! WTG Big D!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-11719692392969247962010-07-20T07:57:00.000-05:002010-07-20T07:57:04.402-05:00Summer AgilityThe boys and I had a wonderful, busy weekend this past weekend. We were at a great, new facility that was indoors with the a/c pumping all weekend... which was greatly appreciated with all the heat and humidity.<br />
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This trial was fun because both of my parents saw Rumor run for the 1st time and my dad hasn't seen Dylan run before either -- I think they enjoyed themselves.<br />
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Dylan was a very happy, sassy boy and had a blast running agility again. On Saturday he was a bit goofy in standard and didn't think the yellow would be fun to touch, but he had a very nice JWW run and it was great with just 1 dropped bar. On Sunday, a bar in each class was his only problem as well... so he was a good man!<br />
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I feel like Rumor and I are really starting to become a team and it feels great. On Saturday he was flying around the jumpers course and, unfortunately, I didn't support 1 jump enough so he missed that, but the rest was fantastic He also had a lovely standard run so I was happy with that. On Sunday he had another smokin' JWW run and dropped the 2nd to last bar, but I was still thrilled with it. And our standard run was going really well until I got impatient and rear crossed too soon and pulled him off a jump.<br />
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Overall, I was THRILLED with Rumor... I pulled him off of jumps in 2 of our runs and he only knocked 1 bar in our 3rd run... the rest of his running was great so I'm looking forward to our next trial!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-15336673716414435542010-07-06T14:03:00.003-05:002010-07-06T14:03:26.046-05:00Aloha HawaiiRumor and I were lucky enough to be 1 of 5 dogs invited to introduce DockDogs to Hawaii with 2 National events just outside of Honolulu. They were very long weekends, but we had a blast! The people we met there were great and I hope they have success with their new club... Aloha DockDogs. In between events we had 4 days off so Rumor got to do plenty of playing on beaches, hiking and enjoying all of the scenery.<br />
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Rumor had trouble the 1st weekend in Hawaii because we haven't ever competed at night under lights before and it didn't occur to me, but he wasn't able to see his toy in the water, since I do place and send with him. The glare from the lights made it quite difficult. We didn't start off strong, but we ended the 2nd weekend really well. I found toys that Rumor could see under the glare of the lights at night and it made a huge difference. I was so excited when Rumor finished his Super Elite title since he's the 1st Border Collie to ever earn this National title! In addition to that, he was consistently jumping over 25', which just blew me away. He even set a new personal best of 26'... which, I believe, is the farthest jump in DockDogs for any Border Collie as well -- he just keeps getting better and better!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-74762851507136703002010-07-06T14:03:00.000-05:002010-07-06T14:03:00.324-05:00Rumor AXJ!Woohoo! Rumor finally finished his AXJ after struggling with JWW for a while. He had some nice Standard runs too... I feel those QQs getting within reach :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-59940095954640221272010-06-01T09:22:00.000-05:002010-06-01T09:22:55.961-05:00A great new facility... and our 1st WT Tryouts score!We went to an AKC Agility trial at a fantastic, new facility in Barrington, IL. I loved it and hope that there are many more events at this location in the future. <br />
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Rumor and I are still trying to get our last ExA JWW score to finish our AXJ title... we had a fantastic run on Saturday, but I screwed the poor boy up going into the weaves. Oh well, it will come soon enough.<br />
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Rumor *did* have a gorgeous Std run on Sunday and it is, officially, our 1st score to qualify for World Team Tryouts. I'm going to see if we can qualify for Tryouts in May 2011. He had a nice Std run at 26" and ran 4.99 yps, so I was happy with that.<br />
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Dylan was a blast to run this weekend... he's such a goof. We were SO CLOSE to our 1st (real) QQ... but he popped out of the weaves in Std. He had a really nice JWW Q and was as happy as could be all weekend...<br />
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I'm definitely looking forward to another weekend of agility next weekend... trying to fit in as many trials as we can before heading to Hawaii!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-45312928955319561172010-05-17T09:28:00.000-05:002010-05-17T09:28:09.439-05:00Chicagoland DockDogs... FINALLY playing outside!Rumor really has been coming into his own and had a lot of fun this weekend. We were in Berwyn, IL for the Chicagoland DockDogs event and it was our 1st outdoor event of the season. SO NICE to be jumping outside! Since I am Vice President of the CLDD club I tried to volunteer as much as possible so neither Dylan nor Rumor jumped in many waves. Rumor had a couple 25' 5" jumps and was 1 of 3 dogs in the Super Elite Finals. Dylan's best judged jump was 14' 11", but he got lots and lots of practice time so I think he was a bit pooped :) It turned out to be a great event and I was impressed that we had 3 dogs jumping in the Super Elite division and 3 dogs in the Elite division... <br />
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The Super Elite Finals were quite exciting... Rumor came into the Finals in 2nd place. After all 3 of our dogs jumped 1 round we were still in 2nd. Callie jumped a big 25' 8" jump before us and so Rumor had to give it his all and had a tie... 25' 8" too for the little Rumz! That was a new personal best for him. We ended up winning b/c our other jump was slightly longer than Callie's other jump. For a relatively small event, it really was an exciting Fials! <br />
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Dylan and Rumor are both looking forward to spending next weekend in Michigan... a little agility and a lot of time playing on the beach! Rumor is taking a little break from dock diving until next month... when we head to Hawaii!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-91734535662621368992010-05-10T09:27:00.002-05:002010-05-10T09:27:59.737-05:00Qualified for our 1st National Agility Competition!Rumor is now, officially, qualified for USDAA Nationals! This is the 1st National Agility event we have qualified for and I'm very excited. We finished our last Steeplechase Q this past weekend so now we are qualified for Steeplechase, Grand Prix & DAM Team. Should be a lot of fun... now, to wait until Mid-October :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-13515361228445435402010-05-03T09:03:00.001-05:002010-05-03T09:06:06.210-05:00Urbana, IL... nice trial... poor sportsmanship...I was down at an AKC trial in Urbana, IL this past weekend. It was a very nice facility... 2 outdoor rings with easy crating either inside or from our cars. The club was wonderful and did a very nice job with the trial... I would gladly go back. <br />
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The boys and I had some nice runs and had a lot of fun. No Qs for us, but I was very proud of different aspects of each run. I keep learning what Rumor and I have "in our toolbox" and where there have holes in our training. We have had fewer and fewer "baby dog" moments, which I'm happy about and he's really coming along. I feel it... we will "click" soon! <vbg><br />
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The only unfortunate part of the weekend was that I witnessed some extremely poor sportsmanship. I have a hard time believing that agility can be fun if it is only about getting a Q and not about playing with your dog(s). It is heartbreaking to see handlers getting mad at their dogs for making a mistake (especially when it's the handler's fault) and telling the dogs how bad they are. It is even worse (and extremely disrespectful) to hear handlers complaining and swearing over and over about runs and about equipment. Sportsmanship isn't only while you are in the ring, it is all the time. If I didn't have fun running my dogs in agility all of the time, I have plenty of other things I could do to occupy my weekends. I was so shocked with the poor sportsmanship that I saw, it just made me think... and lose respect for the individual...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-35511269274759385962010-04-26T11:50:00.000-05:002010-04-26T11:50:29.980-05:00A fun USDAA weekendI had a blast with both of the boys this weekend at a USDAA trial! Lots of friends were there and although the weekend was long, we had a great time :)<br />
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Rumor did not pick up any Advanced Standard legs this weekend... he popped the weaves on Sat and ran around a jump on Sun. The rest of his runs were lovely. The great news is that he DID get a Steeplechase Q and a Grand Prix Q! So, only 1 more Steeplechase Q needed and we are all qualified for Nationals :) I'm so proud of the little man.<br />
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Dylan also had a great weekend... he was such a goof and made me laugh the entire time. He Qd in PI Standard both Sat and Sun so he is finally out of PI! Wooohoo... now, onto PII :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-35698672577106565652010-04-06T08:06:00.000-05:002010-04-06T08:06:18.031-05:00Busy weekend... USDAA & AKC... Happy Easter!Rumor and I participated on our 1st DAM Team ever in USDAA. We had a good team (Abby/Grant & Temi/Anne) and Rumor was definitely the 'baby dog' of the group. We had some really nice runs and some runs that certainly didn't help out our team... but, overall, we ended up in 7th place and earned a DAM Q! I was thrilled with that since this was the only opportunity this year I was going to be able to have to try and earn the Q which qualifies us for Team at Nationals. <br />
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The 2nd day of the USDAA trial was another long day. I was thrilled with Dylan's PI Std run... he was a very good boy and earned a Q... only 1 more to go until we get to play in PII for everything. Rumor had descent runs in the morning, but with a few mistakes. I was thrilled when we had a solid (but cautious) run in Grand Prix and earned our 1st Q there -- only 1 more to go for Nationals in that tourney! Our Steeplechase run had a couple of errors, but he was still a very good boy.<br />
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We also packed in 1 day at an AKC trial... 2 great judges were there so I couldn't miss it. Both boys had fantastic Standard runs with only 1 error each... Rumor and I are still fighting for our last ExA JWW Q... didn't get it this weekend, but hope to next weekend!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-92207003840574829492010-03-24T06:59:00.000-05:002010-03-24T06:59:08.624-05:00Louisville, KYWe attended our 1st ever Louisville, KY agility trial... what a fun weekend. I have heard so many great things about this 3 ring trial on dirt... and it really was a fun weekend. Lots of friends were there not to mention lots of amazing agility handlers...<br />
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Thursday: It has been a while since Dylan has done agility... boy was he all kinds of crazy! Barking and sassing at me in the ring... he was hilarious. We had a blast in both our Std and JWW runs... now Qs, but once he got the kinds out in Std the JWW run was very nice... just 1 bar. Rumor ran 26" this entire weekend and he didn't seem to have problems with it. Our 1st Std run was fantastic... just 1 dropped bar right at the end. Unfortunately, I really mishandled the opening of our JWW course and sent him into the wrong end of the tunnel. I just want to get out of ExA JWW... we only need 1 more Q!<br />
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Friday: Dylan started out the day with a great Std run... and the 1st Q for team black dogs! :) His JWW run wasn't quite as pretty, but I was still happy about Std so I didn't care. Rumor had another great Std run with just 1 error at the weaves. He didn't hold his a-frame contact and I was all flustered and really needed to hustle from a-frame to tunnel to weaves so I was much farther behind than I planned on being... but the rest of his run was just what I wanted so no complaints. Another JWW Q that was so close, but so far... a knocked bar and then I got all flustered... bummer! We also got to do our 1st ever ISC Jumpers class... how fun! Rumor did pretty well for a baby dog... only 1 refusal and the rest was clean! Mary, Polly and I were so tired we just brought snacks back into the room... was the perfect dinner :)<br />
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Saturday: Dylan's last day trialing... I only entered him in 3 days. He finished his weekend off with a lovely Q in JWW! He was such a good boy this weekend and was having a blast... yea D Dylan!!! Rumor's Std run was kind of a mess... it seemed like the wheels fell off a bit today. After the beginning we pulled it together, but it wasn't very pretty... neither was our JWW run. Oh well. We ran the ISC Std class Saturday night... a couple more errors than the ISC JWW class, but it was definitely our best run of the day so I was happy to end on a high note.<br />
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Sunday: Another Std run that was so close... totally clean except he missed the weave entrance - I over handled it and I think that was the problem... sorry Rumz! Our JWW run... we got all of the difficult parts and had a refusal at an easy 180... bummer! Oh well, hopefully we will finish our AXJ in April :)<br />
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Great trial... the footing was a little hard, but I definitely want to go back next year!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-11817783322666014832010-03-15T08:21:00.000-05:002010-03-15T08:21:38.999-05:00We're going to Worlds!I was so proud of Rumor this weekend. We went to Cedar Falls, IA for another DockDogs Zone Qualifier. I was feeling very under the weather all week and Rumor pulled us through it and had a fantastic weekend at the event! Not only did he win "crowd favorite" each day he also won the entire Pro Finals! Winning this Zone Qualifier earned him an invitation to the World Championships in July for Big Air. I'm very excited... that was 1 of our goals this year and we got it! Rumor's best jump of the weekend was a 25' 2" jump and I couldn't be more proud of the little man... he just keeps impressing me every time we go out! <br />
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Dylan got to spend a little extra time with Chris in Iowa, but he came home with me since we have a great agility trial next weekend in Louisville, KY. He did a lot of playing this weekend in Iowa, and made it to the Amateur Finals. Little stinker totally messed up his 1st jump in the finals (jumped after the duck the second I threw it), but ended up in 6th place... what a good boy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-82418637820453051252010-02-22T09:04:00.000-06:002010-02-22T09:04:30.811-06:00Indianapolis Zone QualifierI took the boys to the Zone Qualifier in Indianapolis this weekend. Well, I took Rumor for the weekend and Dylan gets to stay with Chris for all 10 days! Lucky boy :)<br />
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I'm not sure what the deal is with Speed Retrieve, but since DockDogs changed from the DFT to the Flappy, Rumor won't jump. It isn't like he's jumping poorly... he won't jump off the dock AT ALL. So, we're done with Speed Retrieve for the time being -- I don't see the need to mess with his confidence at all over it.<br />
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Saturday Rumor had 2 Big Air waves. He blew me away in them... he hit a new personal best of 25' 1"! I couldn't believe it! I was so proud of him. His next wave he hit a 23' 11" jump, which I was still THRILLED with. Before this, his personal best was 23' 3". This jump had Rumor sitting in 1st place for the Pro Finals. Dylan was a very good boy too... he was in Big Air only and had a 16' 1" jump which had him sitting in 7th for the Amat Finals. Rumor also finished his Elite Jumping Title on Saturday, which I was also quite happy about.<br />
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Sunday didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, but we still had fun. Dylan DID improve on his jump and got a 16' 7" jump in the BA wave which moved him up in his Finals standings. In the Finals he had his best jump with me of the weekend... 16' 10", which finished him in 4th place :) Rumor and I didn't do as well in the Finals. Sadly, it was his shortest jumps of the weekend... the 1st jump he left the dock about 3' early and the 2nd jump I threw the toy horribly... poor dog. I don't know what the exact jumps were, but I think they were both in the high 21' range. Oh well, was still an amazing weekend for the little boy :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-17812426986302775982010-02-18T14:06:00.002-06:002010-02-18T14:06:56.939-06:00Rumor's 24" debutRumor did a wonderful job this weekend... his 1st trial jumping 24" and he really did a fantastic job all weekend.<br />
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Saturday:<br />
Rumor dropped 1 bar before a tunnel in ExcA JWW when I opened up my big mouth -- oops! The rest of the run he did quite nicely. His ExcB Std run he ran beautifully. He has become much better reading lead-out pushes. This was the first 1st place he has received in ExcB! I was so proud of him.<br />
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Sunday:<br />
Little Rumz had a rockin' ExcA JWW run. I was being very careful and made sure to take my time b/c I just want to get him into ExcB so we can start working on QQs :-) He ended up in 2nd place by less than 2/10ths of a second so I was happy with that. He only needs 1 more JWW Q and then we can move up wiht the big dogs <br />
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I gained so much confidence in Rumor this weekend. His weaves were fantastic and we were working as a team each and every run... I couldn't have been more proud of the little man. He gave me the perfect Valentine's Day gift... being a blast to run!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-9658981731695583632010-02-12T10:48:00.000-06:002010-02-12T10:48:36.813-06:00Dylan takes a road trip!Dylan is spending the week in St. Louis with Chris at a DockDogs event... he gets to hang out and play for 5 days... how great is that?!?! I will say, I really do miss him at home, but I figured it will be fun for both D and Chris.<br />
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Dylan is in St. Louis for this event and then is in Indianapolis the next 2 weekends for another DockDog event/road trip. Lucky, he will be coming home in between :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-28794875313156233562010-02-01T13:22:00.000-06:002010-02-01T13:22:25.673-06:00Agility in Iowa...It was a great weekend in Davenport, IA this weekend... lots of friends and a wonderful new facility for agility.<br />
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Saturday:<br />
Rumor started the weekend off with a bang. He had a beautiful ExB Std run and Qd with a 2nd place. He ran very nicely... like a mature dog :) His JWW run in the afternoon seemed to have a few puppy moments in it... did make me laugh though. Dylan ran nicely... a great JWW run with just 1 dropped bar and a nice Std run, but he missed his weave entrance. All in all, a very fun day :)<br />
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Sunday:<br />
Rumor had a wonderful Std run again, but 2 obstacles from the end I didn't tell him we were going towards the teeter (instead of the a-frame) so I messed up our nice run... but he was still a very good boy. Sadly, I also messed up a JWW run for him that was going very well. That's ok - he was still a star in my eyes :)<br />
Dylan had a pretty funn Std run... he smashed his head into the weaves and I felt badly b/c I started laughing. After that, he was ready to entertain his fans with a "stick 'em up" on the table! It was a hit. D finished our weekend nicely with a Q in ExB Pref JWW :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-21717723396172740222010-01-25T08:57:00.001-06:002010-01-25T09:59:45.281-06:00Rumor's 1st QQ... kinda...It has been quite a while since we actually trained agility (at least, that's how it feels)... Rumor did great this weekend!<br />
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Saturday: <br />
Rumor got his 1st ExcA JWW Q and he was a very good boy during the run. He had great weaves and he even would have placed 2nd in the ExcB division, so I was pleased with that. The little man also Qd in ExcB Std! I couldn't believe it... he got 2nd in that class. I know it isn't a 'real' QQ, but he at least Qd 2x in the same day so I know we can do it... now, just gotta get INTO B for JWW <vbg><br />
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Went out to a fantastic sushi dinner at Swordfish with Whitney, Mary, Polly, Liz and Whit's friend Jennifer... we had a blast! It was a wonderful Bday dinner :)<br />
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Sunday:<br />
Rumor had another really nice JWW run. He knocked the double on the line out, but the rest of the run was clean... a bit loopy/wide in spots, but overall I was still very proud of him. Our Std run was a bit more baby-like in a couple parts... Crazy boy started out by doing a couple extra tunnels, but he had a few very nice parts. I was thrilled when I faded quite a bit from the dogwalk to serpentine a jump into the weaves... good boy Rumz!<br />
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I'm really looking forward to our trial this coming weekend in Davenport, IA. I'm really hoping to get at least 1 (maybe 2) more JWW Qs and get him into B... starting in Feb, we do 24" for a couple trial and then 26" until Louisville... can't wait for the ISC classes!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-50433607596247345192010-01-04T06:59:00.002-06:002010-01-04T07:59:03.653-06:002010... starting off a new year...A 3 day AKC Agility trial at McCook to start off the new year -- not bad! :-)<br /><br />Fri: Dylan had 2 great runs, but knocked a bar in JWW and bounced off the teeter in Std, which he NEVER does! Besides that, he had wonderful weaves and was LOVING the 24" weave poles!!! I was very proud of him. Rumor also blew me away with his weaves this weekend... Std was a ridiculous weave entrance and I wasn't even trying to make him go for it (I was going to make the approach a lot straighter), but he got it! Couldn't believe it. Sadly, my big mouth made him drop a bar afterwards, but I was thrilled with that. Rumor also had a wonderful JWW run and I even (flying by the seat of my pants) did a rear cross at the weaves and he was great. It definitely gave me a lot more confidence in him this weekend.<br /><br />Sat: Dylan wasn't feeling the weaves so much today... in both runs he went in at the 2nd pole... I think I might have been over handling them a bit and he doesn't need quite the same amount of help when they are 24" poles b/c he doesn't bounce into them. In Std he and I had a little collision and luckily I didn't go down... as Kelly put it... "Lamberson, you are not so gazelle like" -- it was hilarious! I didn't help Rumor out too much in Std -- when he actually knew where to go he did really nicely, but I was being pretty slow on my cues for some reason... oh well, he still had a blast!<br /><br />Sun: Just Rumor today... he was having a lovely Std run and then I was behind him at the weaves and he popped out looking for me. Otherwise, the run was fantastic! He had a very nice JWW run too... unfortunately, my handling was less than stellar. I was thrilled that he got a tough weave entrance b/c there was a dummy jump right there and he actually went for the weaves.<br /><br />No Qs this weekend, but I was so happy with how the boys performed and it gave me so much more confidence in Rumor this weekend... excited for upcoming agility trials!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-25957023407928163842009-12-15T10:45:00.002-06:002009-12-15T10:53:37.245-06:00Cleveland Cluster...It was definitely not the nicest treck to get out to Cleveland for a 4 day AKC trial, but once we were there... it was really quite a nice weekend. Lisa was showing on Thur/Fri with me so it was really fun to spend some time with her too.<br /><br />Thursday: Lisa ran Dylan in Std... they had so much fun together! He had some trouble with the weaves, but they did VERY nicely. His JWW run was nice, but we missed the weaves again... Rumor, on the other hand, had some fantastic weaves this weekend! I was thrilled. His Std run was lovely, but I messed up on some handling aspects. Our JWW run was a bit messier.<br /><br />Friday: I was very happy that Dylan got his last ExcA JWW Q to finish his AJP title! FINALLY! Onto ExcB... again <vbg> Rumor had another couple nice runs with just a tiny mistake in each... our Std run he even got his first ExcB Q! He ended up in 2nd place... I think the class had 50+ dogs in it. I was proud of him... I think he even got 34 or 36 MACH points... his 1st MACH points ever :)<br /><br />Saturay: I ran Tractor because Lisa had to fly to Boston for work... T was such a good boy! He is SUCH an honest dog... reminds me very much of Abby (aka Pants). We ended up getting a Q in ExcA Std (2nd place) and also in ExcA JWW (1st place) -- I was so happy with his performance! Always hard for a 'green' dog to run with a brand new person, but he did great. Rumor also had a couple really nice runs with just 1 or 2 mistakes in them.<br /><br />Sunday: I only ran Rumor today... wanted to get out of Ohio quickly and head home. Our Std run was nice, but I rushed him from the teeter to the weaves (b/c he didn't hold the teeter I got flustered) and he missed the entrance. In JWW he was in the weaves and came out just looking around... not sure if something distracted him or what, but it was a very odd behavior on his part... the rest of his runs were wonderful!<br /><br />Overall, it was a great weekend... my only regret is deciding not to do the ISC classes -- they would have been above our heads, for sure, but looked like SO MUCH FUN! I'm really looking forward to the ISC classes at Louisville -- and I'm definitely doing them no matter what... won't be talked out of it this time :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-90816447933421336312009-12-07T07:34:00.003-06:002009-12-07T07:43:23.682-06:00Hounds for the Holidays1 of my favorite trials each year... Hounds for the Holidays. Unfortunately, I could only show Thursday/Friday this year because I was busy with Lucy's 30th Bday party and Ilan's wedding on Saturday night! Lots going on.<br /><br />Thursday:<br />I was thrilled that Rumor had 2 gorgeous sets of weaves. In each run he dropped 1 bar... my fault both times. The rest of his runs were beautiful. Dylan wasn't feeling his weaves so much, but the rest of his runs were great... including fabulous contacts in Std!<br /><br />Friday:<br />Dylan got the only Hounds Q of the weekend in JWW... he was a very good boy :)<br />Rumor should have gotten a Q, but I was pushing him really hard in JWW and I never slowed up going into the weaves, so he missed the entrance -- other than that, a great run!<br /><br />Saturday was extremely busy... I went to Lucy's 30th Birthday party at the Racquet Club and then to Ilan's wedding at the Palmer Hotel -- both events were amazing!<br /><br />A lot to do in 2 days before heading to Cleveland, OH for our last trial of the year... 4 days... but lots to do before then!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7352008779900708937.post-42616970731537126772009-12-02T10:21:00.002-06:002009-12-02T10:32:25.157-06:00Thanksgiving weekend!I had a long, but very fun, Thanksgiving weekend!<br /><br />Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) I was at Chris' house and we had dinner with his entire family at his Grandma's house. Everything was delicious and it was a pretty fun evening. It's one of the only places I feel like the quiet one in the group <g><br /><br />Friday I went to Merrillville for a dog show. It has been quite a long time since we actually trained... Rumor was sorta a wild man. His JWW run was marginal and he launched off the dogwalk in Std so we were done... Dylan actually ran a beautiful Std run! I messed him up and caused him to drop a bar, but the rest was fantastic. As pathetic as it is... I missed his JWW run... poor boy. We left immediately from the trial to meet the fam in New Buffalo. Chris brought his quad and we all rode it on the beach -- what a blast! It was a late night, but a really fun time! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year, for sure!<br /><br />Saturday, I was guilted into not going to the trial... which I *really* regretted. It was a totally wasted day AND I lost my entry fees for both dogs. Oh well, what's done is done...<br /><br />Sunday I went back to the trial... only Rumor was entered. He had a very tough time in the JWW ring... he really didn't have very good traction for some reason. His Std run was very nice... he held his contacts very nicely and got a pretty difficult weave entrance... he ended up Qing and finished his AX title! :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0