Starting her agility career with a bang……
Bitti and her Novice Ribbons
Bitti completed her first 3 agility titles this weekend! She earned all 3 titles, Novice Standard, Novice Jumpers and Novice Fast with placements! She had 8 firsts and 1 fourth place. Way to go Bitti!!!!!!!!!
She was moved up to Open Standard on Sunday, she Q’d and placed 1st as well! This is the link to video of that class.
WE ARE BACK FROM “MATERNITY LEAVE”!
OK, so I didn’t actually have the puppies….but, I was not about to leave them to go to an agility trial either. As a result, today was our first trial in many months. We traveled a little over an hour to South Glastonbury, CT to attend the Southern Berkshire Golden Retriever Club’s trial and I have to say the dogs gave me reason to be proud!
It was Bitti’s first stab at an agility trial, so, I entered her only in the Novice Jumpers Class…..just to get her feet wet and see how she would do. Well, she came through with flying colors…..blue that is, coming home with not only a Q, but, a beautiful blue FIRST place ribbon! She earned her first leg toward her Novice Jumpers title by WINNING the 12″ Novice Jumpers Class! She was well under course time, not only did she have the best time in the 12″ class…..there was only one other dog in all of the jump heights that had a better time! That dog was a very fast 24″ Border Collie…..Bitti finished the course in 26.44 seconds the BC finished in 25.9 seconds.
Not to be outdone by his younger sister, Robbie put in 2 very nice classes and DOUBLE Q’D too!! He came home with another 28 points toward his MACH!!
All of your ducks in a row….
Is this what they mean when they say “have all of your ducks in a row”?….or is that shelties in a row?
Britt, Robbie and Stormy, "sheltie-ducks in a row"
It’s funny how times have changed, when Robbie was a puppy, he was an “on looker” rather than one of the dogs claiming a spot on the couch, <ggg>
5 month old Robbie looking on, while the adults, Sarah and Stormy nap on the couch.
Now that he is all grown up, he has figured out that one of the best things to do on a cold winter day, is find a nice soft place to curl up and enjoy a long winters nap!
Robbie always finds a nice soft spot for his nap!
January 1, 2010…..Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!
A long time ago, one of my favorite instructors suggested that I make a habit to take some time at the beginning of each year to really give serious thought to what my training and trialing goals are for that year. She went on to say that once I set my goals, I need to plan how to work toward them.
I have tried to follow that advice and as each New Year begins decide who and what I need to focus on. In 2009, my plan was to focus on obedience with Stormy, and completing the OTCH quest. I truly feel blessed to have been able to reach that goal! Looking forward to what 2010 will hold, I am very excited about Britt’s upcoming litter; I really hope there is something great there!!! After the puppy duties are done, we will be busy training in obedience with both Britt and Robbie, and of course trailing with Robbie in agility……they have both waited “in the wings” very patiently, now they each deserve their turn to shine!
May you have a wonderful New Year, filled with Health, Happiness, Joy, and, of course lots of fun with your four legged friends too!
Robbie is looking forward to getting out to the agility trials in 2010 to work toward his MACH!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…..
and snow it did, we had a bit over a foot of snow overnight. After we spent several hours digging out, the dogs got a chance to play in the new fallen snow and they really enjoyed it!
The snow was chest deep for Stormy……..
He and Britt, acting very proper, looked on……… 
while Robbie was gleefully dashing through the snow…………….
it wasn’t long before they could no longer contain themselves, they just had to join in on the fun….
they all had a great romp in the snow, running this way…….
and that way…………….
Britt is so light, she can practically run on top of the snow…….
Stormy, looking slightly windblown, but, dashing as always……..my very handsome
“Storm Man”
Britt finishes her first performance title!
A rare treat on a show day, we actually got to sleep in today. Well not really, I was awake at 5am, thankfully, we didn’t need to leave home until 10am! Britt was entered in Rally Novice today, hoping to get the third leg and finish her title. The rest of the day’s plan was to set up crates etc. for the agility trial tomorrow. The doors opened for agility set up at 3:30pm and by 4:30pm there was not a crating spot left! PHEW am I ever glad we were there at 3:30! Our Rally class was just wrapping up then, the class had an entry of 28, there were only 3 or 4 that did not show. It was a big class, that seemed to go on forever! When all was said and done, Britt had a very nice class, our score was 99 (1 point deduction was no doubt a handler error) , she qualified, finished her RN title and earned 2nd place too!
click link below to watch the class:
A trip to New Hampshire and Britt’s first time in the Rally Obedience Ring…..
Linda and Star on the porch at AK9-C
This weekend my friend Linda and I made a trip to Amherst, New Hampshire for an obedience trial held at one of my favorite training facilities, American K9 Country. Linda had entered her beautiful Border Collie Star in this trial. They have done so much together; Star has her conformation Championship, herding, rally and obedience titles! Linda and Star were making their debut in the Open A obedience ring, and I decided to enter Britt in Rally – Obedience. As well as this being Star’s debut in Open, it would be Britt’s debut too…..her first time ever in a competition performance ring!
As usual AK9-C was decorated to the nines, and provided some really cute photo ops for the dogs. Here are a couple of the photos we took.
Star, Stormy and Britt (on the bench) at AK9-C
Britt and Stormy
Linda and Star had really nice classes both days, unfortunately, there was a a single glitch each day that kept them from qualifying. As for Britt, I was very pleased with both of her Rally classes. On Saturday, she did a really nice job earning her first Rally Novice leg, our final score was 97 (out of 100) the 3 points that we lost were due to a handler error on my part! Then on Sunday, her score was a 99 earning First Place and her 2nd leg toward her “RN”! The club had a show photographer, so we had pictures done to commemorate the occasion. See below:
Britt's first Rally Novice Leg, Judge James Ashton
The way the judging schedule was set up, Linda and I were in the ring at the same time, so I was lucky to at least get this very short video clip from Britt’s Rally class on Sunday:
Britt 10/18/09 Rally Novice B- 2nd leg
Our trek home was made during the second snow fall in a week, it’s very strange to see snow falling when most of the trees are still sporting green leaves!
Our second snow fall this week!