New Title

Kay has yet another title to add to the end of her name. She earned her St.Hubert's Companion Dog ( CD-H ) with two first places and one third. Her scores were 199.5, 199.5, and 199. We need to work on our go outs before we enter Open.

This weekend we head out to K9 Playtime and ACS to do demos. Next weekend we will be going to see Marsha Smith and then head down to Crete for another shot at an Open leg.

Woo Hoo!!!

Success!!

We showed for the second time in Open A. There were 41 dogs entered and 39 showed, about 15 - 20 qualified. The top score of 197.5 went to Kayla! Can you believe it?! I sure can't!!! Second place was a 197, third was a tie of 196.5. Margaret was so happy. I was shocked!!! I didn't think that she was as up as she normally is, but wow! The judge was very impressed with us and complimented us quite a few times. I was so very nervous and need to keep working on the retrieve of high. She really scared me on that. I thought that she wasn't going to come back over the jump, but she corrected herself nicely!!!

I better start working on our utility stuff... Margaret gave us a box to work on our fronts with. It will help with the broad jump fronts. Also can start teaching Dude fronts.

Agility

This past weekend we competed at Rush'N Around in Manhattan. It was a cool place. Two huge outdoor rings and one huge one inside. There were two rings going at once, despite the nasty wind and cold. Kay had a great Saturday, Q'ing in both jumpers and standard. Sunday was not so nice to us. A few miss read handling cues and a missed contact led to a standard NQ, while an eagerness to rush to the next tunnel took kay off course for the jumpers NQ. I will say that by Sunday she was nailing her weave pole entries.

We will be in the Glenbard Obedience trial this weekend. One of 41 dogs entered in Open A. We'll be pulling for Roxy to get her final Utility leg and our first Open leg.

Best go practice our broad jump fronts!!!

Upcoming

We have an agility trial this weekend in Manhattan. Should be interesting if it keeps raining!!!

What a fun time!!!

We set foot into Open for the first time and what a freakin' good time it was!!! It was awesome!!! We didn't Q at all because Kay didn't come back over the jump on the retrieve, but who cares!!! We had a blast!!! The whole gallery had an audible sigh when she missed the jump. Bummer. We're back in action on Nov 1 at the Glenbard trial.

Break down of Kay's run:

Heel Free/Figure 8 : -2 pts for hand position; .5 pts for lag; .5 for wide
Drop on Recall: -.5 pts for poor front
Retrieve on Flat: -.5 pts for poor front
Retrieve over High: NQ
Broad Jump: -.5 for poor front; .5 for poor finish
Long Sit/Down: -0 pts

Success!!!

Kayla earned her AKC CD this past weekend with a 193.5 and a first place. This weekend we venture into the Open ring for our first hand at Open. I can't wait!! It's going to be fun!

Trials to come...

Kay did her first AKC Agility trial last weekend. We were so not on the same page. That's what happens with novice dogs and their struggling handlers. We're still not that comfortable with each other yet. It will come and the noviceness will go away. It did with Bailey. He makes up for where I fail, where Kay keeps me honest.

We have an Obedience trail coming up this Sunday. We're hoping to finish out our Novice title this weekend. I'm excited about our Open entry on 17 Oct, but I can't get too cocky because we need our list Novice leg first. Margaret and I are meeting on Saturday to do a run thru and then some Open drills.

Our next AKC Agility will come at the end of this month. We also have CPE on the books. I'm pushing to finish our CDX before the year is out, then I'll have to focus on Utility. I will most likely zero in on Agility and Obedience will fall to the side of the road for a bit.

Right now we are also working on a special assignment for Janice. I'm attempting to teach it all through back chaining. The first trial session was very promising. I'll have to do some considerable roadwork and quite a few sessions to get it where I want it. It should be fun!