The Weekend Report: More Puppy Play!

Jimmy and I were back at the farm again for another agility trial. It was a gorgeous day to be out in the country! Alas, our luck is still AWOL. Jimmy took a bar in each run. Of course we still had fun!

Like last time, there were other puppies in attendance besides just Cedar. This time Cedar got to play with a five month old Border Collie. She was quite a bit bigger/taller but they still played together well. It was a warmer day than the previous weekend so they tired out a bit more quickly, but I still got plenty of photos! I could watch puppies play all day!

The Weekend Report - An Agility Trial at Long Last!

It has been a very long while indeed since my last agility trial...all the way back to October when Jimmy and I earned our PACH2 title. I usually sign up for a lot less trials in the winter, but I was also staying home with Wilson. Fortunately, he's been doing so well, I felt comfortable signing up for a trial and taking him along. This trial was given by the Charlottesville Kennel Club and was held at that farm I love so much. It was still a winter day with chilly temps and a wind, but the sun was shining! And of course Cedar got to come along as well!

I won't spend much time talking about our runs. Jimmy and I are both out of practice and a bit out of shape as well. Jimmy knocked a bar on both of our runs so we did not get any Qs. We did have a lot of fun and that's what really counts. Jimmy got to be the center of attention, something he's been missing since Cedar came along. Plus he got peanut butter! MMMM! That's his post run treat.

I had lots of fun seeing my friends again and showing off Cedar. Most people had seen him on FaceBook, but real life is a lot more fun when it comes to a puppy! Cedar took the agility scene in stride. He enjoyed meeting people and oh, so many dogs of all shapes and sizes. But the best thing that happened for him was a cute little Pembroke Corgi girl who was 10 months old. She wasn't a whole lot bigger than Cedar so they were a good match. They wrestled, they ran, they chased, and just had an all around blast. He definitely couldn't catch her with his still clumsy puppy stride, but he gave it his all. And of course I took photos....Lots of them!

I did *try* to get a picture of all three boys with a mountain background. Wilson wasn't up to walking way back in the hills so I tried near where the cars were parked. It's very hard to get a good shot when you have a puppy with no "stay".....Cedar is in the process of trying to run off with the poop bag holder attached to Wilson's leash. Just about anything is fair game to a pup!

I have a few more trials lined up so stay tuned!

The Weekend Report: The Best Escape!

I spent the weekend out in the mountains playing agility and letting the political events of the past week drain from my mind. It was two days of GORGEOUS weather, fun and challenging courses, friends, fresh air, and time with my dogs. It was truly wonderful!

Saturday started with our Jumpers run. The map on the left is our course.....

And here is how it looked on video.......

This was a nice clean run and added 16 more points to our pot. It was also speedy enough for 1st place, running it in just 30.5 seconds.

We had a nice long break before our next run so we walked around the farm a bit.

So much open space! It feels so freeing when you live in a tightly packed suburbia. The farm's name is Walnut Hill Farm due to many walnut trees (duh!) up by the main house, but if it were mine, I would have to name it Almost Heaven. It has so much beauty!

I'm afraid I didn't take anymore video so I'll just give a brief run through of the rest of my weekend runs. Standard on Saturday required some fast footwork. It is hard to beat Jimmy to the end of an almost straight tunnel. It was another clean run, but a speedy little cocker spaniel beat us by about a half a second! (And we beat her in our earlier Jumpers run by just .33 of a second!) So we earned 27 points (27 seconds under time for the course) and a nice red 2nd place ribbon. This was double-Q #10 toward our PACH2. Halfway there!

Sunday's maps:

Again the day started with Jumpers. It had a tricky start. Normally I put Jimmy in a sit/stay and lead out past the first obstacle. I never take off running with him at the very start. But the course was such that I needed to stay back, send him over the first jump, u-turn back to jump #2 and shoot him into a tunnel. I was worried we would botch this but he read it just fine and we were off! This was a challenging course and so much fun!  That same little cocker from Saturday managed to beat us by a tiny margin, so we got 2nd place and 16 points.

Standard was another run fast course! Jimmy nailed his dogwalk contact thankfully and we were on our way to a clean run. This time Jimmy was the faster dog, and we took the blue and 27 points! Jimmy and the cocker were very evenly matched little runners! This gave us double-Q #11.

It was funny that my points were the same both days! 16 in JWW and 27 in STD for a grand total of 87 points for the weekend. Not bad!

This trial was given by the Capital City Cocker Club and they always give very pretty ribbons!

Now I'll leave you with one last silly picture. This is a farm after all and parking in a horse field has its risks!

AKC Nationals 2017: Perry, GA
Double-Q's: 14 (out of 7 needed)
Points: 829 (out of 550 needed) We qualified on 07/09/2016 !!!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH 2 progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Sunday 5/1/2016

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 52...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15 MJPS Title 10/23/16
Masters STD legs: 44...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 11 (out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1395

The Weekend Report: A New Nickname

Well, I haven't posted a weekend report in a very long time! Our last trial was back on the last weekend in July. After that, Jimmy tweaked something in his left front leg that took a very long time to heal. Fortunately the very hot months of August and September helped keep him calm and resting as it was just too hot to want to be outside! During that time, I also had tweaked my back and that took a full two weeks to stop giving me spasms. I guess we were both down for the count!

This past weekend was the trial out in the mountains near Culpeper, Virginia that I love so much! The location is just so perfect. Oddly, the leaves have barely started to turn yet, so there was very little color. The weather was absolutely gorgeous both days so fall colors or not, it was a great place to be! And I never once got my camera out! I had it with me but just never got around to using it. Bad me!

Now, not only had we not been trialing, Jimmy had not been practicing or going to lessons either. So he was very enthusiastic to be back doing agility. So enthusiastic that he couldn't be bothered with doing the dogwalk contact either day!  (The dogwalk contact is the yellow safety zone on the down slope at the bottom. Dogs must put at least one foot on the yellow or they are disqualified. This is to ensure they are safely leaving the obstacle and not launching from too high up.) Jimmy just hopped right over the yellow. Sigh. No double-Qs for us! His jumpers runs were perfect and both earned the 1st place ribbon and 30 points combined.

It was very fun to be back doing agility so Qs or no Qs I had a wonderful weekend!

Now, on to explain what my title means......

When you are at an agility trial, there is a running order list by the ring, and a gate steward calls out who is next to go in, plus the next two dogs as well. This is to keep things flowing quickly. Usually the line gets five or six deep as people queue up. Now Jimmy loves this game and he gets very impatient for his turn! As we are waiting, he starts to vocalize quite loudly. BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK....I imagine he is screaming "my turn!" over and over. Of course not everyone appreciates his big mouth and probably feel I should train that behavior out of him. But under his tough exterior, Jimmy is actually a soft boy. Yelling at him to be quiet right before a run would be sure to dampen his spirit, so I just let him be himself for those few minutes and apologize. Anyway, now that I have set the scene...the gate steward is calling out the names of the dogs who should be ready to go, and when she gets to Jimmy, she calls out Jimmy the Mouth! Is Jimmy the Mouth ready go?! She says, you know, his Italian mob name....

She got quite a few giggles for that one, and it pretty much stuck for the rest of the weekend.It's a pretty fitting nickname as Jimmy is never at a shortage for words, either at a trial or at home!


There's another trial this coming weekend at a new location just 15 minutes from my house. Gotta love that!

And since I hate to have no photos at all on a blog post, here is one from a trial earlier this year. Can you see Jimmy's enthusiasm for the sport? (Click to biggify!)

Photo credit: Terri Keiffer of Key4Prints

And here is the very last photo I'll ever have of Jimmy going through the chute. This obstacle (also known as the collapsed tunnel) has been removed by almost all of the various agility venues on safety concerns. As skill and training methods have improved, so has a dog's speed and injuries have been reported too often with this obstacle.

Photo credit: Terri Keiffer of Key4Prints

And finally, here is Jimmy, attentively waiting for me to release him from his start line stay.

Photo credit: Yes, you guessed it....Terri Keiffer!

AKC Nationals 2017: Perry, GA
Double-Q's: 11 (out of 7 needed)
Points: 676 (out of 550 needed) We qualified on 07/09/2016 !!!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH 2 progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Sunday 5/1/2016

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 48...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 41...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 8(out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1242

The Weekend Report - The Season Finale......Maybe

This was another weekend out in the country for agility. The warm fall temps of late had morphed into more seasonal chilly temps! Saturday was about 28 degrees when I arrived at the farm. Sunday was warmer, maybe low 40s but with a biting wind. Fortunately I had dressed for the chill and it wasn't too bad.

Not a lot to tell. Both days went about the same. An awesome Jumpers run started each day, and just one handler-induced error in each Standard run cost us a Q, and also a double-Q. So we are ending our season still needing 3 more double-Qs to finish our PACH title. On a positive note, our Jumpers runs were both first places,  and Jimmy did his dogwalk contact correctly both days!

I was very lazy and did not snap even one photo all weekend long! Egads, I've become a bad blogger!

Now, I titled this the Season Finale....with a Maybe.  There are a few days left to sign up for a trial at this same (cold!) location in December. I could do a Friday and try out the new AKC class called Premier. Very tempting! So maybe I'll have just one more Weekend Report yet!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 31...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 28...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 17
PACH Points: 1331


November ends the qualifying period for the 2016 AKC National Championship. Jimmy and I did well over what was needed to get in. I'm not sure I'll make the long trip to Tulsa, but at least we have the option!

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 10 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 813 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 37 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: Lions and Tigers and BEARS, Oh My!

This weekend, Jimmy and I were back at the farm out in Reva, Virginia. The weather forecast was for "occassional"  rain on Saturday, but mostly just overcast. Well, occasional turned into "steady" rain. There were lots of muddy dogs and cars by the end of the day!

At the start of each class, there is a judge's briefing. They go over the safety rules each time, ask if anyone sees any course design that might be too risky to the dogs, etc. This is also the time when the dog club that is hosting the trial has a chance to give announcements. This weekend they wanted us to know of a few "Don'ts".....Such as..."If the animal isn't yours, don't feed it!" There are horses and a couple of pet pigs close by, and it seems the pigs were sick from all the snacks they received at the last trial. Oops!

Here are those cute little piggies....pretty hard to resist.....When you stop by the stall to say Hi, they run over squealing and wagging their little piggy tails just like a dog. Freaking adorable! This variety only gets to about 50 pounds, so a really good pet size.

Lula and Dixie

My hand is added for scale.

The next Don't was "Don't walk your dogs along the treeline next to the barn, or on the hills behind the barn" and this was because a family of black bears had moved in....A momma and two cubs plus her yearling from the previous year. Unfortunately I didn't see this, but the yearling was spotted moseying through the field where we all park our cars (but not too close, at the back of the field) and then tried to cross one of the horse paddocks. He was quickly run out of town by the resident horses! LOL!

Fortunately, the rain (and the bears!) did not effect our success level! The judges designed some very fun and flowing courses that were really fairly easy.

Here are Saturday's maps:

Jimmy qualified in both runs, pulling off Double-Q #17 toward our PACH title.

This club gives very pretty ribbons!

Sunday was a much cooler and beautifully sunny day. You could see many of the dogs were feeling extra "up" for the event, loving cool temps as they do.

Jumpers was our first run of the day. It was a lot of fun and Jimmy did a great job, earning first place! For the Standard run, it was a dogwalk to the tunnel, which I knew from past experience would be our make or break moment. Unfortunately, it was a break, totally my fault due to a bad handling decision causing Jimmy to blow his dogwalk contact (the yellow zone at the bottom of the down plank).  The rest was fast and furious and, of course, clean! Oh, well, no double-q for Sunday. We need three more to get our title and are down to just two more trial days this year so the PACH will be waiting for the spring trials.

Sunday's maps:

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 29...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 28...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 17
PACH Points: 1299

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 10 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 781 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 35 (out of 20 needed)

Wilson With his Witches on Wordless Wednesday!

Keep your eyes peeled for a book review and giveaway of Jackie's  new book House Trained. I'll be doing it sometime soon to celebrate the release of her third book on October 20th!

The Weekend Report: Wow, What a Weekend!

Jimmy and I were back to having fun competing in agility this past weekend. It was at the beautiful farm out in Reva, Virgina and the weather could not have been any more perfect! Beautiful fall days with lots of sunshine and the trees just beginning to put on their end of year show. Just being in the country for two days with such wonderful conditions was great, but add to that a perfect agility weekend and it doesn't get any better.

It is rare for Jimmy and me to qualify in all of our runs. We just aren't that consistent. But if it is going to happen, it often happens at this location. Jimmy really seems to shine on the dirt flooring. He tends to be a bit slower, but the bars stay up better. I bet being a bit slower also helps to keep other mistakes away as well. What ever be the case, Jimmy and I went 4 for 4 runs this weekend and they were all first place finishes! Woohoo! What a great little guy Jim is!

But that wasn't the end of our accomplishments for the weekend.....

So these were a double-Q each day.....#14 and #15 toward our PACH....just 5 more to go.....

They also earned us two new titles....Jimmy's Masters Jumpers Bronze Preferred and his Masters Standard Bronze Preferred (25 Qs to earn each one.....)

And with the points we earned from these runs, Jimmy is now fully qualified for the 2016 AKC National Agility Championship next March! It's being held in Tulsa, OK, so a very long way off. I don't know for sure that we will go, but now we have the option!

So as my post title says.....Wow, What a Weekend! (that could have been a Wordless Wednesday title!) I didn't get anyone to video us, so I'm afraid you will just have to watch an old video and pretend ;-)

Here are the maps from both days for you agility fanatics out there. Saturday's courses were quite mild and very doable. Sunday's Jumpers course (map on the left, bottom image) ate up and spit out all but four of the 20 and 24 inch dogs. The weave entry got some of them, and if the handler fell too far behind, off-course obstacles got the rest of them! It got better for the smaller dogs as their strides don't carry them so far and it's easier to catch things before a mistake is made.

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 25...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 25...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 15
PACH Points: 1144

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 8 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 626 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 28 (out of 20 needed)