This past week has been a blur. In the middle of our freestyle conference, I had to make the difficult decision to let little Nellie leave for the Rainbow Bridge. She had suffered another stroke and I could tell it was time. She was a sweet little girl and always tried her hardest. It was a joy to watch her grow from a very anxious little dog (we didn't call her "Nervous Nellie" for nothing) to where she could do freestyle routines and would cuddle with company when they came to visit.
She really enjoyed dancing with my niece Megan, and we were able to film their "last dance" when Megan was here this summer. I just copied it to DVD and we'll be sending it in for WCFO's September video competition as a tribute to little Nellie.
She will be missed...
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Agility Pix...
Here are a few pictures from our first agility trial...
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Shelby Jumping...
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Pixie on the dog walk...
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Flying beagle ears....
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More flying beagle ears...
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Shelby's first agility title..
Pixie's first agility Q...
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
TDAA Agility Trial
We had a fun weekend at the TDAA agility trial in Norman. This was our first "real" trial and we had a lot of fun and really learned a lot.
Shelby did very well and ended the weekend having earned her first two agility titles! She completed her beginner title in Standard (T-BAD) and also in Games (TG1). She kind of got off to a rough start. The a-frame was very slick and as she was coming down, she was sliding - so she came off a little early and just barely missed her contacts. We'll also need to work on our downs on the table. She ended up coming off the table on her second standard run. But we haven't been working downs due to some confusion it was causing with our freestyle routines, so it was OK. All in all, she ran very nicely. I will need to continue to improve my handling, add some rear cross work, and find a solution for her fly-by's (which is probably just handling).
Pixie did very well considering she's only had a couple months of lessons and is still trying to figure out the whole learning process. The first run was touch n go, and she wasn't sure about the tunnels (they were smaller and darker than she is used to) and had a pretty big splat on the a-frame - see picture on right - which I think scared her a little. She had a clean run, but was 26 seconds over time. She Q'd in the second game - which is her first agility Q! Of course, she really only needed to do four obstacles to get the Q - but one was the tire which she just learned last Tuesday so that was still pretty good.
On the third game, she had a very nice run. We were able to stick to jumps, the dog walk, and the teeter and she actually had accumulated more points that Shelby. The whistle blew and we were on the table (the "bank" in this game) and I had a major brain fart. The whistle had blown, and everyone was clapping - so I just thought we were done and picked her up. What I totally forgot was that when the whistle blows, you were suppose to run across the finish line to stop your time. Since I had picked her up before we "finished", we were eliminated. It was kind of tough because she would have had a Q and a 1st place - but I also know that I will never make that mistake again... and I know each competition is just about what we learn to make us better for the next time.
Shelby did very well and ended the weekend having earned her first two agility titles! She completed her beginner title in Standard (T-BAD) and also in Games (TG1). She kind of got off to a rough start. The a-frame was very slick and as she was coming down, she was sliding - so she came off a little early and just barely missed her contacts. We'll also need to work on our downs on the table. She ended up coming off the table on her second standard run. But we haven't been working downs due to some confusion it was causing with our freestyle routines, so it was OK. All in all, she ran very nicely. I will need to continue to improve my handling, add some rear cross work, and find a solution for her fly-by's (which is probably just handling).
Pixie did very well considering she's only had a couple months of lessons and is still trying to figure out the whole learning process. The first run was touch n go, and she wasn't sure about the tunnels (they were smaller and darker than she is used to) and had a pretty big splat on the a-frame - see picture on right - which I think scared her a little. She had a clean run, but was 26 seconds over time. She Q'd in the second game - which is her first agility Q! Of course, she really only needed to do four obstacles to get the Q - but one was the tire which she just learned last Tuesday so that was still pretty good.
On the third game, she had a very nice run. We were able to stick to jumps, the dog walk, and the teeter and she actually had accumulated more points that Shelby. The whistle blew and we were on the table (the "bank" in this game) and I had a major brain fart. The whistle had blown, and everyone was clapping - so I just thought we were done and picked her up. What I totally forgot was that when the whistle blows, you were suppose to run across the finish line to stop your time. Since I had picked her up before we "finished", we were eliminated. It was kind of tough because she would have had a Q and a 1st place - but I also know that I will never make that mistake again... and I know each competition is just about what we learn to make us better for the next time.She's no where near ready to move up levels anyway - so this will be just fine. I let my niece, Megan, run Pixie in the last game. They had a nice run going, but Pixie missed the tire (the "doubling" exercise) which caused her to loose half their points. They didn't Q, but ended up third and Megan had a really good time.
Shelby also got a Q in the second level of the Games class, so she's off to a good start.
Canine Sports Academy did a very nice job for their first trial, and hopefully they'll have more. It was nice to have a competition that was only a 45 minute drive away! I'll try to post some more pictures when I get them...
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