Daisy

Here are a couple of really cute photos of Daisy that were taken at the USDAA trial early in January. Daisy is very sweet and Teri has worked very hard on getting Daisy to work the contact obstacles with confidence. See teeter photo.

New year

We have been busy with lots of agility in January. Molly and Jack competed at a USDAA trial the first weekend in January. I took some photos and VW stayed home. This was a small trial but we got to spend some time with a couple of really good friends. On Saturday we traveled with our friend Teri and her Jack Russell, Daisy. Daisy loves to spend time with Jack. On Sunday we traveled with another good friend, Lesley and her two Rat Terriers, Zp and King. (See photos). Molly got a Q in Snookers with a very nice run and Jack got some good ring experience.

Next we went to Fletcher, NC to take photos. Molly and Jack got to stay with my five year old niece, Jaden. It was a big trial and we worked very hard. Many kind people there were very helpful as we struggle with VW's terrible back problems.

Gem City CPE Agility Trial

Molly and Jack both had good runs at the recent CPE trial held in Dayton. Ohio. On the first day of the trial I found that I had to do the photo taking. VW was not well and so I had to run them, take photos, and download the photos. Molly ran four runs on Saturday with three different handlers and Qualified all four times. I ran her once, Marilyn (Moose's Mom) and Patti (Andre and Alex's mom) helped out by running Molly. The photos turned out and molly as always performed as a champ. Molly and Patti got a first place in her Level 4 Standard run. Jack got off to a great start. He was 4 for 5 for the weekend. Here are some cute photos of Molly and Jack.

Dog Agility Trial-Gem City CPE

Molly went to Dayton, Ohio last Friday to compete in a CPE Agility Trial. Saturday Molly was moving well but the contacts did her in and she only had one qualifying run. That was Level 4 standard. On Sunday she had a much better day. She Qualified in Level 5 Wildcard, Level 5 Jackpot, and Level 5 Snookers. Level 4 standard was a heartbreaker. One slight bobble on my part and Molly touched the A-frame when she should have gone into the tunnel. That was her only fault and it was entirely my fault. She had to do the A-frame twice in the run and I was determined that she would not miss the contact zone. After the second trip over the A-frame she needed to flip directly into the tunnel. When I froze for a second she turned and started to go back up the A-frame for a third time. She barely got one paw on the A-frame but that was all it took to incur an off course. At level 4 you can not get an off course and qualify. Oh well. Her Snookers run was awesome. She finished this run with 48 out of 51 possible points. Molly thanks her good friend Maria for running her in the Wildcard class while I was working at our photo setup. Maria did one nifty reverse flow pivot to get Molly into a tunnel when the tunnel was right next to the A-frame. Great discrimination work.

Now for little brother Jack. Jack ran one run a day at Level 1. He Qualified in each of his runs. He got a third place in Jumpers, a first place in Fullhouse (with 28 points) and a first place in Standard. In his standard class he had to also perform the A-frame twice. I was concerned but he did it like a veteran. He ran with enthusiasm and he had a great time. No stopping at the jumps. He did run over to visit one bar setter but returned to me as soon as I called him and we continued on our way to a blue ribbon. Attached are photos of Molly and Jack that their dad took at the agility trial this past weekend.

Molly and I went to Buckner, Ky. last weekend to watch our good friend Dixie and her owner, Diane earn their Master Agility Championship. So she is now MACH Shanti Dixie Cup of Sunshine. Molly was very happy for her cousin, Dixie and I was very happy for my good friend Diane. Diane has earned MACHs on three Australian Shepherds. Here are some photos of Dixie on MACH day.

Here are the photos from class. Shown: Callie, Mollie, Spice, Voodoo and Dice the lovely demo dog.

On Tuesday Molly went with Jack to his Novice Agility class (level 3). Molly had a good time but would have preferred to do all the running. Too much watching for her. Dice, the sheltie was also there to be a help to our wonderful instructor, Lisa. Dice spent his time being the Demo dog and running with one of the students to help work on a particular move. Jack is making good progress but he is still trying to get the hang of all those weave poles. Molly would like for you to see some of Jack's classmates. We have worked with, been classmates of, and watched the wonderful progress of these up and coming agility teams.

Pictured are: Strider, Cowboy, Sam, Jack and Molly. I will do another post with the photos of some of Jack's other classmates.