K9 Kup

Once again this year, Keltic and I are running in a house league called the K9 Kup. The team we were on last year, Snow Dogs Unharnessed divided in two and added some new members, so now we have Snow Dogs Unharnessed and Snowdogs Unharnessed Too. Some of my agility friends have joined me in having honorary snow dogs. Now in addition to the huskies and australian shepherds, there is a keeshund, a border collie, a sheltie (Keltic), a duck toller, a collie and a mini poodle.

Both teams together
 

Snow Dogs Unharnessed

We've had two K9 Kup events so far and two more to go, unfortunately Keltic and I will miss the next event as we'll just be coming back from New Brunswick. At each event, we run three courses, a Standard and two games courses. At the last K9 Kup we ran Snooker and Steeplechase as the games. Keltic ran rather well, he even got his weave entry in the Standard and stayed in the weaves.

The best four runs from each team are added up to determine the team's placment. We got a third place and a fourth place in the first two events, Standard and Snooker.  Keltic's runs counted toward both of those placements. The score from the last event hadn't yet been tabulated at the end of the match so it will be awarded at the next K9 Kup. Snow Dogs Unharnessed was sitting in second place in our Divsion after the first K9 Kup.

Keltic - K9 Kup Standard

 

In the Standard, Keltic did very well even getting on the table that they had forgotten to lower without a problem. Too bad his Mum didn't tell him to target on the dog walk.

Keltic - K9 Kup Snooker

 

In Snooker, he did pretty good but he was just a little excited, perhaps because my course isn't as flowy as it should have been. At the first red (the first obstacle), I thought he was going right on by the backside so I turned too much to get him over. That meant I wasn't heading for the double jump on the correct line so, of course, Keltic knocked the bar.

 

Keltic - K9 Kup Steeplechase

 

Keltic got distracted by something on this course, not sure what, but once he came back he ran nicely. This might have been a Q in K9 Kup standards as they use Starter Jumpers times. It likely wouldn't be a Q in the AAC, since the event is considered a Masters event, the times are much tighter.

 

 

Looking forward to our next K9 Kup. Keltic will have been in  two AAC trials by then and if we are lucky he may have to carry a handicap in his next K9 Kup. Any dog with their starter agility title has a handicap since they have demonstrated some skill in agility and K9 Kup is trying to encourage newcomers to the sport.