March Trial

We had a trial this past weekend on 1 Mar 2015. I sure do hope now that February is done we will get some warmer temperatures. This past February was the coldest February on record but, if it's any consolation, not the coldest month on record.

Keltic had two runs and Beckett had three; well two and half, as one run was with his litter sister Hannah. Keltic was up first and his first run was an Advanced Jumpers. He did just awesome but I didn't go in deep enough with him on one jump and he turned with me and missed the jump. I didn't even see it, I knew he had either knocked the bar or missed the jump as I saw the judge's arm go up in the corner of my eye.

Video of Keltic's Advanced Jumpers run

I was very happy with the way he ran though. Next up for him was an Advanced Snooker; we got through our opening which was sort of unexpected as the "red" jumps weren't that easy to get to. We faulted on the close when Keltic bailed off the teeter.  The teeter was the number 4 obstacle and we had to get through number 5 to Q which was six weaves. Given our difficulty with weaves in competition we likely would have run out of time trying to get them done, so no Q's for Keltic but he ran really well.

Beckett had three runs, two Master Standards and one Team run. Beckett didn't Q on his first Standard. He popped in the weaves, something strange for him.The team run was the first with his litter sister Hannah.  They didn't Q but did run really well together. They will get a chance for Team Part 2 on Easter weekend.

Hannah and Beckett run Team

Beckett's last run was another Standard, no video I'm afraid, but Beckett did wonderfully. We started when the judge said "whenever your ready" only to be whistled after obstacle 5 as the scribe wasn't quite ready so we had to start again. Both times, Beckett nearly stalled at obstacle 5, not sure what caused him to do that. It was a clean run for a Q though; we're slowly chipping away at the Standards he needs for Silver Award of Merit.

We also had some pictures done. A photographer Erika A Photography was at the trial doing a fundraiser for the SPCA and as Keltic was born on St Patrick's day how could I resist.

Pictures from Wee Bit Irish Photo Shoot

I'll let you know what shots I chose on Keltic's birthday.

A Special Day and Sheltiepalooza

Two weekends ago on 8 Feb, Beckett ran in his first trial of 2015; it was also his first trial as a Special. In the AAC, you can drop your dog from Regulars to Special at anytime for whatever reason, so now Beckett only has to jump 10 inches and will no longer have to jump the double jump that he often crashed. We had four runs,two Master Standards and two Snooker. Unfortunately, we were not very fortunate in the Q department and went home Qless. I had a friend video Beckett's first run as a Special; it was so smooth except for that spinning when I pulled him in off the tunnel.  Watch the judge in the video, spin,arm down, I move forward, spin, arm down, I move forward, spin, arm goes up. If only I had stopped and sent him on to the dog walk, we would have been fine. The rest of the run felt wonderful, we were totally in sync except the handling of the dog walk.

Video of Beckett's First Run as a Special

The next run was another Master Std with the same discrimination of tunnel and dog walk; I decided to trust Beckett. I guess we have some discrimination work to do as he took the tunnel. Off course, which is an elimination in Masters.  The next two runs were Snookers, we did just fine but faulted in the closing of both runs before we had enough points. 

Beckett will still jump 16" in some events but no longer in AAC events. We do them the most and I want to give him a break as it's the jumping I think that causes repetitive strain injuries.   

This past weekend on Sunday, we went to Sheltiepalooza. It was a fund raiser for the Southern Ontario Sheltie Rescue.  We had had quite a bit of snow on Saturday, certainly more than forecast but not near what they got in parts of New England and the Maritimes. The forecast for Sunday, though was for high winds and blowing snow which can cause roads to be icy and visibility rather poor so as a result many people decided not to brave the cold and stayed home.  We decided to take the chance and it turned out that the roads were pretty good. It was terribly cold out in the wind but,in the arena, which is insulated, it wasn't too bad.

Each dog got two runs on an agility course and each time you could have up to two minutes in the ring so you could go back and fix parts of the course or try different things. On our second run, I did a blind cross at the end of the dog walk, it worked with Beckett who has good running contacts but Keltic, being less experienced and a tendency to fly off contacts, came off the side of the down ramp before hitting the yellow when he saw me cross in front of him.

There also was a photo booth where you could have your dogs pictures taken for a donation to the rescue.  The pictures turned out pretty good. As you can see it was cold; look at Beckett's breathe.

I call them the "hoping for spring" pictures since they had all the flowers and birdhouses in the set up. 

After all the agility equipment was put away, there was a free play session, the Sheltiepalooza. It's funny, they do interact somewhat with the other Shelties but they all tend to play mostly with their own siblings. Of course, there was lots of barking, spinning and herding to be done. Beckett kept bringing his Frisbee back to me so that made videoing the fun hard to do.  

Sheltiepalooza Video

For the people there was a pot luck lunch. We had quite a bit of food, soup, meatballs, sandwiches, chips, veggies, fruit, dessert squares and chocolate cookies filled with peanut butter. 

Hopefully, the next time the weather will be better and more people and their dogs will come out. Sheltiepalooza is not just for Shelties either, friends of Shelties are most welcome.

First Trial of the New Year

Keltic and I went to the Starter and Advanced trial at Dogz this past Sunday. Dogz has the use of an equestrian arena this year and are able to host some evening trials and to rent out some time.  Since Keltic needs just one more Starter Standard Q to get his Agility Dog of Canada title, we thought we would give this trial a go as there were two Starter Standards.at this evening trial.

 In the first Standard, Keltic took a flying leap off the A-frame. I made him do it again and again, I was just about to put him back on when the buzzer went for time so we left the ring after completing only five obstacles, the A-frame was number 6 and we didn't actually finish it.

In the second Standard, the A-frame was much further into the course but there were 12 weaves. I was pretty sure that he would pop out of them at some point.

Starter Standard 2

He broke his start line but I was able to get him back into a sit and then he waited for his release. He did the tire nicely and turned into the tunnel quickly. As I thought with the weaves, he didn't want to do them. They are certainly a skill we need to work on more. After the double, he went to the tunnel and then did a great job on the teeter.  Then it was onto the table, thankfully, he no longer has to lay down, just stay on the table. Then we had a nice run, tunnel, chute, A-frame, (where I let him run off), tunnel and then the jumps at the back of the course with no problem. The dog walk, he again ran off and missed the contact, nearly had it though.

Video of Keltic in Starter Standard 2

So we still have some areas to work on, it never ends. Weaves, we can work on over the winter but contacts are harder, we can do some contact work on the stairs but it just doesn't match up to doing the real obstacle. I may try to retrain as I did with Beckett and let him do running contacts but he has to learn that sometimes I need him to slow down.

But we had fun at our first trial of 2015, Keltic seems not to be phased by much and unlike many dogs he didn't sniff and run around checking things out, all those horsey smells. Our next trial will be at the same locale but it will be Beckett's turn to have some fun. And so the agility year of 2015 has started.

Mish Mash Monday

Beckett and his litter sister Hannah, hard to see any resemblance with a bi-black and a bi-blue.  They don't have much interest in each other either. Keltic likes Hannah.

2014 - An Agility Review

Well another year of agility is over by the calendar anyway so I'm going to put our accomplishments into perspective.

Our 2014 year didn't really get started until April and it didn't start off all that well. I had entered a trial to try and get some Steeplechase Q's with Beckett and in our very first run I pulled my hamstring. It wasn't nearly as bad as the calf muscle I tore the year before but again I couldn't run. I pulled Beckett from his runs after trying a second time to run without success. I had a friend run Keltic for his runs and was pleasantly surprised to see that he would run for someone else.  I was disappointed to say the least as I thought perhaps our year was done before we even got started.

I had healed enough to run at Regionals in May although I took the precaution of wearing a thigh compression sleeve.  Keltic did fine in the warm-up runs even though he still wasn't weaving all that well. I couldn't have asked for more from Beckett he got both Gambles and did remarkably well in all of his other runs. He made the podium placing 5th overall in his height class.

AAC Nationals Qualifiers

The next big event for us was to be Canada Cup the first weekend of July. I had hoped to make the finals as I had the previous year but that was not to be. Beckett ran well but I don't think I was up to par and we finished out of the finals. In one event we were only a few seconds behind the last dog that made the finals. Keltic did well too, almost having a clear round in one of the Jumpers runs; that was until his handler forgot the course.

Canada Cup

We took much of the rest of the summer off before heading to Nationals. I had hopes that we would do well and that perhaps Beckett could place in one of his events. We certainly have the ability on a good day to run with some of the best, at least I think so.  But again this year, it was not to be, the weather was crappy and we didn't have a lot of luck. We didn't have a single clear round in the Nationals events; the one bright spot was the two qualifying scores that Beckett got in Steeplechase which put him only one qualifying score from his Expert Bronze Steeplechase title.

When we came back from our holidays down in New Brunswick, we entered an agility trial with a local club that was just starting to host trials. We had a spectacular weekend getting 5 Q's and 5 best runs.

Awesome Agility Weekend

Keltic got his first title that weekend Starter Games Dog of Canada.  And Beckett got two Standard Q's at one trial, almost unheard of for us which put him only one Q away from Expert Standard Bronze and Bronze Award of Merit.

Keltic - Starter Games Dog of Canada (SGDC)

Well Beckett got that last Standard Q and that last Steeplechase Q and as a result got not only Bronze Award of Merit but also Bronze Versatility but to cap off the year he also got the Q's he needed for Masters Team Relay Dog of Canada as well. Keltic on the other hand still needs one more Q for his Agility Dog of Canada title, maybe 2015 will start out that title.

Beckett - Master team Relay Dog of Canada

Logan and Beckett Team Relay Q

So for a year that didn't start out the best, it certainly ended very well. We're looking forward to new adventures and challenges in 2015. In the plans are another trip to the Canada Cup, possibly to Regionals with Keltic and we're even thinking of doing some UKI trials. But the biggest change in 2015 is that, for AAC trials anyway, Beckett will now be jumping as a special and his jump height will drop to 10 ", that should prove to be fun.

See our 2014 Agility Year in Pictures!

Run fast, run clean, have fun!