Just wanted to say super huge congratulations to Sherie and Shadow for their performance at olympia. They had a brilliant round for 3rd place in the ABC agility final, and set the time to beat for the following dogs. They were just pipped by the final 2 dogs to run, who incidently ran identical times resulting in a rerun for 1st place!
Hopefully some video footage from the event will get uploaded onto youtube so everyone can see these super dogs run.
ETA there are some videos on youtube but Im not sure how to upload them here -
ABC agility: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EIVOVf_whuo
Large dogs semi final: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5nvSkdAsghI
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Daylight!
Since I had the day off work (being sunday and all..) I took the opportunity to get outside in the sparse daylight and took the dogs for a trek. I attempted to get some wintery photos for christmas, but while I got some fairly decent shots of the dogs, without the snow it just doesnt make them wintery enough.And I cant see any snow happening in the next few days.
Which way do we look??
Pulling faces for the camera
On the upside since todays the shortest day of the year so it can only get brighter from here!
Which way do we look??
Pulling faces for the camera
Friday, December 19, 2008
Olympia
This weekend is one of the highlights of the UK agility calendar...Olympia.
There are heats held throughout the course of the agility year to qualify for Olympia and to actually qualify is very coveted amongst agility people, more so than crufts. Olympia is a prestigious international horse show that also hosts these agility finals. To your average agility person like myself the thought of competing at olympia is seemingly impossible.
http://www.agilitynet.com/shows/olympia.html
There are finals for Senior (grade 6-7) Small, Medium and Large, Novice (grade 3-5), and ABC (anything but collie).
We would like to wish the very best of luck to our aussie counterparts, Sherie with her kelpie Shadow. Sherie & Shadow will be competing in the ABC finals I believe on mon night.
There are heats held throughout the course of the agility year to qualify for Olympia and to actually qualify is very coveted amongst agility people, more so than crufts. Olympia is a prestigious international horse show that also hosts these agility finals. To your average agility person like myself the thought of competing at olympia is seemingly impossible.
http://www.agilitynet.com/shows/olympia.html
There are finals for Senior (grade 6-7) Small, Medium and Large, Novice (grade 3-5), and ABC (anything but collie).
We would like to wish the very best of luck to our aussie counterparts, Sherie with her kelpie Shadow. Sherie & Shadow will be competing in the ABC finals I believe on mon night.
Herding in the UK
Ok, so for the herding update I promised.
I am very lucky to have found a herding trainer to work with so we can get back on track with our training!! Yeh hah!! That just made my month.
We have now been to 2 training sessions and looking forward to many more. Sarah Jenkins is a border collie trainer based in Norfolk but has some experience working with other breeds and was more than happy for me to bring an ACD along. And Hollie didnt let me down putting in some nice work.
We got to work very cute little hairy black sheep with dangerous horns...Hesperian sheep Im told. I'll have to get some photos another time.
And our first time we went out there it was snowing..certainly a new experience for me, herding in snow!
I am very lucky to have found a herding trainer to work with so we can get back on track with our training!! Yeh hah!! That just made my month.
We have now been to 2 training sessions and looking forward to many more. Sarah Jenkins is a border collie trainer based in Norfolk but has some experience working with other breeds and was more than happy for me to bring an ACD along. And Hollie didnt let me down putting in some nice work.
We got to work very cute little hairy black sheep with dangerous horns...Hesperian sheep Im told. I'll have to get some photos another time.
And our first time we went out there it was snowing..certainly a new experience for me, herding in snow!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Onwards and upards
Hmm, well I guess Im well and truly overdue for an update.
Lets see, after our week and a half on the road I headed to Eastbourne in East Sussex to work there for 2 weeks. Nice people to work with, nice house to live in, and generally, well... nice.
I then had another week spare time time up my sleeve so I spent a few days in Norfolk in not so nice weather, and got to do some herding...more on that later.
Now we're currently in Southampton for the next month. The clinic Im working at has provided me with a great flat to stay in, with plenty of room and a garden for the dogs. They seem quite content. And even better theres a huuuge park out the back so I dont have to go so far for the dogs to get a decent run, and horror of horrors Im even starting to put time into some training with them again. Tooheys is absolutely loving it, it makes me feel bad for being so slack with the training.
Lets see, after our week and a half on the road I headed to Eastbourne in East Sussex to work there for 2 weeks. Nice people to work with, nice house to live in, and generally, well... nice.
I then had another week spare time time up my sleeve so I spent a few days in Norfolk in not so nice weather, and got to do some herding...more on that later.
Now we're currently in Southampton for the next month. The clinic Im working at has provided me with a great flat to stay in, with plenty of room and a garden for the dogs. They seem quite content. And even better theres a huuuge park out the back so I dont have to go so far for the dogs to get a decent run, and horror of horrors Im even starting to put time into some training with them again. Tooheys is absolutely loving it, it makes me feel bad for being so slack with the training.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Herding instinct day
Last saturday we headed to shropshire for an ACD herding day. Suzanne Nevada was across from alaska visiting one of the ACD breeders here, so they organised a day for instinct testing. I dont think theres any doubt about Hollies instinct , but I went along for the day to watch the others being tested and to give us at least some sheep time.
The day was alot of fun, and all the dogs switched onto the sheep nicely, some faster than others, and some a little more enthusiastic (or should I say determined..) than others. It was wonderful to see so many cattle dogs (plus 2 swedish valhunds and a GSD) having a good introduction to sheep, and I think we now have alot of owners wanting more!!
Hollie got to spend a few minutes in with the sheep, and did well with sheep that would rather stand the dog up than fetch to the handler. But I think the best part of the day was getting to meet the other wonderful people who were there - some whom I'd had contact with but was yet to meet, and a bunch of others!
The day was alot of fun, and all the dogs switched onto the sheep nicely, some faster than others, and some a little more enthusiastic (or should I say determined..) than others. It was wonderful to see so many cattle dogs (plus 2 swedish valhunds and a GSD) having a good introduction to sheep, and I think we now have alot of owners wanting more!!
Hollie got to spend a few minutes in with the sheep, and did well with sheep that would rather stand the dog up than fetch to the handler. But I think the best part of the day was getting to meet the other wonderful people who were there - some whom I'd had contact with but was yet to meet, and a bunch of others!
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Lakes District
I was suposed to be coming back to a job that fell through, so I had a little extra time on my hands at the last minute. What else was I to do but more travelling ..so I headed up to the lakes district for a couple of days. I stayed at a dog friendly B&B in Bowness-on-Windermere, a very pretty town, and did some hiking around the area. I wasnt feeling quite brave enough to tackle the fells yet, but hopefully one day I'll get to.
Les chiens en France
From Toronto we flew into Paris...mainly because after Zoom airlines collapsed it was faaaar cheaper to fly the dogs as excess baggage into europe than it was as cargo as would be required into the UK.
Loading the dogs onto the plane at the canadian end was fantastic. I had Kims help (to which I am indebted), and the airline staff allowed us to take the dogs out of their crates after they had been checked in..they just had to be back within an hour prior to the flight leaving. I think this was fantastic of the airlines to allow.
Unloading in Paris was a slightly different story. The dogs got brought out with all the other luggage..poor Hollie was put on the conveyor belt and got half way round (with people sticking their fingers in her crate none the less) before I could rescue her. It was there the fun began.. We flew into terminal 3, but had to get to terminal 1 to pick up the rental car. This involved walking down a long eisle way (with 2 large dogs crates, 2 dogs and all my luggage) and then getting a train to the other terminal. While it was interesting to say the least, I got very proficieint at managing all my gear, the dogs handled the train ride just fine, and we did have many nice people attempting to help.
After picking up the rental car, I headed up to Lille for the night.
From there, we then finished the trip to Calais (which wasnt that much further). It was at this point that we had to go through the whole procedure with export requirements again, but at this point it was sooo much easier. We found a vet in Calais that spoke some English, they frontlined & wormed the dogs and stamped off their pet passports..process complete.
We then had another day to spare in Calais, so I went for a drive down the coast line, stopping at a few points along the way. It was very scenic & beautiful!!
Our final morning we headed off to the ferry terminal to make the trip back to England. We travelled with P&O, as they were the only company that would allow dogs on with foot passengers. Once again I had to drag around all my luggage and crates, but by this stage I was quite proficient at it, and I had help from the employees there. And we got our own bus onto and off the ferry. The dogs had to stay in their crates on the cargo deck for the duration of the crossing, and were a little shaken at the other end but none too bad.
Whilst waiting for our rental car to be ready on arrival in Dover, 3 young boys were fascinated by the dogs, and spent a good half an hour running Tooheys around the terminal. Tooheys being a good boy, was more than happy to run with them, and I dont know whether boys or dog were more exhausted!
At Cap Gris Nez
Back to canada
I really do need to get this up to date, given we've been back for a week now...
From the herding trial we headed back up to Toronto to spend the night at Kim & Dereks whilst finalising all the arangements to fly the dogs out. That in itself turned out to be a little bit of a nightmare.
I thought the dogs pet passports were sufficient to fly the dogs back into the EU, I just needed a vet certificate to say they could fly. I was advised by CFIA however(Canadian equivelent of AQIS/Defra) that I needed to get a certificate for import into the EU.
So that involved first going to a regular vet (thanks to Kim for lining me up with their vet..) 24-48hrs prior to travel and getting a vet check, checking proof of rabies vacc & titre and having paperwork filled out. No where did it specify whether or not france required tick and worm treatment done as the UK does, so we did that too just incase (I now know that they dont need it..).
From there the completed paperwork had to be taken to the CFIA office for them to certify it. Unfortunately the CFIA vet was a little confused by the rabies paperwork (given that it was done in aus) and needed to keep it overnight to check on it. So back to the CFIA in the morning to pick up the paperwork, only for them to tell me one of the dates was wrong on the paperwork and that I had to take it back to the vet to change it....even though I had the originals there for CFIA to view. Boy was I fuming by that stage. So a long drive back to the vet, and then back to CFIA again to give it the stamp of approval.
And the most frustrating point is that when we finally arrived in France their paperwork was never even checked!!! And I still think had it been the pet passports would have been sufficient - and I could have saved myself time & money.
From the herding trial we headed back up to Toronto to spend the night at Kim & Dereks whilst finalising all the arangements to fly the dogs out. That in itself turned out to be a little bit of a nightmare.
I thought the dogs pet passports were sufficient to fly the dogs back into the EU, I just needed a vet certificate to say they could fly. I was advised by CFIA however(Canadian equivelent of AQIS/Defra) that I needed to get a certificate for import into the EU.
So that involved first going to a regular vet (thanks to Kim for lining me up with their vet..) 24-48hrs prior to travel and getting a vet check, checking proof of rabies vacc & titre and having paperwork filled out. No where did it specify whether or not france required tick and worm treatment done as the UK does, so we did that too just incase (I now know that they dont need it..).
From there the completed paperwork had to be taken to the CFIA office for them to certify it. Unfortunately the CFIA vet was a little confused by the rabies paperwork (given that it was done in aus) and needed to keep it overnight to check on it. So back to the CFIA in the morning to pick up the paperwork, only for them to tell me one of the dates was wrong on the paperwork and that I had to take it back to the vet to change it....even though I had the originals there for CFIA to view. Boy was I fuming by that stage. So a long drive back to the vet, and then back to CFIA again to give it the stamp of approval.
And the most frustrating point is that when we finally arrived in France their paperwork was never even checked!!! And I still think had it been the pet passports would have been sufficient - and I could have saved myself time & money.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Yet another title
I've finally got a few minutes to write some updates...
The week following the agility trials we stayed with Hayley & Jason just outside of Washington DC. It was nice to have another week to relax, and just do a little local siteseeing (alot I had seen previously). The dogs got to experience city living in an 11th floor appartment, lots of elevator rides, and lots of people around. I have to say, I dont understand how people live permanently in appartments with dogs..I got pretty tired of having to take the dogs through the routine of taking the dogs out to the toilet!
From DC, the following weekend we headed back to Birdsboro PA for another herding trial (AKC). I had only entered Hollie on sheep, not wanting to risk frustrating/exciting her on cattle prior to our sheep run. I came to regret that, as in contrast to the flat dog I had at the AHBA trial, I had the fast and furious version of Hollie on my hands. Its been a long time since Ive seen that! She was covering the sheep far better than the previous trial and in general had much better control, but got a little too pushy for my liking. Despite a few slip ups here and there (mainly on the cross drive), inevitably caused by bad handler decisions, she qualified both days. This gave her the final pass for her US HSAs title. So she came out of the US as Aust Ch. Crystalledge Hollie CD ADM JDM ADO JDO SDX GD Aus/Am HSAs NA NAJ HRD1
We got to meet alot of wonderful people at the trial, and it was wonderful seeing a whole range of breeds (rotties, bouviers, corgis, shelties, collies, belgians, aussies) doing some really nice work - especially at the advanced level since I had been yet to see many dogs in advanced previously.
I'm afraid my camera didnt make it out of the car at the trial..
The week following the agility trials we stayed with Hayley & Jason just outside of Washington DC. It was nice to have another week to relax, and just do a little local siteseeing (alot I had seen previously). The dogs got to experience city living in an 11th floor appartment, lots of elevator rides, and lots of people around. I have to say, I dont understand how people live permanently in appartments with dogs..I got pretty tired of having to take the dogs through the routine of taking the dogs out to the toilet!
From DC, the following weekend we headed back to Birdsboro PA for another herding trial (AKC). I had only entered Hollie on sheep, not wanting to risk frustrating/exciting her on cattle prior to our sheep run. I came to regret that, as in contrast to the flat dog I had at the AHBA trial, I had the fast and furious version of Hollie on my hands. Its been a long time since Ive seen that! She was covering the sheep far better than the previous trial and in general had much better control, but got a little too pushy for my liking. Despite a few slip ups here and there (mainly on the cross drive), inevitably caused by bad handler decisions, she qualified both days. This gave her the final pass for her US HSAs title. So she came out of the US as Aust Ch. Crystalledge Hollie CD ADM JDM ADO JDO SDX GD Aus/Am HSAs NA NAJ HRD1
We got to meet alot of wonderful people at the trial, and it was wonderful seeing a whole range of breeds (rotties, bouviers, corgis, shelties, collies, belgians, aussies) doing some really nice work - especially at the advanced level since I had been yet to see many dogs in advanced previously.
I'm afraid my camera didnt make it out of the car at the trial..
Sunday, October 19, 2008
NA and NAJ titles
Well after today Hollie can now add NA and NAJ to the end of her name.
We went to a 2 day agility trial held by Mattaponi agility club, just out of Washington DC. It was held indoors in a horse arena... I wasnt too sure how my guys would go since they've never competed on anything other than grass, but they had no problems.
It was quite interesting to see that the novice and open classes were quite small, while the excellent classes were HUGE. In the excellent classes there was a wide variety of skill level with some absolutely brilliant dogs to watch and 2 dogs achieved their MACH on saturday.
Saturday we didnt have such a successful day. Hollie got a Q and 1st in jumpers, while Tooheys knocked one bar, but both dogs blew their Aframe contact in agility...only for someone to come over and compliment my dogs contacts??!! It is getting quite frustrating that Tooheys has improved so much over the past few months yet cant even manage a Q on a straight forward novice course - its one small mistake each time.
Today we had a better result. Both dogs Q'd in jumpers, Tooheys wiped seconds off all the other times, while Hollies finished her NAJ title. In agility Hollie had a fairly average round but it was still a Q & 1st to also finish her NA. Tooheys acted like he had never done a day of agility in his life, but entertained the croud and had myself and the judge in hysterics...what more can you ask for!
We went to a 2 day agility trial held by Mattaponi agility club, just out of Washington DC. It was held indoors in a horse arena... I wasnt too sure how my guys would go since they've never competed on anything other than grass, but they had no problems.
It was quite interesting to see that the novice and open classes were quite small, while the excellent classes were HUGE. In the excellent classes there was a wide variety of skill level with some absolutely brilliant dogs to watch and 2 dogs achieved their MACH on saturday.
Saturday we didnt have such a successful day. Hollie got a Q and 1st in jumpers, while Tooheys knocked one bar, but both dogs blew their Aframe contact in agility...only for someone to come over and compliment my dogs contacts??!! It is getting quite frustrating that Tooheys has improved so much over the past few months yet cant even manage a Q on a straight forward novice course - its one small mistake each time.
Today we had a better result. Both dogs Q'd in jumpers, Tooheys wiped seconds off all the other times, while Hollies finished her NAJ title. In agility Hollie had a fairly average round but it was still a Q & 1st to also finish her NA. Tooheys acted like he had never done a day of agility in his life, but entertained the croud and had myself and the judge in hysterics...what more can you ask for!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Montana
Needless to say we were all absolutely exhausted following the trials. What better way to recoup than in Montana… so the dogs have headed to Houndhollow boarding kennels while I flew across to Missoula to spend 10 days with Vonnie & Rich.
We spent a few days at Yellowstone park, staying at Chico hot springs The weather while freezing made the park truly beautiful, and we got to see a fair bit of wildlife. And there is something truly amazing about sitting in a hot pool while snow is falling. Unfortunately we got caught in a blizzard on the way back to Missoula which did a fair bit of damage to the car, but thankfully no damage to people.
The following few days were then spent up at a lake-side cabin owned by friends. Again, truly beautiful.
We spent a few days at Yellowstone park, staying at Chico hot springs The weather while freezing made the park truly beautiful, and we got to see a fair bit of wildlife. And there is something truly amazing about sitting in a hot pool while snow is falling. Unfortunately we got caught in a blizzard on the way back to Missoula which did a fair bit of damage to the car, but thankfully no damage to people.
The following few days were then spent up at a lake-side cabin owned by friends. Again, truly beautiful.
I was very sad to leave to head back east, but the dogs were happy to see me even though the kennels didnt want to let them leave!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Photos from the nationals
There are a couple of photographers that have managed to get some good shots of the dogs at the nationals...click on the hyperlink.
Steve Surfman photography:
Agility - Tooheys Nov 24" Standard
- Hollie 16-20" standard pic 12-14
Obedience - Tooheys Nov A pic 62-69
- Hollie Nov A pic 13-28
Rally - Tooheys Novice pic 184-192
- Hollie Nov pic 158-166
Sweepstakes - Hollie Veterans 10&over bitch pic 2-13 and pic 86-89, 98-100
Breed - Hollie veterans 10+ bitch pic1-2, 7-24
Sandra Alan:
Agility - Hollie pic 69-74
- Tooheys pic 47-50
Herding - Hollie pic 25-29
Katwala: Hollie herding
Steve Surfman photography:
Agility - Tooheys Nov 24" Standard
- Hollie 16-20" standard pic 12-14
Obedience - Tooheys Nov A pic 62-69
- Hollie Nov A pic 13-28
Rally - Tooheys Novice pic 184-192
- Hollie Nov pic 158-166
Sweepstakes - Hollie Veterans 10&over bitch pic 2-13 and pic 86-89, 98-100
Breed - Hollie veterans 10+ bitch pic1-2, 7-24
Sandra Alan:
Agility - Hollie pic 69-74
- Tooheys pic 47-50
Herding - Hollie pic 25-29
Katwala: Hollie herding
AHBA trial and more herding
An AHBA herding trial was held not too far away on the weekend following the nationals. I had Hollie entered in ranch course and arena course both days on sheep. I chose to give cattle a miss, and its probably just as well as we were both fried and Hollie wasn’t working very well.
The AHBA trial was a lot of fun, this particular trial was a lot more laid back and informal.
The ranch course was great, being based on practical every day work – moving sheep in from a paddock, sorting the sheep into smaller pens, moving them through runways, regrouping, moving from point A to B (or driving in the higher levels) and repenning.
Hollie Q’d in ranch both days for her HRD1 title. I was a little surprised that Hollie really felt the pressure in the smaller pens, and so did I when she kept trying to fetch the sheep to me as I was trying to shut the gate once in the pen. Trying to shut a gate is not very easy when you then have 5 sheep standing on top of you.
Hollie wasn’t working at all on the arena course ether day, which is a shame as other than the freestanding pen I felt though course was very do-able. The first day we made it to the pen before I pulled our run (even though she was still passing at that stage) because she wasn’t listening or even trying to work, and the second day we didn’t even make it to the Y chute.
Following the AHBA trial I headed up to Sara’s place in S New York to spend the day training with Lynn. It was a lovely day, and we managed to get Hollie back on track and working - even if not completely to her full potential given that she was tired.
At the end of the day we put Tooheys in the small pen (despite my better judgement!) , and while he still has a loooong was to go I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had improved somewhat since we last put him in with sheep 12 months ago. We now have something to work with! - he was actually wanting to get round the sheep (even if in only the one direction) and was starting to fetch a little, instead of gluing himself to my legs then blasting through the middle.
The AHBA trial was a lot of fun, this particular trial was a lot more laid back and informal.
The ranch course was great, being based on practical every day work – moving sheep in from a paddock, sorting the sheep into smaller pens, moving them through runways, regrouping, moving from point A to B (or driving in the higher levels) and repenning.
Hollie Q’d in ranch both days for her HRD1 title. I was a little surprised that Hollie really felt the pressure in the smaller pens, and so did I when she kept trying to fetch the sheep to me as I was trying to shut the gate once in the pen. Trying to shut a gate is not very easy when you then have 5 sheep standing on top of you.
Hollie wasn’t working at all on the arena course ether day, which is a shame as other than the freestanding pen I felt though course was very do-able. The first day we made it to the pen before I pulled our run (even though she was still passing at that stage) because she wasn’t listening or even trying to work, and the second day we didn’t even make it to the Y chute.
Following the AHBA trial I headed up to Sara’s place in S New York to spend the day training with Lynn. It was a lovely day, and we managed to get Hollie back on track and working - even if not completely to her full potential given that she was tired.
At the end of the day we put Tooheys in the small pen (despite my better judgement!) , and while he still has a loooong was to go I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had improved somewhat since we last put him in with sheep 12 months ago. We now have something to work with! - he was actually wanting to get round the sheep (even if in only the one direction) and was starting to fetch a little, instead of gluing himself to my legs then blasting through the middle.
The view in New York
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
ACDCA nationals part 2
Breed classes
Monday was property classes, where we didnt fair very well, so in the afternoon we paid a visit to the Hershey factory instead.
Tuesday was sweepstakes classes and dog breed classes. I had Hollie in veterans 10+ sweepstakes, where she did really well and won her class out of 8 dogs. Wed was the bitch breed classes. Hollie got 3rd in her veterans class that day, and 4th in the versatility breed class.
The entry in the breed classes was large, there was 63 dogs in the Best of breed class alone. Not being overly familiar with the AKC system it was very difficult to follow, as they broke the best of breed class down into 5 parts and made shortlists and it was hard to know who was who. It was fantastic to see so many cattle dogs in the ring at the same time with not so much as an altercation.
And the best part was we got to watch the beautiful Leroy win his herding titled class and then go on to win an Award of Merit. That herding dog is now Mr "show dog".
Herding
The final 2 days of the specialty was the herding. I was so excited to get to watch so many cattle dogs out there working stock.
The cattle were difficult and defeated most of the dogs. At the end of the first days trial classes it was cattle 50 : dogs 0. One dog in the PT class managed to earn a qualifying round though. There was a slight improvement the next day with one dog in Started qualifying, and most of the PT dogs made it through with extensive coaching from the wonderful judge.
The runs on sheep faired a little better. The sheep were light but flocked well and were honest. As the weekend progressed they did become a little more difficult as the started drawing very heavily to the exhaust pen.
Hollie did well for me, qualifying in Started sheep both days with a 5th and 2nd place, and qualifying in PT cattle the second day. I was very proud of that given that we had only introduced her to cattle on the wednesday night and I really had no clue what I was doing. Working cattle is difficult!! I owe alot of thanks to both Lynn for our introduction to cattle, and judge Terry Kenney for their assistance in working out what I was doing.
There was alot of other entertainment throughout the week, with a talk from Chris Zink one night, and Dingo Bingo another.
On the final night there was the presentation dinner, where I was absolutely chuffed to find out Hollie had won the versatility award for the specialty! I'm very proud of my little girl.
Monday was property classes, where we didnt fair very well, so in the afternoon we paid a visit to the Hershey factory instead.
Tuesday was sweepstakes classes and dog breed classes. I had Hollie in veterans 10+ sweepstakes, where she did really well and won her class out of 8 dogs. Wed was the bitch breed classes. Hollie got 3rd in her veterans class that day, and 4th in the versatility breed class.
The entry in the breed classes was large, there was 63 dogs in the Best of breed class alone. Not being overly familiar with the AKC system it was very difficult to follow, as they broke the best of breed class down into 5 parts and made shortlists and it was hard to know who was who. It was fantastic to see so many cattle dogs in the ring at the same time with not so much as an altercation.
And the best part was we got to watch the beautiful Leroy win his herding titled class and then go on to win an Award of Merit. That herding dog is now Mr "show dog".
Herding
The final 2 days of the specialty was the herding. I was so excited to get to watch so many cattle dogs out there working stock.
The cattle were difficult and defeated most of the dogs. At the end of the first days trial classes it was cattle 50 : dogs 0. One dog in the PT class managed to earn a qualifying round though. There was a slight improvement the next day with one dog in Started qualifying, and most of the PT dogs made it through with extensive coaching from the wonderful judge.
The runs on sheep faired a little better. The sheep were light but flocked well and were honest. As the weekend progressed they did become a little more difficult as the started drawing very heavily to the exhaust pen.
Hollie did well for me, qualifying in Started sheep both days with a 5th and 2nd place, and qualifying in PT cattle the second day. I was very proud of that given that we had only introduced her to cattle on the wednesday night and I really had no clue what I was doing. Working cattle is difficult!! I owe alot of thanks to both Lynn for our introduction to cattle, and judge Terry Kenney for their assistance in working out what I was doing.
There was alot of other entertainment throughout the week, with a talk from Chris Zink one night, and Dingo Bingo another.
On the final night there was the presentation dinner, where I was absolutely chuffed to find out Hollie had won the versatility award for the specialty! I'm very proud of my little girl.
Monday, October 6, 2008
ACDCA national specialty
The ACDCA national specialty was held from 27 sept - 4th oct in Shartlesville, PA. Visit the website for more info. It was basically 7 days of agility, obedience, breed, herding, and fun! I had an absolutely fantastic time, got to meet many great people, see some great dogs, and have a little success thrown in.
I arrived at the hotel that I was told we were booked in at, only to find out we had been moved to another hotel..which thankfully was closer to the specialty site and had many other acd'ers staying. We spent the week room sharing with Toni.
It was quite a novelty having the dogs stay in the hotel, and to open the door to see other cattle dogs wandering the halls.. Although I dont think my guys could quite work out what this riding in the elevator business was all about - they jumped a mile every time the floor moved under their feet!
It was quite a novelty having the dogs stay in the hotel, and to open the door to see other cattle dogs wandering the halls.. Although I dont think my guys could quite work out what this riding in the elevator business was all about - they jumped a mile every time the floor moved under their feet!
Agility
The first 2 days were agility, and the weather was wet and miserable! By the end of sunday the agility ring was muddy and slippery, and generally a mess, but we still had a lot of fun. Everyone there was extremely welcoming!
AKC agility is very simillar to ANKC, although possibly slightly little easier at the lower levels. Allowances are made in novice and open for a dog to Q with a refusal or time faults. Also, faults and/or refusals are not judged for the weavepoles in novice, provided the dog completes them all.
Otherwise, most things were reasonably simillar. The jump heights were the same as in aus, so obviously lower than the UK. I chose to jump Tooheys up a height so not to mess around to much with his training.
Weave spacing the same as aus, so further apart than what we had been doing in the UK. Tooheys didnt seem to have a problem, but on Hollies first run she noticably misjudged her striding.
We got a nasty fright by not only having to do a table, but having to take up a set position on the table..its been so long since we've seen one!
The only other difference I can think of is their weird double jump, which is like a spread but both poles at the same height. I'm suprised the dogs jumped in ok as I often struggled to see the 2nd pole.
The dogs did well for themselves. They were both entered in Novice B, Tooheys at 24" and Hollie at 20". Saturday agility Hollie Q'd and got 1st place. Tooheys had a very nice run but demolished one jump - he tried to wrap the upright tightly but unfortunately plastic uprights without wings dont stand up to that as well as wooden wings!
Saturday jumping Hollie Q'd & got 1st, while Tooheys took a wrong tunnel entrance.
The other class was FAST, which is kindof like gamblers - you make up your own course to acumulate points (with certain restrictions), and you have a 'bonus' which is a distance challenge to gain extra points. You then have to cross the finish line before time runs out. Tooheys Q'd and got 1st, but Hollie knocked one of the poles in the bonus.
Sunday results were simillar, but Hollies back started playing up on her and by the end of the day she wasnt wanting to run. I really should have pulled her out, but that is so difficult to do when we have travelled so far. Agility Hollie Q'd and got 2nd place, Tooheys blew his dogalk contact. Both dogs Q'd and got 1st in FAST. In jumpers both dogs knocked a pole each, which isnt suprising given how slippery it was. I fell over in Hollies run, and then tried to get her to take a jump from far too close.
the dogs with their winnings
the beautiful trophies
Obedience
Obedience and Rally ran concurrenly to agility on sunday.
suprised.
The obedience ring in AKC is alot smaller than in aus. The heel routine was alot shorter, the figure 8 a seperate exercise. Really the only thing more difficult is that you can only use eih verbal or hand signals, not both. That was only really an issue for the finish on the recall though, as there was not stand or drops during the heelwork.
Hollie did really well, her only problems being 'forgetting' to sit in the figure 8 (she was too busy staring up a the posts), and a moment of distraction in the heel off lead. And I lost us 2 points on the recall by holding my hands in front of me instead of at my side.. its the subtle differences that get you! She qualified on 186.5 points and 2nd place.
Tooheys was working really well outside the ring, but I got him ready too early and by the time we got into the ring his nose went to the ground. So I pulled him out after heel on lead. I really didnt want to have to do stays with both dogs at the same time anyway. Especially as several dogs broke.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into with Rally, but it was alot of fun. Effectively it was an obedience 'course' with different excercises.
Hollie got 2nd with 97 points and Tooheys 3rd on 95 points -not too bad given he had never done a couple of the exercises!
Oh, and I have to make special mention just how good Tooheys was with all the dogs around him!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
New York City
After leaving Lauras, I went up to Washington DC to pick up Hayley and from there we headed up to New York city for a couple of days. The dogs got to stay at Beechhill kennels just out of Philladelphia where they were looked after well.
Because everything in New York is sooo expensive, we stayed at a hotel at Newark airport the first night, then splurged on a hotel in downtown new york the following 2 nights.
We then spent the following 2 days doing a bus tour around town to see all the local sites.
Flatiron building
Statue of Liberty
Waterfront
Crossing Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan
Times Square
Central Park
Rockefeller Centre
Monday, September 29, 2008
Virginia
After enjoying 2 days in Canada I picked up a rental car, and we started the long drive down to Lauras in south west Virginia.
US customs didnt seem to care too much about the dogs at all but grilled me with questions about what I was doing.
Niagara Falls
We drove as far as mid pensylvania the first day (with an added detour of having to backtrack 50miles) and stayed in a small town along the way. The following day was an 8hr drive through pensylvania, maryland, west virginia and virginia, and some truly beautiful countryside.
The following few days were spent with Laura & Jack on their beautiful farm, alternating herding training and sightseeing locally.
Sunday we had brunch at Mountain Lake, which is where Dirty Dancing was filmed. The lake the lodge overlooks was completely empty, and the excitement of the day was a body discovered at the middle of the lake, likely from the 20's.
It was fantastic to get back into herding again, I didnt realise how much I missed it. We started off a little rusty, but I'm happy with how Hollie picked it straight up again and did some nice work. Hopefully that will hold out for the specialty trial.
US customs didnt seem to care too much about the dogs at all but grilled me with questions about what I was doing.
Niagara Falls
We drove as far as mid pensylvania the first day (with an added detour of having to backtrack 50miles) and stayed in a small town along the way. The following day was an 8hr drive through pensylvania, maryland, west virginia and virginia, and some truly beautiful countryside.
The following few days were spent with Laura & Jack on their beautiful farm, alternating herding training and sightseeing locally.
Sunday we had brunch at Mountain Lake, which is where Dirty Dancing was filmed. The lake the lodge overlooks was completely empty, and the excitement of the day was a body discovered at the middle of the lake, likely from the 20's.
It was fantastic to get back into herding again, I didnt realise how much I missed it. We started off a little rusty, but I'm happy with how Hollie picked it straight up again and did some nice work. Hopefully that will hold out for the specialty trial.
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