thanks

Thank you to everyone for you good luck messages while we were on our trip, it was nice to know we had people cheering for us!!!

Upcoming Events:

September Long Weekend

Saskatoon Kennel Club:

Kim, Maggie and Bosley will be in attendance for their Bernese Mountain Dog National Specialty, they'll be doing Agility, Rally, Obedience and even some showing!

September 6 & 7

Kimberley Agility Trial

September 20 & 21

Medicine Hat (Redcliff) Agility Trial

Stay tuned for results from these events!!!

How about a Fun Match the last weekend of September??

Medal Heads

We are back from our AAC Nationals, in Sussex New Brunswick, and I'm glad to be home and we return with great news! It was Kaleb, Gyp and Wicca's (and Amanda's) first National, I am so proud of them!

YAHOOOO!!! All of our dogs reached the podium, they get these fancy medals for finished top 10 in their divisions! There were 500 handlers from all over Canada and USA entered.

We will have the videos here too - hopefully in the next day or two!!!!!

ON A SIDE NOTE: Yesterday was the longest day of my life, we left Sussex (10am - 7am Alberta time) and drove to Halifax and spent the day on the harbour front and it was great fun!!!!! The day totalled: 8 hours of driving, explosive diarrhea (Kaleb's not mine) a 5 hour flight, a now dead coyote near Nanton, an Insurance claim to come for my car, 2 energy drinks, and finally arriving at my front door at 2:30am. And two cranky bitches ... and I don't mean the tri-coloured ones ....

I am REALLY REALLY happy to be home, but it was an amazing trip and the best national I have been too!!!! Here are the final results:

Wicca

Had some AWESOME runs, and she did Alberta proud by running in the Steeplechase FINALS, placing second and bringing home $100!!!!!

6" Specials Class

**** 10th Place!!! ****

10 dog class

aggregate score 354.00

Kaleb:

My big goof ball amazed me, and some other people too!!!

22" Specials Class

**** 7th Place!!!!!! ****

23 dog class

aggregate score 465.77

Gyppie

She just started competing one year ago, so I am still in shock.

16" Specials Class

**** 5th Place!!! ****

29 dog class

aggregate score 524.13

Steeplechase semi-fnalist

AND She finished her Steeplechase Title!!!!

WOW

Day 2

Gyppie

Standard 2- placed 3RD! Gyppie was fast, and was listening great. It was a tight course and very technical- lots of dogs crashed and burned on that one!

Gamblers 1- no gamble = no placement. She tried hard, but it was a lot for her and she lost her confidence when Sarah tried to redirect. It was the only run of the weekend she didn't run clean. 

Steeplechase Semi-Finals- ran clean, but missed the weave entry the first time and in such a competitive class those few seconds cost her a spot in the finals. It was a beautiful run though!

Kaleb

Standard 2- placed 7TH. He was going as fast as a flatcoat can and just gave it. He and Sarah worked great together as a team and the results were surprising!

Gamblers 1- no gamble = no placement but he was the closest of the three to get it! He had a great opening, but the goofy flatcoat in him made it a little difficult (he thought he'd take a shortcut and go right to the tire)

Wicca

Standard 2- placed 1ST. The MOST amazing run. Ever. We ran it in an amazing time (35 seconds) and we were probably in the top 20 overall with that time. It was a great run. 

Gamblers 1- no gamble, but still placed 5th with her points. It was not an easy gamble and no one in her class got it. 

Steeplechase Semi-Finals- it was an awesome run but we knocked a bar. It was fast though but I wasn't sure it would be fast enough to make the cut. 

Day 3

Gyppie

Gamble 2- placed 3rd- Gyppie was smokin and got the gamble with no problem. She had a ton of opening points and had a GREAT run

Jumpers 2- placed 2ND!!!!!! WOW!!!!! It was an amazing run and Sarah ran full out with her. 

Kaleb

Gamble 2- placed 9th-which was unexpected! He had a great run and got his gamble by a hair (err....tail)

Jumpers 2- no placement, but ran CLEAN and fast. It was  bit of a rush to the ring as we weren't paying enough attention and as Kaleb was called he was still at the tent...a good 2 minute walk away :o) Still he managed to run clean...

Wicca

Gamble 2- amazing opening- 52 POINTS. It was fast, smooth and felt really good. I was confident with the gamble but it wasn't in the cards I guess. Instead of turning for the frame she went out and took an off course jump. And then finished the gamble :o) 

Jumpers 2- apparently I suck. at threadles. really. :o) Wicca was feeling her oats and was a little wild but really most of the blame is mine. We had three, count 'em Three off courses (at 20 faults each) and a bar to boot. Leaving us with 10 points for that round....

Steeplechase Finals- first off it was scary. It was the last event of the weekend and kind of a highlight. There were tons of people, and it was pretty intimidating. Oh, and we were first. 

She ran it fast, but we had two bobbles- one where I didn't support her on a far jump, and a second on the weaves but I was very happy with her as both of those were my fault. We still managed to place 2nd in our division and win 95$. 

Aggregate

Sarah and I both had no idea how we had done in the whole scheme of things. It was an evening full of suspence. 

6" Specials was first. Wicca came in 10th. Last place essentially. Most definitely due to her Jumpers rounds. Regardless I am VERY proud of my little dog. We are just starting to finally mesh as a team and I know that we still have lots to learn. She is a great dog though who gave it her all (most of the time) and I have really enjoyed this experience. There have been lots and lots of fun on this trip and I am very lucky to have such a great dog. 

16" Specials was next. Regardless of how Gyppie placed I knew that Sarah would cry. Gyp is still a baby dog really- and already accomplishing so much. She is a very special dog and had a spectacular weekend. She ran 5 out of 6 clean. Amazing. When Gyp's name was called for 5th place all of the Alberta people hooped and hollard for her. Amazing. 

22" Specials. Sarah had roughly calculated around 420 points for K. So when the 10th place dog had a score of 429 she figured she was out of the placements- which was okay- Kaleb had a great weekend and was consistent for much of it. Imagine her surprise when he won 7th place. She cried. She was crying before she even got up there. Kaleb is one of those dogs who is all heart (and tongue) he is always happy and willing but Sarah has to work hard to keep his focus. They are a very good team and I am very proud of them. 

So that's that. We'll be posting pictures later :o)

Day 1

Gyppie- went 3 for 3 clean runs- earning a 3rd Place in a very competitive class of over 30 dogs in the Jumpers Ring. And earned a 6th place in her Standard. She also managed to place 2nd in Steeplechase earning her a spot in the Semi-finals. Also that Steeplechase Q was the last needed for her Steeplechase title! Gyppie had a GREAT first day!

Kaleb- had an awesome standard run and placed 7th out of over 20 dogs! Sarah was amazed and the look on her face was priceless (as was the words that came out of her mouth....ask her)

He also had a great jumpers run- but the wagging of his stupid tail caused him to knock a bar. I told her that we should cut it off :o) His steeplechase was smooth and he picked up his speed along the way- he didn't make the cut but it was still a great run!

Wicca- had a great start and end to her day. The first run was great- and except for a refusal on the teeter (she slipped off the side) her run was amazing- she placed 5th out of ten dogs. The second run I am erasing from my memory. It was pretty awful. We had 35 faults. Uh Huh.....Moving on. She redeemed herself with the steeplechase- it was one of those runs that just feel great. Clean and Fast. 32 seconds- a first place in her class and a very fast time overall. She will get to play with the big dogs in the semi-finals. 

We ended our day with some wine (of the wildbunch variety) although I say we, I mean Sarah and Penny. I prefer a Fuzzy Duck. 

No pictures today. Maybe tomorrow. 

Wildbunch, Fuzzy Duck and Opening Ceremonies- UPDATE

The Opening Ceremonies had just the right amount of cheese, humor and prestige.


Cheese: the mayor, the judges in the horse drawn carriage, and the "parade" of provinces....Humour: Kaleb flirting with boy dogs the WHOLE time during the parade and the ceremonies, the funny jokes, and the video of agility in the 90's...The dogwalk was like feet tall!


Prestige: all the people, the AAC Judges, the AAC President, the speech about what agility is really all about, and just the feeling of celebration.

All in all it wasn't a bad way to spend an hour or so.

On the way home Sarah and I decided to stop at the grocery store and pick up some "necessities" (i.e snacks, cheese, dip, crackers, and a little bit of liquor)

I'd like to introduce you to Wildbunch and Fuzzy Duck...



Sarah picked Wildbunch in honor of the girls....and fuzzy duck for Kaleb...it was somehow fitting :o)







I can't tell you how the wine tastes as I don't drink the stuff but Fuzzy Duck is pretty delicious ;o)

Wish us luck tomorrow! Send me all of your wishes for good memory (I really am hoping I don't get lost!) and send Sarah lots of calming vibes...

All Warmed Up

This morning Sarah and I headed to the site for the warm up runs. First off, there are TONS of people, and TONS of dogs. Lots of Border Collies and Shelties but also some other neat breeds. There were two other Cardigans- which was super neat to see, a couple Collies, some flatcoats and a Griffon (like Addy) and of course a whole wack of mixed breeds.

We each got a chance to run four times but the wait was so long that we ended up just doing two. We waited four more than an hour. But it was worth it- it was a great opportunity to get on the equipment. We were able to use toys which was a good way to reinforce our good dogs :o)

We came back to the hotel to have a rest and will head back around 5:30 for the opening ceremonies. I am getting pretty excited! It definitely seems more real now.

Sarah will be taking pictures of the opening ceremonies for you all to see!

Roachville

I am not even kidding. Our hotel is on "Roachville" Road...

Funny Eh?

3 dogs and a bridge

OK. so I really like covered bridges.

But don't they make great backgrounds in photos!!!??


Today we checked out the trial site and checked in, got our handler bags, which are really cool backpacks with all the usual stuff in them - magazines, cookies, maps, tourist stuff, pens and a cool tartan sash with a new brunswick pin ...

Tomorrow we have our warm up runs and opening ceremonies, stay tuned!!!!!!!!

we are now officially excited :)

Rest

So for those who know me you could imagine that I am bored already of my day of "rest" yup. And we've only been awake a few hours (It is 10:44) here....So here are a few more pictures from yesterday that I thought you'd all enjoy...

At the cute town of Alma we found a boat with my name on it! Of course we had to do the cheesy tourist thing and take a picture :o)

Here is a picture of the actual Hopewell Rocks. It was very beautiful, but the walk to and from was the most enjoyable part- the path is very well maintained and the dogs had a great time sniffing and exploring. Kaleb even found a puddle to play in (it made him feel a bit better after not being allowed to go in the ocean!)

Where's Gyp??? Sarah was waiting while I checked out the gift shop at Hopewell Rocks...Gyp was being sneaky......

Today the plan is to hang out and do nothing until after lunch- then we'll head downtown to pick up what we need, tour the town, and check out the trial site. Up until last night we hadn't really thought about what we are hear for...still not nervous though, we'll see how we are tomorrow! Oh, and we are also going to see another covered bridge...Sarah loves them....

Tourist Highlights

We travelled from Halifax to Sussex today. This part of the country is certainly very beautiful! Lots and lots, and lots of trees. Dense forests lined both sides of the road for much of the way. The highways are the neatest colors- there were sections where it was red, green and in some small sections Blue! The water was a weird red color- and seemed quite muddy- due mostly to the red clay soil I would think. And although beautiful the province apparently does not believe in signage. The town of Truro had us lost for more than an hour. You could imagine how happy we were. 

 

After that it was smooth sailing- we made it to Hopewell Rocks and it was  pretty neat to see.

Wicca was convinced that there were Gophers out there!

Unfortunately we had bad timing and the tide was in so we were unable to go right down but it was still pretty cool. Kaleb was convinced that he should be allowed to go swimming! The dogs had a great walk though and Sarah got some neat photos. 

Sarah and I both had our moments of excitement-



hers when she spotted an old covered bridge (which was very cool, but kind of scary) and mine when we saw our first Cows since being here! Kind of reminded me of home I suppose! There were no cowboys though!

Our last stop of the day was in a cute town called Alma. It was very touristy and had a cute pirate store.


Sarah was captured by Pirates but brave Kaleb saved her :o)  It was here that Kaleb FINALLY made it into the ocean!

We are now settled in our hotel room in Sussex- the dogs are hangin' out- tomorrow will be a day of rest- and a day of shopping- we need a shade tent (with sides) and raincoats....the forecast is calling for rain, rain, and more rain....

Welcome to Lobsterland

We made it!  We all arrived safe and sound in Halifax this evening (7pm halifax time) The flight was good- I didn't even throw up! We were nervous about the dogs- but we were able to watch them being loaded, and unloaded so it made us feel a bit better. 

We arrived in Halifax and were welcomed by buckets of rain, and lightening. The weather is supposed to clear tomorrow though so we should be able to get some good sight seeing in!

The dogs are doing great and are tired from their adventure. Sarah took some cute pictures at the hotel for your viewing pleasure!!

Stay tuned for Updates!