Fun and Games in Ottawa ....

This photo is from yesterday on Parliament Hill. Besides getting caught in 2 flash floods, it was great! The dogs had a great time meeting and greeting people.

We stopped at a Cafe down at the Byward market and had lunch with the dogs.

Here is some random drunk lady that loved Kaleb ...

Today Jo and Amanda went for their Warm-up runs. Tomorrow we do more warm-up and Steeplechase ... stay tuned!

At lunch we went and had a picnic on Bate Island and took the dogs for a nice walk and swim on the Ottawa River. Pete and Aaron are fishing today so we took them lunch, and off they went ....

Here are some photos of the fun ....

squirrels ... squirrels ... squirrels ... squirrels ...

mine.

Random Pics from the Day

The photos are not in any order- the connection we have here is not very good, and it was very painful to upload the pics I did. There are others I wanted to share, but they will have to wait until I have more patience, or the stupid connection gets better.

Regardless, here is a quick peek at our day...













We had a great day today- we spent the majority of the day downtown Ottawa. We went to Parliament Hill and toured around. It is quite beautiful and the buildings sure make you feel small. It was cloudy and overcast most of the day, and we had two flash flood storms. The rain came down in buckets, and we took shelter in the "Senators" entrance way to the Parliament Building.

After Parliament hill we went down to Byward Market and looked at all the little shops. We saw lots of interesting people, and the dogs were very well behaved in the crowds of people.

Before dinner Jolayne, Sarah and I went down to the Nationals site. It is huge, and a little overwhelming. It is very beautiful, and appears to be very well organised. Tomorrow Jo and I go and run a warm up run, and then we'll spend the rest of the day touring around again.

Ottawa Day 2

We had a great day today- we took the dogs down to "Bark And Fitz" a fancy dog store- the dogs got yummy frozen yogurt, and we had fun looking at all the over priced specialty items.



We went for a drive after and found a great little park right on the Ottawa River. The dogs had a chance to play in the water, and chase the ducks. :o) Wicca and Gyp also discovered the squirrels and were super obsessed with them for the rest of the walk.


THE Squirrel :o)

Aaron, Jolayne, and Tag arrived safe and sound. Tag was a little stressed, but was back to normal after a quick play with Gyp. The boys (as in Aaron and Pete) have been drinking pretty much since then, and have been quite the entertainment. We just got back from a nice walk to the liquor store. :o)






Tomorrow is the day of serious sight seeing, we are going to Parliament Hill, and downtown Ottawa. Of course, that's providing the boys can walk tomorrow after all the beer....

Our Home for the Week

Sara, Pete, and I arrived in Ottawa yesterday afternoon. The flight was uneventful, and the dogs handled the plane with no issues. They travel like pros now!!! It is warm and muggy here. We are slowly adjusting to the feeling of melting. It is icky. Ottawa is a beautiful place though, and we are looking forward to checking out some museums, the parliament thingy, and some other local touristy attractions.


We are all settled into our "dorm room" at Algonquin College. It is more than enough space for all of us, and the dogs are already calling it home.

We haven't done much in the way of sight seeing or anything yet, so I thought I'd entertain you all with a tour of our Home for the week.

My Room



Sarah and Pete's Room
yes, he's watching Ellen...

The Kitchen (which will be Jo and Aarons room)


and last but not least, the bathroom.




yes, kaleb is in the shower with the flamigo....he was quite happy to pose for us!

Today we are going to do some shopping- we're gonna go check out some local pet stores, and do a little sight seeing. We'll have more exciting photos to post later I am sure!

Jolayne, Aaron and Tag are on their way here today- and will arrive around supper time. Keep them in your thoughts as it is Tags first plane ride, and Jo is more than a little nervous!

posted by Amanda

AAC Nationals Trip 2009

Three members of Go Dog Go are making the trip to Nationals- this year it is being held in Ottawa, Ontario.

Jolayne and her border collie Tag are first timers, me (Amanda) and Wicca, and Sarah and Gyp and Kaleb.

We are staying together, and Jo and Sarah are bringing along their significant others. It should be quite the adventure!

The Event itself starts on Friday, July 31st and goes until Sunday. Sarah, Pete, and I are flying out on Monday the 27th to give the dogs a few days to get used to the place, and Jo, Aaron and Tag are flying out on Tuesday.

We will be updating this blog regularly while we are away if you want to see what we are up to!

We'll be posting photos, stories, and of course results!

Regionals Results

Go Dog Go cleaned up this weekend. Wow. Our students kicked some serious butt, and we are VERY proud of everyone. Great Job guys! Great Job.

Stoker - 10" Vet B:
Sat - 2nd in Jumpers 10" Vet B
Sun - 4th in Gambles 10" Vet B
Placed 6th out of 10 and qualified for Nationals
Won Steeplechase in 10" Vet A & B (18 dogs)!!!!!!!!!!

Tag - 22" Regular:
Placed 1st in Jumpers 1 with a time of 24:29!!!!!

Tag made it to the Steeplechase Finals!
Aggregate score of 388(or something) and placed 14th out of 31 dogs

Wicca - 6" Specials:
Sat - 1 st in Jumpers
- 2 nd in Standard
- 2 nd in Gamblers

Sun - 2 nd in Standard?
- 1 st in Gamblers?
- 2 nd in Jumpers?

made it to the Steeplechase finals!
Aggregate Score of 430ish....and placed 2nd in 6" Specials

Gyp - 16" Specials:
Gyp ran clean 6 for 6.
Jumpers 1 - 1st Place
Jumpers 2 - 1st Place
Gamblers 1 - 2nd Place
Gamblers 2 - 1st Place
Standard 1 - 1st Place
Standard 2 - 1st Place
Won the 16" Specials Steeplechase Finals!
Gyp is the 16" Special Champion!! With 580 points!!

Kaleb - 16" Veterans B:
Jumpers 1 - 3rd Place
Jumpers 2 - 2nd Place
Gamblers 1 - 1st Place
Gamblers 2 - 2nd Place
Standard 1 - 2nd Place
Standard 2 - 2nd Place

Kaleb is the 16" Veteran B Regional Champion!!! With a score of 560.

Pearl - 10" Specials:
placed 7th in a competitive 10 inch Specials Class.
And had a total aggregate score of 370!! Pearl was lovin' those 10 inch jumps!!

BB - 10" Vets:
Also placed 7th overall in her class. She had a total of 317 points.
BB's gamble on Saturday was fantastic and we are all very proud of her and Jan!!

Lucy - 22" Specials:
Jumpers- 3rd on Sat
Jumpers- 4th on Sun
Gamblers 4th on Sun
For a final 5th place in her group, with a Qualifying Score of 351. something!!

And Maggie - 22" Specials - she worked very well in the heat. For a big black dog who is fussy about that sort of thing she did great. She is just back from a long, long break, and did very well despite that!

We are very, very proud of everyone this weekend!!! Great Job Guys!

Now, who wants to go to Ottawa??!!!!!

Thank You

Thank you to all of our volunteers. 70 people donated their time to come and sit in the hot sun. Wow! You guys rock. We couldn't have done it without you all. Everyone played an important role, and we appreciate it so much!

Thank you to the competitors! This relaxed atmosphere was due mostly to you! Everyone was friendy, supportive, and it was nice to see everyone in alberta come together at such an event. The runs were amazing, and we should all be so proud of our dogs, and ourselves.

Thank you to all of our students who competed. You made us so proud. You all rocked and we are very, very proud of you. (check back later for results)

Thank you to the Vendors who came out. The shopping was great, and it was so nice to be able to have our dogs worked on prior and during the event.

Thank you to the Sponsors! Without you we couldn't have done it. Really. We had the best handler bags EVER, we had the best prizes EVER. We are very grateful for your support.

Thank you all, for making this the best Alberta/NWT Regional EVER!!!