Tink's first time out

This is Tink's very first time running at a trial. I ran her FEO at a lower jump height just to see how she'd do. I also think this was the first time she ever did agility anywhere else other then the Klubhouse. She was so loud! (Not to say she isn't now!) We were so choppy back then (not to say we are great now, hehe, but there certainly is a difference). I think this was Sept '06.

(If anybody can help me embed... that would be great... not so good at this computer crap... copy/pasted link, blogger is telling me 'Tag is not closed')

What a way to end the year!

Off to Royackers this morning for Tink's last trial of 2008!! And I must say, it was a pretty good day!

Steeplechase was first. Tink's only mess up was the weaves, the second time around she missed the entry... it starts again... or so I thought. She ended up getting her 15th Steeplechase Q!

Tink's second class was Master Team. Tink's original partner was a scratch, so Tink ended up running with Fizz, who had to run twice, so that run only counted for Tink. Fizz was first and ran clean. Tink missed her entry, arg! But only being 5 faults, if the rest was clean we could get another Q... no such luck though, Tink took an off course tunnel, miles away from where I was! I yelled... LOUDLY... to call her off, but her mind was set on that tunnel... She caused a few laughs though!!! Further along in her half, I told her to go through the tunnel... and she took a jump instead... oh well!

Master Standard was next... not clean, a couple of refusals, but she got her weaves, and did a call off of a nasty off course tunnel (now she does it!) only I called her off too much and she ran right past the jump!

Another Master Standard was Tink's next run. Some tricky parts... three straight tunnels right in a row! Tunnel entry city!! I figured it would be a challenge for Tink but she did quite well with it, and (despite me almost getting lost) ran the rest clean, getting her second Master Standard Q!!

Up next was Master Gamble. I was too busy chatting and missed the briefing, so wasn't sure if I did the mini's right or not! She nailed 2 pretty difficult weave entries... one of which proved helpful in the next run! The main gamble was a jump heading straight into a tunnel, but the dog had to take a line of jumps to their left. Oh no, not another tunnel trap! Haven't we suffered enough already!?! But Tink did very, very well with it, and didn't even think twice about the tunnel. So Tink gets her 5th Master Gamble Q!

Last of the day was Master Team, a last ditch effort to get as many Teams in before the rule change. Tink needed 2 Q's for her title, so it wasn't do or die for Tink. Or her partner, Yoda, who already had his ATChC. The course was pretty smooth, and not very trappy for a Master Team, Tink took down a bar (her first, and only, of the day!!) but ran the rest clean. Yoda was clean, so we get our second Master Team Q!

And with that, Tink has 25 Master games... enough of the game requirements for a bronze... just waiting on the Standards (and the jumpers and snooker required for the ATChC!)

Tink ends up with a total of 34 Q's for the year!

Wrapping Presents with Dogs

(dognapped from Simba's HM... edited for truth! LOL)

1. Gather presents, boxes, paper, etc. in middle of living room floor.
2. Get tape back from Kessie.
3. Remove scissors from Tink's mouth.
4. Open box.
5. Take Kessie out of box.
6. Remove tape from Tink's mouth.
7. Take scissors away from Kessie.
8. Put present in box.
9. Remove present from Kessie's mouth.
10. Put back in box after removing Kessie from box.
11. Take scissors from Tink and sit on them.
12. Remove Kessie from box and put on lid.
13. Take tape away from Tink.
14. Unroll paper.
15. Take Kessie OFF box.
16. Cut paper being careful not to cut Kessie's foot or nose that is getting in the way as she "helps."
17. Let Kessie tear remaining paper.
18. Take Kessie off box.
19. Wrap paper around box.
20. Remove Kessie from box & take wrapping paper from her mouth.
21. Tell Tink to fetch the tape so she will stop stealing it.
22. Take scissors away from Kessie.
23. Take tape Tink is holding.
24. Quickly tape one spot before taking scissors from Tink & sitting on them again.
25. Fend off Kessie trying to steal tape & tape another spot.
26. Take bow from Tink.
27. Go get roll of wrapping paper Kessie ran off with.
28. Take scissors from Tink who took them when you got up.
29. Give pen to Tink to hold so she stops licking your face.
30. Remove Kessie from present & hurriedly slap tape on to hold the paper on.
31. Take now soggy bow from Kessie & tape on since the sticky stuff no longer sticks.
32. Take pen from Tink, address tag & affix while Kessie tries to eat pen. (Wouldn't be the first time!)
33. Grab present before Kessie opens it & put it away.
34. Clean up mess Kessie & Tink made playing tug-of-war with remnants of wrapping paper.
35. Put away rest of wrapping supplies & tell dogs what good helpers they are.

...one step back

Off to Acton last Sunday. Tinky had a full day ahead of her! Starting off with a Master Jumpers course. It was a very tight course, so I didn't have high hopes, but Tink wasn't really paying attention to me, so we didn't finish the course. Steeplechase was a little better, but she took down 3 bars, and missed her weaves... and her weaves were coming along great :(. In Team, Tink missed her weaves again, took a wrong tunnel and knocked a bar, but she did do a sequence nicely that I wasn't sure that she'd get. Tink had a great opening in the gamble, getting the highest points in the opening at 50 points, then at the gamble, I set her up and told her tunnel, assuming she'd take the first jump in the sequence on her way, but just went to the other end of the tunnel, so I left the course thinking it was done, forgetting that until she has done the first obstacle, she can keep running... oh darn! She then ran Standard... and did a good run, finally getting her first Master Standard Q! She ran Standard one more time and was one wrong tunnel entry away from another Q. She finally was getting her weaves back...

Tinky's speed

I just calculated Tinky's speed from the 3 runs yesterday where the only faults were a knocked bar each. Since there were no refusals or off courses they would be the best runs to give you an idea of her speed. The first Master Standard run she averaged 5.247 yards per second. Because the Steeplechase was a very open course, built for speed, and she had the second best time, I figured she would have been faster then the Standard, but she was only 4.585 yards per second, just shows how much weaves can slow you down, I thought the lack of teeter-dogwalk would have more then made up for it. Her fastest run was Jumpers at 6.01 yards per second... gotta go work on my sprinting! ;)

Santa isn't just for kids!

Off to Royackers with the girlies today! Starting off the day, Tinky had a Master Standard run. Tink had an amazing run! She nailed her weave entry, did tunnel 8 just fine, sent out to the 11-12 with ease, didn't even look at the tunnel for 13-14, and didn't hesitate to do the chute! Great, beautiful, awesome run... until the final bar dropped... *sigh*

The second Master Standard run didn't go quite as well... I was worried about 2-3-4-5-6... and tried a rear cross on 5, which worked! Though she knocked the 3rd jump. 6-7-8-9-10 also went very weel, another great weave entry... but, even thought it was the same sequence as the first run, Tink had some problems with 11-12-13-14-15, she ran behind the tunnel a bit (which wasn't a refusal because the end of the weaves are past the plane of the tunnel entry), crashed into 13's bars, and wouldn't send out to 14, which caused an off course when she ran into the tunnel. The rest of the run was fine, but I re-did the frame because she didn't hold position.

Steeplechase was an awesome course. Very open and let the dogs FLY! They do a toonie pot for fun, and though I didn't enter, I was eager to see how Tink stood up next to some of the best dogs Canada has to offer. Tink did pretty good, though took a couple turns wider then she needed to (5-6 and 17-18, namely), and knocked a jump (7 ro 8), but she got both entries. Tink ended up 5th of 18 dogs in her division and a Q. And, with a time of 32.50, her time was the 2nd fastest of all the dogs in the whole class, a total of 57!

Master Team didn't go so well. And by no fault of her parter, Whippet. He ran clean and just fine! Tink had the first side but figured neither tunnel should be done by going into the proper end. Silly thing! But she did make a very difficult weave entry... A great weave day overall... yay!!

Everything in Jumpers went quite well, except for the knocked bar on jump 4 (story of the day!!). We did a great rear cross on 9, it was a really good run.

Look who showed up at the trial! The girls got their pictures taken with Santa. Tinky did well... but Kessie has a bit of a barking habit... but everything is well and good when she can give kisses... and that she did! Santa got quite the Kessie tounge bath! There was also a delicious luch. Both were fundraisers for the 2009 Canada Cup.

Kessie all grown up!

Kessie is growing up so fast! She's looking more and more like a dog, instead of a gawky puppy, every day! In this picture she is one week shy of her 10 month birthday. In some ways I think the 10 months flew by, but in others, I can't believe that she is *only* 10 months. She's growing up into a beautiful little girlie with a very postive outlook on everything! She's such a clown that makes me laugh a lot, and even though she's always looking for trouble, I wouldn't give her up for the world (despite my threats!).

Kessie finished another set of agility classes the other day, and as a final class we set up a couple courses to run. The contacts are all lower, the weaves are channeled, and Kessie jumps no more then 10" at this time because of her age. But she did wonderfully! She stuck all her 2o2o contacts (her butt had been swinging off as she turned towards me at the end), she seems to be starting to get the concept of weaving, she does a decent down on a table... faster then Tink even! I'm excited for the future, and can't wait for her to finish growing up so the real fun can begin!!

Fixx'in to wish you Happy Holidays!

The Border Collie Rescue Ontario have beautiful christmas cards for sale to raise money for the BCRO.

Go to their site for more information!

http://www.bordercollierescueont.com/

Quick update and the future

Trials are starting to wind down for the off season, so things are a bit slow. Tink did a couple of seminars at Superdog Central the past few weeks. A disc seminar with Morgan Jarvis and an agility seminar with Dante Camacho. We had lots of fun (and an awesome lunch) at both, and learned some good thing.

You may have noticed a change to the blog... just wanted to spice things up a bit. The AAC is also changing up a few things, that will make things different. Including a new game, new titles, the exclusion of Team from the ATChC, and games for Juniors. I am so exciting and looking forward to the next year. Here's what I am hoping for;

- A new camera! I have a lack of pictures to post, due to a lack of a working camera! It's only been a goner since Febuary!! I'm hoping to get one for Christmas.
- Only 3 trials left in the next 6 weekends. Then it'll be 2009! Man how time flies!
- Kessie's first birthday! Puppies are cute and all, but I much prefer adults (though I know it'll be awhile before she acts like one!). Though Tink will be 5 and before I know it, Kes will be too!
- The Regionals (possibly) and Nationals (for sure) being held in Ottawa... I may even have a place to stay!! Now all we need is those 350 points to qualify!
-Kessie's debut in competitive disc and possibly agility.
- Tinky's flyball debut... maybe Feb?
- An ATChC? With or without the new rules, Tink is 8 q's away from an ATChC, it would be nice, and certainly possible, but not the top of my priority list for the year.
- Have the time of my life, and enjoy the time with my girlies!

What's in a name?

It seems people have a bit of a hard time getting Kessie's name right, they usually call her Tessie or Cassie. So I shall explain the origins of Kessie's name.

A Kestrel

Kessie's name is actually Kestrel, but the name Kessie came to me first. It's from my favorite episode of 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' called 'Find Her, Keep Her'. OK, so maybe I am a self confessed Disney freak (couldn't you tell with my other dog, named Tink?). In this episode, Winnie and friends come across a very young bird during a snowstorm named... well, Kessie. Rabbit is elected to take care of her, despite his protests. Even though he grumbles and complains, Rabbit still takes care of her. Months pass and summer soon turns to fall, when Owl begins to teach Kessie to fly, so she can migrate for the winter. Rabbit's controlling nature forbids this, thinking Kessie will get hurt. During one to their teaching sessions, Rabbit is accidentally flung off a cliff and Kessie comes to the rescue and flies him to safety. The cool weather sets in and Kessie is getting ready to fly south with Owl. Everybody shows up too see Kessie off, everybody but Rabbit that is. Kessie is sad, but Owl insists that they have to leave, so they take off. Rabbit comes running up, with his favorite carrot to give to Kessie as a farewell gift, only to find out he's too late. Rabbit is sad until Kessie dives down from the sky and tackles Rabbit. She tells her 'Rabby' she couldn't leave without saying goodbye. I well up every time. Kessie also appears in another episode and became a regular character in 'The Book of Pooh' which I never ever watched.

A fan drawing of Kessie and Rabbit (I couldn't find any actual screengrabs!)

The first time I heard of the word kestrel was when i was reading a book called 'Outcasts of Redwall' from then Redwall series. I had never heard of a kestrel before, but liked the word and later heard it as a name.

The cover of Outcasts of Redwall, featuring Skarlath the Kestrel

It was a name I considered for Tink, but Tink won out (mostly because I was afraid of the Tessie similarity).

Keep your eyes on your fries!

Off to Acton for our last agility trial for awhile. I decided to scan the course maps to spice things up a bit...

Steeplechase was first, despite a couple of knocked bars, and poor handling, Tinky did alright. Tink NAILED the weave entry! The rest of the run was alright, but due to crappy handling, I pulled her off jump 18, and she ran past it, then back jumped.

Our first Master Standard run of the day started off beautifully! Until we got to the weaves. I think she had to much speed, and didn't collect herself in time, she had a refusal, so we tried again... she refused again. Third times a charm... except for this time, because I tried to beat her to the end of the weaves to push her out to 16, she popped out at 10, so I went to bring her back and she went on the frame. She did well on the 17-18-19 combo, which I was slightly nervous about!



Master Standard 2 didn't start off as well. The very first bar came down. So when Tink didn't hold her Frame or Teeter, we redid them. Again on the weaves, Tink couldn't collect herself, and had a refusal. The dogwalk, despite the many tunnels facing her, and the fact that she was headed towards 6, Tink made walk!! The rest of the run went very smooth.

Master Snooker. Snooker had always been the run I dreaded most, having a super fast Border Collie who liked to work away from me, and didn't have a call off. But she has been doing well in Snooker, and probably has her highest q percentage in Snooker! The weaves were angled differently on course, then on the map, hence my drawn in weaves. In case you can't read my map, I did 1-6-1-6-1-7, I kept ending up in the wrong place, but my dog saved my butt, more then once, and though we ran out of time in the weaves, we still ended up with 42 of the 40 points required. (ED: My pencil marks didn't really show up... sorry!)

Master Jumper was quite trappy, including 2 chute traps that I was sure Tinky would take. It was an amazing run, and we were running very well together until I took my eyes off of Tink for half a second after 16 and she went over jump 1. I felt so bad, and I felt like I let my dog down, it was the saddest I felt for my poor dog after an agility run, she did so well, and tried so hard!

Start of the indoor season

This will just be a quick update, not much to blog on. ;)

Off to Royackers for the first indoor trial of the year. It was a frosty morning, so I was glad to be inside, though later the sun was beaming and it was quite nice outside.

Tink's first run was a Team run. Team always sucks as the first run of the day, but Tink rocked and ran her half clean. Tink's partner, Wish, didn't, but in all fairness, she had a much harder half.

Tink had a decent Standard run, though she took an off course jump, but did the rest well!

Steeplechase was going well, though one knocked bar, until the end, when I for half a second forgot where I was going, and before I knew it, Tink was off course.

Gamble was bad... I pre-planned it more then I ever had before. Nothing went according to plan, and Tinky was out of control! Totally doing what she wanted and forgetting her contacts. The main gamble was a bit difficult, with a nasty weave entry, though more dogs got it then I expected. Tink tried and did better then I thought, but didn't get it.

Only one more trial next weekend, then we get a three week break from trials.

End of the 'summer'

Tinky went to her last outdoor trial of the outdoor season. And I must say, it was probably the nicest weather we had all summer! Too bad we had to wait this long for it! We ran Master Standard, Team, Jumpers and Steeplechase. This was just not Tinky's weekend and she wasn't on the ball. She knocked a ton of bars (the same amount in Steeplechase as she did the weekend before with a total of 9 runs!). Her best run was the Standard, where her only fault was an off course tunnel, but otherwise, E's across the board! Oh well! There will always be a next time!

Tink and Kessie start training in a new facility that's used for horses. It'll be very cold, but I'll be doing agility, so it'll be worth it in the end!

K9 Klubhouse Day 2

The last K9 Klubhouse trial :( so sad. Over all I found it a good day, still chilly... and we did get a very very light spit, but hardly anything, not even enough to be called rain. So I'll accept it.

Master Standard: Started beautifully! Got to the point where I was thinking 'We might actually do this! We can run this clean!' Then 16, 17, and 18 hit... though it went more like 17 (backwards), 16 (backwards), 16, 18, 17(down bar), 18, 19, 20! Oh well!

Junior Advanced Standard: Tink and Natasha had a great run, and Natasha ended up with her Junior Handler Award of Merit - Advanced Level. Now she needs a new dog to run in Masters, though we have some options!

Steeplechase 1 & 2: Tink had two good run, but took down a bar in the first run. Still more then 5 seconds under time. The second run was clean. She got her 12th and 13th Steeplechase Q.

Master Jumpers: A very trappy course, one I wasn't too sure we could handle. Tink did well though, NO off courses!! And I didn't get lost!! Though we had one bar down, so close but no cigar!

Tink nailed each and every weave entry this weekend (9 in total) so I am very, very happy with that. She also held *most* of her contacts nicely, so I'd say all and all a very successful weekend for my girlie!

Oct/08 K9 Klubhouse Day 1

Off to the last K9 Klubhouse trial of the season this morning. How sad :(... we didn't even get a summer this year... The weather was a tad chilly, but it wasn't raining (bonus!), not was it super windy!

Master Gamble: There were some high point mini's resulting in a chance to get 52 points in minis alone!! But we didn't get any, and spent too much time trying... resulting in only 24 points in the opening. We did complete the difficult main gamble (1 of only 2 or 3 dogs to get it) but didn't have enough points to get a Q. Good chance to get the sillies out;)

Junior Advanced Standard: Tink and Natasha had a bit of a sloppy run, but was clean, up until the last third, when Tink didn't hold her contact, so Natasha put her back on the teeter (thinking they had blown it already) so they were Eliminated. The rest of the run was clean too, so if she let Tink get away with it, she could have got her title. I'm glad she redid the teeter though!

Master Standard: Tink had a very decent run, but she took a tunnel instead of a teeter, which were side by side, in the opening. She had one down bar, but the rest of the run was great.

Master Team: Tink's partner was Casey, a Mini Poodle mix. Tinky ran her half beautifully! And Casey ran his half clean too! We got our first Master Team Q!

Five runs for Tink tomorrow, 2 Standard (one JH), 2 Steeplechase, and 1 Jumpers, wish us luck!

Keeps going... and going...and going...

Today was the 2008 Energizer Disc Dog Championships. It was a packed fun-filled day of a 2 trial tournament in 1 day! Tink had a decent day...

Trial 1
Novice Single Disc - Lots of misses, only getting 28 points and missing out on her final Q for her title.

Furthest Catch - Tink got another Bronze level catch, only 104' this time, so no personal best, but it's fun knowing I can make it over 30 yards for Advanced.
Games - Both Tink and Kessie played 'Extreme RPT' where we had to throw various toys over the 10 yard line, and the dog who retrieved the most toys in 1 minute wins. Tink did pretty well, but I gave her some bad throws. Kessie started off well, I threw out the ball, she returned it like an old pro, but the next toy I threw out, she decided it would be best if she ran around with it by herself.

Trial 2
Novice Single Disc - Tink had a much better round, earning her Q in my first 4 throws. Earning her Basic Disc Dog (BDD) title. Also with 51 points, that brought her point total to 338, giving her enough points for her Disc Dog Exellent (DDX) title. She also got a 2nd place, getting beat out by her Uncle Zephyr by 1 point!

Freestyle - A spur of the moment decision, I added Tink to Freestyle. I didn't know what I was doing, but we had fun, and earned a score of 72.3.
Furthest Catch - Not quite a Bronze level catch, but close...
Games - The first game was getting hula hoops on pylons (no dogs). I got second (yay), getting beat out but the only one to hoop their pylon, Rickelle! (Though most call her Shona!) The second game was a crossover game, whoever made the most catches in 1 minute wins. Tink came away with the top prize, go Tinky!

K9 Klubhouse Day 2

Day 2's of trials usually are a bad thing... I dunno what it is, but Tink usually it just nuts! Today was alright, nothing too bad to complain about ;)

Master Team: Tink was teamed up with Cajun, a vizla. Both sides of the course were difficult. Tink had a wrong tunnel entry, so we were Eliminated, but both dogs had faults, so I didn't feel too bad.

Master Standard: Quite an ugly run, all three tunnel entries were the wrong ends... did some walk contact training.

Advanced Junior with Natasha: Another very nice run with Natasha, she did everything she was told too... even the off-course frame!

Steeplechase: Tink had a really good run, coming away with another Steeplechase Q.

Master Jumpers: I got totally and completely lost in several places... poor Tinky!

Off to a 2 trial day at D.O.G. Sports Centre next weekend for a fun-filled day of disc... hopefully we get nice weather again.

Sept/08 K9 Klubhouse Day 1

The girls and I spent the day at the K9 Klubhouse trial. Finally had some amazing weather! Not too cold, nor hot for the dogs, a slight, gentle breeze, and... NO RAIN!! Best trial weather, ever!

Tink had a pretty good day too. She started off with a Master Gamble, she had a good run, coming away with 84 points and a Q (our first Q beyond the ones required for an ATCh). Run two was Master Standard, Tink did well... too bad about the handler. I had a few handler errors, causing refusals and knocked bars, equalling 20 faults, but she did well and stayed on course. Natasha then ran Tink in Advanced Junior Handler and earned her 2nd Q. Master Snooker was next, and it was a hard one, I might add! Nobody got a Q on it. We made it further then I thought she would, getting to 22 points before she took the wrong end of a tunnel in the closing. Last run of the day was Steeplechase. With a knocked bar, and dinkin' around on the weaves a bit, Tink was .52 seconds over SCT, so close but no cigar.

I have been getting a lot of compliments lately on how Tink is much more controlled, and as much as I loved it before, it's so much more fun to run her now! We are back for more tomorrow, so keep your fingers (and paws) crossed!

Harvest Time

Off on a long (packed) car trip to the 2008 Harvest Disc Dog Trial. We carpooled with our friend Brenda with her dogs Bear and Mitsy, it was a tight fit, but everything fit into Brenda's car. It rained off and on all day (shocking!... NOT!!). Tink had an alright day, not having as successful of a day as the last trial, but still Q'ing in Novice, and topping her Furthest Catch record. One more Q until we title and move into Advanced... I don't know if I wanna do that!! Some tough compitition up there!

Quick trial update

Last weekend Tink ran at the Spot On trial. She had four runs.

Steeplechase - a down bar and sloppy weaves... she missed the entry and popped out at 10

Master Standard - some faults (though I forget them...) but Tink made a very difficult weave entry!

Master Team - Tink messed up the weaves...

Master Jumpers - things were going great until the last few jumps... I accidentally pulled her off a jump by calling her name to much and she had a refusal... an otherwise awsome run!

Tink also ran Advanced Standard with Natasha and had a few faults there as well.

Lots of upcoming trials... something every Sunday until November (and some Saturdays too)

A Sad Farewell

Q and Trekki

Within about a months time, our breeder Dawn had to say a sad farewell to two of her beloved dogs. Tink's Grandmother, Q (Kessie's Great Grandmother) and Tink Great Grandmother, Trekki (Kessie's Great Great Grandmother). A sad time for Dawn and her family, we are wishing you all the best. The girls have some awfully big pawprints to fill!

New Pup Art

What I do when I am bored...

Here are my other ones (I need to make a better one of Tinky).

Loooooong overdue update!

Sorry for the lack of updates. Not too much going on. August 10th Tinky played at the K9 Klubhouse trial at Country Lane Pet Resort. We had a lot of fun, even playing a tunnelers run (that Kessie *tried* to play too). It had rained a lot the whole week before, and downpoured the night before, so the fields were MUDDY! Tink had some good and bad runs, including an awsome Master Standard run where she took the wrong end of a tunnel because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it's was hard not to fall! Though I did manage to stay on my feet all day! A lot of the vehicles were getting stuck in the feilds too... we defietly got down and dirty at this trial.

The following weekend, Tink, Kes and I went with my friend Tricia to go camping. The girls loved the water, and Kessie's started to get the hang of swimmng, though she's still not it's biggest fan. (Pictures coming soon... I hope!)

Then last weekend, Tink and I went with Natasha to Acton for a AAC and CPE trial. Tinky finally earned a first from some stiff competition and her 3rd Master Gamble Q, and her Master Gamble Dog of Canada title (MGDC). For a dog that loves to gamble, it seemed to take forever to get that final Q between near misses and complete disasters! She had 2 Master Standard runs that were quite so pretty. For the CPE trial Tink earned 2 more standard Q's and her Level 2 Standard title (CL2-R).

We have the long weekend off from doing anything, then 2 disc and 2 agaility trials coming up for the month of September!

Spot On... at Spot On

Off to Spot On today. Tink was having a bad weave day, never doing weaves right the first time all day! The day started off with Steeplechase, Tink's total time, with 5 faults for a knocked bar was 37.72, and she needed 38 or better to Q. So we made it by a mear .28 secs! That was our 10th Steeplechase Q and with that Tink earned her Master Steeplechase Dog of Canada (MSCDC). Master Standard wasn't pretty, but there were some great points. Natasha and Tink ran Advanced Standard, there was an off course chute that Tink just had to take. Tink was in Team with her classmate, Cinders. During the run, Tink hit the entry on the weaves, then went out, then we started it again, and finished fine. I saw the judges hand go up for a refusal. The rest of the run went well, and Cinders' run was clean, so after the run, I approched the judge abount the weaves, because in Advanced, weaves are not faulted as long as the dog makes the entry. So the fault scratched. Thankfully, because otherwise we would have been overtime. So the girls got their final Advanced Team Q, and Tink earned her second title of the day, Advanced Games Dog of Canada (AGDC). Master Jumpers was last and though I almost got lost, the run went very well until the second last jump, when I tried to rear cross, causing Tink to spin, and take down a bar. I was still very happy with the run.

Costume Contest

On Facebook, there is an Animal Photo Contest group, where you post pictures of your pets reguarding a certain topic. Last weeks topic was pets in costumes. I had 3 great pictures of Tink wearing costumes, but I decided on this one;

and Tinky placed 3rd!

To see the 1st and 2nd place dogs, go here;

http://animalphotocontest.blogspot.com/

Here are the other 2 pictures of Tink, just for fun!

Up for a game of Frisbee?

Well the girls were! Well, technically Kessie didn't use a Frisbee, but she did pass her RPT with a tennis ball at D.O.G. Sports Centre.

Back to their original stomping grounds, (D.O.G. is also home to HiQ Border Collies, Kessie and Tink's breeder) Tink was 11 for 11 in throws and catches, despite the windy day!

She was 8 for 8 in novice single disc, catching all 8 over the 20 yard line, earning 41 points (her best score yet) and a second Q towards her Basic Disc Dog title. I would have gotten lots more throws out, but Tink developed a new quirk of running all the way around me instead of bringing the disc straight to me, wasting a bunch of time!

Tink also caught all 3 of her Furthest Catches, with a personal best catch of 108' 5", her second bronze catch, and just short of placing.

When the official classes were over, there were 3 unofficial games. The first one was 'It's raining cats and discs'. This was a handler only game, where you had to throw stuffed cats, and frisbees into upside-down umbrellas. Natasha and I played, and only got one item each!!

The second game was 'Disc o' Ducks', the dog is sent out to a pile of toys, and have to bring them back to the handler. Tink rocked it, earning 19 points and a 1st place!

The last game was 'Monster Disc', it's played with a giant disc, with, or without your dog, and furthest throw won. Tink didn't care for the disc... and my throws were sucky. It was a fun day, but back to agility next week. I miss it!! Thanks to Shona again for more pictures!!

Regional Pictures

Just posting up some of Tinky's shots from the Regionals. The shots are courtesy of Harvey Mackenzie.

Tinky taking a leap at the Steeplechase competition.

Tinky on the line in a Jumpers run... trying to get her to stand!

Heading up the frame in Steeplechase.

Tink always thinks a good bark now and then, is necessary

Super weave machine!

Headin' towards a tunnel!

Dog Days of Scugog

The girls and I went up to Port Perry, with my friend Tiff and her Chihuahua, Gus, for a soggy day of doggy fun. Well, the rain made it not so fun, actually! Tinky did compete in one wave of Dock Diving, and had a personal best jump of 12', earning her second Junior jump.
Kessie met up with her mom Ceilidh, and her littermate Bree. She was more interested in the nearby bone instead of her brother though! She'll probably see him next weekend again, and hopefully she'll actually play with him!

June 29 2008 Spot On Pictures

Tink and Junior Handler, Natasha

Thanks to Brenda for these pictures, and the ones from K9 Klubhouse!

Super Agility Weekend!

This past weekend was a big agility weekend for the girls! First up on Friday, Kessie had her first taste of agility when we headed up to Spot On for a workshop with Brandi Jacques. We worked on some foundation and motivation work.

Then Saturday and Sunday we drove around the corner from home to the K9 Klubhouse trial! Tink had a good first day. The day started off with a Gamble. And a very hard one at that! Nobody ended up getting it! Tink was a bit nuts in the opening... she tends to know she can run around in gamble like an idiot, because that's where she is always the most uncontrolable! Advanced Team went very well. There was an uneven amount of dogs so Tink got to run twice. Her partners were Quinte and Pyro. Tink ran both halves clean! Earning a Q with Quinte, and helping Pyro earn a Q! Natasha and Tink ran for their first time in Advanced Juniors, and even though there was 2 weave refusals, in Juniors, refusals aren't faulted until Masters, so they got their first Advanced Q!





Tink's Master Standard run's contacts were horrible, so we spent some time trying to work on it. Steeplechase went well, we had some nice call offs, and even though we had 5 faults, Tinky earned her 9th Steeplechase Q. One more until another title! It was also Tink's 30th overall Q!

Sunday didn't go so well. Snooker was messy... I kept going the wrong way, and messing up! Master Standard, Jumpers, and Natasha's Advanced run, weren't much better. Steeplechase had no faults, but Tink kept messing up on the weaves and we were a little over 3 seconds over time.

Tink had an odd weave weekend. She nailed the weaves everytime the entry mattered, and messed up everytime there were no faults involved... what an odd child!

Kessie starts agility classes tonight! She'll have a lot of fun, especially because food will be involved!