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!