The hounds and I had a great time at the NADAC trial in Vancleave, MS sponsored by the Gulf Coast Chihuahua Club. The weather was just right, the arena dirt was just right, all the people were nice - all the makings of a great weekend!

Mr Magic made the most improvement and it showed. He Q'd 7 out of 8 runs, only missing time in Weaves because he doesn't quite understand off side weaves. We will be working on those this week.

Ms Prize was hampered by her owner running out of steam on one course and not being fast enough on another. But when she Q'd, she smoked brother Magic! She had some nice runs and has moved up to Open in a couuple of her classes.

Mr Guy, was not quite fast enough in his Open Weaves, but he more than made up for it by getting his Open Chances title! Never thought I'd see the day! We moved up to Elite Chances, but we have to have way more distance control and direction for that class!

It's still hot here.... that's not the problem. The temp rises and so do the LOVEBUGS! I can hardly stand to go out in the yard in the afternoon for all the lovebugs flying around and getting in your hair, on your clothes, up your nose, etc.

Needless to say, forget trying to train....you inhale too many lovebugs. I will be soooooo glad when those pests are gone!

VMO is someone who will measures your dog for AKC agility, so you are placed in the correct jump height class. The V stands for volunteer. Unfortunately, AKC has deemed only AKC Agility Judges can be a VMO. Kinda makes the " volunteer" part questionable, doesn't it?

At trials I've been to, it's usually the person judging who has to cover all the measuring, making everyone in a hurry & taking time from the judge who could be catching up on paperwork. Considering exhibitors, especially novices, are a bit on the nervous side, hurrying the process doesn't always make for a happy experience.

I've had 4 dogs in for measuring & since they are always going to jump 24, it's kind of a moot experience. It doesn't matter if someone measures them taller than they are, but could be a real bone of contention in lower heights! In fact, someone did measure one of mine at 26 1/4" when she is actually a hair under 26". The person did not measure her at the withers, rather up on her neck. I started to correct the person, but I was in a hurry & it didn't matter what the height was in the final outcome.

"Oh, yeah, so what makes you the expert"?, you ask. Well, my qualification is that I am an AKC judge of 3 measurable breeds, so I was taught the correct AKC method of assessing height.  We do use a fixed wicket, which other agility venues use, too. NADAC & ASCA simply use a fixed wicket & either you measure in a jump height or you go into a higher one. AKC uses a sliding wicket, which should give you a true height. Why they chose this, I don't know. Seems the other would be sufficient and faster to me.

Anyway, before I was told I would have to be an agility judge to be a VMO, I wrote to them, asking for an application to be a VMO. I'm already at a trial, so I'd be happy to help out & I'm really good at calming dogs down to be measured. :-)

I did write them back & asked them to reconsider that rule, especially for someone like me.

It's summer, it's hot and the RRs are taking some time off from agility....and I'm going to Italy to judge the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Italy's specialty show! You'll understand that's all I can think of at the moment. :-)

When I get back, I've got to get Guy, Magic and Prize back to practice again. I'm still pumped that Guy got 2 NADAC Open Chances legs, so got to work distance, distance, distance! Determined to get that last leg and get 2 more AKC Excellent FAST legs, too.

Chaio!

Great weekend at the NADAC trial put on by the Gulf Coast Chihuahua Club. Great group of people, wonderful facility & a fun agility venue.

My two beginner dogs, Magic & Prize, both finished their Novice Standard & Jumpers titles! Prize also has her Novice Tunnelers & Touch 'N Go. She has been sidelined for a year with a muscle tear, now finally over that!

My BIG news is Guy got TWO Open Chances legs! That's a huge accomplishment for him! Very proud!

International style agility - phooey! Check out http://dogagilityblogevents.wordpress.com/internationalization/

Sorry all of you who love to baby sit your dogs around a course at jet speeds, but this old lady ain't buying it. You'll understand one of these days. (grin)

Besides not being able to run like the wind anymore, I like nice open courses that my dog can help me out by actually seeing some kind of sequence to this game. In addition to not being able to keep up with my dog, I like being able to have the breath to give a verbal cue and not having to require an EMT standing by to resuscitate me at the end of the course. Both those things are hard to do if you've got to beat your dog to every freaking ovstacle to make them go the wrong way to jump it.

I'm a weekend warrior. I don't live, breath, nor obsess agility. I think it should remain fun, that I can run a non-traditional agility breed, and still expect a good chance of getting Qs. After all, I pay the same in entry fees and my gas costs an arm and a leg, too.

If you long for tougher courses, then please go create your own governing body. Please don't mess up my classes and don't think clubs should have special classes for you either. Having to reset jumps/obstacles is just that much more work for club members and volunteers.

In addition, I think international styles, which require tight jump wraps is a safety hazard! You people are causing the problems and the controversy about jump cups and uprights. Enough already! If your dogs have the option to a straight on approach, then the risk is minimum.

Well, that's my feeling on the subject..... I don't want to play by those rules and neither does my dog! ( I don't want a Border Collie either!)

The boys did well in NADAC this past weekend. Magic is just starting out, but got 2 legs in Standard and 2 in Jumpers. We do need to work on contacts! When he's excited, he just has a hard time slowing for the yellow...so much easier and FUN to bound on to the next tunnel.

I always forget how much running is involved in NADAC. The spacing of the jumps makes for a really hard run for me. Gotta get more distance handling skills!

Guy is now in Master's classes for Standard and Jumpers! So now we are trying to gather points ( 750) and 20 double Qs to work toward his Agility Champion Preferred title. I never thought we'd get this far, so anything we get will be icing on the cake!

Open FAST Preferred...not many RRs have one of these and I own/co-own TWO of them. Although I can't take credit for Jennifer's wonderful training of Matrix, I am his breeder and co owner, so bragging rights here, too.

I thought we'd never get there!

Guy completed his Excellent A classes and has now moved on the Master's classes!

As an added bonus, he also completed his Open FAST Preferred title, too!

Did 3 of the 5 days of the BARK trials in Hattiesburg, MS. I don't know how people manage 5 days! The stairs alone will do you in! This is a great venue - air conditioned! The first of the agility trials around here and always iffy for us because we haven't practiced much - too hot, or still raining!. Unfortunately, it shows, but we have fun anyway. Hopefully, Guy will get faster as he gets back in the swing of competing.

 Our runs were kind of crunchy: slow and sometimes awkward, but he passed and it's still peanut butter!

 Thursday was our first go at Open FAST preferred - He got it. I figure if he can do NADAC Chances, AKC FAST should be a no brainer!

 Friday we got our first leg in Standard JWW. We always go through slow weaves or pop outs at the first of the year. He blew me off on the send bonus in FAST - most dogs went in the tunnel, blew passed the teeter and took the other tunnel. Not Guy. He stuck his head in the tunnel, backed out, I made him go at it again. He just thought "Nope, gonna go over here and get on the teeter!" Apparently he was the only dog in the class to do that. Ah, Ridgebacks, you never know what they are gonna do.

 Saturday, after two days of being a one Q wonder, we finally got 2Qs - EX standard and another FAST leg. So now we need one more EX standard leg and FAST leg for the title and 2 EX JWW legs.

I'm been amiss at taking photos lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy - or recovering in between trials. While I don't think of agility as being a contact sport, sometimes it is and the 2 legged partner always gets the worst of it! We've been to 5 AKC and 2 NADAC trials since December.

Here's Guy's Novice Chances run from the NADAC trial where he got his title! Never thought that would happen as Chances is the hardest class of all the agility venues.

Yahoo! Guy got his Novice Chances title today! Didn't think we'd ever get a title in Chances! So now, he is Guy OAC OJC TN-N TG-N WV-N HP-N NCC in NADAC. ( In AKC he also has his OJP, OAP & NFP.)

Ms Prize was on fire on Friday and then went haywire until her last run on Sunday when she decided to rocket around the course in Jumpers. Don't ya just love green dogs? Never know what will get their attention. She had spells where she visited any one in her sight line, forgot all about how to weave, except the last set of poles as we neared the exit, took bonus jumps and tunnels, etc. But, she had a good time! She did got two new titles though: Novice Jumpers and Touch and Go Novice.

PDFA was Guy's first Excellent Jumpers course. At this jump, I thought he knocked the bar with his foot and the bar came down. Now that I finally got the photos, I see that he actually cut the corner too close, clipped the jump upright and that caused the bar to fall out. You can see the side's feet going up and the wing, too.

Hmmm. Probably my fault for doing my front cross in the wrong place!


Check out Guy's tail position. It's either off to the side, but this was straight up! Maybe to propel him over all three bars of the triple?? :-)

Tail up and off to the side again...and the flying ears. Gotta love him, he's trying!

"We have all had days when we felt we let our dogs down in competition, but our dogs don't care about winning and losing ........... The only day you truly let your dog down is the day you put your ego first, instead of thanking your dog for the privilege of his effort."

Check out Guy's feet in this photo....all four feet off the ground at a TROT!

Can't decide if he was switching from a gallop to a trot and that's why all four are off the ground or if he's showing GSDs how it's done! LOL! ( In case you aren't a student of dog movement - when a dog trots normally there are two feet striking the ground and two feet in the air.)

Photo by Michael Loftis at the Swamp Dog Agility Trial in Oct. 2011

I was looking at my NADAC sheet and realized my dogs have more titles than I thought.

Guy is UKC Ch Mwamba of Kalahari NP, NFP, NJP, OAC, OJC, TN-N, TG-N, WV-N, HP-N.

Darla is AKC Ch Kalahari Zarina Maleka NA, NAJ, NAP, NJP, OAC, NJC, HP-N. ( I should try for her NFP title.)

Prize is just starting out, so hopefully we'll get some titles on her at the Feb NADAC trial.

Had a blast at the NADAC trials, hosted by the Gulf Coast Chihuahua Club, over in Vancleave, MS this past weekend. I always get so excited, enter a bunch of classes, but my enthusiasm is larger than my physical abilities! I should know better.... heck, so I creak around for a few days afterward, so what. It's fun and the dogs and I love it.

Guy is finally coming together and not spacey like he use to be. He only had one moment in the ring when he spied a small black dog zooming around just outside the ring and he briefly thought it might be a squirrel! He is a hound dog remember! To be fair, several dogs did the same thing until we went and asked the lady to play with him over on the other side. Guy finished his Open Jumpers title, too.

Guy had 10 runs over the 3 days and Q'd 6, including his first go at Novice Chances and it was a doozie! I was walking the course and suddenly thought "I'm in the wrong run....This must be Open!". Nope, it was Novice and a wicked send out and around to a hoop. Heck! I just consoled myself that we were never gonna get it anyway, so I might as well practice this handling maneuver I've seen on a distance handling blog. IT WORKED! Who knew??? The lady sitting next to me told me she was jealous because her AKC MACH dog failed that send.

Prize was up for her second attempt at NADAC. Last year, she wouldn't have anything to do with their contact equipment...It's covered in black rubber, including the contact points at the bottom. That was just too weird for her... Nope, not going up that, it's the wrong color. Some RRs are very color oriented and she apparently is one of them.

So, I put her in the Touch N Go, had Darla run first and make a big celebration about it. Prize is jealous. She can't stand for me to be praising another dog, her attitude is "Hmp, you think that's something, watch this!" Her best runs were her TnG class! Go figure.


She also had 10 runs over the weekend and she Q'd 4 of them. She's still green and gets distracted, but she's better than Guy at that age! She provided the comedy of the weekend, by running over to the judge, who was sitting down. She runs and sits next to him, then leans her head and neck over to rest on his chest.... Save me! Finally, comes back and finishes the course...over time tho....

Darla had 5 runs and Q'd 2, but to be fair, two of those runs, I let a friend run her and let's say they had a wonderful time making up courses.

All in all, it was a good work out for the dogs, Prize gained some experience and a good time was had by all.

This weekend was the Swamp Dog trial over in Kiln, MS. Since Guy can "fade" after the first day, I thought I'd try just entering him on Friday, skip Saturday and go Sunday. In reality, I don't think it made a difference. I think the key is keeping the temperature around 50 degrees! The colder the better he does!

It was very cool on Friday and he flew across the dog walk, with us nearly colliding at the end because I had decided to do a front cross to the jump and no way did I expect to find Guy barreling down the ramp just as I got there! (There will be an embarrassing photo of that incidence on Michael Loftis' site.)

Today, he was more his usual self, which is to say, his brains were leaking because his nose was stuck to various areas of the ground. He did it though! Not pretty, but good enough. So now, he's an "Open" dog.

Got his Novice Standard Preferred title today and his second Open Jumpers Preferred leg.

So now he is UKC Ch Mwamba of Kalahari NP, NJP, NFP, NJC, WV-N, OAC, HP-N, TN-N, TG-N....Now that's a mouthful!

Despite his failure to weave at AKC trials, unless I use the ugly voice ( and still not well), Guy really can weave....and he does: at home, at class, at NADAC trials...but at AKC trials, he forgets.

I know it's a stress thing. So, once it's getting just a bit cooler, we are hauling those weaves all over creation and letting him have a go at them in as many different places as possible. Hopefully, that'll do it.

At the BARK AKC trial in Hattiesburg, MS, this past weekend, Guy finished his Novice FAST Preferred title with a second place! Yea!

Open JWW, not so good...did everything well but the weaves...just blew me off the first day. Second day, the weaves were the second thing...he should have gotten that with no problem. Nope. Got the entrance, then went trotting right on by like they didn't exist. Grrrr.

I was determined, if we didn't do anything else and got the whistle, that we were going to get through them. Pulled him back, gave it a second go...he started in well, then slowed down and started sniffing. Cripes!

Pulled him back, used my low ugly voice and said "Guy. Weave"... Ooops! He looked up...Uh, oh...the Boss ain't happy....okay, he sails through them and the rest of the course is smooth as butter.

As soon as it's half way cooler, I'm taking those darned weaves all over the town and he's gonna do them!

Ms Prize did well in her first Novice JWW course... the handler could have been better , but she passed in spite of me and got her first leg and first place!

Second day, she had a tummy ache and didn't want to eat that morning, but we went. She had a melt down and tried to get in the bar setter lady's lap. Finally, came back to me, did HER weaves perfectly...then knocked a bar, wouldn't go thru the tunnel, so we asked to be excused. Ah, baby dogs....