Go See Spot Fly!

I just spent 2 days working Ditto in a seminar put on by some great friends & trainers...  it's the first time she's done anything other than an hour lesson.  What a great little girl she is!  She was still happy to work at the end of 2 days in extremely hot weather!  What a little trooper!

We did some distance work which is something entirely new for her...  she did really well - just need to work on some discrimination skills before we do much more distance stuff.

My handling skills need much work - she's so much different to run than any of my other dogs!  But she's so much fun!

We had a lot of fun with the squirt bottle -  she pounces just like a cat!

Lots of laughs, some great training challenges,  got to know some agility people I didn't know before, great steak dinner on Sat nite - what more can a girl ask for!

The Big Event

Well, we survived Nationals - well, just barely.  The event was lots of fun - great venue in Nanaimo.
We stayed at the Inn on Long Lake - most pet friendly place I've ever stayed... they even took video of our dogs playing in the lake & posted it on their facebook page!

Nationals was a bust for us... I knew that was a possibility, not sure what determines how Bizzie feels about agility.  Some weekends she runs well, happy & fast, & others she's just not into it.  It was extremely hot - 37 degrees with the humidex on Sunday...  she's still licking her feet a lot, have tried different foods, nothing seems to change.  I'm going to get her completely checked out medically again... get her thyroid checked, etc.  My chiro thinks her mouth is sore, so will get a dental done on her as well.  She did travel very well & loves hotels, so it was a nice vacation for her.

Bizzie's daughter, Zipr won the 10" Reg division, so we were very happy for her... seems the thing Biz is best at is having great puppies! 

Roomies                                         

view from our balcony

Off we go!

We're off to the AAC Nationals tomorrow... not sure what to expect from Bizzie - I'm just taking her, not Blast..
This is the first year she has qualified & i wavered about going, but finally decided neither one of us is getting any younger!
My goal is the same as for Regionals - for Bizzie to run happy (& fast!) 
It should be a fun Nationals - a family reunion of sorts - 2 of Bizzie's pups & her sister are all competing as well!
Wish us luck!

Here's Bizzie thinking about Nationals!  LOL! She's thinking about her dinner!

Ready, Set, Go

Well, the entry is in, confirmation received, Bizzie & I are going to Nationals...  It was a tough decision, but as always, once the decision is made, you feel better... I think!

We have a couple of trials coming up, so we will see if she is running well - she was running fast & happy at Regionals, so that's our goal for Nat's.  Just hope the weather is reasonable.  Looking forward to Nanaimo - haven't been to the Island for a few years...

We took all the dogs for a short camping trip last weekend.  It seemed every campsite had at least 1 very large dog!  Almost every walk we took (on leash) we had big dogs run up to us - really annoying how people think the rules are for everyone else... fortunately there were no real incidents, but when there are 3 huge dogs barreling up to you & your 6 lb wonder, it gets your heart beating!   Ditto was anxious to get out of her crate!

Ditto even persuaded Blast to get his feet wet!  First time ever!

Decisions, decisions

Trying to decide if I should take Bizzie to Nationals...  I was 90% sure we wouldn't go, but I'm having second thoughts...  It's a lot of money, but I can share expenses...  she's not all that consistent, if it rains, she likely won't run well... she's been pretty cheeky, but is running fast...
I likely won't go next year (assuming we qualify) cause it'll likely be in the east which is too far to travel...

If I stay home, I can do the AKC show here at Spruce Meadows...

Hmmm, I just have a couple of days to decide.... what should I do???

Regionals is a wrap!

Regionals is now history!  What a great event it was - the venue was awesome - very large, lots of shade trees, oodles of places to bench, off leash trails, great weather - what more could you ask!
The organizers from Flashing Canines did a wonderful job - didn't see a glitch all weekend.  We camped in the parking lot, which is the only way to go when you're bringing 6 dogs!

Ditto reminded me that she really can jump out of a 3ft x-pen but she was a good girl other than that! 
My goals for the weekend were for Bizzie to have fun & run & I really was hoping she would qualify for the first time... for Blast, I was hoping he could stop worrying & improve on his last year's result (11th place)

So Bizzie ran really well, but I wasn't really used to the fast, happy Bizzie so we had a few oopsies... some my fault & some, well, she can be pretty naughty.  She lost us about 10 sec in the last jumpers round by wandering around the start line (took offense to me asking her to wait!)
  She got the first gamble, was clean in the first jumpers, but took a wide turn in standard & took the wrong jump then fiddled around at the weave pole entrance.  She didn't get the second gamble cause she kept going out after the out jump & took an extra one for good measure then finished the gamble perfectly!
  The second standard my motion kept her moving forward after the tunnel instead of turning so we had a costly off course, then she thought she was finished after the dogwalk & ran off so it took a few seconds to get her back to do the last jumps.
  Anyhow, to sum up, she qualified with over 400 points & was 7th in her division... she also tugged in the warmup which is a huge thing for me - she's never been able to do that before ever!  So it was a very successful regionals for miss Bizzie B!

Blast didn't have the greatest weekend - he was very worried & distracted for almost every run.  He did manage to get the first gamble & had a clean jumpers run on Sunday.  He bailed off the teeter twice, something new for him, & did a lot of wandering around between obstacles.  He did qualify in 8th place & actually got a 3rd in the Gamble, but he had less points than last year & seemed more stressed.  That may be his last agility trial, I really don't want to force him to do something that stresses him so much.

I'm undecided about Nationals - probably won't go, but if I do, I will just take Bizzie...  she really was a good little girl!

My trip to the WAO

What a great trip!  I've been back for a week now & of course I'm sick from airplane air.... seems to happen every time I go on a big trip.


Hotel ter Brughes



We had about 5 days to sightsee before the competition began, so we saw Amsterdam, Bruges (Belgium), Aachen (Germany), Maastricht (Belgium).  Europe is just so different from Canada - people seldom worry about many things we seem to get uptight about.   Dogs are allowed everywhere & are seldom neutered.  People are responsible for their own safety when walking on the streets - it's a little scary in the big cities - there are trains, cars, bicycles, all driving fast & the intersections are almost every man for himself!

If you ever get the chance to visit Bruges, you must go - it's such an interesting old city (I think it's a city). The hotel where we stayed was built in the 1500's.. updated of course, but very interesting.

We saw a beautiful cathedral in Aachen, gorgeous stained glass everywhere...    We had a great bunch that travelled together - 7 of us in 2 vehicles! 


The event was held at a huge equestrian facility.  There were 2 outdoor rings & 1 indoor ring.  It's a little confusing to know what is going on - we did have running orders for the individual events but not the team events.  The courses were very tight for the large dogs, the double jumps were huge - as wide as they were tall - many of the dogs crashed but got better as the days went on...

There were some amazing dogs & handlers - some interesting handling & some slower dogs as well....  Canada did well & we did earn some medals....  I think the experience was awesome & it was great fun to go with no stress & just be there to cheer on the team!