Eukanuba - Days 5 and 6

Yesterday we slept in and then drove out to Flagler Beach, which allows leashed dogs on a large portion of their beach. It was gorgeous! Sunny, not too hot and we basically had the beach to ourselves. Queezle wasn't sure what she thought of the surf at first, but she got used to it and was bebopping cheerfully along with me.

The sand there is almost entirely broken bits of shell, which is really neat. There were some larger shells as well (Queezle tried to eat them...), and sedimentary rocks made up of shells. A couple sandpipers went by, and we could see a pelican off shore. It was a good day.

This morning we picked up Popper the Aussie, Tia's nephew who was competing in some of the junior competitions with his owner. She had to take a plane home, so Popper is going to ride back North with us.

There were 28 Tervs entered under judge Tom Davies. We filled up the entire ring! The Q showed very well the whole time. After a LOT of deliberation, Queezle was awarded second Award of Excellent! The third AOE went to her daughter Demi, which was very exciting.

After showing, Q and I changed into street clothes and went over to the Meet the Breeds booth, where we hung out for a little while and Queezle greeted people who were interested in the Belgians.

All in all, it has been an excellent trip.

Leatherstocking Cluster

On the 19th I got on a bus at 4am to drive to Philadelphia for Cornell's final football game of the season (and thus the last marching band performance of the season). It was a gorgeous day, Cornell even managed a WIN and the band, as always, was awesome. Returned home around 11pm...

...only to get up at 6 for a dog show. Sometimes I doubt my sanity. It turned out to be another good day. Queezle was first up ay 8:30. She was SO excited to be at a show - this was her first conformation show since the first weekend of July, and her first show of any sort since mid-October. After our down and back the judge asked me to slow her down - yeah right! She ended up going Best of Breed. The photo is of the Q with four of the other Tervs entered - from left to right they are Tag, Molly, Storm, Savvy and Queezle.

Next was Belle the Vizsla. She went Winners Bitch over one other entry, giving her her 8th point. She is now officially over halfway done!

I also showed Will the Shetland Sheepdog puppy. This was his third show ever and first indoor show. He still isn't thrilled about the table, but he stands solidly and is a happy camper gaiting around the ring. He won his class.

The Q was even more psyched for going into Group. Talk about fluffed, puffed and ready to roll. Her down and back was controlled, but on the go-around she took off like she thought she was running the Kentucky Derby! Maniac. At the end the judge had each dog go around one at a time, at which point Queezle gaited like a dream. We didn't end up placing, but I was quite pleased with my wicked wild dog and a handler who had been watching from outside the ring said that she is the cleanest dog coming and going that he has seen in years. Go Q!

Next up is Eukanuba. Only a few more weeks...

August and September

College has a way of eating up my time, especially when marching band is combined with Spanish homework. Getting five hours of sleep on a Tuesday night is a major accomplishment this semester.

Queezle and I have moved into our new apartment in Collegetown, along with three roommates. Queezle absolutely loves having four people on hand to feed and adore her, and has settled in well. For my part, I am enjoying the relatively level walk to classes as well as often having company on said walk (the 11 people in the upstairs portion of the house are also band people).

Tia collected some more Excellent Jumpers legs at the Cato trials mid-August, finishing up her MJP2 and getting started on the MJP3! The Bopper is like fine wine - she just keeps getting better with age. Queezle on the other hand was once again metaphorically for sale, so on the weekend we backed off and just did mini courses for each run. She's entered one day this coming weekend so we'll see what the state of our teamwork is after a couple weeks of very low-stress training (aka next to none).

Beyond that I don't think we've really done much of anything up until the Wine Country circuit the first weekend of October. Queezle doesn't have her hair back yet, so I was just showing other dogs in conformation. Belle the Vizsla went Best of Opposite on the first day for a three-point major, which puts her up to 7 points and one major! She didn't get anything the other three days, even though she showed really well in the super muddy ring on Sunday. Then I also showed Will the Sheltie puppy, who had a grand time and looked like a pro even though it was his first time showing. He didn't get any points, but it was good experience.

Queezle did get to lure course though! When she got out of the car and saw the stationary lures she knew exactly what we were doing. She ran well all three days rain or shine, and now has her Coursing Ability title!

Go dog, go!

June and July... In August

On June 17th, Queezle got a Group 2 in Topsfield, MA! We then drove back home for my brother's high school graduation, returning to MA Saturday afternoon. On June 19th she was Best of Opposite.

The 23rd through 26th were the agility trials in Cato, NY. Tia earned two Excellent B Jumpers qualifying runs I believe. Queezle qualified in Open Standard to finish her OA! She is now in Excellent in all three classes. Most excitingly, Flag the Ridgeback qualified in Novice Jumpers in the pouring rain on Friday to finish his NJP! The also means he will get a versatility title from the Ridgeback club.

Next up were the Bainbridge shows. On Thursday Queezle was Select bitch. Friday she won the breed, nothing in the Group. I also showed Flint the young Rottweiler puppy, who went Reserve Winners Dog. It was his first show ever, and he had a grand time. Saturday Flint went Reserve again and Queezle was Best of Breed. Queezle had been blowing coat pretty rapidly over the weekend (the entire Terv entry was), so on Sunday we elected to stay home and went to herding practice in Caroline.

July 9 and 10 we drove up to Hamlin, NY for conformation and obedience. Queezle was entered in breed on Saturday, but severely lacking in hair so she just showed in obedience. Flint was very cute but got second in his class. Queezle's heeling in Open A obedience was not stellar, but she did everything else very well despite the very high temperatures and ended up being the only qualifier! The score was not pretty, but a green ribbon is a green ribbon. On Sunday her heeling was much worse, and we ended up failing on that. On the retrieve over the high jump she got the dumbbell, brought it back and dropped it at my feet. Since we had already failed, I told her to pick it back up. She pounced on it, laying down as she picked it up. Then she looked at me confused, and rolled over with the dumbbell in her mouth! Goofy dog. After that we drove home to Vernon for a week of doctor and dentist appointments for me (eww), plus an impromptu haircut.

On July 22nd I judged the Livingston County Fair for dog 4H. Temps were in the 90s, so we flew through the ten obedience entries and two grooming & handling kids. All of the kids put in a good effort, and there were no big disasters. The two Aussies in Grad Beginner did an especially good job. Hopefully all of them will stick with it and continue training next year! Driving home I bought ice cream for the dogs and me.

Saturday the 23rd we drove down to Binghamton for an obedience trial. Queezle put in a lovely performance in Open A, but sat up with 20 seconds left on the long down. Grad Open took forever to get started, so Tia was pretty deflated by the time we went in the ring, and then I couldn't hear half of what the judge said so we did a pretty shoddy job. Tia really perked up on the glove exercise though, which made me happy, and on the directed jumping took the jump that I told her to (which turned out to be the wrong one - I had misheard the judge - but oh well!).

Sunday the 24th was wild. I went to pick up Queezle's number, didn't see mine on the board so I assumed I had the wrong number in my head and picked up 217 instead. Bad choice. A few minutes later the real 217 came to find me and take her number back, at which point I went to the table to figure out what number I really was. I was actually 214, but since I hadn't been written on the board they put me at the end of the class. Then when Queezle and I got to the ring for our turn, the judge didn't have a sheet for us! He had to go check with the trial secretary that I really was entered, and then we finally got to go. Queezle did a wonderful job, qualifying with a 192 and second place to finish her CDX! She finished both her CD and CDX under Frank Washabaugh - I guess we'll have to watch for him when we're getting close to our UD!

Tia was awesome in Grad Open. She did the drop in the ring for the first time ever, even though it took two commands. The rest of her signals were nice. On the articles she brought back the wrong one, but she did actually bring me one, which is a step in the right direction. She brought the correct glove and did her moving stand. On the go-out, she went all the way to the gate (another first for us in a trial setting), but then instead of sitting came back to me. On the directed jumping she took the wrong jump, but the rest of it was such an improvement that I couldn't really be mad at her. We'll keep working! On the way home we picked up five ducklings for my mom. They then spent the night at my apartment and I delivered them on Monday. Initially I was calling them the Jackson 5, but they have since been renamed the Chocolates - Godiva, Toblerone, Ghirardelli, Lindt and something else that has escaped my mind. Can't really tell them apart anyway, except for Godiva who is the smallest and Toblerone who is the biggest.

Last Wednesday I moved out of Lake Street and dumped my stuff in the new apartment. Lake Street had its faults, but I did love that apartment and will miss it. Next year should be fun though, as Queezle and I will be living with a bunch of band people.

Some Show Results

Once classes ended a few weeks ago, the dogs and I started hitting up various shows again.

First was the SOTC agility trial, where Tia had three qualifying runs in Excellent Jumpers and Flag the Ridgeback earned his second Novice Jumpers leg with a second place.

At the Alexander conformation shows, Queezle went Best of Breed both days. Belle the Vizsla showed well in the rain and mud but there was no competition for her.

Then we went to agility trials in Port Byron. Tia had another Q in Excellent Jumpers, and Queezle got her second Open standard leg!

This past weekend Queezle, Belle and I drove down to Wrightstown, PA for conformation shows. Belle went Winners Bitch the first two days, bringing her up to 3 points total. Queezle went Best of Breed every day, and on Sunday got a Herding Group 3!

Salt City Shows

Last weekend was the big Salt City Cluster at the Syracuse Fairgrounds. I was showing Tia in obedience, Flag the Rhodesian Ridgeback in agility and Belle the Vizsla in conformation.

Tia was the star of the weekend! On Thursday and Friday she showed with my mom in Open A. On Thursday she had a really nice individual but laid down in the last ten seconds of the sit stay. On Friday she put in another decent performance and qualified to earn her second leg with a score of 180 1/2! On Saturday I was able to show her. She did a lovely job (probably the best that she has ever worked for me), and qualified with a 184 to finish her CDX!

Flag had a rough start on Saturday, taking one jump and then leaving the ring to look for his owner. For Sunday we decided to have me pick him up at her house and not let him see or be anywhere near her until after his class, so that he would understand that he was stuck with me. It worked! He had a great run, and qualified with second place for his first NJP leg. Only two more to go!

This weekend was Belle's first show ever. I was really impressed with how great she was in the building - she wasn't bothered by any of the noises or the crowds. She showed like a pro both days, going Winners Bitch and Best of Opposite to earn her first point on Saturday.

Grand Champion Queezle!

Back in December, Queezle and I packed up and drove out to Cleveland with some friends for the Crown Classic dog show as soon as finals were done. We had a pretty successful weekend, taking Best of Opposite the first three days to finish Queezle's Grand Champion! On the fourth day she also took a Select.

This past weekend, we headed out to Hamburg for the Nickel City Cluster. On Friday Queezle went Best of Breed and took a Group 4! On Saturday she went Best of Breed again, and got a pull in the Group but didn't place. On Sunday she went Best of Opposite to her friend Charlie.

Recent Shows

Since Queezle didn't have her litter after all, we have been going to shows the past few weekends. Queezle is thrilled to finally be back on the road, and the other girls have gotten to do some agility too.

Queezle showed one day in breed in Stormville, NY and got Best of Breed and a Group III.

In Bloomsburg, PA, Queezle went Best of Breed all three days and got a Group IV on Saturday. The photo is from Friday.

This past weekend we did four days of agility trials in Brewerton, NY. Flash was the star of the weekend out of my three dogs, earning her second Excellent FAST leg with a 1st place! Because she is almost 13, I tried to challenge her jump height so she could jump 4" in preferred. Naturally my little beast hasn't shrunk the quarter of an inch she needed! It would have been nice for her to jump lower, but we can deal. She had a bunch of really nice Jumpers runs but with bars down - here is one of them.


Tia wasn't running quite as well as she did back in June, though we did have some nice runs. In Standard on Sunday she just had one bar down that I hadn't even noticed! She is starting to do that funny cough/gag thing again. We are thinking it may be a bronchitis sort of thing caused by either the humidity or a pollen that is coming out now. Tia says that steak at every meal would fix everything!

Queezle is running wonderfully, except for being a brat at the weave poles. Working at home she gives me no trouble, but when I send her to the weaves at a trial she runs at me barking obnoxiously. I have started removing her from the course when she does that. It kills me because she is doing a really beautiful job even on difficult courses and is so fun to run, but if I get it through her head now that being a brat means the fun stops, she will be better about the weaves in the long run. I am also going to keep working her on really hard entries and doing weaves with lots of distractions at home - my thought process there is that if I can have her 100% confident that she can do the weaves correctly no matter what, doing them at a trial will be easy and not worth putting up a fuss. We are also taking a class with Tracy Sklenar to help with her contact issues (namely sailing over them with a gleefully wicked smile on her face).

Today we took the first load of my stuff down to the apartment in Ithaca. Only a few weeks left until school starts back up again

Mayflower

Flash and I spent last week at the Mayflower Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club's regional specialty show. We were staying with one of my aunts, so Flash had a great time being the only dog in a house with several adoring humans.

Monday and Tuesday we drive up to Amherst, NH for the agility trials. We didn't have any qualifying runs, but she did a really nice job on Monday. On Tuesday the club was also offering Time 2 Beat as a fun run. T2B is a new class in AKC agility that is totally based on how fast the dogs in the class run. The fastest dog at the end of the day would get 10 points, and then dogs within a certain amount of seconds of that dog's time would get 9 points, etc down to 0. In order to title your dog would have to earn 100 points. I'm not sure exactly when they plan to add it as a titling class, but it's in the works.

Wednesday we took off to visit my grandparents and aunt and uncle who live near Worcester. We had a great time visiting, though we did get somewhat lost on the drive home. I told Flash to keep her head down when we drove through one interesting neighborhood!

On Thursday we headed for the official show site in Boxboro, MA for obedience. First Flash and I showed in Grad Novice. She did a really nice job, but was confused on the dumbbell recall. For Grad Nov the dog is supposed to hold the dumbbell while you walk away and then bring it to you when you call them. Flash was confused and dropped it when I left her - she's used to a full retrieve! We also showed in Veteran Novice, which is Novice level obedience for old dogs only, and a non-regular class (which means you don't have to have a qualifying score to get a placement!). Despite some barking on Flash's part, we got 4th place! Ok, so it was out of four. But we still got a neat little pottery mug!

Friday was conformation day. Flash and I aren't exactly serious contenders in the breed ring, but we have fun and Flash enjoys putting on a show for everyone. We didn't place in any of our classes, but lots of people commented on how much spark she has for an old girl!

ABTC 2010 National Specialty

I have lots of exciting news from the past few weeks, so I figure I will spread it out. Firstly, my mom and I drove from central New York to Pottsboro, TX for the Terv National, which was the week of May 1. Queezle and I showed in agility, obedience and conformation.

In agility, the Q was WILD. Considering she hadn't seen me in weeks and had just spent three days in the car, it was a miracle she stayed in the ring! She ran fast and a touch out of control, but we had really nice runs in Excellent Jumpers both days. The one day *I* caused her to knock a bar because I called her name right when she was going over a jump. Although we didn't qualify at all, I was pleased with her runs for the most part.

In obedience we were just entered in Wildcard Novice. In the Wildcard classes, you can praise your dogs throughout the runthru and can choose to skip one exercise and get full points for it. Queezle and I chose the offlead heeling as our Wildcard, but I opted to still do it for practice (the judge just couldn't take any points off even if we had errors). Queezle did a very nice job, and we ended up with first place! The whole class was a lot of fun - my mom and her boy Hokey got second, our friend Debbie Deuth with Trixie was third, and Sue Fregien with Ember, who is Hokey's niece, was fourth.

In the Best of Breed competition Queezle made the first cut but didn't make it any further than that. Considering there for over 50 other Terv bitches and over 60 dogs, that is still an accomplishment! I also got to show Queezle's daughter Lexi in Puppy Sweeps and her mother Diva in Veteran Sweeps. Lexi did not place, but Diva got second out of a large class. The old girl's still got it! Queezle had one other daughter at the show, Demi, who also made one cut in Best of Breed.