Cash redeems himself

Last Saturday after a MISERABLE performance in Rally Advanced at the Seward County Kennel Club show I was threatening to sell Cash on EBay. His attention was great outside the ring but once the leash was off he lost his mind. "Where am I? What are those signs? Who are you?" I ended up removing him from the ring. ARRRGGGGGHHHH! So frustrating!

I seriously considered not returning on Sunday to face more humiliation, but my competitive side got me out of bed to and to the ring on time. Plus I HATE to leave things unfinished.

I am pleased to announce Cash completed his Rally Advanced title on Sunday in grand style!



WITH A PERFECT SCORE OF 100!!!!!!!!!


There was another 100 in the class coming from a lovely Sheltie with a very experienced handler, so I knew it was down to time. Agility has taught me to run with a clock in my head and I knew we were pretty fast.



WE TOOK FIRST PLACE!!! with a time of 1:09. The Sheltie ran the course in 1:31.



Along with the first place blue ribbon, green qualifying ribbon, and rainbow new title ribbon, we hauled home a basket full of $25 worth of all natural dog treats which Cash is sharing with Keegan and Betty.

Sunday results

Back to Lincoln today for another round of jility with Cash. He Q'd again in Open JWW and won the class. Okay, so he was the only 12" jumper, but whatever. So we are 2/3 of the way there for his Open title.

I had high hopes for the Novice Std. class but it was not to be. Who knew he liked the table so much that he decided to do it again. Oops, wrong course and totally my fault, but really no agility dog worth his salt craves to do a table. I must have made that a REALLY valuable obstacle. So, no Q, but he did have a really good time!

Off to Racine, Wisconsin early Thursday morning for the TDAA Petit Prix!

GLOC agility trial

We entered Open JWW and Novice Standard as a tune up for TDAA Petit Prix next weekend. Can't believe it is already time for our trip to Racine.

Cash wasn't himself yesterday. He seemed just lethargic even at home before we drove to Lincoln and seemed sort of stressed. Totally unlike him. Add to that an entry door to the arena not far from our set up was being allowed to slam behind people as they came in. He's not usually noise sensitive but it was affecting him.

He perked up a bit as we entered the ring but after a couple of jumps was starting to slow down. In desperation I even clapped my hands and cheer leaded him a bit, something I abhor and never do, but it worked and once he saw the tunnel, really sped up, cleared the triple and zipped through 12 weaves. Result was a Q and first place in Open JWW.

He seemed to be feeling better so on to Novice Standard. The first few obstacles were a jump, DW to a tunnel, teeter and into the weaves. As he was halfway through the weaves the teeter slammed down behind him, sounding just like the annoying slamming door and he popped the weaves. It took twice to get him through and I knew once he started barking at me, the run was a bust, so I just used it as a training moment, and made sure he held his contact on the A frame and finished cleanly.

Today is another opportunity!

Going to TDAA Nationals!!!

Today is Cash's 4th birthday. We have agility class tonight and Cash is taking treats for his classmates. Sorry humans, I didn't bake!

Cash and I were in Lincoln, NE this past weekend. We've never competed in a trial where a dog jumping 12" is considered a "big dog". We had a blast and Cash completed his Teacup Beginner Agility Dog title or TBAD. He also received two Qs toward his Games title.

As a result of competing this weekend we are eligible to compete in the 2009 TDAA Petit Prix (their national tournament) being held in Racine, Wisconsin October 9-11. Our trialing partner, Darla and her Pom, Nina also received their TBAD and Games titles and will be going too. Our friend Mary and her Papillon, Riley will be the third member of our team for the Team Event.

We are all so looking forward to a great trip and trial. Now to work with Cash on some of those "issues" that could bite us in the butt.

New Titles

Cash and I competed in the Nebraska Humane Society's NADAC trial this past weekend. He Q'd and won the class in Regular on Saturday for his Novice title.

On Sunday, he Q'd and won the class in Chances for that Novice title.

He needs two more Weavers Q's for his Novice Versatility title. No more local NADAC trials until fall, so we'll try for that title then.

Here's his Chances run. The Do Not Cross line was right at the third jump, extending left to right, including the tunnel on the left side. It really wasn't a bad gamble considering the day before not one dog in ANY level qualified. Perhaps the judge had an epiphany overnight. Oh, and please ignore my handling errors. I know my front cross was incredibly late, but considering the osteoporosis in my left hip has been acting up, I think I move pretty well in a flat out "sprint".

Wichita Dog Training Club trial - April 3 & 4

Cash had a pretty good weekend going 3 for 4 in Standard and JWW.

On Friday, he had already DQ'd in Standard when he couldn't make it through a damp, heavy chute, but I kept going to try to end on a good note. We got to the teeter and he was going so fast (and I was so shocked as we had had teeter issues), I forgot to say "Touch" to let him know he had to stop. He shot right off the end of the teeter about 6 feet in the air. He landed okay, but the crowd in the stands (this is a HUGE show) gave an audible GASP! We finished the course successfully with awesome weaves and a rock solid contact on the dogwalk and A frame. I was concerned that we would have problems with the teeter the next day, but tried to put it out of my mind.

Following Standard, he had a solid performance and placed second in JWW for a Q and his second leg. I'm very pleased with his start line stay, attention and weave poles.

On Saturday, he Q'd in Standard and won the class. With the chute following right after the dogwalk, I decided to do a running contact on the DW to give him enough speed to make it through the chute. This plan worked well.

Following a down on the table was a tunnel, weaves, two jumps and a hard right to the teeter. The poor guy is probably now deaf in his right ear as I screamed "Touch" to let him know he had to stop at the end. He was really flying and hit the brakes so hard I could hear his toenails skidding to the end of the teeter where he rode it down to perform a beautiful 4 on. He has a habit on contacts of flipping his ear out of the way so he can see my face as if to say, "What did you think of that!?!" After the teeter I front crossed him to a jump followed by a hard left to the A frame. He was flying again and was airborne over the top of the frame. He raced to a 2o2o at the bottom but was going so fast as he planted his front feet his rear came up until he was momentarily in a handstand (pawstand?) before dropping his rear end to the frame. The judge laughed out loud as did the crowd. And he once again gave me that look of "So what did you think of THAT?" He is quite the showman. This was his first Standard Q.

He also Q'd and won the class in JWW, so that is his Novice JWW title! Woo Hoo!!

NADAC trial today

A number of people decided not to compete today so we were home by about 12:30. Today the arena seemed actually warmer than yesterday. Either the snow we got overnight helped insulate the roof or my blood is getting thicker and I don't notice the cold as much.



Today we again went 3 for 6 in the Q department with a Q and 2nd place in Regular, another Chances Q and another Tunnelers Q and 2nd place. There is an extremely fast Papillion running in Novice that once again kicked our butt today. Oh well, Q’s are much better to me than placements!


We did have some outstanding things like Cash's start line stay in Tunnelers. After we were told to Go and I did a 30-35' lead out just to be told "Oh wait, there's a loose dog on course." The Corgi ahead of us got away from his handler after they finished and proceeded to take 4 or 5 more tunnels. I kept laser-like eye contact with Cash and he didn't move a toenail. Good Boy!

His start line stay in Tunnelers with a loose dog on the course made my WHOLE weekend. We worked so hard to make his SLS rewarding to him and it paid off in spades. He probably would have had his fuzzy butt glued to the ground if the Corgi charged at him through the tunnel he was in front of. I was SO proud of him! Two of our instructors were there that knew how hard we had worked, saw his rock solid SLS, and were just elated for us.


He also Q'd in Chances with another evil side-by-side tunnel requiring him to take the far one (of course) and he nailed it.



The NQ’s were again my fault. My timing sucks and I need to get Cash information faster, but sometimes I just can’t spit out the words. It's a work in progress. His biggest handicap is his handler. Seems like the more we do agility the more there is for me to learn! But it's fun and I enjoy the sport and the camaraderie with other handlers.

Here are some videos. The first one is his Tunnelers run (apparently featuring my big butt at the start). The second one is the Chances run and the third is our Regular run. Enjoy and feel free to comment. Not on my big butt! On my handling.