On Saturday we went to EAT's Nadac trial at Argus Ranch. I hadn't done any Nadac agility since last November! It was fun to be able to RUN, I love Nadac! I got to run in Elite Regular for the first time. We almost Q'd in Reg. 1 but I was running so fast after the dog walk I took the hoop in front of me instead of the one mom was pointing at, oops. We did good in Reg 2 though! I Q'd & got first place! In Touch n Go we did good, Q'd, 2nd place. We did good in Jumpers & Weavers too! But not in Chances, Mom says we need a LOT of work before we'll ever Q in Chances & that I just don't get it when she says "OUT". Hey, I do too get it! OUT means to go outside & search for cats, duh!!
So all together we came home with 2 firsts, 2 seconds, and 2 NQ's.
Jolie
Next trial - Poodle Club, April 17 & 18, Argus.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Pictures
Hey everyone, check out the pictures from my trip! Mom put them here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/NealandTrish/NorthCarolina#
I hope you enjoy them! Don't forget to read the trip report Mom wrote all about my trip! Scroll down & read Part 1 first!
Happy to be home again,
Jolie
PS Next trial: April 18, EAT NADAC, Argus
http://picasaweb.google.com/NealandTrish/NorthCarolina#
I hope you enjoy them! Don't forget to read the trip report Mom wrote all about my trip! Scroll down & read Part 1 first!
Happy to be home again,
Jolie
PS Next trial: April 18, EAT NADAC, Argus
Nationals Trip Report Part 2 - The Beach!
(Please scroll down & read Part 1 first!)
Monday morning - Ahhhhhh, that is the relief we felt from being able to sleep in! But not for too long - we were anxious to pack up, check out, & head to the beach! After driving south for about 4 hours we reached our destination: Oak Island and "Blockade Runner", our rental cottage for the next four nights. What a perfect location, right on the beach, quiet neighborhood. Perfect for two people and one tired pup to relax after a busy weekend.
Jolie's first reaction to the beach was "let me run!" She wanted to do everything at once - chase the foam from the surf, run after the seagulls, dig holes! It was so much fun. Unfortunately Oak Island beaches have a leash law, but with her flexi leash Jolie had freedom to run back & forth to her heart's desire. We loved the Mid-Atlantic coastline- long straight beach as far as you can see. Plenty of room for Neal to get his daily running workout in and for Trish's walks.
Our flight home was long but uneventful. Daughters Kelsie & Angela (along with papillon Robin) met us at SeaTac to drive us home. Jolie handled the flight home just as well as the flight out, she was a good traveler! One tired pup & two tired humans were very happy to be home again!
Monday morning - Ahhhhhh, that is the relief we felt from being able to sleep in! But not for too long - we were anxious to pack up, check out, & head to the beach! After driving south for about 4 hours we reached our destination: Oak Island and "Blockade Runner", our rental cottage for the next four nights. What a perfect location, right on the beach, quiet neighborhood. Perfect for two people and one tired pup to relax after a busy weekend.
Jolie's first reaction to the beach was "let me run!" She wanted to do everything at once - chase the foam from the surf, run after the seagulls, dig holes! It was so much fun. Unfortunately Oak Island beaches have a leash law, but with her flexi leash Jolie had freedom to run back & forth to her heart's desire. We loved the Mid-Atlantic coastline- long straight beach as far as you can see. Plenty of room for Neal to get his daily running workout in and for Trish's walks.
Monday dinner- what else to do but check out the local BBQ joint. Couldn't come this far without checking out some genuine NC Style BBQ! Eastern NC BBQ that is. Complete with hush puppies & sweet potato fries of course! Yum!
Tuesday - relaxing day. Neal got a good run in on the beach while Jolie & Trish relaxed at the cottage. This day was the best we had weather wise. After the heavy rain & tornado warnings since Saturday we were ready for some sunshine! After a little bit of local sightseeing we headed back to the cottage for a home cooked dinner which included some crab cakes picked up from the local fish market.
Wednesday - Neal had scheduled a Kayak Tour on a local river. Unfortunately they did not have enough people signed up & had to cancel. So instead, we headed towards Wilmington, stopping in Southport for coffee (we really missed Starbucks!) At the local coffee place we met a nice couple with a bulldog named Irma. Jolie did not like Irma very much, even though she was a real sweetheart. The couple noticed right away we were not from "these parts", especially when we mispronounced Concord. It's not emphasized on the first syllable, but on the second. Like ConCORD. Who would have known, they never told us that in Concord!
After a little bit of shopping in Southport we headed to the Orton Plantation. This was a small rice plantation on the Cape Fear River. You can read more about it here: http://www.ortongardens.com/
Next we headed to downtown Wilmington for some more shopping, sightseeing & lunch, then it was time to head back to Oak Island. For dinner we ate at a local seafood restaurant, the fresh fish was delicious.
Thursday - very windy & wet today. Neal had been hoping to kayak but with thunderstorms in the forecast it wouldn't have been safe. Wanting to get our last long walk in on the beach, we bundled up in raincoats & prepared to get wet. Jolie actually didn't mind getting wet, she was having too much fun to notice!
Since Thursday was our last night in North Carolina we had to decide what to do for dinner. After not a lot of thought it was unanimous - we had to get take out from the BBQ place! Not a hard decision at all.
Friday morning we were up early to pack and tidy up the cottage. It was hard to leave, we really loved the beach. Maybe someday we'll be back.
On the way back to Charlotte to catch our flight home we stopped at the Lumber River State Park to eat our lunch. The Lumber River is a true black-water river, lined with Bald Cypress, Tulip Poplars, Loblolly Pines, and thankfully no alligators!
Our flight home was long but uneventful. Daughters Kelsie & Angela (along with papillon Robin) met us at SeaTac to drive us home. Jolie handled the flight home just as well as the flight out, she was a good traveler! One tired pup & two tired humans were very happy to be home again!
Nationals Trip Report Part 1 - The Competition
The long awaited day of Jolie's journey to the AKC National Agility Championships finally arrived! On Wednesday, March 25, Trish, Neal, & Jolie took the red eye flight from Seattle & arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina at 6:30 AM ET Thursday morning. Snuggled comfortably in her sherpa bag, Jolie handled the flight without a peep and no trouble at all. It was almost as if she had done this many times before, but no, this was her first flight. This trip would be a trip of firsts for all of us - first time flying with a dog, first time on the East Coast, first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean, first time attending Nationals (and first time trying Carolina BBQ & fried food!).
After a badly needed nap at our motel in Concord, we headed to the Cabarrus Arena to check-in for Nationals. At check-in while picking up our goody bag & t-shirt, a familiar face walked by - Carlene Groom from WA! Carlene, her husband Robert, and border collie Haley would be our companions throughout the weekend. Being that North Carolina is 2,800 miles from Washington State, few Washington agility competitors would be attending and a familiar face was very welcome.
Friday morning arrived much too quickly. We arrived at the arena at 7:00 am for the general walk through and opening ceremonies. First up - the ISC Jumpers with Weaves (JWW) course. This course had a threadle, something not seen in regular AKC competition. Here is a course map: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/FridayISCJWW.pdf
The threadle is between obstacles #13 & #14. I walked the course thinking "no problem!" In theory, it would be easy to send Jolie over #13, call her between the jumps, and push to #14. Well, as it often happens in agility, things don't always go according to plan and Jolie ended up back jumping #13 (or was it #14, my mind is a blur!) Even though we didn't qualify, it was a nice run for us & good warm up.
Next up was ISC Standard in the smaller arena. This arena held rings 3 & 4 as well as the crating stalls. Room was tight, there was no seating and the room for chairs was very limited. Nevertheless excitement in this area was high as dogs & handlers crowded around preparing to run or to watch their fellow competitors. The ISC standard course was very nice. It had a serpentine but thankfully no threadle! Here is the course map:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/FridayISCStandard.pdf
I chose to handle the serpentine (#'s 10, 11 & 12) by sending Jolie to 9, pulling to the far side of 10, pushing to 11, then pulling between 12 & 11 to set up a straight line to the dogwalk. It worked! We got the rest of the course and our first qualifying run.
We were still recovering from the red eye flight so didn't stay to watch the Northwest Region team win the State Team Finals. We were excited to learn later that we had won, it was the first State Team win for Washington State!
Saturday morning found us back at the arena at 7:00 am for our first walk -thru: the standard course. This was a very nice flowing course:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sat_NAC_Rd_1_Standard.pdf
The only possible trouble spots were the off course potential of the tunnel and the line from the dogwalk to the chute. I chose to not take any chances with the tunnel & front crossed after #13 which worked very well. The line to the chute was a challenge - many chose to rear cross both #17 and the chute. My plan was to run on the inside and push to the chute. Well things didn't go according to plan, Jolie was driving too fast (or was I driving too slow!) so I ended up doing the rear crosses. Jolie "almost" didn't enter the chute, it was very close, whew! This was our 2nd qualifying run of the weekend and first run that counted in the championship - we got 42nd place (out of 113).
Our next run, JWW, wasn't until much later in the afternoon. The long wait gave us plenty of time to take in all the excitement of watching the other dogs run, as well as browse the vendors. It was fun seeing all the neat stuff & choose which souvenir I would take home. Jolie spent most of the time resting in her crate. We had decided to not get a stall (they were a little pricey!) so our set up was in the general crating area. Our space was in a quiet place and was not crowded at all. A nice place for both dogs & handlers to relax and catch quick naps.
Finally it was time to walk the JWW course. Here is a map:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sat_NAC_Rd_2_JWW.pdf
Count them: this course has a total of 6 possible front crosses! That is how I chose to handle it: front crosses after #'s 2, 5, 8, 11, 15, and 17. It worked very well, except for the fact that my mind went blank after 12 & Jolie got a refusal at 13, sigh! Other than that it was a very nice run.
Done for the day we were too tired to go out to eat so ordered pizza delivery for dinner that night.
Sunday was our earliest day, we needed to be at the arena before 7:00 am for the first walk thru. Our third & final course was the hybrid course - a combination of JWW and Standard:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sun_NAC_Rd_3_Hybrid.pdf
This was a simple and FUN course - no major trouble spots & plenty of flow for speed. I was anxious to run Jolie on this course, I knew she would do well. The 8" class was the first class of the day in ring 3, we were the 99th dog to run. After our wait & warm up, our turn was up. At the line I had just taken Jolie's leash off when the fire alarm started blaring! We had to quickly evacuate the building. After a few minutes the fire department showed up - some one in the food place had burned some french fries. After checking things out & declaring the buildings safe, the firemen allowed us to all march back in. The nice judge was concerned about Jolie's reaction to the alarm, but Jolie had not been bothered a bit by the bothersome & annoying noise. She ran the course perfectly with enough speed to get 29th place. We were very happy! This put us in 54th place overall (out of 113), not bad with only qualifying in two of the three runs that counted in the standings.
Our work finished, the fun part of watching the Challenger Round & Finals was all that was left! It was incredibly exciting to watch the best dogs & handlers in the nation. I think the most exciting part was the difficult dogwalk/tunnel discrimination in the finals:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sun_NAC_Rd_5_Finals.pdf
As we watched dog after dog take the wrong course tunnel, the groans from the crowd grew louder & louder. Few dogs got this part, but when one did, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Our favorite finals competitor by far was Masher the papillon, handled by Daneen Fox. Masher had swept the 8" class and we were rooting for him in the finals. Unfortunately the tunnel was too tempting for Mashy & Daneen couldn't call him off. The winner of the 8" class (for the 2nd year in a row) was Daneka Hedges & papillon Allie, an awesome Jr Handler team.
You can watch the six winners of the finals here:
http://www.agilityvision.com/6-winners-video-2009-akc-national-agility-championship
After dinner at Applebee's with Carlene & Robert, it was back to the motel for our last night in Concord. What an exciting weekend it had been. Overall I was very pleased with our performance. I was so proud of Jolie for handling the long trip & long weekend so well. She did awesome & didn't show any signs of fatique or stress. What a wonderful girl she is!
Next: Scroll back UP to read Part 2, The BEACH!
After a badly needed nap at our motel in Concord, we headed to the Cabarrus Arena to check-in for Nationals. At check-in while picking up our goody bag & t-shirt, a familiar face walked by - Carlene Groom from WA! Carlene, her husband Robert, and border collie Haley would be our companions throughout the weekend. Being that North Carolina is 2,800 miles from Washington State, few Washington agility competitors would be attending and a familiar face was very welcome.
Friday morning arrived much too quickly. We arrived at the arena at 7:00 am for the general walk through and opening ceremonies. First up - the ISC Jumpers with Weaves (JWW) course. This course had a threadle, something not seen in regular AKC competition. Here is a course map: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/FridayISCJWW.pdf
The threadle is between obstacles #13 & #14. I walked the course thinking "no problem!" In theory, it would be easy to send Jolie over #13, call her between the jumps, and push to #14. Well, as it often happens in agility, things don't always go according to plan and Jolie ended up back jumping #13 (or was it #14, my mind is a blur!) Even though we didn't qualify, it was a nice run for us & good warm up.
Next up was ISC Standard in the smaller arena. This arena held rings 3 & 4 as well as the crating stalls. Room was tight, there was no seating and the room for chairs was very limited. Nevertheless excitement in this area was high as dogs & handlers crowded around preparing to run or to watch their fellow competitors. The ISC standard course was very nice. It had a serpentine but thankfully no threadle! Here is the course map:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/FridayISCStandard.pdf
I chose to handle the serpentine (#'s 10, 11 & 12) by sending Jolie to 9, pulling to the far side of 10, pushing to 11, then pulling between 12 & 11 to set up a straight line to the dogwalk. It worked! We got the rest of the course and our first qualifying run.
We were still recovering from the red eye flight so didn't stay to watch the Northwest Region team win the State Team Finals. We were excited to learn later that we had won, it was the first State Team win for Washington State!
Saturday morning found us back at the arena at 7:00 am for our first walk -thru: the standard course. This was a very nice flowing course:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sat_NAC_Rd_1_Standard.pdf
The only possible trouble spots were the off course potential of the tunnel and the line from the dogwalk to the chute. I chose to not take any chances with the tunnel & front crossed after #13 which worked very well. The line to the chute was a challenge - many chose to rear cross both #17 and the chute. My plan was to run on the inside and push to the chute. Well things didn't go according to plan, Jolie was driving too fast (or was I driving too slow!) so I ended up doing the rear crosses. Jolie "almost" didn't enter the chute, it was very close, whew! This was our 2nd qualifying run of the weekend and first run that counted in the championship - we got 42nd place (out of 113).
Our next run, JWW, wasn't until much later in the afternoon. The long wait gave us plenty of time to take in all the excitement of watching the other dogs run, as well as browse the vendors. It was fun seeing all the neat stuff & choose which souvenir I would take home. Jolie spent most of the time resting in her crate. We had decided to not get a stall (they were a little pricey!) so our set up was in the general crating area. Our space was in a quiet place and was not crowded at all. A nice place for both dogs & handlers to relax and catch quick naps.
Finally it was time to walk the JWW course. Here is a map:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sat_NAC_Rd_2_JWW.pdf
Count them: this course has a total of 6 possible front crosses! That is how I chose to handle it: front crosses after #'s 2, 5, 8, 11, 15, and 17. It worked very well, except for the fact that my mind went blank after 12 & Jolie got a refusal at 13, sigh! Other than that it was a very nice run.
Done for the day we were too tired to go out to eat so ordered pizza delivery for dinner that night.
Sunday was our earliest day, we needed to be at the arena before 7:00 am for the first walk thru. Our third & final course was the hybrid course - a combination of JWW and Standard:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sun_NAC_Rd_3_Hybrid.pdf
This was a simple and FUN course - no major trouble spots & plenty of flow for speed. I was anxious to run Jolie on this course, I knew she would do well. The 8" class was the first class of the day in ring 3, we were the 99th dog to run. After our wait & warm up, our turn was up. At the line I had just taken Jolie's leash off when the fire alarm started blaring! We had to quickly evacuate the building. After a few minutes the fire department showed up - some one in the food place had burned some french fries. After checking things out & declaring the buildings safe, the firemen allowed us to all march back in. The nice judge was concerned about Jolie's reaction to the alarm, but Jolie had not been bothered a bit by the bothersome & annoying noise. She ran the course perfectly with enough speed to get 29th place. We were very happy! This put us in 54th place overall (out of 113), not bad with only qualifying in two of the three runs that counted in the standings.
Our work finished, the fun part of watching the Challenger Round & Finals was all that was left! It was incredibly exciting to watch the best dogs & handlers in the nation. I think the most exciting part was the difficult dogwalk/tunnel discrimination in the finals:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/national_agility_championship/2009/courses/Sun_NAC_Rd_5_Finals.pdf
As we watched dog after dog take the wrong course tunnel, the groans from the crowd grew louder & louder. Few dogs got this part, but when one did, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Our favorite finals competitor by far was Masher the papillon, handled by Daneen Fox. Masher had swept the 8" class and we were rooting for him in the finals. Unfortunately the tunnel was too tempting for Mashy & Daneen couldn't call him off. The winner of the 8" class (for the 2nd year in a row) was Daneka Hedges & papillon Allie, an awesome Jr Handler team.
You can watch the six winners of the finals here:
http://www.agilityvision.com/6-winners-video-2009-akc-national-agility-championship
After dinner at Applebee's with Carlene & Robert, it was back to the motel for our last night in Concord. What an exciting weekend it had been. Overall I was very pleased with our performance. I was so proud of Jolie for handling the long trip & long weekend so well. She did awesome & didn't show any signs of fatique or stress. What a wonderful girl she is!
Next: Scroll back UP to read Part 2, The BEACH!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
I'm HOME!!
I'm HOME!!!!! I got to ride on an airplane & do agility three days in a row in this HUGE arena & go to the beach & chase the seagulls & do a LOT of fun stuff!! I am SO TIRED!!! I think I am going to let Mom write all about our trip because so much stuff happened & I'd rather go sniff around the yard & chase the cats away. So stay tuned, Mom will write as soon as she unpacks my stuff & does a mountain of laundry.
Jolie, seasoned traveler
Jolie, seasoned traveler
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