I have always said Green is Josie's color, she now matches her bands ;-)
We had a private lesson this morning, just as we arrived they guy was mowing....granted I am not sure I could have found my dogs if he had not mowed, but makes for Green Apsos ;-)
Suds was a little sluggish since it was kind of muggy, but he was a good boy.
Josie was stellar, awesome, fast weaves, very nice teeter, some beautiful dog walks and was a speedy little girl !!
Myth, hmmm, not super, but OK... kind of hesitant and a little tentative, very different from the trial where she was more confident and enthusiastic, hmmm.
Ella did not go to the lesson, we are currently working on building teamwork and figuring out what motivates her.
This last weekend Suds & Myth had an agility trial (Josie is still on vacation :-) It was the MAC (Minnesota Agility Club) AKC Trial held at Soccerblast. Indoor air conditioned – thank goodness with temps in the upper 90s and dew points at 80+ most of the day.
The last time I tried to run Suds at this particular location he was so freaked out he tried to jump out of the ring through the Plexiglas….poor boy. He has come along way and has gained a lot of confidence since then, so I decided to see how he would do –with absolutely no expectations except to have fun! He started a wee bit nervous on his first run, wanting to be close to me he skipped a few jumps, no problem lets just keep running, he did and finished faster and happy. His second run was OK. I felt him start to stress about half way through the course, so just ran for the finish. Sunday, he was more relaxed and his first course was better, still skipped a few jumps. I have a friend who was watching and she notice the jumps he skipped were where he was on my right, aha! He is less comfortable on my right, something we are working on. His last run (JWW) he did not skip any jumps, I made sure to really support and not get to far ahead when he was on my right, ended up just a few seconds over course time. He finished the weekend strong and did all his weaves all weekend !!! A couple of Suds pictures from the weekend can be found here; http://greatdanephotos.com/store/index.php?do=photocart&viewImage=255418
Myth, I was not sure if she would totally melt down and leave or what to expect from her. She only had a couple of stress moments, where she would stop in the middle of the course. She started every run fast and happy, did miss her weave entrance in one class and popped out of the weaves in another, but I did not go back to fix it, we just kept running. I also discovered Myth is a rear cross dog...I did her standard run on Sunday with all rear crosses, not by choice, the bar setter was very close to the chute –second obstacle. I wanted Myth to at the very least keep running so I needed to be between her and the bar setter, which meant I would need a rear cross at the next obstacle. It worked so well I did several more in the course, WOW! super speed and fun. Unfortunately, I was a bad handler and did not notice the ring crew/judge forgot to remove the number from the weaves after the course walk, it was placed right between poles 1 & 2. The judge did let me re-attempt them, but it stressed her to much and she didn’t weave.
Here is her Jumpers run from Sunday…or part of it ;-)
Course walks will be a challenge when Myth gets to Excellent….front crosses for Josie, rear crosses for Myth, special handling for Suds...Ella, yet to be determined. I am very excited to see how each develops !
~Melissa “It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning.” Claude Bernard
Once Again a little behind....maybe a lot... Back in April the Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club successfully hosted it's first Agility Trial. Lots of effort from a lot of club members went into the trail. To make this first trial extra special the first dog to earn a MACH title at the trial was a Lhasa Apso ;-) guess who.....Josie earned her MACH2.....
Here is the Jumpers portion of QQ #20
and the Standard portion with our victory lap :-) Had me just a smidge worried she was going right off the table.....
Josie has really turned into an awesome agility partner, and all around Lhasa Apso. Little did I know what I was bringing home in that little parti bundle, what a ride ;-) She went on to earn her Rally Advanced title in May at the Indianhead Kennel Club show in Eau Claire, WI. This also earns her the American Lhasa Apso Club Versatility Certificate....I can't say enough about what a joy she has been, and sometimes a little pistol ;-)
New Title - Rally Advanced with a first place !
The Indianhead Kennel Club show was not only a great show for Josie, but also Ella - who earned her Grand Championship and received a Group 3 place from breeder judge Keke Kahn.... Awesome way to end her Conformation career - onto agility training ;-) Pretty, pretty girl....
And little Myth earned 2 points toward her Champion ship 1 each on Saturday and Sunday.
For fun I did a picture of the two title winners together ;-)
The gang and I headed up to Fargo at the beginning of June for the Fargo-Moorhead Kennel Club shows, Myth was the only one entered - easy show for me.... and she didn't disappoint, not only did she win Best of Winners, it earned her a 3 point major towards her Championship and a Bred By Exhibitor Group 2.
Looking good isn't she?
Next up was the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America's Agility trial, which I was really looking forward to...one of the only outdoor trials held here. I did a lot of prep work for this trial, I really wanted it to be a good experience for both Myth and Suds, thanks to Kris Osojnicki who invited us for the run throughs that were only open to their students and who meet us there one Sunday morning so I could work my dogs, it was a very good trial for the MeLou gang; Josie of course double Q'd each of the 3 days ;-) Suds earned both a Q in jumpers and standard and little Myth is definitely an outdoor girl, she Q'd in all her classes, earning 2 open standard Qs and 2 open jumpers Qs, only needs 1 each for both open titles, she had prefect runs on Saturday, here is her Standard run.
And I got to run my buddy Casey Mae the Toller, she also QQ all 3 days !! yeah !! Her loot ;-) Here are a couple of Casey's runs ;-)
Josie is currently on vacation from agility trials....Myth and Suds have one coming up July 16 & 17. It will be held at Soccerblast - indoor air conditioned facility, not sure how Myth will do since she prefers outdoors ;-)
Mid June Josie and Myth headed up to the Cambridge conformation shows. Myth was very good, she won the point both days and on Saturday was Best Bred By Exhibitor. Josie won breed on Sunday, and picked up a few points toward her Grand Championship if I decide to go for it.
This past weekend Val and I headed to West Bend, WI for the Greater Milwaukee Lhasa Apso Club's specialty. Very nice show grounds, indoor A/C (yeah!) room for the tag along gang to come in, since it was quite warm and humid. Myth showed like a champ, training really does pay off. Saturday in the regular show she was 3rd ;-( and ended up 2nd in the specialty....BUT Sunday.........she took Winner for a 5 point major whoooooo, at least at the moment I think it is a 5 point major could be a 4 point major -don't care either one is super, will have to wait until it is official with AKC before I know for sure. Don't have her win picture, that will come in a couple of weeks but here are her ribbons ;-)
~Melissa Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb~
