Jada Gets Her First AKC Agility Title

We just did our first 3-day AKC Agility trial a couple of weeks ago. Lots of fun, but not sure I like this "half day" thing. We're so used to getting there early and staying ALL day long!

We didn't have to be there until noon...which mean Joni had me there at 10am. Not sure what she thinks she's going to miss out on here. I had to stay outside in a crate in a tent with a bunch of loud Shelties. Not sure I liked that part of it. Joni kept checking on me and leaving me in there. I was a little worried she forgot me sometimes, but I could see the car if I looked thru a blowing tent piece...and it never moved, so that made me feel better!

So I went in there the first day, Friday, with a Novice Standard and a Novice Jumpers leg under my.....collar (I never did like belts). I was hoping to knock out this Novice stuff in the first two days. But that was not to be.....

Friday started out with Jumpers, which I did perfect on and got a first place. Two legs down and one to go!
Then we did Standard. Sigh. I guess I'll take a little itty bitty piece of blame for this, but only a VERY little bit. Most of it I'm putting all on Joni! I have a problem with laying down on the pause table....always have. I'll sit...I'll stand....hell, I'll do backflips, but I don't like to lay down. I just never have liked laying down on command ANYWHERE. There just isn't a point to this. Of course, naturally, I'll do it for FOOD! If I'm going to go to all this trouble to lay down there better be a good reward for me in it. So Joni was worried about if the judge was going to make me lay down on the table. She had me practicing this all week. I did it every time for her, but after awhile I was having fun messing with her head. I'd lay down and roll over. Boy, that really got her more worried! No way I'd do that on a table, but I sure had her thinking I might!

So it turns out the table is a "down". Joni was convinced she could fake me out and I'd think she was going to have a treat for me. I heard her tell a few people this. She didn't even try to whisper it so I wouldn't hear - just blurted it out like I was the village idiot that had no idea what she was saying. So I went in this knowing the big fake-out was coming. We started our run.....and I ran perfectly. We got to the table and Joni said "Down" and I sat....and looked at her. She pretended she had something in her hands and said it again. And I just looked at her. It was hard to keep from bursting out laughing at the panic I know she was feeling. Finally I took pity on her and laid down SLOWLY on the 3rd request. The judge counted down....5 and 4 and 3 and 2 and 1 -- .and Joni took off! What the hell! She's supposed to wait until the judge said "...and GO!" I knew this was bad...but what was I supposed to do? So I followed her. I saw the judge make a motion with her arms out of the corner of my eye and I knew it wasn't good. I was right. Joni screwed up. Uh oh...do you think I played with her mind too much on this one? Maybe. That's why I'll only take a teeny tiny bit of the blame for that. She gets 99.9% of that screwup, though! Now Joni claims she doesn't know why she left - she claims her brain wanted to stay but her legs just took off. Rolling my eyes here....whatever. Even "I" have more control than that!

Later that night we did FAST. I blew this the last time since I have to work away from Joni and I jumped over the contact. I confess I was feeling a wee bit sorry for her for her big screwup earlier, so I was determined that I'd make her feel better by astonishing her with doing this correctly. Which I did...no biggie. We only needed 50 points in this 35 second run, and we got 73 points. The send part with the line that Joni couldn't cross was that I had to go over an A-Frame, then into a tunnel, which I did perfectly. We did only get 2nd place since this zippy little Sheltie got 76 points, but he took 7 seconds longer than us also! But that's okay.

Saturday we went over early also so that I could get my two height measurements by two AKC reps that were there. They measured me shorter than I thought I was....16.5". ??? And here I thought I was 17" tall. This will take some getting used to now. I'm trying hard not to get that "short dog" syndrome now.

I got my last Jumpers leg today! And my first AKC agility title - my NAJ title. I got first place - and had the fastest time of all the 23 Novice dogs! Open Jumpers here I come!

Standard was next. I was relieved to see that the table was a "Sit" - Joni certainly doesn't need the pressure on this one. Maybe today we'd get our 2nd leg, and could get our 3rd leg tomorrow - sounds like a plan! And we did it perfectly. I got 1st place (and a perfect score) with a time of 40 seconds! The next fastest time in the entire class of 23 Novice dogs was 50 seconds! Not too shabby! One more leg tomorrow and we can get that Standard title outa the way!

Sunday we did our first Open Jumpers, and I did another great job on it. We got 2nd place in this division - only 8/10 of a second slower than a Sheltie. One open leg down....

Then came what I hoped was our final novice standard leg. No pressure here! We started off great.....I saw the dog ramp and launched myself onto it. Usually I take the dog ramp at a fast speed, with Joni running alongside me. But today I was so excited about my new title - not to mention my impending NEW title - and had SO much energy that I figured I could go faster! I was a few feet ahead of Joni now when I heard her saying something to me. What? Why are you talking to me now - I'm concentrating on running! It was so hard to hear her with the wind rushing thru my fur and my ears (think of hanging your head outside a moving car!). Now we have a disagreement here....I could just swear I heard her say, "Jada! Go faster! And jump over that yellow piece at the end of the dog ramp!!!" - so I did. Now Joni insists that she said "Jada! Slow down! Wait!".
Sigh. I guess after thinking about it there's no earthly reason she'd be telling me to jump over the contact now, is there. Sigh. Fine. I guess I'll take the blame for this one. [hanging my head in shame]. The rest of our run was flawless...Joni didn't even screw up on the table countdown.

So I guess I'll need another weekend to get out of this Novice stuff. Hopefully I don't drag it out too long or Joni will get her wish and we WILL be there all day long....in Excellent Jumpers and in Novice or Open Standard! Ugh!

Overall I guess I like this AKC stuff okay. It's fun....but not as much fun as CPE games are. We decided we like the strategy and thinking that goes into the CPE games more. It's alot of fun to make up a good course for enough points, or to have to make decisions out there - not ONLY just running 17-18 obstacles in a precise order....
But we'll keep doing this AKC stuff (can't let Ty get ALL the AKC titles in the family!).

We've got our CPE trial coming up this weekend! I can't wait!

Two More Trials! Another CPE Trial and our first AKC Trial!

Hey, Jada here again. It's been busy around here......we got a new computer and all that entails with moving stuff over, etc. So Joni hasn't let me get on the new computer for awhile. Yeah yeah....there's an old computer now that works perfectly well for me...but no, she won't let me use that one!

We've had a lots of classes and several agility trials since I last wrote. Our August CPE trial was great - another 3-day trial. Boy, I'm loving those 3-day outings! We did pretty well.....we Q'd in 11 of our 12 runs! The only one was didn't qualify in was......big surprise!.....Jackpot! Yep, Jackpot is becoming our nemesis! What's with these Traditional Jackpots? I just don't like doing stuff that far away from Joni! But she keeps trying to make me! But I really really did try! But this was a hard one! I had to run into a tunnel with Joni way way behind me....then come out and go into weave poles. I don't think so! I came right back to Joni and didn't leave again! But I tried to make up for it by doing everything else really great over the weekend.

Next trial we're in Level 5 Jumpers - and Level 4 for Standard, Full House, Snooker, Colors and we're still in Level 3 for Wildcard and Jackpot.

My official stats are out of my 61 CPE runs, I have 53 Q's! I don't think that's too shabby for 7 weekends!
My 8 NQ's have been three in traditional jackpots, two from our first few Snookers, and two of our wildcards early on. Oh....and that stupid standard that I screwed up badly...but I'd rather not talk about that one!

A few weeks ago we did our first AKC Agility trial! We entered the one-day agility trial for the Chesapeake Bay Retrievers National Specialty. First thing I noticed is that it was not an event we needed to get up in the wee hours of the night to get ready for! We didn't have to be there until almost noon! This is great! Sleeping in - whoo hoo! This was at a different place than I was used to - a club called Queen City Dog Training Club. We visited there a couple of weeks before to do a few run-thru's so I could get used to a different building and equipment. Apparently this could have been some sort of traumatic event for me....but I could really care less! Show me some tunnels and jumps and I'll do it anywhere! Anyway, this place is different for me because they don't have indoor crating. What? You mean I have to stay...outside? Apparently so. I'm told they usually have a tent, but didn't today...so I spent lots of time in the car since it was so crowded inside. That was a bit weird for me!

Once we started, though, it was just another agility trial! First we did FAST - which, unfortunately, is exactly like a Traditional Jackpot except it's only 30 seconds long or so. Great. No pressure here! Joni insists this was a fairly easy section where I had to do it by myself, and I suppose it was....all I had to do was go into a tunnel then over an A-frame - no biggie. Except I blew it. I went over the A-frame and saw that Joni was about 6 feet away and looking like she might bolt suddenly and leave me, so I cut the corner a bit on the bottom contact and ran after her. Why can't I remember that she isn't really going to leave me there? !@#$%.

After that was Standard - which we got first place in and a Q. Cool! Then we did Jumpers with Weaves - another 1st place and a Q. Then that was it. Seriously....that was it! We were done already? Feels like we were just getting started!

So...looks like we're going to keep doing this AKC stuff. I wish we weren't doing FAST again, but Joni has endless faith in me and signed us up for it again. Sigh. Will she ever learn?

Our next AKC trial is in two weeks - a 3-day trial. Looks like it's an afternoon event again since we just started and are in Novice...which may be a good reason to never get into Excellent, right? Shhh....don't tell Joni that!

I hear that Joni is doing this because she wants to take me on a long road trip next spring for a trial. Yep - she wants to take me to the Keeshond National Specialty in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. I haven't a clue what that really means...but it sounds fun! And this is an outdoor trial! Wow - will be very cool to do all this stuff outside in the fresh air.....unless it's raining. That could be bad then! I hate getting rain in my eyes! I can barely walk outside when it rains....everyone laughs at me. I squint my eyes closed really really tight - every time I try opening them I get water in them, so I just squeeze them shut again and walk really really slowly. Now this could make for an interesting run, dontcha think?

November is going to be a busy month for us! We're doing the AKC trial one weekend; Tyssen has 4 UKC shows one weekend, and then a CPE trial another weekend. Then a few short weeks after that there's our 4-day CPE trial! I can't wait!

I'm hoping Joni will get those video's of me up soon! I keep bugging her about this...maybe soon!

Well...guess I'm outa here.....wait...what? Oh, hold on. Ty wants to say a few things!

Hey, Ty here! Yeah, you heard Jada - I have my OWN shows coming up here soon! AND I get to spend 4 days at Judy's (where I was born and where my mom and sister live) being pampered while they're at the AKC trial! She wants to use the time to "work me"...which I think is a good thing. I don't really need the "work" since I'm so damn good, but I'll let her think I do. Makes her feel useful....but that's just our secret, okay?

I keep waiting to be entered into an agility, but so far Joni seems to think I need to wait more. Personally, I think Jada is telling her this. She's afraid I'll show her up maybe? Yeah...that has to be it. What else could it be? Joni thinks I'm getting close, though.....the only thing she keeps working on alot with me is those crazy weave poles. Now what's the purpose of these things? They make no sense. In the real world I can see the purpose needing to jump, or go over a ramp - hell, even going thru a tunnel - but there is absolutely NO reason weaves have a functional reason for existing! But.....I'm beginning to get it. Joni told me she can tell the light bulb has gone off for me...but that I have a dimmer switch. I'm not sure what that really means....but I just nod like I do and that makes her happy. But I guess I can keep working with them.

She also thinks I am way too social. She doesn't want to pay for an entry only to get me out there and let me try to meet every single dog on the other side of the ring. Hey - since when is being nice and polite a crime! Sheesh. So I get a "fake" trial - a show-n-go coming up here. Supposedly it'll be "good practice" for me. We'll see.


Oh yeah....also have to mention our latest toy for agility trials! Very cool! Joni got tired of coming up with 16 D batteries each day for our two battery operated fans, so she went and got a "power pack". She got a DC splitter so she can plug in both fans - and they both run on high for 12+ hours in our crate. They might go longer, but she unplugged them after 12 hours of testing them, so who knows how long they'll last. Each day after the trial she just takes the power pack home and recharges it all night - and it's good to go all day the next day with the fans. Pretty cool! She's turned our little home-away-from home into a nice cool place!
Here's the view from the inside and top!

Power pack: Schumacher Portable Power PP-2200 , 22 amp hour / 400 watt, Built in inverter and 12 volt outlet