This summer flew by in a whirlwind of white fur, yellow tennis balls, grey highway, and green grass. With all that has happened around here is dawned on me I have been negligent in my updates. The puppies have grown and are gone, we have travelled to and from Ontario for Canadian Nationals, and the 2011 flyball season wrapped up with some incredible stories. I guess then I will start at the beginning and finish at the end.
PUPPIES!!!
Our Inseguire Calliope x Dig It Obsession litter turned out to be everything we could have hoped for and more. All the puppies seem to have inherited their mother's drive, their father's charm, and good looks from both sides of the pedigree. The little boy, Inseguire Nate, has gone off to Ontario to live with a wonderful young couple. One of the colorful girls, girl #2 now Inseguire Thalia, moved to BC to live in the mountains and keep her new parents company in their retirement. The biggest girl, Inseguire Strike-A-Pose, went off to the USA and a life of dog shows and couch cuddling and the tiny little girl, Inseguire Lokasenna who was girl #1, has stayed here for further evaluation. Some days I still miss them but thanks to facebook and the internet I often get peeks at how they are doing in their new homes.
JRTCC NATIONALS
When the puppies were just 9 weeks old we travelled to Ontario with the entire white-coated crew to compete at the JRTCC Nationals. Thalia flew off to BC the morning we left and Nate and Striker made the trek with us to be delivered to their new families. Everyone travelled well and the trip was surprisingly quiet for having 9 JRTs in tow. We arrived a couple of days before the show and spent some time with family and getting the puppies socialized with all kinds of new people, places, and things. Saturday was bitter sweet for me. Kiwi racing incredibly well making the finials in both flats and hurdles and placing third and second respectively. Sadie showed very well in the veteran class, and Cali had an absolutely wonderful time on the trailing and locating course. At the end of the day however I had to say good-bye to both Nate and Striker who headed home with their new families to being their new and wonderful lives. It is always difficult for me to say good-bye to our puppies but I can not help but smile when I think of all the fun they will have and the joy they will bring their new people.
Sunday morning was another early one for us as while racing was over for the weekend Mazel Tov had her agility classes. This was her debut in AAC type agility and she did very well. At the end of the day she walked away with a first in gamblers, a second in jumpers, and a third in regular agility - well worth the early morning wake-up call! Over in conformation Kiwi took a solid second in a lovely class of bred by exhibitor bitches. This is always a very competitive class as breeders showcase their very best efforts here and I was very proud to be standing on the other end of the leash from this beautiful little girl. I also had the opportunity to show Robert's brother Quick for Gaye Redpath in the family class and he took both the Stud Dog and Get class and a little while later the Family Championship. Between events I had Sadie and Cali entered in some performance classes, Sadie in Brush Hunt and Cali in Lure Coursing. Sadie always enjoys finding and marking quarry so to keep her happy and enthusiastic we always do one "find a rat" event at trials. She was right on today however and found the rat in short course with a time that was enough to earn her a second place in veterans division of that event! Not bad really for an old hunting dog who never really "schools" those kinds of things. Because Cali was not quite back to form after having her puppies I kept her out of the conformation ring for the weekend and focused her efforts on performance. I had never done anything other than a little trailing and locating with her and some spectacular reinventions of go-to-ground which involved her hitting the end of the tunnel, realizing she is blocked and finding another way to get to the rat. Let's just say once Cali is focused on doing something there is nothing that can stop her and with her diminutive size she is very hard to get a handle on sometimes. After the second chase through the trial grounds while she fiercely guarded her new found rat-in-a-cage we stopped doing that particular event. I had not however really tried her in any running type events. I knew from flyball
Apart form the ribbons and awards we had a great time. I got to see a bunch of my Eastern friends and see a bunch of new and beautiful terriers. I always enjoy the trials but it is so nice to be get to enjoy my friends on Canadian soil every once in a while as well.
The final update of the summer season comes from the world of flyball but so much happened in the 2011 season I think the recap deserves a post of it's own so stay tuned - it will be coming soon!
