Big Dogs here I come.....

Last Saturday Mom took Rip and I to Kingston for the day to play in the Morningstar's AAC Agility Trial. The day started off with Rip playing Starters Standard. I was in the car so I didn't see (and Mom didn't have the camera out for it to be taped) but from what I hear, his run was amazing. He did everything perfect but fell off the table because he was going too fast. Mom was super thrilled with him. His next run was Snooker but Mom was too fast turning and made Rip knock down a red bar and couldn't call Rip off before he took the teeter. Oh well, it's a stupid game! The final run for Rip was the Steeplechase and that was my first run also.

I got to go first and was doing great until I came to the weave poles. They didn't have them taped down or attached so I pushed poles 6 & 7 together so I got to start the run over again! I still hit the poles pretty hard so I wasn't too sure about going through them so it took me a couple of times. I then had 2 jumps down because Mom took off running and I had to catch up!

Ripley's run was pretty nice. Mom needs to learn to check up before the weaves and still needs to work proofing Rip's weaves because he left them before he was done to catch up to Mom. She was very happy with his performance in his first "big dog" class :)

My next run was Masters Standard which I got to run For Exibition Only (FEO). There weren't any Advanced runs and Mom thought I deserved to play a bit, isn't she the best?!? I did pretty good on the run overall. I had a bar down but mom rotated too quick and then I missed the teeter because the chute was so short (something we need to work on) and then she didn't call me out of the tunnel so I took my favorite obstacle - the tire!! I got the weaves and my contacts were good so overall she was very happy with my first Masters Standard run.

The final run of the day was Advanced Jumpers! It looked like an easy course on paper but when my Mom was walking it she realized there were a few traps for me. I was a very good boy and ran fast and clean to earn a first place and my third Q!!! Can you believe it? I am moving up to Masters Jumpers with the big dogs :) Mom is so thrilled that I got 3 Q's in just 2 weekends...I love making Mom happy.

We are now taking a break from trialing and will be back at the end of January. The next few months will be working on so many things. Mom says we need to work on start lines, weaves, contacts, jump grids....does that leave anything out?!? :)

It's been FOREVER!!

I can't believe the last time I posted was back in May! Wow, does time fly!! So much has happened in my life since the last time I posted. Back in mid-August we moved east to Ottawa because my mom got a new job in the Ottawa office. I got to stay in a hotel for a month and then I went to stay with my Auntie Pam (who owns Rip's mom Flare) for another 2 months while we waited to move into the house. Mom said the hotel was just too small for Ripley, Abbey and I so I went to learn a few doggie manners and a bit of flyball...it was fun!

I also had my 4th birthday on October 6th and was very happy to see my mom, dad and grandma Tiff who brought me a muffin (though they did make me wear a hat this year! OMG)

We moved into our new house just in time for Halloween. It is a pretty nice house with a good sized backyard to play a bit of agility and disc :) The neighbours like to stop and watch me do the weavers as we have a nice wrough iron fence along the side street. My dad keeps saying he is going to charge admission next summer if people stop all the time ;)

Here I am in my new Ottawa Sens jersey sitting with Evil Pumpkin Man! My mom didn't understand why I needed to be so far away from him...did you see those teeth?!?!

I have started back with my agility training again now that we are in the new home. Mom and I are taking lessons from Grandma Tiff! I am very happy about that as she is a superstar agility handler and is helping mom to learn where she should be. I am being such a good boy these days when it comes to agility.

Mom and Dad took Rip and I to a big agility and disc trial this past weekend. It was in Montreal and is called the Big O. Wow, was the facility ever amazing! They say that almost 50,000 people visit the Big O to watch and look at all the things going on. Saturday I didn't have anything on in the morning and my first thing was Advanced Disc Dog. I didn't even know we were doing agility but I had a great time playing disc. The first two throws I had trouble tracking the disc but caught every one after that...wowing the crowd I'm sure ;)

Look at all those people watching me catch my disc. I put on some good form so they would be impressed!!

After we were done disc, mom and dad packed us up to head to the hotel for the afternoon to relax. Of course Rip and I thought the day was over so we were completely chilling out and were very surprised when we got packed back up and headed back to Olympic Stadium. Guess what!?! - I got to play agility!! I know, I was soo suprised too and so excited that after all these months, mom was letting me play again. I was a VERY good boy, really listening to my mom and stopping on all my contacts, got my weaves and kept up all the jumps to win the class and get my very first Advanced Standard Q!!!

There were lots of people in the stands (you can't see the actual crowd in this pic) that were completely wow'd with my speed :)

My next class was Advanced Jumpers and there were lots of tunnel traps that Mom was a bit worried about. I was a very good boy again and kept my listening ears on so when she called, I really did listen! It is kinda fun to run the course the way she wants and then have her sooo excited at the end. Man did I ever get lots of cuddles and she kept saying I was a "superstar!" I am not really sure what that means, but both her and dad seemed very excited. So as you can guess...I got another Q in Jumpers too. (I have never gone 2 for 2 before :))

We all went back to the hotel and had a great night's sleep. It was a cool room because it had a second double bed that Rip & I shared...we really need to have a double bed put into mom & dad's room at home for us boys :)

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to head back to the trial. Ripley got to go first in his Starters Standard run while I waited in the crating area. I didn't get to see but mom & dad came back so thrilled with him (I hate sharing the attention but I am proud of the little guy) He got his first Standard Q! I better get moving...don't want him to catch up to me!

Rip thinks he is so cool that he only needs 1 foot to weave! What a show off!!

I got to go next and had a really good round. I did knock a bar after coming out of a tunnel but didn't have any off courses and mom was thrilled with me :) Ripley's next round was Jumpers but mom said she saw smoke coming out his ears! I guess his little boy brain went "poof" and he knocked down tons of bars :( I remember those baby days of mine...poor guy ;) I finished off our agility runs with an Advanced Jumpers run but again knocked down a bar. Mom was still thrilled as I went 4 runs without 1 off course and she said there were lots of hard choices for me and I took all the right ones. I am glad that I made her proud!

We finished off the weekend with a final round of disc. I was a very good boy catching all but 1 of the throws dad gave me. I didn't finish in the top 3 but had lots of fun.

Look at the concentration on both dad's and my face's! And then look at the spectators...told you I wow'd them :)

Ripley had 2 great rounds (show off) and came away with the 1st place, his Advanced Disc Dog (ADD) title and his Disc Dog Excellence (DDX) title!

Rip showing off while he catches a disc in front of a packed crowd.

So anyway...I probably missed out a tons of fun things that I have done but there is so much...I can't remember it all. I will try to keep this up-to-date with what Rip and I are doing this winter. Tomorrow we are in Kingston at our final agility trial of the year. Hopefully the snow comes soon and we can start doing some sledding but for now, we will just be training and playing...what a dog's life :)

Bronze!!

I have been one busy red boy lately, really trying hard to get ready for the Ontario Regionals that are in 2 weeks time! Mom and I are excited because we have started to do better as a team and if she just could give me a bit better direction, we may do ok :)

We spent last weekend in Pickering at K9 Klubhouse's AAC Agility Trial. I wasn't too happy on Saturday as there was lots of thunder and lightning which I am quite afraid of :( Luckily during my runs it would clear up so I got to run all of them. I had some nice runs according to my mom and I rocked the Masters Gamble coming away with a Q, 1st place and a best run. Sunday I was a good boy with a couple of off course tunnels but otherwise did well. I also got my 10th Masters Gamble Q earning my Bronze title in Gamble! :)) Mom teases that this will be my only bronze ever but really I am starting to grow up and one day will be a little more consistent.

Ripley (who doesn't have his own blog so I am sharing mine with him) also got to run on the weekend. He was in 2 Starter Gambles and 1 Starter Jumpers. He got both Gamble's but only 1 Q as his other one he didn't get enough points by one. His Jumpers was really nice but mom didn't trust his tunnel entry so she pulled him off it for a refusal. He ran awesome otherwise keeping all the bars up :)

Dad took some good photo's of us:

Here is one of me tucking my feet really tight to not hit the bar :)

Mom likes this one of me driving the end of the teeter

Here is one of Ripley just clearing the spread jump!

Then last Wed my mom packed Rip & I up and went to Andrea's house. From there they packed us in her van with my half-sis Phe and headed to Alberton and Susan Garrett's Say Yes. We did double box for a whole day and I was a pretty good boy! Susan said that I have improved quite a bit from last year and even my mom had some good timing :) Susan did say that both Rip's and my start line were "shit" but I am pretty sure that mine was much better than Rip's ;)

Tomorrow we are heading to Purple Hill for a day of agility at Spot On. I am entered in 2 standard courses and 1 jumpers. Ripley in 1 jumpers. Maybe I will be a good boy, listen to my mom, keep my feet up and give her good contacts...what do you think? nah...how boring would that be?!?! I will let you know how it goes :)

2009 Canadian Agility Team Fundraiser

Exciting news!! My mom, TNT Rio and my Grandma Tiff (Tiffany Salmon) have been selected to represent Canada at the FCI World Agility Championships this September in Austria!! Can you imagine?? This will be their second year competing for Canada and last year they ROCKED! In order to help Mom and her teammates get to Austria, I am please to announce the Canada Flag Tag fundraiser that I (since it is my school ;) no matter what those humans say) am doing, lol.

Show off your Canadian pride here at home and support the team by purchasing your very own Canada Flag ID Tag and lets face it all dogs look good in red and white! Tags are only $15 and include 3 lines of engraving and free shipping. Don’t have a dog and still want to support our team – these tags make great key chains and zipper pulls too! Quantities are limited so don’t delay order today!

Click on the link below to place your order.
http://www.overtheedgeagility.com/2009CAT.html

Go Canada Go!!! Go MOM Go!!!

Happy New Year!

I know, I am a little late with my "happy new year!" sentiment :) I have been one very busy red border collie this month, with little time to get on the computer.

We had a great Christmas getting lots of special treats and toys. We had a very quiet New Years Eve...going to bed well before mid-night so that we could get up very early on the 1st to head to Acton Agility's AAC Trial in Flamborough. I had a very good day running in Steeplechase, an Advanced Standard and an Advanced Jumpers. I had a couple of little errors in the first two runs but did really well in Advanced Jumpers and came away with my 1st Q of the year! My mom and dad were very happy with me...maybe there is hope for me ;)

Here is the video of my run (mom spent the whole course telling me "easy, easy" and didn't tell me where I was going in the end because she was afraid I would try and bounce the last two jumps):



What a way to start off 2009! I have been working very hard at being a good boy in agility. Our goal (Mom's and mine) is to qualify for Nationals this year. We work 2-3 times a week at the barn, work at least 3 nights a week at home and have been taking some private lessons with Susan Garrett. Wish me luck to keep my red border collie brain about me in the agility ring this year :)

On to another sport...right after the new year my Mom was looking on ebay and found us the most coolest present EVER!! She bought us a dog sled! Can you imagine? It arrived just 2 days later and Mom ordered us our new harnesses from Quebec which arrived the week later. Last weekend my Mom, my Aunt Franca and my Aunt Sue (they are TNT mom's too) took us all out for our first time sledding together. We had a complete blast. The next day my Dad, Mom, Rip and I went out again. Here is a pic mom took of Ripley and I pulling Dad :) Don't we look like pro's already? We run right to Mom and then stop ;) For some reason they want us to go past but I just don't get it.


Man is it ever hard work pulling our human's around...it was FUN to roll in the snow and make snow-dog-angels :) Plus the snow was very tasty!


We headed out again today for another day of sledding. We are really starting to get the idea and work as a team...we can pull Dad really fast :) It was snowing like crazy so Dad had to keep his eyes closed ;) lol.


Mom was taking all the pictures but Dad called her a chicken when he asked if she wanted to take a ride and she said no. Of course she couldn't allow him to call her a chicken so she hoped on! She actually loves it but thought Dad would be jealous if she always did the sledding ;)

Don't we look like a great sleddog team? I was pooped after all that running and spent the afternoon snoozing on the couch. I thought I better write in my blog before I head off to bed :)

Fun Day!!!

I had a blast yesterday at the Acton Agility trial! I started my day off with a Masters Gamble course (even though Mom said I would never do a gamble except for Regionals/Nationals) She said it was only because there was a way to run a course, get me on all the contacts and test my weave entry. I was a pretty good boy, held my start line, kept almost all the jumps up, nailed all my contacts and my weave entry! I ended up in 2nd place (because we didn't try for the mini's I would have for sure got) and with a Q. Mom was very proud of me and I got tons of compliments on how good I was :)

Masters Gamble run:


My next course was the Advanced Standard. I kept my start line again, but I had a bar down on the first line when Mom rear crossed and told me tunnel. There was such a long line from the tunnel to the frame that I was flying and missed my frame contact! :( woops!! Then there was the real wobbly table that I just didn't want to lay down or stay on. I really wanted to go to the weaves. I finished off pretty good with a great weave entry and a nice dogwalk contact. Overall Mom was thrilled with my course as she said this was a huge step in the right direction.

Advanced Standard run:

My Mom then added me FEO to the 2 Masters Standard runs. It was mostly a training opportunity for us as Mom worked my contacts etc. I had a couple of bars but had one really nice weave entry :)

My final run of the day was Advanced Jumpers. Mom lost her mind and forgot to front cross so sent me into the wrong tunnel :( I then knocked a bar down on a rear cross (is there a pattern here?!) but finished off really nicely. Andrea video taped all my runs for the day (THANKS Auntie Andrea!!) but stopped the jumpers in the middle. Here is the second half of the run that was the nicest ;)

The TEST.....

So Mom has been talking to me a lot this week about this coming Friday, calling it the "test"! We are signed up for an Advanced Standard and an Advanced Jumpers course at Acton's AAC Trial this Friday...I can't wait. Mom and I have been working very hard these days on my weave entries, jumping, contacts, and handling. She has been making me do serps, threadles, 180's, 270's and push through's and I have to say that I am getting pretty good at them. Mom and Andrea even set up the FCI Large Dog Agility course last night and I did pretty darn good. My weave entries were awesome, I kept the jumps up for the most part and had good contacts. I needed some help with the 270 and the push through but after breaking it down, I really did well. I will let you know how it goes when we get back :) Wish me luck at keeping my brain....