Kloud9dogs's Blog

Heading to Manitowoc, WI

kloud9dogs — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:13:23 +0000

The kids and I will be heading out to Manitowoc today for an agility trial this weekend.

Blitzen will be running on Saturday and Sunday hoping to increase our double Q and point count towards our MACH title. But we’ll be sure to have a blast! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

AKC Agility Trial Results 5/23/09 – 5/24/09

kloud9dogs — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:19:22 +0000

Blitzen and I competed in an agility trial this weekend, held at Camp Bandy, located in Amherst Junction, WI. The trial was run by the Northern Flyway Golden Retriever Club of Wisconsin.

On Saturday, Blitzen and I were able to qualify in our JWW run, but weren’t able to earn the double Q as a result of a dropped bar in the Standard course. As usual, it was due to handler error, and despite that, he ran fantastically!

Sunday was a whole other story. In our run of the JWW course, Blitzen continually bipassed jumps. This is an unusual occurence for him, but I figured I should show him how it’s done. So on the last jump of the course, with beautiful form, I bounded over the 24″ jump and landed perfectly on my feet. Perfect 10! (I would suggest never doing this at a trial as it will earn an automatic failure, but I figured there was some fun that needed to be had!)

Then in the Standard course, I couldn’t get Blitzen in the correct weave entrance. Other than the weave poles, he ran beautifully through the course! His speed went up another notch this weekend which was awesome!!

With the one Q this weekend, we are standing at 2 double Q’s and currently have 107 MACH points. In order to qualify for next year’s AKC National Agility Championship, we’ll need 4 more doubles Q’s, a total of 6, and 293 more MACH points, for a total of 400. In order to earn our MACH (Master Agility Champion) title, the highest agility title possible in AKC agility, we’ll need a total of 20 double Q’s and 750 points. The goal was to acheive both of these by the end of the year. The race is on!

Gretchen Invitational – Kokomo, IN 5/16/09 – 5/17/09

kloud9dogs — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:02:11 +0000

Solar and I competed in our first discdog contest! It was the Gretchen Invitational, in Kokomo, IN, and was organized by the Indy Disc and Dog Club (www.d-dog.com).

Saturday was the QUAD, a long distance event. Solar and I were just spectators for this event, and it truly was stunning. Some of the throws were going as far as 90 yards!! Absolutely ridiculous!

Sunday was a UFO local competition (www.ufoworldcup.org). There were two rounds of freestyle and a round of toss and catch. Solar and I need to work on the toss and catch event, but in the freestyle rounds, he did awesome!! He nailed what we practiced, and I somehow managed to throw some of the discs where they needed to be. I’m so proud of Solar! Hard to believe I only adopted him in July. He and I have come a long way. Though he made me look good, Solar is the true star from the weekend!

On the road again! Soon…

kloud9dogs — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:06:49 +0000

Next week I’ll be in Michigan, hanging out with the P-Vybe crew and playing some frisbee with world class trainers, Ron Watson and Apryl Lea! (www.pawsitivevybe.com) It should be a heck of a time!

Then, on Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be down in Kokomo, IN for the Gretchen Invitational put on by the Indy Disc and Dog Club (www.d-dog.com). This will be Solar’s first disc competition! And it’ll also be mine. I’m a little nervous, but more excited to be able to meet some more people involved in this fantastic sport.

This will probably be the only time I’ll say this, but I’m really looking forward for the weekend to be over!

Demo at Think Pawsitive

kloud9dogs — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:52:07 +0000

Solar, Fly, and myself did a discdog demo at Think Pawsitive, a new dog training school in Oconomowoc, WI. Today was their open house/grand opening.

Fly helped me show the folks how to get started in the game of canine disc. Demonstrating such things as rollers, takes, and tugging. She did a fantastic job!

Solar showed everyone what an advanced disc dog can do. He nailed nearly everything!! He stayed focused and successfully executed some new things that we’ve been working on! Such a good boy!!

Blitzen wasn’t left in the backseat! While his disc skills aren’t as proficient, Think Pawsitive had a splash pool. Basically a dock diving pool that was 37 ft long. Since he LOVES to swim, I signed Blitzen up for a session in the pool. He had an absolute blast!!

It was a great day with the dogs!

AKC Agility Trial Results 4/25/09 – 4/26/09

kloud9dogs — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:00:09 +0000

Blitzen and Solar ran in an AKC agility trial this weekend in Amherst Junction, WI. The trial was put on by Timber Ridge Obedience Club of Central Wisconsin.

Out of 4 runs from each dog, only one qualifying run was earned. Blitzen earned the Q in the Standard course on Saturday. However, though he didn’t Q the rest of the weekend, he was awesome!!! He has been picking up speed with every trial entered, and gaining more confidence. The most important part, though, is how much fun he’s been having! He was a soft dog that has become an agility beast! I couldn’t be happier with him!!

Solar and I have been having some issues with a lot of disconnecting from each other. Part of the issue has been that we haven’t been able to do much agility practice lately. The other part is I have only adopted him in July, so the teamwork is still a work in progress. But this weekend, he and I clicked. Though we didn’t qualify, I was ecstatic at how we finally came together and began to work as a team! He is an awesome dog, and a great kisser, just ask one of the workers that he decided to visit during one of his runs…. With just a little more work, and some consistent practice, he’s going to be a fantastic agility dog!

Overall the weekend was a success in my mind. A lot of great things happened. I couldn’t be more pleased with my kids!

Enjoying the weather…

kloud9dogs — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:02:00 +0000

… while it lasted that is. Today was another day with temperatures reaching the 70s and the sun shining with full force! I took the opportunity and drove out to Cascade for some outdoor agility training. The dogs did a great job, with a little distraction issues from the rookies, Solar and Fly. But it was just great to enjoy the nice weather with the kids!

Hope everyone got to enjoy the nice weather in some way! It’s only going downhill for a few days in typical Wisconsin fashion.

AKC Agility Trial Results 4/3/09 – 4/5/09

kloud9dogs — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:48:53 +0000

Blitzen and Solar ran at a trial in Oshkosh, WI, held by the Oshkosh Kennel Club. Blitzen qualified 5 out of 6 runs and had two double Q’s! Blitzen is well on his way in qualifying for next year’s AKC National Agility Championship!

Solar, in his first AKC agility trial did a great job, qualifying 2 out of 4 runs! It was a new place and I wasn’t too sure how he would do. Though there were some issues, he did a great job for a dog I just got in July!!

The boys were phenomenal!! I couldn’t be prouder of them!

Video coming soon!

Blitzen gets his first Double Q!

kloud9dogs — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:28:03 +0000

The dogs and I are in Oshkosh, WI for the weekend for an AKC agility trial. Today was Excellent levels only so Blitzen was the only one that ran. He got his first Double Q! It is our first in our quest to qualify for the AKC National Agility Championship (NAC) in 2010. he also earned 26 MACH points, needing 400 to qualify for the NAC.

Go Blitzen!!

This is a Double Q ribbon!

NADAC Agility Video

kloud9dogs — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:57:53 +0000

Here’s a video of Blitzen and Solar running in a NADAC agility trial two weekends ago. Check it out!