New Titles & Clearances

June and July….getting back to running my dogs in Agility and having some health checks done. In June, I took both Dandy & Tempo to an eye clinic at Sheepy Hollow, and both were normal on all counts and have been re-certified by CERF. I also had Tempo’s hips radiographed and submitted to OFA, and his hips have been certified as EXCELLENT! (Dandy is also OFA Excellent.) All good news!

In June, I only did two days of USDAA trials in Barto. On June 10th (Lehigh Valley Dream Weavers), Dandy qualified in Master Jumpers, 1st Place. Tempo qualified in Grand Prix, 4th place, for his 2nd GP Q to fully qualify him for 2012 Nationals. Tempo ran Advanced Pairs with his littermate Quid, they took 1st place and this leg finished Tempo’s Advanced Agility Dog title (AAD)!

On June 16th (Keystone Agility Club), Dandy qualified in Master Snooker, 1st place & Super Q, and he qualified in Steeplechase to finish his Tournament Master-Gold title (TM-Gold). Tempo earned his first leg in Masters Standard with a 2nd place, and he qualified in Grand Prix with a 1st place, earning him a Bye into the GP Finals of the New England Regional in July.

We attended 2 days of the 3-day New England USDAA Regional in Greenfield, MA, July 14-15. The weather was horribly hot & humid, and the ground was dry, hard & slick as the lack of rain dried out the grass. I could not sleep Friday night after driving up to MA after work and I was beyond tired on Saturday…not fully functional at all! Unfortunately, I was simple not there for my dogs when we went in the ring, and we performed poorly. Sunday was a bit better after I finally got some sleep but the heat is not my friend. I’m glad I didn’t enter both dogs in all the classes.This was our first outdoor trial of the year, and Tempo struggled with the surface, very different than what he’s used to. He knocked a number of bars, and slipped several times. He did not qualify in any classes, but his run in the Grand Prix finals was respectable. He had one bar down and one refusal, but still managed to finish in 5th place. Dandy adapted to the footing much better as he’s more experienced, and he saved the weekend for me--- he qualified in Master Snooker with a 1st place/Super Q, and qualified both days in Gamblers (2nd pl & 3rd pl) to finish his Gambler Champion-Bronze title (GCH-Bronze).

In between, we have spent much time swimming and dock-diving at the lake. With the extreme heat we’ve been having, the lake is a blessing. Tripper loves to join his ‘cousins’ at the lake. I took advantage of Gail being here for her summer visit…I was able to get some cool shots by going out in Gail’s kayak to shoot from a different point of view while she and mom threw the toys out for the dogs to retrieve. Sometimes it takes a village to get good pictures