We began the week at herding. The location in Ponca City OK at Linda Holloway's was perfect. The sun was shining and the wind was typical "sweeping down the plains" type. The three of us were sun and windburned, alternately too hot and too cool but the dogs had it perfect under the EZUp. The herding Collie community is so warm and welcoming that I am totally hooked on trialing now. We had so much success for our first outing with green dogs! Bryce earned his first PT leg and Beijing earned his first HT leg! Baby Reid came THIS close to both HT legs. See Bad Judge on day 1 and Handler Error on day 2 for more info LOL!
After herding we moved 2 hours down the road to Tulsa and unloaded the trailer. The show site was fab--drive in unloading within 30-40 feet of our set up area. Which was good because we were already on the tired side. Day three brought Declan in 12-18 month puppy class. He showed like an old hand under John and managed to behave and look like a show dog. I was very impressed with him as usual. Of course I love him. Bryce and I did not qualify in agility. This was my fault, gee who would have thought that?? I also learned that fast at Amherst Junction COULD become faster in Tulsa. The judge had super courses that allowed for alot of build up of speed and Bryce turned on the SSTs! The next day while Musca was being prepped to show, Bryce ran agility again and this time I am blaming him. The bugger missed the first obstacle--well he jumped it, but it was the tire and he jumped thru the side. So technically I'm sure Bryce feels he fullfilled his part. :-) I love that dog! Musca also showed her heart out.
The next two days were a blur. Sahra showed Bryce in Open A and Rally Excellent B and q'd in rally for his RE title! She also showed Musca and Lolli in Rally Novice B and q'd both for their RN's! Then there was the big rush to get both Reid and Lolli ready for showdog. Reid was in rough bred by and was the first dog into the ring. I cannot express how overwhelming it felt to have such a quality dog at such a young age (10 months) showing in bred-by! Reid put on his work face and made it look easy.
Good heavens--what day are we on? I don't know they all blended together after a while. I kept saying "weekend". Apparently there was not enough caffeine flowing. Second obedience/rally day brought more q's with Bryce in Excellent; Musca in Novice, Lolli in Novice with a 4th Place! and baby Reid in Rally Novice with a q and his new RN! Bryce also earned his CDX with a fourth place! Woo-hoo!! I didn't get to see it because I was hurrying to do finish grooming on Beijing so he could go into Best of Variety class. By now the rosettes are piling up along with the legs and titles! To put the icing on the cake, Beijing qualifed as a Versatile Collie at the National Specialty showing in Best of Variety, qualifying in Herding Tested and Rally Novice! He was the ONLY Grand Champion qualifier!
I am so proud of our dogs and all the hard work that has been put into them to perform so well at the speciality. On the way home plans have already been made for this year's goals. We need to finish up some herding titles, get some new dogs started and finish up agility and obedience stuff. Declan is out of breed showing for a couple of months so I can work on other stuff, Musca needs 3 singles to finish, baby Reid has COAT and will be out showing as well as Lolli until she blows her coat out. And Spice still has coat, so she is off to find a few minor points and do some other stuff too. Jam needs one BN leg and 2 RE legs. Harold needs to get out and do some APDT rally. Oh my---we have work to do!!!
Stay tuned for further updates...but first a couple of days of rest...
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