2010 BRAGS FOR KCTC MEMBERSHIP:

Brags from 2009

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January 2010

 

From Dee Farrell:

On New Year’s Eve, Pebbles earned a Level 1 Handler Games Title and a Level 1 Strategy Games Title at the CPE agility trial at the Four Seasons K9 Athlete Center in Washingtonville, Ohio! Happy New Year!

 

Pebbles and I said good-bye to 2009 (a wonderful agility year for us) and welcomed the new year of 2010 with more agility competitions.  As a Christmas gift, my husband John gave us a four-day trip to Washingtonville, Ohio – not the greatest vacation spot, not the “happiest place on Earth,” but the site of a CPE agility trial; and it did turn out to be a happy place for us, as Pebbles exceeded my expectations.  Part of the gift was that John would take care of Pixie while we were away, which is probably what made it such a happy place for Pebbles – with “Mommy & Me” time at a motel (where she was a well-behaved guest) and without Pixie to bother her.

 

We ended the year by earning four 1st-place blue ribbons, with two of them representing Qualifying scores, one of which was actually 15 seconds under time!  As a result of those two Qs, Pebbles completed two Level 1 titles – Handler Games and Strategy Games. 

 

Then we started 2010 on a particularly high note.  I decided that Pebbles must have made a New Year’s resolution to stay with me on the agility course because she had four perfect runs on January 1.  Only one of those was a Qualifying score, but it was a 4th-place finish in Level 2!  The other three were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-place finishes which were respectively three, six, and two seconds over time, an amazing accomplishment as far as Pebbles and I are concerned.

 

Just as most New Year’s resolutions seem to be, Pebbles’ was apparently short lived.  We slept in on Saturday morning, as I reasoned it was not a vacation if we didn’t sleep in at least once; so we had only three runs that day.  Even though Pebbles didn’t stay with me consistently, she did return to me two of the three times.  We ended up with a 1st-place NQ and a 3rd-place Q, again in Level 2!  I learned that news of Pebbles’ Level 1 titles had been spread at the KCTC Hair of the Dog Party on New Year’s Day, and it was easy to determine the source since a limited number of people had been informed and since I couldn’t persuade John to attend the party with Pixie.  Isn’t it fun to have friends to share our agility victories?

 

On the last day of the trial, Pebbles wavered between staying with me and running off on her own to investigate yet another distraction.  However, we managed to get one 1st-place NQ and two 4th-place Qs in Level 2!  So we earned a grand total of six Qs during our 16 runs, which was quite a record for us.  We ended the trial really tired but really happy and returned on Monday morning in time to say a quick “hello” to John and Pixie before going to our agility class.  There were so many enjoyable moments – earning Qs and winning ribbons and completing titles, of course – but also just being with my dog and watching her sleep on my lap as we waited for our next turn.  I also read three (fairly short) books and started a fourth over the long weekend.  (I heartily recommend Saturdays with Stella.)  And I reflected on how my life has changed.  It used to be that CPE for me represented “Continuing Professional Education” credits that I needed to earn each year to maintain my accounting certification; now I think of CPE as “Canine Performance Events.”  I definitely like this phase of my life better; it’s a lot more fun!

 

From Denise Letterman: 

During the December 31 through January 3 CPE trial held in Washingtonville, OH, I entered Caesar, Troy and Hector for two long days of agility competition.  This was Caesar's second agility trial and he was entered in 9 events over the 2 days.  He qualified in all 9 events with three 1st place and six 2nd place wins.  He also earned his first agility titles which were CL2-R (Standard level 2) and CL2-H (Handler level 2).  Troy was entered in 8 events and qualified in all 8 taking home two 1st, two 2nd, three 3rd, and one 4th place wins.  Troy earned his CL3-S (Strategy level 3) title on Thursday.  Hector was also entered in 8 events and qualified in all 8 taking home eight 1st place wins.  Hector also earned his CL3-S (Strategy level 3) title on Saturday.  Way to go my little boys -- that was 25 Q's out of 25 runs and 4 titles.