CH Trooper

There was a show in Savannah, Georgia the weekend of the Cocker Spaniel Hunting Test. Jamie's Trooper was there to try to grab the single point he needed for a Champion designation. He was matched against some fine dogs: J-Clark, who has been invited to Westminster; Mary T's Adara, who has blossomed into a beautiful red & white; and Bronwyn, a classically sweet and beautiful Welsh Springer Spaniel. On Sunday the results were:

• Best of Breed J-Clarke
• Best of Opposite Bronwyn
• Best of Winners Trooper

As a result, Trooper got his point and his champion designation. Congratulations Trooper and Jamie!

Zelda's big day

Zelda earned a Master Hunter leg on Friday at the Clumber Spaniel Nationals. Congratulations, Zelda.


Cathy and Zelda are pleased with Zelda's water blind at practice last weekend.

Beam me up

Stufield's Captain of the Enterprise ("Archer") earned his Champion ("CH") and Rally Advance ("RA") titles on Sunday, April 11.

Archer earned a yellow ribbon by placing 3rd in his RA, which is a fine accomplishment. In Rally Advance, exercises are performed off-leash; there are 12-17 stations with no more than seven stationary exercises; and there is a jump and calling your dog to the front (rather than to the traditional heel position).

Archer won his ribbon by demonstrating off-lead obedience and control. He also demonstrated "a sense of teamwork between the dog and handler both during the numbered exercises and between the exercise signs." (AKC 2011)

In earning his Champion conformation designation, and over his career, Archer has won two "Major" events (which are determined by the number of dogs that he beats in the show ring) and accumulated at least 15 points (also determined by the number of dogs that he beats, even if he himself ultimately finishes behind some other dog in the breed).

Larsen and Archer are 1/2 brothers, with Mazie (Idlewild's Mazie Morning Dew) as the dam for both dogs. Archer's sire is Bentcroft Statesman's Emblem ("Felix").

Jamie handled Archer in the Rally ring. Congratulations to the team.

Archer focuses on Jamie during his third-place run for his Rally Advanced title.

2011 Westminster invitees

The Westminster Kennel Club has invited these Welsh Springer Spaniels to the 2011 show February 14-15.  Listed in alphabetical order (not by ranking):

• CH Rock Springs Hawk Of The Battle ("Gavin")
• GCH CH Heatherstone's Jopa Blue ("Winston")
• GCH CH Holly House Empres Josephine
• GCH CH Rolyart's Full Of Grace JH ("Grace")
• GCH CH Statesman's Corinthian ("Starbuck")

Gavin (Kit Goodrich) was 2010's Best of Breed at the 2010 WSSCA National Specialty.

Winston (Shannon Gandee) was 2010's Best of Breed winner at Westminster.

Empres Josephine (Holly House) is a WDX.

Grace (Shelley Traylor & Cindy Ford) was a 2007 and 2008 Westminster entry and is a Junior Hunter.     

Starbuck (Meghen Basel and Susan Riese) was Winner's Dog at the 2009 WSSCA National Specialty.

Good luck to all!

Rally novice title

Larsen earned three legs and his Rally Novice title in the Cherokee Rose Cluster on August 27-29.  I was able to update his profile on the Pedigree Engine.  He did a nice job that weekend. 

Scenes from the weekend

This must be the place.

Meghen prepares one of her charges.

Showtime.

Over at Rally, contestants step off the course.

MaryAnne and Chance wait patiently.

It's our turn!

Chance scores a passing grade and earns an advanced Rally leg.

Kim enjoys a lighter moment in the Boykin ring.

Back to business.

A fun, but long weekend.

Surprising finish

Larsen placed 3rd in Rally Novice A to earn his third leg and his RN title.

I had to grab my reading glasses to be sure that the score, 83, was a qualifier, and not a 63, a non-qualifier. 

Larsen did pretty well along the whole course until the figure 8 near the end.  At that point, he became interested in something far away.  I rolled a hand grenade into the middle of his head by asking "is that Aki"?  Larsen came right back from wherever he was and looked around with great interest to see if he could locate Aki.  Of course, he could not, but it got his attention back to me, we completed the figure 8, and went about our merry way on the course.

It wasn't just Larsen with his head in the clouds. The judge took a minute to explain to me several missteps that I had made that brought Larsen's score down.  Sorry Larsen!

Due to the timing of the Rally competition, I missed the WSS conformation.  I caught the Boykins, though.  Here is Susan W. in the ring with Ritz.

 

Susan fusses over Ritz in the conformation competition.

Gentleman's C

Larsen earned his second Rally Novice A leg on Saturday, scoring a gentleman's C of 74 (a 70 is required to qualify). 

In my opinion, he did fine until we got to the far end of the room, near the gallery.  Larsen broke away a few steps, put his nose over the fence and started air scenting.  What he was after, I haven't the faintest idea.   It wasn't fried chicken or other food, he's smelled that before.  Sue R. thought it may have been a bitch in heat.  Another contested later said that someone popped open one of the doors to the arena and he may have been smelling the outdoor air that wafted in.  Whatever it was, it left me flat-footed and unprepared and made him seem like a disobedient dog.

We finally got back on track, finished a very tricky course, and earned the green qualifying ribbon. 

We are heading back today, Sunday, for our try at the third and final leg.

The Dogwood WSS club members prepare their dogs for the ring.

Got a leg

Larsen finished in 4th place in Rally Novice this morning to earn his first leg (of 3) toward a Rally Novice title.  He might have finished higher but for operator error.  It turns out I let the leash drag, which looks sloppy (according to the judge) and so nicks you a point.

Larsen was his usual happy self, and of course beside himself when he saw Susan W.  But when he went into the ring his head and tail droopped, which the judge pointed out to me.  Was he nervous?  But once we got going, both of us forgot all about it.  He basically stuck next to me when I told him to heel and sat near me when I told him to sit.  That is all there really is to Rally Novice.

MaryAnne and Chance earned another leg in their quest for the more advanced Rally Excellent title.  Chance was totally distracted in the ring for some reason, but he did what MaryAnne asked and looked good doing it.  Little Chance has filled out and is a nice looking dog.

Larsen relaxes in the hallway after returning home from his Rally outing.

 
Chance earns another leg toward his Rally Excellent title.

Rally-O this weekend

Tomorrow and this weekend Larsen and I will participate in Rally Novice A.

Rally is a watered-down version of Obedience. In Rally, dog & handler complete an enclosed obstacle course.  (In the Atlanta show, the course is indoors and marked off by a low gate.)  The obstacles are traffic cones with road signs that tell you and the dog to do something.

In the sign below, the handler and dog are asked to (1) come to a halt; (2) hup or sit; (3) go into a down position; and then (4) get up, come to heal heel and proceed to the next station.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Novice A level will have lots of wiggly little puppies, but, what the heck, that is where we belong, really.  We are doing our best and will go for a passing score.

Larsen knows how to zig-zag around the pylons.  He knows how to hup and heal heel.  He's not that great on the "stand" command because we haven't practiced it much.  So it will boil down to whether he gets distracted and whether there are some difficult requests - -  asking him to play the piano, for example - - in the field.