Bragging Rights

One last brag to finish out Sophie's AKC agility year

"The weekend of Sep. 24 and 25 we ran agility locally in Doylestown courtesy of the Delaware Valley German Shepherd Dog Club.
Due to heavy rains on Friday, the fields on Saturday were quite a mudfest, although the club did their best putting down mulch and sawdust in the worst areas. Since it ran tall to small, by the time we ran, not much helped the mud subside!

JWW was our first class under Judge Kandy Robinson. Challenging course, but in spite of the mud, Sophie Q'd with a 2nd Place and 10 secs. under time!
Yea, our 6th leg towards Masters! "

Chris

A Cool Agility Weekend!!

July 16-17, 2011. Despte the heat outside, Sophie and Chris had a cool time running AKC agility inside with air conditioning at the trial hosted by SOJAC (South Jersey Agility Club).

" On Saturday our Standard run was the early in the day (around 9:00) so we were both energetic. Our judge was Sherry Porter. Sophie qualified, was 8 secs. under time and earned 2nd Place!
Our judge for JWW was Scott Stock. Sophie qualified, 2 secs. under time and a 3rd Place!

Another Double Q towards our PACH!

Sunday, Sherry was our judge for JWW.. Sophie started out pokey, but after the opening sequence, I was able to get her moving, and we finished the course clean. Sophie qualified, again 2 secs. under time, and 2nd Place!
Our Standard run was scheduled around 6:00!!. It made for a long, long, boring day, which Sophie doesn't tolerate well. Scott was our judge, and he kept his ring moving so we actually got to run around 5:30. Once again Sophie didn't stay her start-line (she hates waiting), and she almost went off-course by getting ahead of me, but I got her which threw me off my original plan. We got back on track and soared through the rest of the course!
She Q'd, was 14 secs. under time and again got 2nd Place!

A second Double Q! Wow!
This ups our total to 4 and we earned 26 more points this weekend which ups our total to 55. Considering we need 20 double Q's and 750 points for our PACH, it will be a while, if at all, but it's neat to know it's possible!
She now has 5 legs each towards her Master Standard and JWW titles (10 needed). "

Chris

Wow, no stopping this team!!

On June 26, 2011 at Oakes K9 APDT Rally Trials, Sophie was entered in the Veteran class in both trials (morning and afternoon).

" Our first judge was Sue Oakes and her course was fine, except the bonus was a leave your dog, turn and down them, then return. Everything went well up to there. I left Sophie in a sit, walked away, turned and gave her the signal plus vocal to down. Well, in typical BT fashion she looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language! So I signaled and used the term "drop" with a little more emphasis (double commands are allowed), and slowly, but slowly Sophie finally laid down. I then returned to heel position and we were done! The stewards watching said the look on her face was precious - you could tell she was annoyed having to do such a thing and they tried not laughing too loud! But everything was good enough and Sophie earned her:
Rally Level Veteran (RLV) title -- Her score was 206 and 3rd Place
and
Veteran AOE (Award of Excellence) (first 3 Q's of 190 or higher from A class which were 204, 208, 206)
So she got moved up to the B class for the afternoon trial. Our judge was Annette Murphy-Wales. Annette's course had a few more challenges as she likes to include one or two exercises from Level 2 and Level 3, but Sophie did really well. She qualified once again with an even better score - 208 and 3rd Place - just lost points on a few crooked sits, but that's her style! So that's her first leg towards her RLVX title (RLV Title plus 5 Q's of 170 or higher from Veteran B class). "

Chris

Another Fun Agility Weekend

Our thanks to Chris for a wonderful report [edited]

"The weekend of June 4-5, 2011, Sophie and I played in NADAC agility hosted by High Octane Agility, Sophie was entered in identical runs both Sat. and Sun. -- (2) Open Standard; (1) Open Jumpers and (1) Elite Tunnelers Didn't know if I was ready to run that much, but we both did quite well, Sophie being the real athlete! On Sat. in her first standard run she Q'd, 1st Place (12 secs. under time) which gave her a new title:
OAC (Open Agility Certificate)
She also Q'd (another 1st Place and 10 secs. under time) in her second standard run. I decided not to move up for Sunday and just run in Open again. Less stress, more fun.
Jumpers was next and we ran well. After our run the Judge said there was a question with the electronic timer not working properly, so we could either take the Q without a time (which would mean no placement) or re-run it. Well, that was a no brainer! I graciously took the Q! Yea, our 2nd leg!
Tunnelers was the last class of the day and is always Sophie's favorite -- nothing to hold her back! She ran clean and Q'd with a 3rd Place by 1/10th of a second! Leg #2!
Back on Sunday,
Her two Standard runs were awesome again. Both Q's and 1st Places (first run 4 secs. under; 2nd run 15 secs. under)!
Tunnelers was later in the day, and even though I could tell she was tiring, she was very responsive, not as fast, but we Q'd (by 1 sec.) with a 2nd Place! I never thought we'd achieve an Elite title as the times in Nadac are tough, but we did!
TN-E (Tunnelers Elite)
Jumpers was the last class of the day, and honestly we were both pretty worn out. Even though my little girl started out pokey, I got her motivated and we finished clean, Q'd (again by 1 sec.) with a 1st Place -- drumroll please......
OJC (Open Jumpers Certificate)
What a super star my little girl was! I entered with the hope of getting her std and jumpers titles, but I didn't realize that tunnelers was possible too, having forgotten she already had one leg."

This brag benefits Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals

No Double-Q, but another leg!

At Kruisin' Kanines AKC trial on Saturday April 30, 2011, Sophie ran Excellent Standard Preferred qualifying with a 3rd Place and 13 secs. under time!
Only 7 legs to go for her Masters!

A Productive Spring Fling

The weekend of March 26-27, 2011 Sophie and Chris trialed in NADAC agility, despite only entering three classes each day it was a successful weekend.
On Saturday Sophie earned her first Elite Tunnelers leg and 2nd Place!
On Sunday she earned her first Open Jumpers leg and 1st Place!

The weekend of April 9th and 10th, 2011 saw the dynamic duo attending the English Springer AKC agility trials at a local sports club.
On Saturday, Sophie ran in Excellent B Jumpers w/Weaves Preferred, Carla Boudrot (TN) was the judge. Her course was challenging, yet Sophie qualified, was 3 secs. under time, and got 3rd Place!
She also ran in Excellent B Standard Preferred (judge Gene Downing from Texas) and once again, Sophie qualified, was 7 secs. under time, and another 3rd Place!
On Sunday, Sophie again qualified in Excellent B Jumpers w/Weaves Preferred, was 9 secs. under time, and earned another 3rd Place!
Excellent B Standard Preferred Sophie qualified, only 2 secs. under time, and with yet another 3rd Place!

(These brags will benefit Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, a local non-kill shelter and Berkshire Valley BHC)

October 31, 2010 - nothing scary about these performances

The pups and I spent Halloween at APDT trials hosted by OakesK9 at our local K9Jym. There were two trials, one a.m., one p.m.
For a change I entered Sophie in Veterans (8 yrs. eligible). Only 12 exercises, no downs, one or two sits. They use a combo of Level 2 and 3 exercises so for us it was challenging since we haven't ever done Level 3.
Sophie's morning score (under Sue Oakes) was 208 and 4th Place! Sue said she worked really well and lost her 2 pts. for a crooked sit. Good enough for me!
Her afternoon score (under Annette Murphy-Wales) was 204 and 1st Place! Our bonus was a retrieve (a Level 3 exercise -- which Annette apologized for putting into a Veteran course), which Sophie has never done in public, only when we play at home with toys. You can use whatever you choose for the retrieve, so I used one of the toys they had in their expen. As you pass the finish sign and go to the next sign (about turn halt), the judge drops the object. You then send your dog for the retrieve. She went to it and touched it, looked at me and wasn't sure what to do so she came back. Annette said try it again and keep talking to her. So I sent her, she picked it up and part way back she dropped it, but came back to me and sat and finished. So we did get credit for part of it. I was very proud of her performance. Only one more for her Veterans title.

My basset friends entered Holly (one of Gwen's) in Veterans. She is recovering from cancer surgery and underging chemo, and she had the most beautiful runs in both trials! She was so happy and moving around the course faster than we've seen her do agility! We were all so happy for her Q's and how well she's doing.

Chris

(This brag will benefit Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, a local non-kill shelter and Berkshire Valley BHC)

Friday October 08, 2010 Montgomery All Terrier Agility Trial hosted by the BTCA.

We shared our canopy with Barb, Midge and Fred and the weather couldn't have been better. We got to catch up with folks I only see there each year which was nice.
In our Excellent A Standard Preferred run, Sophie qualified with a 1st Place (9 secs. under time) for her to earn her AXP title (Agility Excellent Preferred) Finally! I guess she was saving it for this special week!
She was the only dog to qualify in her class of 5 entries, so that gave it even more of a wow factor!

We ran Jumpers w/Weaves (B class) in the afternoon and although she started out a bit pokey (such a princess), I got her motivated and we finished the course one sec. under time with a Q and 2nd Place! She was 1 of only 2 dogs to qualify in the class of 8 entries. This is her first JWW B leg; only 9 more for her Masters title.
A nice end to the agility year until Spring; my budget

(This brag will benefit Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, a local non-kill shelter.)

Sunday October 03, 2010 Two APDT Rally trials hosted by Kan-Do-K9s indoors at K9Jym

Trial No. 1
Sophie was in first under Judge Sue Oakes. She kept pace, paid attention and did all her sits! Of course her favorite exercise is the jump! Our bonus exercise was leave the dog, turn and down them. First try she went mostly down, then sat up. Retry -- goofy me forgets and calls her name before the command so of course she comes! Duh! Retry again -- this time it finally worked!
Sophie's score: 197 and 2nd Place for her second leg! We lost points on crooked sits, which is par for her, especially on left pivots.

Trial No. 2
Judge Annette Murphy-Wales - Sophie worked beautifully throughout the entire course, again doing all her sits! I flubbed the bonus exercise (moving down, call dog front and finish) because I wasn't aware you must keep moving once dog is down to the next sign, whereas I stopped to be sure she was down, then left her. Something to practice for the future. I knew we had Q'd without it!
Sophie's score: 198 and 3rd Place and her RL2 title

(This brag will benefit Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, a local non-kill shelter.)

Autumn Agility Antics

Octover 2, 2010 at High Octane Agility's NADAC trial unde judge Jackie Loeser, from Montana, Sophie once again showcased her talent.
She earned her second Open Standard-Veterans leg with a 1st Place finish! (The Veterans classification pertains to the handler not the dog.)
And her Open Weavers (WV-O) title with 2nd Place!

Hot Stuff!!

September 25, 2010 was unusually hot (90's), not ideal conditions for the AKC Agility trial in Doylestown, PA - especially as neither Sophie of Chris do heat well. None-the-less, Sophie was one of only two qualifiers and earned her second Excellent Standard Preferred leg under Judge Robert Jeffers!

Success in yet another Agility Venue

Sophie and I tried another agility venue this past weekend (July 10-11, 2010) called CPE (Canine Performance Events). They've been around a while and are similar to USDAA in that they have game classes in addition to standard and jumpers.
Except for Standard, the other titles require combinations of games and jumpers. They have 4 Levels of competition (1, 2, 3, 4) with three different classifications for each (Regular/Veteran, Enthusiast, Specialist). The games are called Colors, Fullhouse, Wildcard, Snooker and Jackpot.
The Title Categories are Standard (just standard legs required), Handler (Colors and Wildcard), Strategy (Snooker and Jackpot) and Fun (Fullhouse and Jumpers).

For the Level 1 Standard category she needed 2 legs and she ran them in style, qualifying in both with two 2nd Places for her CL1-R
On Sunday we ran Jumpers, she qualified and got 1st Places in both! Then she had an awesome run in Fulhouse for a Q and another 1st Place! We needed 19 points in that run and I planned 20! So her title in the Fun category is CL1-F

Chris

(This brag will benefit Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, a local non-kill shelter.)

Back to NADAC - June 6, 2010

This past Sunday Sophie and I trialed in NADAC agility hosted by High Octane Agility. We were entered in (2) Open Standard, (1) Open Tunnelers and (1) Novice Jumpers.
The Open standard classes were our first try at them, we didn't Q in our first run, but she had fun and it was a good warmup. Our second attempt was much better with her paying attention to me. We Q'd with a 1st Place!
Our next challenge was Tunnelers, Sophie's favorite. I am happy to say she stayed her start line and let me lead out! Mid-way in the course she headed to an incorrect tunnel, mainly because I didn't call her soon enough, but when I did call her she came immediately and we finished the course properly. Much to my complete surprise Sophie Q'd with a 1st Place! So that completed her title! -- Open Tunnelers (TN-O)
We were the very last dog of the day in our Jumpers run (saved the best for last?), and it was still disgustingly hot and humid, although breezy. Again she stayed her start line and although neither one of us was very peppy, we finished the course beautifully, and she had the happiest attitude when we were done, wagging her tail and a big grin on her face! Another Q with a 1st Place and another title! -- Novice Jumpers Certificate (NJC)

Chris

Advancing in AKC

Sophie completed her AJP (Excellent Agility Jumpers w/Weaves "A" Preferred) title at Kruisin' Kanines AKC trial on May 02, 2010 under judge Blair Kelly with a first place finish and 9 seconds under time!!!
Earlier in the day she qualified in Excellent A Preferred Standard under judge Sally Gerlich also with a first place finish.

This brag will benefit Francisvale Home for Small Animals

Sophie did it - APDT Rally Trial Monmouth Battlefield State Park in NJ - April 18, 2010

Sophie earned her RL1X Championship under Judge Sara Jacobs.
After "blowing Chris off" in the morning test, she did everything asked of her and had a really fun time in the ring finishing up with a score of 206 (out of 210)
Nicely done Sophie

Another year - another leg!!!

On April 10/11, 2010 at the Keystone English Springer Spaniel Club AKC Agility Trial, under Judge Dierdre Crofton, Sophie earned her second Excellent A Preferred JWW leg with a First Place finish.
Sophie earned the first leg in April 2009 - heck - no point in rushing!!!!

She's at it again - APDT Rally Trials at the K9Jym in Colmar March 13, 2010

Running in her first Level 2A class (all off-lead), Sophie earned her 1st Level 2A leg and 2nd Place with a score of 193! She also added two more legs to her quest for a Level 1 Championship. Earning her 8th leg with a score of 203 and the 9th with a perfect score of 210!

Dynamic Duo gets it done - DOCNA Trials January 16-17, 2010

Sophie was entered in 4 standard runs (2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday) since that was the class needed to finish her Select-Specialist Standard title. Although she only needed one qualifying run, Sophie exceeded Chris' expectations (she has not trained since last spring) and came home with three qualifying runs (one was 5 seconds under time!) and three first place finishes.

Kudos to a wonderful team who combine success with having fun.

Plugging away with determination - DOCNA Trials November 7-8, 2009

Despite it being a heavy treatment week, Chris felt well enough to take Sophie to try and finish her Select-Specialist Standard title

All things being considered, this great team did well to add one more qualifying run with a 1st Place (4th leg) to their tally

Another weekend - another title - DOCNA Trials November 1, 2009

On Sunday we had 2 standard and 1 jumpers. She Q'd in Jumpers with a first place for her fifth leg which earned her the title of:
S-SJA (Select-Specialist Jumpers Award)
She also Q'd in the first of her Standard runs with a 2nd Place, being 4 secs. under time, and our second one we were 4 secs. over (yin-yang), so all-in-all a good weekend. So now we're down to needing 2 more legs in Standard (total of 5).

Chris

You can't keep a great dog (or a determined owner) down - Kudos to Chris and Sophie for their achievements at the DOCNA NATIONALS October 09-11, 2009

"Sophie had a phenomenal weekend! She was entered in Standard, Jumpers and North America Challenge over a three-day competition. The finals on Sunday were based on the cumulative scores of Fri. and Sat. of time plus faults, with the top 25% in each class with the lowest totals moving on (there is no actual qualifying). Our class for Standard and Jumpers was 8-inch Specialist-Select. Our Friday Standard course Sophie was running great, but my mishandling caused her to take a tunnel as a wrong course, costing us 10 faults, plus we were over time by 9 secs. for a total of 19 faults (the others were over time also but clean). We earned a 3rd Place, and I figured that would probably nix our chances of the finals, but no big deal, we had fun!
Our Friday Jumpers course was ugly with three pinwheels and a serpentine linking them (these courses are only jumps, nothing else) which made me plan on several front-crosses (which I don't like) in the event Sophie wasn't fast enough to do rear crosses (those who run will understand this mumbo-jumbo). Well, our turn came and she was flying! No fronts needed, all rear crosses, and we finished clean in 38 secs. which gave us 1st Place!&qout;

Saturday we had four runs total -- Standard, Jumpers, NAC and Trigility. Jumpers was first run of the day. Again it had pinwheels, serpentine in middle, etc. My little princess ran last, flew through the course, clean and in 38 secs. -- awarded 1st Place! Whoo-hoo! Guaranteed Finals on Sunday! Then the N.A. Challenge. This too is based on time and faults. The only way to be eliminated is if the dog takes a wrong course. The NAC comprises Eastern Regional placements and Western Regional placements, then they compare scores and award National placements. The course was a nice layout and Sophie ran superb and clean! SOPHIE AWARDED EASTERN REGIONAL 1ST PLACE 8-inch SELECT-SPECIALIST! We received a beautiful rosette and a gold medallion! I was on Cloud 9! Wondered if we would qualify for any national placement, but we wouldn't know until Sun. Our Standard run started well, with Sophie on the walk as obstacle 5, when the Judge and everyone was yelling you have to stop running! My first thought was "oh crap, I did something wrong!", but the timer wasn't working! Yikes I hate when that happens. So that Sophie didn't think she did anything wrong, I called her with a cheery voice and we ran happily towards the start line again and I played with her until they resolved the issue. The Judge also asked if I needed a few minutes to re-collect, but Sophie was fine because I made it fun and assured her it wasn't her fault. Our second run was good, except for a bauble at the weaves, but it was clean otherwise. Everyone was kidding that Sophie already knew what to do since we had to restart! SOPHIE AWARDED 1ST PLACE 8-inch SELECT-SPECIALIST STANDARD! Now no one was sure who would be moving to Finals on Sunday!

Our last run of the day was our fun run - Trigility. Our team "South of the Border" (often misconstrued as the "SOB's") comprised Sophie (Border-England), Holly (Basset-France) and Nicky (Bichon-France/Spain), so our shirt had Sophie's photo on top with Holly and Nicky beneath. Merlin (beagle) was our mascot and he wore a little poncho and sombrero! Totally cute! Trigility is a relay race - Holly ran jumpers (4" Veteran), Sophie ran standard (8-inch) and Nicky ran gamblers (8"). Holly was superb, Sophie superb, and Nicky had one wrong course (only 10 faults) but did the gamble. "SOUTH OF THE BORDER" AWARDED 2ND PLACE EASTERN REGION TRIGILITY TEAM! What an end to a great day! The cumulative totals were posted late afternoon, and Sophie was moving on to the Finals both in Standard and Jumpers! Unbelievable!

Sunday arrived rather chilly (40 deg.), but clear and sunny. Timed Gamblers ran first, but we weren't entered, so we got to rest before running. After Gamblers and prior to running Standard they announced the NAC National Placements. Nail-biting time! SOPHIE PLACED 2ND NATIONALLY 8-inch SELECT-SPECIALIST! Another beautiful rosette and bronze medallion! Does it get any better? We got many congrats for folks we knew and new ones who we just met! After that as I walked the Standard course, I almost didn't care what happened since we had achieved more than I had dreamed of. The course flowed well, with only one trap (tunnel next to dog walk - walk being required obstacle). Sophie up, everything great, achieved the trap to the walk, nailed the entrance to the weaves and completed them. Then to a jump after which I was planning a front cross to pull her back for a serpentine, when she ran towards a far jump (which would have been a wrong course--10 faults) when I SCREAMED "HERE!" and pulled her from it just as she was about to take it! Whew! What a save! We finished the rest of the course in grand style and clean! SOPHIE AWARDED FIRST PLACE 8-inch SELECT-SPECIALIST STANDARD FINALS!
Jumpers was our last run of the day and the course was the easiest of the three days with a beautiful flow throughout the 22 jumps. I knew it would be a good run for her considering she still had tons of energy left, and surprisingly so did I (must have been all the adrenalin from her achievements). Started the course and I could immediately tell Sophie was distracted by the aromas [with the doors open in the arena, the smells from the food vendor wafted in]. She did run the course but wasn't fast, and I really needed to motivate her by clapping and calling hard, but it was clean! Just to show how pokey she was - Fri. 38 sec., Sat. 38 sec., Sun. 52 sec! SOPHIE AWARDED FIRST PLACE 8-inch SELECT-SPECIALIST JUMPERS FINALS!
What a weekend! I went anticipating nothing, hoping I would be healthy enough to do it all, and finished with 9 Rosettes, 2 Medallions and a heck of a fun time with my little girl. Considering my situation [Chris is undergoing chemo - pd], and the fact that Sophie hasn't done any training all summer, she is one amazing companion!

Chris

She is HOT

On Sat. 4/25 at Kruisin' Kanines AKC Agility trial Sophie earned her third Open Standard Preferred leg and 1st Place, giving her another title:
         OAP (Open Agility Preferred)

"I was thrilled with her performance since our class started around 12:00 noon when the clouds disappeared and the sun was out in full force! She was one of only three dogs to qualify in the entire Open class of about 30 dogs!
In the late afternoon (around 3:00) we ran in jumpers, and I am very proud to say that Sophie qualified with a 1st Place to earn her first Excellent A JWW leg! Unbelievable is all I can say because it was an ugly course, having to do a u-turn from a jump to the weaves (which we have never practiced for)! It wasn't our fastest run, but enough to make time, and it was clean. Wow, two Q's in one day...what a great feeling!
On Sun. 4/26, we were back for more (and so was the heat)! Rather than move her up to Excellent Standard, we stayed in Open and once again, Sophie qualified with a clean run and 1st Place which gave her a fourth leg! Again, we were one of only five dogs to qualify in the class!
In my eyes she was a champion trooper doing everything I asked of her in extreme weather conditions."

Chris

March 7th thru April 5th, 2009 - A Very Busy Girl

On Sat. March 7th at Y2K9s Sports Club, Sophie earned her 6th Leg towards her APDT Level 1 Championship with a score of 203 (out of 210)! 4 to go!

On Sat. Mar. 28th at a 3D Dog Training DOCNA trial, Sophie earned her first Select-Specialist Trigility Leg and 1st Place! Only one more for her title! She also earned her fourth Select-Specialist Jumpers Leg and 1st Place! Only one more for that title! Yea!

Sat. Apr. 4th at the Delaware County Kennel Club AKC agility trial Sophie earned her second Open Standard leg and 2nd Place! I didn't think we made time as she was slow on the teeter, but we were 4 secs. under! Whew!

On Sun. Apr. 5th we changed venues and did an APDT Rally trial at Dog Training Club of Chester County in Exton. Sophie earned her 7th leg with a score of 202!

Chris

Sassy Sophie Superstar - January 17-18, 2009 (High Octane Agility NADAC trials)

On Saturday in Touch 'n Go Sophie Q'd with a 1st Place and earned her TG-N (Touch 'n Go Novice title)
She also ran her first Open Tunnelers (just tunnels) and Open Weavers (weaves and tunnels) and qualified in both with 2nd Places!
On Sunday her Open Weavers and Open Tunnelers runs were beautiful once again, and she qualified in both with 1st Places!

....And Another Title

The Little Rascals ran their first time at the Intern level in Trigility at the DOCNA trial on Dec. 28, 2008.
Once again Merlin (beagle) ran jumpers, Sophie ran the standard, and Jax (sheltie) ran the gamble leg.
They qualified, earned 1st Place and a new title!

S-ITA (Specialist-Intern Trigility Award)

Another fun weekend

On Saturday (December 13, 2008) we were entered in 2 Specialist standard runs, 1 Specialist jumpers run and 1 Beginners trigility run. I'll begin with trigility. Specialist is equivalent to Excellent (AKC), Elite (NADAC).

Trigility is a fun game run by teams comprised of 3 competitors. You can create your own team, or if you don't have anyone to run with the day of the trial, can match up with other competitors who are also looking for partners. It doesn't matter what jump heights you run. What does matter is that you must all be at the same level in Trigility.....beginner, open or specialist.

The course is broken into 3 scaled down courses: jumpers, standard and a gamble (distance work) Each member chooses which course they will run. The requirement for qualifying for your title is that the dog running the gamble course must complete the gamble correctly.

Our team "The Little Rascals" is comprised of Sophie, Merlin, our little beagle friend, and Jax, our sheltie friend who is very fast (Sophie loves both the boys). We even have official t-shirts that Marie (Merlin's mom) created. Next time we're together I'll have to get a photo of the team.

It's run as a relay; jumpers first, then standard, then gamble. We decided to have Jax do the gamble course since it had no teeter and he having issues with it right now. So Sophie did the standard course. Merlin ran jumpers very well (only his second time out; he's only 2 yrs. old and very silly on course); then Sophie ran the standard course beautifully; then Jax just blew through his course and got the gamble (it was a send from a jump to a tunnel)! Our team Q'd and got 3rd Place! We were so excited, mainly because Merlin actually paid attention to Marie and didn't go running around the course being cute! For a beginner's title you only need one Q. So here's another one for Sophie:

S-BTA (Select-Beginner Trigility Award)

Our next one is on Dec. 28th when we move up to Intern level. Should definitely be more fun, and the courses get a bit more difficult.

Our first standard run we were 2 secs. over time mainly because we had to redo the weaves. She seems to bail out towards the end which causes us to have to start all over again, losing precious time. Our second run was awesome, and we were 4 secs. under; no weave problems this time. So that was our first Specialist standard leg with a 1st Place!

Sunday (December 14, 2008) the jumpers runs were first in the morning which was nice for a change.
Sophie and I ran in Specialist Level, and Barb and Midge ran in Intern level.

Midge qualified in both with 1st Places! Yippee!

Sophie had absolutely beautiful runs in both earning Q's and 1st Places! She made me look so good! ;o) So 2 down, 1 to go (as long as we don't have any scary stewards again)!

Chris

November 23, 2008 - Half Way There!!!

Yesterday Sophie and I did an APDT rally trial and Sophie earned another "Q" with a score of 201 (out of 210) towards her Level 1 Championship! That's 5 down, 5 to go.
Chris

....and yes, the photo is out of context
Pam

October 12, 2008 - APDT rally trials at Fort Monmouth, NJ

Sophie did not qualify in the morning Trial but turned in a nice performance in the afternoon, in Chris' words:
We qualified with a score of 203 (out of 210)! The judge was very nice, and just loved seeing a border terrier in the ring, and complimented me on how cute she is. Of course, I agreed, even if I am biased! ;o)
So we're up to leg 4 out of 10 required for her championship.

October 3, 4 & 5, 2008 - DOCNA Championships

On Friday she Q'd in 8-inch Jumpers with a 1st Place, 8" Snakes 'n Ladders with a 1st Place, and 8" Standard with a 2nd Place!
On Sat. she Q'd again in Jumpers with a 1st Place and in Standard with a 2nd Place, which qualified her for the finals on Sunday!
For the finals on Sunday: Sophie finished 1st Place in Jumpers and 2nd Place in Standard receiving beautiful rosettes! Truly a performance to be proud of!

September 30, 2008 - Montgomery BTCOA Agility trial in PA

From Chris
Sophie had the most beautiful Open jumpers run with a 1st Place! I received a lot of compliments on our run throughout the day, and coming from other terrier owners, especially the border terrier folks, it meant a lot. I'm glad we had a relaxed run, but it's finally time to move up to Excellent!

September 27/28, 2008 - NADAC agility at Kruisin' Kanines (this was the weekend that hurricane Kyle came through)

Saturday, Sophie earned her second Novice Jumpers Leg and 1st Place! Only one to go.
She also earned her third Novice Weavers leg and 1st Place which gives her another title!
Novice Weavers (WV-N)

Sunday, in Chris' words:
Our first run of the day was Open standard and just as we got to the start line, it started drizzling. No big deal. Everything was going well, until the weaves again. Wrong entry so we had to re-do which caused us to go over time by 2 secs. Ugh! But she was happy and got lots of treats anyway.
We were scheduled for Novice jumpers and a Touch and Go run. If we Q'd in either it would be her titles. The rain stopped for a bit while elite and open ran jumpers. Just as open jumpers finished the skies opened up and it poured for at least a 1/2 hour. The trial stopped temporarily, and at that point some of the competitors packed up and left. To say the fields filled up is an understatement. We walked the rings to see their condition, and the water was over the tops of our shoes, so both the judge and club president decided it was too dangerous for dogs and handlers to run so the trial was shut down. But it was nice to get home early for a change. If it hadn't closed, I would not have run her in those conditions anyway. Her welfare is much more important than any ribbon!

September 20/21, 2008 - AKC agility in Doylestown

Saturday, Sophie finished two new titles and earned 1st Places!
Novice Agility Preferred (NAP)
and
Open Jumpers w/Weaves Preferred (OJP)
Sunday, in Chris' words:
I decided to be brave and moved her up to Open standard pref. for Sunday, but kept her in Open JWW rather than moving to excellent because I know I'm not ready for that stress.
Well, standard was run early in the day before too much hotness, and low-and-behold:
Sophie earned her first Open Standard Preferred leg and 2nd Place!
Our jumpers run was late in the day which by then was really sunny and hot (what happened to fall?), and even though we weren't super fast, Sophie qualified with an exact course time of 46 sec. So that gave her a 4th leg (only need 3), which I said makes it easier for her to walk and run! ;o)

Never a Dull Moment!

On Saturday August 16, 2008 we trialled in DOCNA and Sophie went 3 for 3 with all 1st Places!
In standard since she has her title, I wanted to have a fun, unstressed run so I kept her at Intern level instead of moving her up. It was ourfirst run of the day and she was definitely on. The big shocker -- she was 20 secs. under time (sct 64.23; Sophie's time 44.69)! I've never seen her run so well (or me keep up for that matter)! She made me look like a pro! Guess it's time to move to Specialist.
We q'd in the North American Challenge again giving us her 3rd leg. In that we were 9 secs. under time.
Her last run of the day was Jumpers, and she gave it her all after a long day. We were 5 secs. under time and that gave her the 3rd leg for another new title:

         S-IJA (Select-Intern Jumpers Award)

She has truly come into her own considering we started in this venue last August ('07) when she was doing zoomies in the ring and totally out of control!

Chris

Sophie's at it again!

Sophie has once again triumphed in the agility ring! The weekend of July 19th and 20th 2008 we played in DOCNA at Kruisin' Kanines, and again the temperatures were in the high 90's!
Sophie earned her first two Select-Intern Jumpers legs with a 3rd Place and a 1st Place!
She also earned her third Select-Intern Standard leg and 1st Place to give her another title!
S-ISA (Select-Intern Standard Award)
She earned her second leg in the Select-Intern North America Challenge with a 1st Place! This counts towards her Merit Award title which requires 5 legs.
Agility is definitely her sport, and I'm looking forward to our participation in the DOCNA Nationals in October!
_ _ _ _ _ _
This past Sunday, August 3rd, we played in APDT rally at DTC of Chester County. Thankfully it was indoors with air conditioning!
Sophie earned another Level 1 leg towards her RL1 championship with a score of 207 (out of a possible 210)! It would have been a perfect score, but at the call to front, finish left forward, I misdirected her and she started around to the right, so we just repeated the exercise and did it correctly, so that's where we lost our 3 points.
I was so proud of her performance! 3 down, 7 to go!

Chris

Definitely her venue

The weekend of June 7 and 8, at the High Octane Agility trials, in spite of the scorching heat (95 degrees +), Sophie earned two new NADAC agility titles with clean runs!

Saturday we ran standard first in the morning, and it was already quite hot. Our first run I sent the little miss off course twice with slow commands. Our second attempt (the course in reverse) was super with a clean run, 12 secs. under time and 1st Place!
Later that afternoon (could it get any hotter?) I almost decided not to bother with the rest because I was beyond hot and worn out, yet Sophie seemed ok so we ran Weavers (tunnels and sets of weaves) and Tunnelers (just tunnels...lots of them).
Sophie was super with the tunnels aspect, but tried to avoid the 3 sets of weaves we had to do, but I got her to complete them anyway. I was happy we ran clean, but had no expectations of making time since I was moving slower than a turtle.
Our Tunnelers course was last. Sophie's favorite class, yet she wasn't her fastest, but we ran clean. Yes! Now we could really cool down with the A/C in the van, then head on home! Just for fun before we left I went to check how we did on the last two runs. I couldn't believe that WE Q'D IN BOTH (each one only 2 secs. under time)! Sophie earned her 2nd Weavers leg and 2nd Place! Her Tunnelers Q (1st Place) gave her the title!

Sunday we were back for more (I must be nuts). At least there was a stronger wind which made it a bit more tolerable, and clouds had moved in to cover the sun.
Again, our standard runs were first. Her first one was clean, 13 secs. under time, and 1st Place! Yippee, our Novice Standard title! She was moving.
Our last run of the day was a new game called Hoopers. Think of a hula hoop on edge that the dogs have to run through. There's more to it than that, but it's too involved to explain in one sentence. There were about 31 hoops on course, but some are non-test and some are set up as tests within the course.
Sophie and I gave it our first try. Even with just flat running, I could tell she was hot and really tired (only 1 sec. under time). But was a trooper she was! We Q'd and got 2nd Place and our 1st Hoopers leg!

Chris

She's at it again

Chris' wonderful write up from April 26-27, 2008

On Saturday at our home club (Kruisin' Kanines) Sophie earned her 2nd Open JWW Preferred leg and 1st Place with a perfect score of 100 and 10 secs. under time! The class had about 47 dogs, and only about 10 qualified, so she's quite the little lady!

She also earned her 2nd Novice Standard Preferred leg and 1st Place (again, perfect score)! She is just amazing me more and more at every trial.

Sunday at the APDT rally trial, we had two runs and we Q'd in both with scores of 198 and 209 (210 being perfect with the bonus; 200 being perfect). Our first course I mistakenly had a brain fart and instead of doing a right step to a halt, did a right pivot, so we lost 5 points on that. Our other pts. lost were for tight lead (she tends to forge or go wide which does pull the lead). We did complete the bonus for an extra 10 pts.

I really worked harder on our second one to not have such a tight lead and it obviously worked, plus I made sure I did the step right correctly! These legs count towards her RL1 Championship. You need 10 Q's total after achieving your initial title. So.....only 8 to go! If we don't do a lot of rally, she enjoys it more so that's my plan.

Chris

...and a nice start to 2008

On March 29-30, 2008, Sophie completed 4 titles in two days of fun per Chris' report:

Saturday

S-SBA (Select-Beginners Standard Award)
    Run 1 -- sct = 61.39 drt = 37.98 (1st Place)
    Run 2 -- sct = 61.39 drt = 39.27 (1st Place)
Run 1 gave us the title, but it's nice to get an extra one just in case!

S-INAC (Select-Intern North America Challenge)
    sct = 72.64 drt = 61.38 (2nd Place)

Select-Beginners Jumpers
    sct = 36.66 drt = 19.85 (1st Place - our second leg) I was amazed at our run time; never realized we were moving that fast!

Sunday

S-BSLA (Select-Beginners Snakes 'n Ladders)
    sct = 82.88 drt - 69.92 (1st Place) at beginner's level you only need one leg to earn a title!

Snakes 'n Ladders is a course made up of just contacts, several sets of weaves and tunnels. You plan your own course, but you MUST have a tunnel between each contact and weaves and make time; for example, weaves, tunnel, a-frame, tunnel, teeter, tunnel, weaves, etc. It's a fun game to play.

S-BJA (Select-Beginners Jumpers)
    sct = 32.00 drt = 21.88 (1st Place)
We were the next to last run of the day but she easily earned her third leg for the title!

Select-Intern Standard
    Run 1 -- sct = 67.66 drt = 52.49 (1st Place)
    Run 2 -- sct = 68.90 drt = 52.93 (1st Place)
I moved her up to Intern for Sunday, feeling confident she would do just fine. We only need one more leg to title.

Successful end to 2007

At the DOCNA trials on Saturday 29, 2007 Sophie was entered in Standard Beginners Select and Jumpers Beginners Select.
Demonstrating beautiful teamwork with Chris, she earned her first two standard legs with a 1st and 2nd Placement! She also earned her first jumpers leg and 1st Place!

Another weekend and two more titles - no time for hibernating

At the DOCNA trials this weekend (December 08-09, 2007), Sophie earned her:
C-BSA (Competition-Beginners Standard Award)
and
C-BJA (Competition-Beginners Jumpers Award)

In Chris' words [edited]:

On Saturday, she earned her final two jumpers legs (only 2 secs. under time each run--cutting it a bit close!) and earned a 3rd and 4th Place! I was thrilled!
We also had 2 standard runs on Saturday. Our first one I messed her up prior to the weaves so we ended up 4 secs. over time.
But I redeemed myself on our second run and Sophie Q'd and took 1st Place! This time we were 12 secs. under time! This was our second leg towards our title. Yea! A double Q!

On Sunday we had 2 standard runs and 1 jumpers run. Our standard runs were early in the day. Our first run we Q'd, got 1st Place and were 9 secs. under time! Yea, our title! Our second run we Q'd, got 2nd Place and again were 9 secs. under time! Always nice to have an extra leg.

This brag will benefit the Francisvale Home for Small Animals.

Keeping Positively Busy

This past Sunday, (December 2, 2007), at the Dog Training Club of Chester County, Sophie earned her APDT Rally Level 1 Title!

From Chris:

Her score was 202 (out of a possible 210)! We lost points on occasional tight lead, and one exercise we had to repeat (halt, down, walk around). She was a bit nervous and didn't want to stay down, so I chose to do it over (lost 3 pts.). But she did the bonus exercise (halt, recall, finish). We were also in a run-off for 5th place with a golden retriever (had to do the first 6 exercises), but the golden was more precise. Not bad for us, qualifying in 3 out of 4 trials!

This brag will benefit the Francisvale Home for Small Animals.

A Week to remember, and what a venue to have it happen

Montgomery All Terrier Agility Cluster (AKC) October 02-05, 2007

A wonderful report from Chris [edited]

I still can't believe my little girl earned two AKC agility titles in one week! ;o) Wow!

Tuesday:

Novice Standard - 2nd Place - Score 86 - our 1st Leg (1 wrong course and 4 secs. over time)
The course run was a bit challenging, having a complete u turn from jump 3 to the weaves. Since I didn't call her fast enough, she went to the dog walk (wrong course) which was parallel to where we needed to be. The judge (Bonnie McDonald) happened to be standing behind the walk (to better observe the entire course) so as Sophie got to the center she stopped and started wagging her tail and giving kisses to Bonnie! Well, everyone started chuckling and saying how cute and Bonnie held her on the walk so she wouldn't jump off towards her, but I said to Sophie "come on, it's not going to help you, so let's go" and she finished the dog walk, and I got her on track and we finished the course properly.
Later as I was checking the posted score sheet and happily realized we Q'd, Bonnie came by and said "is this the little one that gave me kisses?" "She is adorable and I'm not a terrier person, but I really like her!" Maybe this judge kissing works after all? I was just thrilled that we finally earned our first leg!

Wednesday: (our first double Q!)

Novice JWW - TITLE - 2nd Place - 10 secs. under time (Judge Bonnie McDonald)
Our third leg - I was beside myself with glee! We FINALLY got her title after 2 years! It's that terrier persistence that works for humans too! I had a friend take our photo with Bonnie, and she was so happy for us!
Novice Standard - 1st Place - Score 96 (4 secs. over time) - 2nd Leg Yippee!!
What can I say other than I was so, so proud of my little girl and her performance, and earning our first double Q!

Thursday: : (Another double Q!)

Novice JWW - 3rd Place - Score 98 (2 secs. over time)
So glad to earn an extra leg just in case! ;o)
Novice Standard - TITLE - 1st Place - Score 95 (1 refusal) (9 secs. under time) (Judge Bonnie McDonald)
Sophie was the ONLY 12-inch dog to qualify!!!
By this point, I'm definitely on Cloud 9 having never expected anything like this! Unbelievable!

Friday:

Novice Standard - 1st Place - Score 100 - (10 secs. under time)
AGAIN, Sophie was the ONLY 12-inch dog to qualify!!!

This was a week that I will never forget. Hoping for at least one jumpers leg to finish her title, and she gives me TWO titles with extra legs on each! For each Q she received a toy and a Q-cookie from the hosting clubs. My only complaint is that our parent club doesn't support performance events like it does conformation; key rings seem rather cheap compared to what the other breed clubs offered their qualifiers, especially since this cluster is associated with Montgomery. Considering what Sophie and I achieved last week, I think a nicer reward would have been appreciated and not just by me; the other Border folk had the same complaint.

...and her fall even more exciting

Kruisin' Kanines trial (home club) September 29-30, 2007

Saturday (29th):
Touch 'n Go (tunnels and contacts Novice Level) - was our first time trying it so I didn't know what to expect. FIRST PLACE, 1st Leg and 7 secs. under time!

Sunday (30th): (all are Novice level)
Touch 'n Go was first - 2ND PLACE, 2nd Leg and 16 secs. under time! Wow, a great way to start the day! Only one more leg for a title!
Jumpers - 2ND PLACE, 1st Leg and a mere 7/10 of a sec. under time! (couldn't cut it much closer!)
Standard run No. 2 - 2ND PLACE, 1st Leg and 12 secs. under time! Hooray!

Chris summed it up with: I do believe that next year we'll be achieving our Novice titles in several of the classes. Sophie keeps me on my toes! She's always surprising me, and I love her for it!
Little did she know......

Sophie's Summer has been a good one

a full report from Chris

The venue was DOCNA (Dogs On Course in North America - August 18-19, 2007) and it's a nice venue. Very relaxed (of course I'm not) and nice open flowing courses. The folks who run them are really nice too. It's like having a trial in your backyard. I really like it.
The trials were held inside on artificial turf in a fabric covered structure. The kind that allows them to role up the sides when the weather's nice. The weather was nice and cool on Sat. We had a Competition Beginners standard run and a jumpers run. Our standard run was first......well, let's just say Sophie was feeling the coolness and was crazed! She was a MACH dog (mach as in speed, not titles)! If I remember correctly (really need to watch my video again) the only obstacles she did in proper sequence was the first one (tunnel), when I sent her to the teeter, and the last jump! Needless to say, we got a big E for our run (possibly for Entertaining?)!
Our jumpers run was late in the day. There are no weaves in their jumpers courses, but you must run clean and make time. I wasn't that nervous and felt confident we'd do our best. Having walked her and playing with her outside during the day helped settle her down and tire her out a bit. It worked!
Sophie earned her 1st DOCNA Competition Beginners Jumpers leg and 3rd Place!
We were 4 secs. under time! What a recovery from the morning!

Sunday we were back for more. We were both a bit tired, but I could tell she was much more settled. We had 2 standard runs and 1 jumpers. The standard course is run in one direction the first run, then they reverse it for your 2nd run (same as NADAC). The first way I thought was better for us as far as having weaves after the tunnel, which I can gather her to focus. Well, that didn't work! ;o) She was ahead of me, ran past the weaves to sniff along the fencing. When I called her back my body language sent her back to the tunnel. We tried the weaves again, but she missed the entry and I know enough not to push her to try more than twice because her face tells me she's stressing, so we continued. She missed part of the serpentine jump sequence (went straight to the tunnel which was after it), but we completed the rest of the course just fine. So I'd say it was 85% good due to my handling errors.
In Run No. 2 I was concerned about the jump, weaves, tunnel sequence since she would be coming over the jump at an angle. She's had that sequence before and she usually bypasses the weaves to the tunnel (much more fun). After the jump I called the weaves, but again she ran to the fencing to sniff. My golden opportunity to call her back to focus, she did the weaves, and we got through the rest with the tire being the last obstacle. I gave her the wrong command and she ran past it (luckily DOCNA has no refusals), but I called her back around it and then sent her through so we finished 6 secs. under time!
Sophie earned her 1st DOCNA Competition Beginners Standard leg and 2nd Place!

Still rolling....

In Chris' words

On Sunday July 15, 2007 at our agility club's NADAC trial, in the absolutely awful heat (92 degrees) and humidity, Sophie earned her second Tunnelers leg and 1st Place!

We were 5 secs. under time. I was so pleased with her performance! It's so much fun when we come together as a team, especially since she absolutely LOVES this class! Fortunately I have it recorded and it's fun to watch her run flat out on the course! Only one to go for her title!

Two legs in two months - Sophie's going overboard (for Sophie)

Sophie earned her 2ND APDT RALLY LEVEL 1 leg and 1ST PLACE with a score of 204 (perfect score is 210) under judge Natalene Lamming at the Pawsable K9s Events trial in Freehold, NJ on July 1st, 2007 [celebrating her Canadian roots no doubt - pd]!

I'm very proud of her, and winning 1st Place was icing on the cake!
There were 16 entries in our class. The course had some challenging sections, but Sophie came through for me. The bonus exercise was leave your dog in a sit then call them to heel position (worth an extra 10 pts). We had never tried it before so I had no idea what to expect, but when I called her she came immediately into position, but took her time to finally sit and then she was quite crooked, but we only lost 1 pt.

There were two other LBDs in Sophie's class and they also qualified. We enjoyed saying "Borders Rule!" ;o)
Chris

On a roll...............

On Sunday, May 6, 2007 Sophie earned her first APDT Level 1 Rally leg and 2nd Place! Yea!
Her score was 201 (she earned and extra 10 pts. for the bonus exercise).

This brag will benefit Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, a local no-kill shelter.

No point in rushing...............

On Sunday, April 29th 2007 at Kruisin' Kanines' (home club) AKC Agility trials,
Almost 2 years after earning the first leg, Sophie earned her 2nd Novice JWW leg and 2nd Place!

In Chris' words:

Right from the start line we were poetry in motion! She was totally focused on my direction, and we were a thing of beauty! The standard course time was 41 secs. and we ran it in 27! I'm still in shock! ;o)
I couldn't remember if it was our first or second leg until I check my records at home. She earned her first in May 2005 and 2nd Place. I told her we need to step it up; can't wait every two years to qualify! :o)

This brag will benefit Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, a local no-kill shelter.

Introducing

U-CD Jansim Sassy Sophia, RN, NJP

We did it!

On Saturday , July 22, 2006 Sophie earned her UKC CD at Hilltown DTC under Judge Louann Currey!
It wasn't our best performance (173) but enough for her third leg and that was my goal! I'm so proud of us as a team completing it in 3 out of 3 shows, with minimal training, and in spite of my nerves!
She got lots of treats and kisses and hugs!
I should mention that she had 5 no sits! I think Louann was kind to us! She's a nice judge if you ever have the opportunity to show under her.
Sunday we went back for a spare leg, and let's say, thank goodness for Saturday! Not one sit during the entire on and off-lead healing or figure 8!
A fun part was Sophie made friends with an Irish Setter, Harry, who she adores and he likes her very much. When we were in the ring, his handler had to take him out of the room because he was whining so much for her! Plus we won one of the raffle prizes which was a metal dog crate, small dog size, filled with an thick orthopaedic crate pad (Spunky can use it for sure), toys, treats, grooming items, and a martingale collar and lead. It was all donated by dog.com. So Sunday wasn't a complete washout! ;o)

It's a Title!

Sophie earned her AKC Rally Novice Title

In Chris' words:

Thursday, November 17, 2005 at Penn Treaty KC, we earned her 3rd leg for her title with a score of 90 (out of 100)! That was our personal best! Besides our green ribbon we also got a New Title Rosette which is way cool!
Friday, at Greater Phila., we earned a 4th leg in Rally with a score of 93! Upped our personal best! I was very happy. Our points are always lost in healing (no surprise there). I entered Friday as a backup just in case.

Weaving her Magic........

On Saturday, July 16th, at Kruisin&146; Kanines&146; (home club) NADAC trials,
SOPHIE EARNED HER FIRST NADAC NOVICE WEAVERS LEG AND 4TH PLACE!

In Chris' words:

This was our first attempt at Weavers. It consists of just tunnels and weave poles (lots of them, sets of 12 and 6, usually used twice during the course). I was proud of how she stayed her start line, found the weave entry after a tunnel with me just sending her, she stayed with me on course, enabling us to perform all the weaves plus take the tunnels in the proper sequence, and make time!
The trials were held in an indoor sports arena which kept us out of the many thunderstorms that came through all weekend, but it wasn't air conditioned, so the heat and humidity were really intense, especially on Sunday. Although the thunder did spook some dogs from running, Sophie was fine with it. There were large fans in the building, plus we had kiddy pools outside, and I had Sophie set up in her x-pen with her crate, plenty of drinking water and a fan. I also had a dishpan that I put water in for her to lay in to cool off, only when I was there with her. Everyone was saying how she had her own little condo area complete with pool! Only the best for my little girl!

SATURDAY WAS JANSIM QUALIFYING DAY!!
Chris and Sophie (Miss Zoomies)

Rallying Round........

.........and two good ones at that!

In Chris' words:

This weekend Sophie and I entered AKC Rally for the first time on a whim, not having done much preparation in the way of training.

Saturday we qualified with a score of 87!
Today we qualified with a score of 92!

Only one leg to go!
You start out with a score of 100 and then it's up to you! Since we didn't want the judge to just stand and be bored, we gave her stuff to write about! Mostly it's our heeling part. Sophie doesn't understand that when she's on a loose lead she needs to stay closer and not forge! Even so, I'm quite proud of us. I was able to read the signs and understand them!

The trials were on June 4th and 5th, 2005.

Alert, active and AGILE!

Sophie earned her 1ST AKC Novice B JWW LEG and 2nd Place at the Lower Bucks DTC trial on May 22, 2005

Chris writes:
"The course time was 38 secs. and we ran it exactly at 38! She had one refusal when she ran past a jump, but I got her back and focused and we finished with flair!"

It's a Title (and the start of another one)

That's right.....Sophie earned the third leg of her AKC Novice JWW-Preferred Title at the Prestigious Montgomery Terrier Agility Cluster on Friday October 01, 2004. She then followed this up on Saturday with a NADAC Novice Tunnelers Leg at the Kruisin' Kanines NADAC Trial (Kruisin' Kanines is Sophie's "home" club).

This brag will benefit a local no-kill shelter

Following up in Fine Style

While some of us still feel like we are still recovering from the Specialty, Sophie is out their covering the ground - Agility ground that is. She earned her 2nd AKC JWW Preferred leg on September 19, 2004 with 3rd Place and a score of 95! - Nice going Sophie and Chris!

2004 BTCA National Specialty Brag

Sophie continued her versatile ways at the Specialty, taking First Place in Pre-novice Obedience, a Third Place in Puppy Sweeps (21-24 mths) and passing her Canine Good Citizen Test.

Not Just a Pretty Face

Sophie changed gears to earn her first AKC Jumpers with Weaves leg and 2nd Place at the Lehigh Valley Poodle Club agility trial, June 27, 2004!
In Chris' words:
We had 2 refusals and were still 3 seconds under time. The refusals were because she's so fast on the course, she just blew past the jumps before I got her back on course to do them properly. Her favorites are the tunnels (of course!). Initially I thought the course was going to be too challenging for our level of training, but she proved me wrong once again! Yeah!
On Saturday it was a different story, she had lots of fun running the course, but we incurred 4 refusals and 2 wrong courses. Seems she liked the two tunnels so much she did each of them twice! Eventually, we did complete the course, and she didn't knock any bars down. The judge was laughing too just watching how much fun she was having, especially with the tunnels. I just take it in stride and keep it upbeat and happy for Sophie so she'll always enjoy herself. Life's too short to worry about qualifying!
She's so fast off the start line (we definitely need to work on her stay) because she HATES waiting! At the end of the run I was more exhausted than she ever could be! Forgot how out of shape I've gotten. I can't wait to start running the standard courses once she conquers her fear of the teeter. It's the only obstacle holding her back.

One step at a time

December 13, 2003 - Delaware Water Gap Kennel Club under Judge Charles Edward Dalton - Winners Bitch over two other females for her second point - this judge really likes Sophie.

First step......... but oh so important!

September 13, 2003 - Lehigh Valley KC show (in the downpour) under Judge William Ferrera - Winners Bitch and Best Opposite Sex for her first point.