Update On My Crazy Redhead

[running_dog]

Super work from Tempest even though you didn't win... she is so keen

 

[Ripleygirl]

I absolutely love watching you and Tempest. Can't wait to see more!

 

[kassidybc]

Ok, so now that the Fair is over and I have had a bit of time to recover here are some videos from our weekend.

Saturday was a Skyhoundz Classic World Qulifier. There were competitors from all over the Country and Canada who attended including some of the biggest names in the US including Mark Muir and Dean Wertz from Georgia, Ron Watson and Apryl Lea from pvybe.com (NY), Tracy Custer from Missouri, Andrew Han from Wisconsin, Scott Jones from Michigan, Jodi Frederick from FL, Mark Vitullo from Ohio and Chuck Middleton from Texas.

Freestyle was the first competition of the day on Saturday and with all these talented people and us not having much time to practice our Freestyle routine I was just hoping to score about middle of the pack. Here is our routine from Saturday morning...

We didnt make the cut to the top 10 and ended up placing 19th out of the 26 freestyle teams that competed.

Up next was Distance and Accuracy. There were 56, yes 56 of the best D/A teams in the country, here is our first round of D/A, we had 6 catches one of wich was out of bounds however and we scored 14.5 points...

After our first round of D/A we were actually sitting 9th place overall and made the cut to the top 10. Making the cut to top 10 was an amazing accomplishment for me with all the amazing teams that were there. So going into our second round I was just happy to get to play again. Tempest however turned it up a notch with another 6 catch round and 16.5 points!

After our two rounds we ended up with 31 points and ended up 6th overall. I am amazed with my little pup, she really came to play!

Sunday was an AWI Qualifier. I decided not to play Freestyle since I wasnt going to go to the finals if we placed and decided to save the $30. We did however play in the Pro Cash and Catch competition which is just Toss and Catch but the winner gets a portion of the entry as a prize. $150 in this case. She did so awesome Saturday that I thought we had a good chance of placing in this.

She had 3 catches with 1 drop and a bad throw by me. When she was coming back after her drop and we had 15 seconds left I decided to try a short throw so I could then go long right as time ran out. So I called her name to get her look at me and she came all the way back, no biggie I had plenty of time left so I sent her around for one last throw...and I rushed it and it was to low and fast for her to get to. So, after our first round we only had 5 points. The zones are scored much lower in this version of Toss and Catch with the most you can score in a single throw of 2.5 points. You can see on her 3rd catch where she landed in the last zone right in a small circle that is the bonus zone and gets you the 2.5 points. There were alot of high scores so even after our good round I wasnt sure if that would be a strong enough round...

Turned out I was right and the cut was 5.5 so we missed top 10 by .5 a point. Still finishing 11th out of the 30 or so teams that were there was an awesome accomplishment for us.

Next up for miss Tempest and her Disc career are two demos here local then or trip to GA for the USDDN World finals in October! Those will be broadcast live over the internet! (Or at least they were last year)

WOW! That is so awesome! You guys are so great!

 

[barnhill]

So as I mentioned earlier, WagFest is coming up, its actually tomorrow (08/23/2014) and the last couple of days we have been helping out with some promotional stuff.
Yesterday morning a local news show that talks about upcoming events did a live piece on WagFest and Matt Bilderback and I from the SOFK9s went out to help since we are performing on Saturday. Here is the clip my wife recorded on our handheld while it was live streaming. Good thing she did too as our DVR decided not to record it...

We did a taped segment for a different news station Tuesday morning as well, but that was supposed to air sometime today and I havent had a chance to see it yet.

 

[kassidybc]

So as I mentioned earlier, WagFest is coming up, its actually tomorrow (08/23/2014) and the last couple of days we have been helping out with some promotional stuff.
Yesterday morning a local news show that talks about upcoming events did a live piece on WagFest and Matt Bilderback and I from the SOFK9s went out to help since we are performing on Saturday. Here is the clip my wife recorded on our handheld while it was live streaming. Good thing she did too as our DVR decided not to record it...

We did a taped segment for a different news station Tuesday morning as well, but that was supposed to air sometime today and I havent had a chance to see it yet.

That's super cool!!!

 

[Ripleygirl]

Awesome... great coverage for the event too!

 

[MaryK]

Fantastic! Great coverage by the local station too!

 

[barnhill]

Thanks! Yeah its one of my favorite events of the year to attend. It was close to 90 out there Saturday and Tempest played through it like a champ! We forgot our good video camera so the first show we had to record on our cell phone. Here is Tempest's performance to start the show off...

Here is Matt and his Mini Aussie Bella performing....

Then we do something called Dare Devil Bazooka, Matt's other mini Aussie, Bazooka. Does a back vault over two people from the club and then we grab some kids and have her do the same thing over them too, the kids and crowd love it.

 

[barnhill]

Ok so another update for Tempest. Last weekend was the Fall 3 day AKC Agility trial my training club does every year. I had both Sagira and Tempest entered all three days in both Jumpers and Standard Agility.

Friday started off rocky with Tempest loosing her marbles in the jumpers course. We lost connection right away and went downhill from there. LOL We did manage to reconnect near the end of the course though and she finished nice.

Then Sagira ran next in Standard, she isnt the fastest dog to run Agility but she is consistent and she runs so nice. Got a Q in Standard for this run.

Next was Sagirs's Jumpers Run. She had another nice run and we finshed with a Q. This gave us QQ number 18 and another 12 points. This puts us needing 2 more QQ and 240 points for Sagira's MACH. For those who dont know you need 20 QQ and 750 points for this title.

Our last run on Friday was Tempest's Standard run. Again we didnt Q but she ran awesome. Her only issue right now seems to be her Weave Poles. She doesnt like to slow down so tries to do them at 100 MPH, she is still a baby dog so I know we can get this worked out.

 

[barnhill]

Saturday started off with Tempest in Jumpers again. Again she didnt Q. I forced her to slow down in the weaves but right at the end I was a little late on cuing my rear cross and she dropped the bar. Dog A+, Handler D-. LOL

Next up on Saturday was Sagira and her Standard run. She had another awesome run and got us another 11 points towards her MACH.

Then Sagira ran her Jumpers course. This was another great run by Sagira, but I messed it up right at the end when I took my eyes off her for a split second and she took an off course jump. Again Dog A+, Handler D-.

Last run of the day for Saturday was Tempest and her Standard run. Again she ran amazing for a young dog but I miscued a jump and then caused her to take a second wrong course jump which cost us our Q. See above for grades. LOL

 

[barnhill]

Sorry about the multiple posts but I had to break out the videos to 4 each post.

So going into the last day of the trial I was hoping for another QQ with Sagira and 1 Q with Tempest in either Standard or Jumpers.

Sunday started the same way. Tempest in Jumpers. This time we were in sync, she was nice and fast. I forced her to slow down for her weaves and then made her slow down for a couple front crosses as well causing 1 refusal but I got her reset and we went on. I was worried about the last part of the course, it was 5 jumps, pretty much straight and I was sure I would get behind her and cause her to spin but she was a good girl and didnt look back. Finshed this run with her 3rd Novice Jumpers Q and got her title! So up we go to Open!

Next was Sagira's standard run. Usually we dont enter 3 day trials with her, she tends to get a little grumpy and slows down on day 3. She started off nice and fast and everything was looking good until we got to the table. For some reason she stopped and we got a refusal at the table so no Q for us.

Next up was Sagira's final run of the weekend in Jumpers. Since we didnt Q in Standard in the morning I decided to go out and push for time so I could at least get us a few more points. It didnt quite work out that way however. Near the middle of the course I pulled to hard after a blind cross and forgot where I was going. By the time I remembered it was to late and we got a refusal when she came in to close. You can hear her yell at me at that point for messing up and the judge actually agreed with her and so did my wife, LOL

Our last run of the weekend was with Tempest and her Standard run. She again ran awesome, I caused her to drop a bar at the end of the run when I pushed to hard to get in front of her to slow her down for the weaves.

Over all I am very happy on how the weekend went. I might not have gotten as many Q's as I would have liked with Tempest or Sagira, but they both ran awesome. Tempest got better as the weekend went on and Sagira ran all three days so thats a bonus for her. We have another 3 day trial this weekend, October 3-5th and then the week after that its off to Georgia for the USDDN World Championships!!

 

[kassidybc]

You guys are so awesome! Love watching you and your dogs!