AKC in Camarillo
January 24 & 25
by Kristi Cetrulo
The Dog Agility Club of Ventura put on a lovely AKC show down in Camarillo.
Numerous GVDC members were there but since I haven't been able to get
in touch with all of them, I will apologize in advance for any that
got left out.
Mia and Finn - what can I say that won't sound TOO much like bragging?
Finn upped the ante on Mia this weekend, showing ALARMING speed, but
here are Mia's own words:
The weekend started out fairly frustrating. It was our first time in
Excellent A and Finn has picked up a new gear in agility, that I don't
have complete control over. Saturday started okay in Standard, no Q,
but I was very happy with his effort. Saturday's JWW was a disaster,
complete disaster. It was the most faulted run I've ever been a part
of, I can't even remember where Finn went, on all his off-courses (there
were many and it was a simple course). I was better with the new gear
in the Intl' Standard, he took an off-course, but handled all the hard
parts well. We were better on Sunday. In Standard, he didn't realize
the teeter wasn't the dogwalk, until it was too late. Otherwise, it
was one hell of a run. He handled all the tough stuff beautifully in
JWW, but I pulled him off a couple jumps, by looking for too much control.
The last class of the weekend was the Intl' JWW. Finn was awesome! He
nailed a weave entry that I'd seen Kristi hit with Cinder (I remember
thinking, "I wish I could do that with Finn.") and I was concentrating
so hard on not pulling him out of the weaves that I lost track of where
I was after them. Fortunately, we weren't called for any fault. Other
than that bobble, it was one of the best runs we've ever had. He is
such an amazing jumper and I finally felt like we were on the same page.
Finn ended up winning the class (and a very nice gift basket), which
was a great way to finish the weekend. Thanks to Betty for all her support
and Kristi for breeding such a remarkable dog!
What Mia did not mention is that Finn beat ALL the 26' dogs in the International
Class, including Luz, Blew and my own little Cinder. They were amazing!
Peggi Bean and Indy had an awesome weekend - on Saturday Indy came in
1st in both of her Open classes and got her Open Standard title! YAY
Peggi and Indy.
Anne and Zip looked incredible. The ground speed on that dog is amazing.
The courses were tough and aside from one bobble here and one bobble
there, they looked GREAT! It is a testament to Anne's hard work as to
how far she and Zip have come in the last year. Watch out everyone in
the 20" class!
I had a great weekend, even though it did not start out well. I was
showing 5 dogs in the Excellent class (all the same jump height) and
our first class was Ex JWW. I gave Gale a hard call over a bar (bar
down), let Kali run around a jump, gave Cinder a hard call (another
bar) and Connie just tore the course apart with bars down. 4 for 4 bust.
Then Patches came out - good old reliable Patches - she was my only
JWW Q on Sat. The Standard course was NOT pretty (but they haven't been
lately so nothing new...) and Cinder managed to get around clean (nicely)
with a 4th and Q in Ex B (that was her MX) and Patches Double Q'd! YAY
Patches - that was #15. Then Gale surprised the bejeezus out of me by
not only qualifying but winning the Ex A class. Cinder ran great in
the International Standard course - left all the bars up at 26"
- but we had an off course. Oh well, it was still a great day and I
got home at 2pm - can't ask for more.
Sunday seemed to be a repeat of Sat. Kali ran around a jump, Gale dropped
a bar, Connie dropped a bar, Patches dropped a bar - but Cinder was
clean and took 2nd place! And then the Standard. Gale was my first dog
- and she rollicked around the course for 2nd place and her AX title!
Then Connie who, despite a hair-raising call off at a tunnel, not only
qualified but took 4th place in Ex B! Cinder and I had an UGLY run but
it was somehow clean so we have one DQ on our hunt for the 4 Nationals
DQ's we need. Even Kali got around clean! So I was pretty cocky when
I went to the line with my last dog, Patches. Bad idea. We had a refusal.
My fault. Oh well. The International Jumpers course was a blast and
Cinder only had one bar down. It was SO MUCH fun to run, I will definitely
be entering more of them!
So, overall, a pretty good weekend for my little heathens: 2 Double
Q's, one MX, one AX, a blue, a couple reds, lots of q's and a 4th in
the International class. Plus the added bonus of knowing Finn WON the
darn thing - it was a very cool weekend.
Pets to all the beasties.
Kristi
