Shadowfax's Lone Star Belle
MX MXJ MJB MXP MJP NF ISD CA CGC TKA HIC
National Specialty Agility Trial 2014
HIGH IN TRIAL for Standard and Jumpers with Weaves
How is it possible that a modest little 4th place ribbon could ever mean so much???
As many of you know, Razzles is my first ever agility dog. She is a freakishly special beardie and the most perfect agility partner I could have ever dreamed to have. This weekend she showed trouble judging where to take off for her jumps and this is likely a declining vision issue or perhaps related to conditioning. If the later, I can help her. However, it is most likely the former which will mean we may have had our final runs this weekend together. I think she knew it. She still has the fire and joy of running, but was struggling with her jumps. Since standard has fewer jumps and I know from training she is perfectly safe on the contact equipment, I took her out to see if the issues she showed on Saturday were perhaps related to a tumble she took playing with the puppy earlier that day?
In true Razzles fashion, she gave her all. She ran the standard course fully determined to put together a run we could remember. I am absolutely convinced she gave absolutely everything she had and she did it for me. It wasn't her fastest, but it was perhaps her most determined. She ended up shocking me with a clean run and just fast enough for a 4th place ribbon. Somehow, she must have known the night before I was convinced she would never have a clean run or ever have another competitive agility ribbon. I have no idea how she made it through the jump heavy ending with final jumps of double and triple, but she did. I believe it was a gift she thought I needed and she used every resource in her power to make it happen and she did it for me. Razzles always runs with passion, not always clean, but when clean, over the course of her entire AKC career she only failed to place 1 time. This was in the 20" class (later 16" preferred) when competing against very talented competitors. I did the math and she finished 1st in 35% of her runs and finished second in 37%. For a beardie, finishing in the top two 72% of the time, is kinda a staggering number.
It's not about the ribbons. Never has been. It's been about an extremely talented dog teaching me how to play the game. She has patiently and lovingly put up with all my learning mistakes. We have run as a team, made mistakes as a team, learned together as a team and had some huge moments and tons of fun as a team. I think this lovely, very lovely and meaningful 4th place ribbon may very well be our last one as a team...and while I never want this ride to end, it is definitely coming to a close. I am feeling sad, grateful and proud --- all at the same time. It'll be okay because my best buddy and I are still enjoying many activities and she is still here to inspire and help coach her younger sisters to hopefully fill the massively large shoes she is stepping out of. If she is unable to recover and resume competition, I plan to have her run at least once more...when AKC removes that blasted table that has cost us so many Q's. Razzles is simply not meant for static behaviors on an agility course. Never has been and never will be. In the meantime, I will definitely hold onto this ribbon…the placement is irrelevant…the effort and love to earn it for me is what matters and it is something I will always cherish. Thank you Razzles for this very lovely gift, it’s perfect, just like you!
9/06/13 Novice A 20" Leg 1 100 2nd/7 37.40'/63.00' 130 4.01 9/15/13 Novice A 20" Leg 2 90 1st/8 34.65'/67.00' 139 4.69 10/05/13 Novice B 20" Leg 3 95 2nd/9 36.38'/73.00' 154 4.90 NA
10/27/13 Open 20" Leg 1 90 4th/7 49.60'/64.00' 156 3.50 11/03/13 Open 20" Leg 2 95 2nd/3 37.55'/62.00' 152 4.67 11/10/13 Open 20" Leg 3 100 1st/6 32.68'/60.00' 145 5.24 OA 9/29/14 Excellent 20" Leg 1 100 1st/8 37.30'/63.00' 180 5.59 HIT 2/07/15 Excellent 20" Leg 2 100 1st/10 36.62'/66.00' 188 5.95 3/07/15 Excellent 20" Leg 3 100 1st/17 38.19'/64.00' 182 5.48 9/13/15 Masters 20" Leg 1 100 1st/21 39.44'/63.00' 180 5.23 23pts 10/17/15 Masters 20" Leg 2 100 4th/27 35.63'/62.00' 178 5.81 26pts 1/30/16 Masters 20" Leg 3 100 1st/31 35.02'/65.00' 187 6.22 29pts 10/22/16 Masters 20" Leg 4 100 1st/38 36.09'/61.00' 174 5.59 24pts QQ1 10/30/16 Masters 20" Leg 5 100 2nd/42 34.90'/59.00' 168 5.61 24pts QQ2 3/11/17 Masters 20" Leg 6 100 2nd/38 37.26'/65.00' 185 5.73 27pts 3/18/17 Masters 20" Leg 7 100 1st/33 33.25'/62.00' 176 6.23 27pts 4/01/17 Masters 20" Leg 8 100 1st/14 34.28'/63.00' 179 6.11 28pts 4/13/17 Masters 20" Leg 9 100 2nd/25 33.54'/60.00 172 6.03 26pts 5/27/17 Masters 20" Leg 10 100 4th/42 36.28'/66.00' 189 6.04 29pts QQ3 9/09/17 Masters 20" Leg 11 2nd/35 40.47'/65.00' 186 5.24 24pts QQ4 10/01/17 Masters 20" Leg 12 1st/58 35.97'/64.00' 184 5.94 28pts 4/20/18 Masters 20' Leg 13 4th/29 39.49'/68.00 195 5.65 28pts 10/21/18 Masters 20" Leg 14 4th/32 37.60'/65.00' 186 5.70 27pts 1/27/19 Masters 20" Leg 15 1st/21 37.56'/62.00' 177 5.43 24pts 10/26/19 Masters Pref 16" Leg 1 1st/12 38.05'/65.00' 171 5.17 26pts QQ1 2/9/20 Masters Pref 16" Leg 2 1st/15 39.20'/67.00' 178 5.20 27pts 3/15/20 Masters Pref 16" Leg 3 2nd/12 38.94'/69.00' 182 5.36 30pts 10/17/20 Masters Pref 16" Leg 4 1st/5 39.33'/67.00' 177 5.16 27pts 10/18/20 Masters Pref 16' Leg 5 1st/5 39.85'/70.00' 186 5.34 30pts 2/13/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 7 3rd/8 40.22'/69.00' 183 5.20 28pts QQ2 3/13/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 8 2nd/7 37.31'/68.00' 180 5.57 30pts QQ3 3/14/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 9 1st/9 38.32'/70.00' 185 5.55 31pts QQ4 3/26/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 10 2nd/14 36.87'/63.00' 163 5.11 26pts 3/27/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 11 2nd/13 41.74'/70.00' 185 5.04 28pts QQ5 5/15/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 12 2nd/10 40.57'/69.00' 183 5.14 28pts 5/16/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 13 1st/7 36.14'/71.00' 188 6.03 34pts 5/29/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 14 1st/12 41.79'/70.00' 186 5.05 28pts 9/12/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 15 1st/13 41.81'/72.00' 193 5.24 30pts QQ6 10/2/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 16 2nd/4 39.66'/71.00' 190 5.48 31pts QQ7 10/30/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 17 2nd/7 37.35'/66.00' 175 5.41 28pts QQ8 1/29/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 18 1st/12 39.28'/67.00' 178 5.19 27pts 2/12/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 19 2nd/14 38.12'/65.00' 171 5.16 26pts QQ9 3/5/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 20 2nd/6 39.61'/70.00' 185 5.34 30pts QQ10 3/13/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 21 3rd/13 41.34'/66.00' 173 4.76 24pts 4/30/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 21 3rd/7 41.12'/68.00' 179 4.81 26pts 5/1/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 22 3rd/8 41.54'/69.00' 184 5.03 27pts 5/8/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 23 2nd/7 41.22'/66.00' 174 4.80 24pts QQ11 5/22/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 24 3rd/9 41.27'/70.00' 187 5.16 28pts 9/11/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 25 7th/17 45.03'/71.00' 190 4.75 25pts 10/10/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 26 2nd/8 46.81'/71.00' 188 4.50 24pts 10/22/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 27 3rd/16 40.48'/70.00' 185 5.21 29pts 3/12/23 Masters Pref 16" Leg 28 3rd/18 41.29'/70.00' 185 5.10 28pts QQ12 5/7/23 Masters Pref 16" Leg 29 2nd/7 41.97'/67.00' 176 4.76 25pts 5/13/23 Masters Pref 16" Leg 30 3rd/7 42.55'/69.00' 182 4.85 26pts 5/28/23 Masters Pref 16" Leg 31 2/14 42.75'/69.00' 178 4.71 26pts QQ13 1/29/24 Masters Pref 16" Leg 32 4/15 47.98'/69.00' 183 4.25 21pts
9/06/13 Novice A 20" Leg 1 90 2nd/5 22.72'/43.00' 128 5.63 9/08/13 Novice A 20" Leg 2 95 1st/5 20.05'/41.00' 122 6.08 9/15/13 Novice A 20" Leg 3 100 1st/5 16.29'/33.00' 99 6.07 NAJ
10/26/13 Open 20" Leg 1 100 3rd/7 21.67'/36.00' 127 5.86 10/27/13 Open 20" Leg 2 100 1st/7 21.26'/35.00' 124 5.83 2/08/14 Open 20" Leg 3 100 2nd/18 24.12'/38.00' 134 5.56 OAJ
4/11/14 Excellent 20" Leg 1 100 1st/13 28.87'/46.00' 172 5.96 9/07/14 Excellent 20" Leg 2 100 1st/12 25.75'/41.00' 155 6.02 9/13/14 Excellent 20" Leg 3 100 1st/8 26.26'/40.00 150 5.71 AX 9/29/14 Masters 20" Leg 1 100 1st/20 27.97'/45.00' 170 6.07 HIT 17pts 2/07/15 Masters 20" Leg 2 100 1st/23 28.83'/43.00' 163 5.65 14pts 5/24/15 Masters 20" Leg 3 100 6th/50 26.97'/41.00' 153 5.67 14pts 7/11/15 Masters 20" Leg 4 100 11th/55 27.34'/43.00' 161 5.89 15pts 8/08/15 Masters 20" Leg 5 100 2nd/28 26.23'/43.00' 161 6.09 16pts 8/09/15 Masters 20" Leg 6 100 1st/25 24.50'/41.00' 152 6.20 16pts 9/06/15 Masters 20" Leg 7 100 4th/31 25.24'/42.00' 158 6.26 16pts 9/12/15 Masters 20" Leg 8 100 6th/28 27.37'/41.00' 154 5.63 13pts 2/14/16 Masters 20" Leg 9 100 2nd/32 24.70'/39.00' 148 5.99 14pts 4/17/16 Masters 20" Leg 10 100 2nd/42 25.18'/40.00' 149 5.92 14pts 5/29/16 Masters 20" Leg 11 100 11th/44 27.69'/43.00' 160 5.78 15pts 9/10/16 Masters 20" Leg 12 100 5th/46 23.86'/40.00' 150 6.29 16pts 10/22/16 Masters 20" Leg 13 100 2nd/38 22.73'/36.00' 134 5.89 13pts QQ1 10/29/16 Masters 20" Leg 14 100 6th/41 26.20'/40.00' 149 5.69 13pts 10/30/16 Masters 20" Leg 15 100 2nd/40 26.58'/43.00' 163 6.13 16pts QQ2 1/21/17 Masters 20" Leg 16 100 7th/38 25.92'/42.00' 159 6.13 16pts 4/22/17 Masters 20" Leg 17 100 2nd/41 24.67'/41.00' 152 6.16 16pts 5/27/17 Masters 20" Leg 18 100 5th/41 26.05'/42.00' 158 6.07 15pts QQ3 5/28/17 Masters 20" Leg 19 100 5th/40 25.30'/39.00' 146 5.77 13pts 5/29/17 Masters 20" Leg 20 100 4th/27 29.65'/43.00' 162 5.46 13pts 9/09/17 Masters 20" Leg 21 3rd/37 29.07'/47.00' 176 6.05 17pts QQ4 9/16/17 Masters 20" Leg 22 2nd/32 25.33'/45.00' 170 6.71 19pts 10/02/17 Masters 20" Leg 23 1st/28 29.21'/43.00' 160 5.47 13pts 9/08/18 Masters 20" Leg 24 6th/35 31.04'/46.00' 173 5.57 14pts 3/30/19 Masters 20" Leg 25 2nd/16 28.12'/44.00' 164 5.83 15pts 10/26/10 Masters Pref 16" Leg 1 1st/13 26.36'/44.00' 147 5.58 17pts QQ1 1/25/20 Masters Pref 16" Leg 2 2nd/10 29.56'/53.00' 179 6.06 23pts 2/8/20 Masters Pref 16" Leg 3 3rd/17 28.13'/47.00' 157 5.58 18pts 2/13/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 4 2nd/9 27.28'/51.00' 172 6.30 21pts QQ2 2/14/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 5 3rd/8 28.64'/50.00' 170 5.94 21pts 3/13/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 6 2nd/10 26.14'/44.00' 147 5.62 17pts QQ3 3/14/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 7 2nd/12 26.34'/47.00' 158 6.00 20pts QQ4 3/27/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 8 1st/16 31.84'/52.00' 176 5.53 20pts QQ5 5/8/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 9 2nd/6 32.23'/47.00' 158 4.90 14pts 5/9/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 10 2nd/5 28.40'/47.00' 156 5.49 18pts 5/20/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 11 3rd/13 31.29'/52.00' 176 5.62 20pts 6/17/21 Masters Pref 16 Leg 12 1st/6 26.32'/44.00' 144 5.47 17pts HIT 6/18/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 13 1st/6 27.89'/45.00' 150 5.37 17pts 9/11/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 14 4th/17 29.11'/50.00' 169 5.80 20pts 9/12/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 15 2nd/13 27.96'/48.00' 161 5.76 20pts QQ6 10/2/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 16 2nd/5 32.21'/49.00' 165 5.12 16pts QQ7 10/3/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 17 2nd/5 28.34'/47.00' 157 5.54 18pts 10/30/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 18 3rd/9 28.34'/46.00' 153 5.40 17pts QQ8 10/31/21 Masters Pref 16" Leg 19 2nd/6 30.75'/48.00' 163 5.30 17pts 1/23/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 20 1st/7 28.82'/49.00' 164 5.69 20pts 2/12/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 21 4th/16 30.25'/50.00' 167 5.52 19pts QQ9 2/13/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 22 4th/16 27.97'/45.00' 151 5.40 17pts 3/5/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 23 2nd/7 28.48'/47.00' 157 5.53 18pts QQ10 5/7/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 24 3rd/7 27.74'/46.00' 154 5.55 18pts 5/8/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 25 2nd/7 29.18'/49.00' 164 5.62 19pts QQ11 5/21/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 26 7th/14 33.25'/50.00' 170 5.11 16pts 5/29/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 27 3rd/22 30.20'/50.00' 170 5.63 19pts 5/30/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 28 4th/15 26.66'/47.00' 156 5.85 20pts 9/10/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 29 4th/19 35.00'/52.00' 177 5.05 17pts 10/2/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 30 4th/10 31.04'/50.00' 170 5.48 18pts 10/23/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 21 2nd/17 29.36'/47.00' 152 5.18 17pts 10/30/22 Masters Pref 16" Leg 22 2nd/8 34.34'/50.00' 169 4.92 15pts 3/11/23 Masters Pref 16" Leg 23 3rd/13 32.61'/51.00' 171 5.24 18pts 3/12/23 Masters Pref 16" Leg 24 3rd/15 27.51'/46.00' 155 5.63 18pts QQ12 5/28/23 Masters Pref 16" Leg 25 4th/18 35.53'/52.00' 167 4.70 16pts QQ13
10/22/16 Premier 20" Leg 1 6th/20 29.48'/40.00' 10/29/16 Premier 20" Leg 2 1st/13 28.94'/40.00' Top 25% 5/28/17 Premier 20" Leg 3 1st/11 30.31'/40.00' Top 25% 10/21/18 Premier 20" Leg 4 3rd/?? 34.90'/40.00' Top 25% 1/25/20 Premier 16" Leg 1 1st/4 37.79'/47.00' Top 25% 10/18/20 Premier 16" Leg 2 1st/5 31.51'/47.00' Top 25% 2/13/21 Premier 16" Leg 3 1st/5 30.99'/47.00' Top 25% 3/13/21 Premier 16" Leg 4 1st/2 30.08'/47.00' Top 25% 5/1/22 Premier 16" Leg 5 1st/5 31.03'/47.00' Top 25% 5/22/22 Premier 16" Leg 7 1st/1 37.93'/60.00' 9/10/22 Premier 16" Leg 8 1st/7 33.29'/47.00' Top 25% 9/11/22 Premier 16" Leg 9 1st/2 32.69'/47.00' Top 25%
4/24/16 Premier 20" Leg 1 2nd/12 36.21'/55.00' Top 25% 5/28/16 Premier 20" Leg 2 1st/21 34.21'/55.00' Top 25% 2/11/17 Premier 20" Leg 3 1st/21 33.33'/55.00' Top 25% 3/11/17 Premier 20" Leg 4 2nd/16 33.79'/55.00' Top 25% 3/18/17 Premier 20" Leg 5 1st/4 35.38'/55.00' Top 25% 5/14/17 Premier 20" Leg 6 2nd/8 33.82'/55.00' Top 25% 9/10/17 Premier 20" Leg 7 1st/13 37.88'/55.00' Top 25% 4/22/18 Premier 20" Leg 8 2nd/7 40.16'/55.00' Top 25% 10/20/18 Premier 20" Leg 9 1st/13 37.33'/55.00' Top 25% 3/14/21 Premier 16" Leg 1 1st/2 37.95'/60.00' Top 25% 1/22/22 Premier 16" Leg 2 1st/4 46.20'/60.00' Top 25% 1/29/22 Premier 16" Leg 3 1st/3 35.92'/60.00' Top 25% 2/12/22 Premier 16" Leg 4 2nd/5 40.24'/60.00' 2/13/22 Premier 16" Leg 5 2nd/5 38.73'/60.00' 3/5/22 Premier 16" Leg 6 2nd/4 36.80'/60.00' 3/11/22 Premier 16" Leg 7 2nd/5 37.89'/60.00'
11/03/13 Novice B 20"- Leg 1 59 1st/1 28.82'/32.00' 4/10/14 Novice B 20"- Leg 2 80 1st/12 27.96'/32.00' 5/19/14 Novice B 20"- Leg 3 66 3rd/7 35.10'/32.00' NF 11/08/14 Open 20" - Leg 1 74 2nd/8 34.20'/32.00' 7/10/15 Open 20" - Leg 2 77 1st/5 30.02'/32.00' 6/17/21 Open 16" - Leg 1 77 1st/4 34.19'/35.00' 10/9/22 Open 16" - Leg 2 79 1st/3 32.93'/35.00'
9/06/13 T2B Leg 1 9 4th/30 31.44'/29.11' 10/27/13 T2B Leg 2 9 2nd/18 26.76'/25.80' 4/20/14 T2B Leg 3 9 3rd/23 23.67'/22.54' 5/10/14 T2B Leg 4 10 1st/19 24.11'/24.11' 10/26/14 T2B Leg 5 9 3rd/27 25.92'/24.95' 11/08/14 T2B Leg 6 10 1st/13 26.97'/26.97' 2/07/15 T2B Leg 7 10 1st/14 26.55'/26.55' 3/07/15 T2B Leg 8 7 3rd/22 34.66'/28.87' 3/12/16 T2B Leg 9 10 1st/17 26.03'/26.03' 4/01/17 T2B Leg 10 10 1st/10 25.24'/25.24' (First by 20+ seconds) 9/16/19 T2B Leg 11 10 1st/??? 26.85'/26.85' (Beardie Nationals) 6/17/21 T2B Leg 1 10 1st/7 26.66'/26.66' (Beardie Nationals) 6/18/21 T2B Leg 2 10 1st/6 31.93'/31.93' (Beardie Nationals) 10/9/22 T2B Leg 3 7 3rd/8 48.39'/38.55' (Beardie Nationals) 10/10/22 T2B Leg 4 8 2nd/8 33.06'/29.86' (Beardie Nationals)
5/24/15 ISC Jumpers 1st/8 29.61'/43.00' 170 5.74
10/22/16 10/30/16 5/27/17
3/15/16 Senior 20" 1st/2 37.93'/55.00' 175 4.61yps
6/20/14 Senior 20" 1st/4 33.21'/43.00' 1/08/17 Senior 20" 3rd/25 43.78'/??? UKI Cup Biathlon 6/18/17 Senior 20" 1st/7 33.81'/49.85'
6/20/14 Jumping 20" 5 penalty pts 1st/4 36.438'/46.00' 158 4.34yps (5.02 w/o penalty) 7/18/14 Agility 20" 10 penalty pts 1st/5 37.43' /49.00' 154 3.24yps (4.11 w/o penalty) 4/14/16 Agility 20" 0 penalty pts 1st/4 33.70'/49.00' 155 4.59yps US Open Bye! 8/20/16 Agility 20" 5 penalty pts 1st/3 8/21/16 Jumping 20" 0 Penalty pts 1st/3 30.95'/48.00' US Open Bye MS Champion 20" 1/07/17 Jumping 20" 0 Penalty pts 7th/27 33.09'/??? US Open Bye 2017 20" 1/07/17 Agility 20" 0 Penalty pts 2nd/27 40.19'/??? UKI CUP 2nd Place Overall 20"
1/08/17 20" 9th/31 30.22'/??? 6/17/17 20" 1st/4 30.89'/48.31'
11/17/16 Power & Speed 20" 3rd/50 18.76' UKI US OPEN Podium - 3rd Place 1/07/17 Snooker 20" 3rd/27 50 pts 1/07/17 Gamblers 20" 4th/27 43 pts UKI CUP OVERALL GAMES CHAMPION 20"
11/12/15 Jumping 10 penalty pts 9th/23 33.42'/44.00' 11/13/15 Agility 0 penalty pts 4th/27 38.09'/61.00' 11/14/15 Agility 0 penalty pts 1st/9 39.98'/67.00' 210 UKI US OPEN NATIONAL CHAMPION 20"
3/01/15 Starters Standard 22" Leg 1 1st/10 35.43'/71.00' x/xx/xx Starters Jumpers 22" 3/01/15 Starters Gamblers 22" Leg 1 1st/3 37.59'/45.00' 69 2/28/15 Starters Pairs 22" Leg 1 2nd/3 32.08'/76.00' Score: 37.08 W/ Kauffman & Shahka
2/27/15 Biathlon Jumpers 22" 2nd/14 32.78'/34.00' NQ 8/15/15 Biathlon Jumpers 22" 6th/27 31.64'/36.00' Q 162yds 2/28/15 Biathlon Standard 22" 2nd/14 37.04'/44.00' NQ 8/15/15 Biathlon Standard 22" 1st/27 38.12'/52.00' Q 203yds 2/28/15 Biathlon Tournament 22" 1st/14 Overall Score: 94.82 Cutoff: 118.52 Q 8/15/15 Biathlon Tournament 22" 1st/27 Overall Score: 69.76 Cutoff: 90.19 Q
2/27/15 Steeplechase 22" 1st/18 36.05'/36.05' Q 8/15/15 Steeplechase 22" 1st/22 28.90'/28.90' Q 8/29/15 Steeplechase 22" 1st/14 37.50'/32.50' Q 5/07/16 Steeplechase 22" 4th/11 40.16'/26.61' Q 2/25/17 Steeplechase 22" 1st/24 27.45'/27.45' Q 2/26/17 Steeplechase 22" Finals 1st/4 21.70'/21.70' CASH PRIZE
June, 2013
Excited to become a member of BAD. My wife, Mary, and I are newbies to agility, and are absolutely loving it. Mary is running our young Sheltie, Pippa Rose, and they are doing extremely well. When we added a beardie puppy to our family in July 2012, I thought it would be fun to teach her agility so that I could run at trials too. (More fun than just taking photos/videos, right?)
We are currently playing agility games daily, (foundation skills), and having a blast. Razzle Bella, (who usually goes by the call name Razzles, but sometimes is referred to as 'Goofus McGee'), loves the games and it keeps getting more fun for her as we add skills and complexity. While a Novice A handler/trainer, I am trying hard to give her a solid foundation before trialing with her. The most important thing is to have fun together and we are definitely achieving that goal.
Razzles has her own facebook page. I intend to post links to videos and images from the trials there once we get started. Right now it is mostly pictures and some videos of her everyday activities. The page was created to share her growth/progress with our out-of-state family members as well as our breeder and anyone who has an interest in our special girl. Of course we invite our fellow BAD members to visit the site.
https://www.facebook.com/RazzleBella
My vision for agility is fairly simple, but possibly outside of the norm. With whatever course is presented to us we will simply run fast, have fun and see what happens. If we earn any awards/titles along the way we will of course be grateful and will celebrate, but ultimately the most important goal is to have fun and try to get better and better as a team with each run.
Thanks again for helping us be BAD!
Razzles' Agility Prep Compilation Video
September 3, 2013
http://youtu.be/BjAvINv8NDw
Razzle Bella's Debut weekend
September 11, 2013
Greetings! Our long anticipated agility debut was even more fun than I dared to imagine. This past weekend we ran fast and happy at our first agility trial and I could not be more delighted.
On the first day we ran 3 events, JWW, Standard and T2B. We got better and more confident with each run and were very proud of the final run of the day (T2B) which presented a more challenging course. I was surprised when my wife told me that our time put us in 4th place --- the 20" class had some very fast dogs and experienced handlers. The trial staff gave us ribbons as a reward for our efforts on each run, but I would have been equally thrilled with no rewards as the pleasure of running was more than enough.
The next day we knocked some bars, (handler error...I'm still learning), but our JWW run was fast and in my mind one of our most fun and best runs of the weekend at 17.72 seconds. On the final day we had a very nice JWW run which met the judges criteria for a ribbon. Our standard run had some issues as I got behind and uttered some inexplicable and undecipherable cues, but it was still fun and I learned I have to get faster and stay connected with my baby girl.
We are running again this weekend and I am hoping we can learn lessons from last weekend and maybe get a little faster, a little more consistent and a little more confident. Regardless, it is safe to assume we will again be running fast and having a great time together as we get some additional actual trialing experience under our belts.
Thanks for all you do in support of the Bearded Collie agility and the BAD site!
November 11, 2013
Razzles's NA and OA
Razzles and I began our agility trialing careers together in September as a 16.5 month old baby girl with a Novice A (EXTRA GREEN) handler. Our objectives with each trial were consistent and simple. Run fast, have fun, see what happens and learn from our experiences. It has been an absolute blast! We have especially enjoyed meeting many kind and helpful people along the way. The really great thing about agility is everyone can win. Sure ribbons are nice, but some of the best and most fun runs may not result in a ribbon or a "Q" at all. As long as the handler and dog are enjoying the moment, it is a victory and that is extra cool and makes the sport lots of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed watching talented teams earn their titles and MACHs but especially enjoyed teams who had non qualifying runs but were ecstatic because their dogs nailed a specific obstacle or goal.
Yesterday was our final trial of the year and we will not be trialing again until springtime. This seems like a good time to update our BAD page. I am grateful for the BAD website and think it is a great resource for keeping track of our results and sharing with those who may be interested.
As we end our trialing for the year, I walk away as proud as I can be of my girl. She is a wonderful companion and teammate who loves the game and runs with passion, heart and soul on each and every run. We are still new and figuring lots of stuff out, especially me. I am extremely proud of the number of talented handlers and judges who have made a point to seek me out and tell me what a wonderful dog she is and how much fun she is to watch run. I am always amused that as they walk away they are probably shaking their heads saying to themselves, "poor dog...hope her handler can someday raise his game to her level."
Looking forward to next spring and continuing our agility journey. The list of areas to improve upon that we generated this fall is EXTENSIVE, and will definitely keep us busy until the 2014 trial season begins. Thanks again for the service you give to keeping the BAD site updated and running. Your efforts are greatly appreciated!
Razzle's Blog - "A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To the Weave Poles"
One of my regrets of our training process is that I did not document it more thoroughly. With the start of 2015, I decided to start a blog picking up right where we are at. Currently, in 2015, I am working hard on raising my handling skills and a large part of this is the mental side of agility. I have been influenced heavily by Lanny Bassham's "With Winning In Mind." Part of what he suggests is a personal journal, so I decided to publish my journal as well as other things related to Razzles and I and agility in general. I hope some of my fellow beardie friends will enjoy.
https://afunnythinghappenedonmywaytotheweavepoles.wordpress.com/
BAD-Southeast
Beardies
