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Hi Forum Friends!
Below is a modified version of an email I sent to the members of my local training club. If you don't want to read the whole thing, you can just click on the link to the 90-second video then look at the photos. Watch to the end of the video. Before running, I had closed the exit of the course. At the end of the run, the exit was open six inches, and Shama almost escaped. I pulled her back in, and the judge did not nullify our Q!
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I thought you might be interested in hearing how things went for Shama and me at the National Havanese Specialty agility trial (near Rockford, Illinois) on August 7.
A little bit of background . . . We'd previously attended two Teacup Dog Agility Association trials, two CPE trials, and two AKC trials, all with the goal of attending the National Havanese Speciality since it was within driving distance and since it was taking place in the summer (my husband and I are both teachers, and the 2017 trial was in North Carolina in September, so we didn't know what the future would hold). At our six trials prior to yesterday, we'd Qed a total of two times (out of 25 times or so in the ring), once at Teacup and once at CPE.
We had fun at the Nationals trial. Shama seemed a lot more relaxed around "her people" than she does around bigger dogs at trials. The trial was 90% Havanese and 10% other toy breeds. I was even able to have Shama on my lap watching the action without her barking!
We ran T2B just as a warm-up. She did seven obstacles, including A-frame and teeter, before faltering at tunnel then sniffing around and losing interest in me. I was happy with the seven obstacles. Here's the link, but you only need to watch the first seven obstacles. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DSHZvHmOuofDSt7Ebwfi3r5DCwZnMDRe
Then, in Standard, after a very slow and shaky start, Shama completed the entire course, and we got our first AKC Q! I couldn't believe it! (Watch to the end of the video (link below). Before running, I had closed the exit of the course. At the end of the run, the exit was open six inches, and Shama almost escaped. I pulled her back in, and the judge did not nullify our Q!)
Later, I found out that only two dogs in our class (Novice A = beginner dog and beginner handler) had Qed and that Shama had actually taken first place!
Later, Shama refused to jump in her JWW run. I coaxed her, but her refusals had already cost us the Q. Then she took a (tiny!) dump on the course. I had always worried about that happening, but it turned out to not be that big of a deal. Now I don't have to worry about that happening (for the first time) anymore! (She had had multiple opportunities to go number two earlier in the day, but luck had made it happen during JWW. Better than during Standard!)
The most exciting moment of the day was at the end when they awarded us our ribbons and we found out that we'd gotten not only first place in our
Standard run, but also first Havanese. I hadn't realized that by opening this trial up to other toy breeds, they'd be introducing new awards, first Havanese in each class. So, we had not only the highest score in our class, beating out a Pomeranian, but we had the highest score among the Havanese in our class. It was fun to receive those big ribbons - one really big, and one even bigger!
Here's a link to the video of Shama's first Q in AKC:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EWkX-MUoVDj0pvDGVI_gfaRduaTjeyhe/view?usp=sharing
Below are some photos. More photos of the Havanese who were at the trial can be found in KarMar's thread at the following link:
https://www.havaneseforum.com/17-sp...wosomes-national-specialty-3.html#post1417534
It really was a thrill to finally get our first Q in AKC and especially while at Nationals. Thank you, especially KarMar, for all your encouragement.
Annie and Shama
Below is a modified version of an email I sent to the members of my local training club. If you don't want to read the whole thing, you can just click on the link to the 90-second video then look at the photos. Watch to the end of the video. Before running, I had closed the exit of the course. At the end of the run, the exit was open six inches, and Shama almost escaped. I pulled her back in, and the judge did not nullify our Q!
****************************************************************
I thought you might be interested in hearing how things went for Shama and me at the National Havanese Specialty agility trial (near Rockford, Illinois) on August 7.
A little bit of background . . . We'd previously attended two Teacup Dog Agility Association trials, two CPE trials, and two AKC trials, all with the goal of attending the National Havanese Speciality since it was within driving distance and since it was taking place in the summer (my husband and I are both teachers, and the 2017 trial was in North Carolina in September, so we didn't know what the future would hold). At our six trials prior to yesterday, we'd Qed a total of two times (out of 25 times or so in the ring), once at Teacup and once at CPE.
We had fun at the Nationals trial. Shama seemed a lot more relaxed around "her people" than she does around bigger dogs at trials. The trial was 90% Havanese and 10% other toy breeds. I was even able to have Shama on my lap watching the action without her barking!
We ran T2B just as a warm-up. She did seven obstacles, including A-frame and teeter, before faltering at tunnel then sniffing around and losing interest in me. I was happy with the seven obstacles. Here's the link, but you only need to watch the first seven obstacles. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DSHZvHmOuofDSt7Ebwfi3r5DCwZnMDRe
Then, in Standard, after a very slow and shaky start, Shama completed the entire course, and we got our first AKC Q! I couldn't believe it! (Watch to the end of the video (link below). Before running, I had closed the exit of the course. At the end of the run, the exit was open six inches, and Shama almost escaped. I pulled her back in, and the judge did not nullify our Q!)
Later, I found out that only two dogs in our class (Novice A = beginner dog and beginner handler) had Qed and that Shama had actually taken first place!
Later, Shama refused to jump in her JWW run. I coaxed her, but her refusals had already cost us the Q. Then she took a (tiny!) dump on the course. I had always worried about that happening, but it turned out to not be that big of a deal. Now I don't have to worry about that happening (for the first time) anymore! (She had had multiple opportunities to go number two earlier in the day, but luck had made it happen during JWW. Better than during Standard!)
The most exciting moment of the day was at the end when they awarded us our ribbons and we found out that we'd gotten not only first place in our
Standard run, but also first Havanese. I hadn't realized that by opening this trial up to other toy breeds, they'd be introducing new awards, first Havanese in each class. So, we had not only the highest score in our class, beating out a Pomeranian, but we had the highest score among the Havanese in our class. It was fun to receive those big ribbons - one really big, and one even bigger!
Here's a link to the video of Shama's first Q in AKC:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EWkX-MUoVDj0pvDGVI_gfaRduaTjeyhe/view?usp=sharing
Below are some photos. More photos of the Havanese who were at the trial can be found in KarMar's thread at the following link:
https://www.havaneseforum.com/17-sp...wosomes-national-specialty-3.html#post1417534
It really was a thrill to finally get our first Q in AKC and especially while at Nationals. Thank you, especially KarMar, for all your encouragement.
Annie and Shama
