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Check out the latest news about Aardehond Accomplishments! |
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GALENA, Oh - Halo and I recently took the Therapy Dogs International (TDI) test that was hosted by the Border Terrier Club of Central Ohio. I am happy to say that we passed the test so Halo has now completed the first step towards become a therapy dog. After submitting the paperwork to the TDI organization, my understanding is that they will be mailing me a test to take and return before we can be an “official” therapy dog.  Halo has never met anyone that she doesn't consider a friend, so I believe she will be a wonderful therapy dog. I’ve already been in contact with our local Children’s Hospital and all I need to do is get our paperwork in order.
Therapy Dogs International was founded in 1976 and is a volunteer organization dedicated to regulating, testing and registration of therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers for the purpose of visiting nursing homes, hospitals, other institutions and wherever else therapy dogs are needed. Here’s TDI’s website if you'd like to learn more about this beautiful gift that our canine friends enjoy sharing so much with their human friends in need: http://www.tdi-dog.org/
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COLUMBUS, Oh - How can 9-1/2 weeks pass so quickly? It seems like just yesterday that Halo and I welcomed Mina and Sofie into the world and now they have left the nest to start the next chapter of their life with someone new. I knew it would be hard when they eventually left, but I didn’t realize it would be THIS hard.
 
June 23, 2008 |
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COLUMBUS, Oh - I just can't resist showing off some more photos of Halo's babies! Here's how they look at four weeks. By the way, that's Uncle Chili Bean looking just a little unsure from outside the pen. At age 9, he could probably do without the muss and fuss of little ones!
 
 
June 23, 2008 |
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 COLUMBUS, Oh - "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mina and
Sofie, Happy Birthday to you!"
May 21, 2008, was a red letter day in the Van Niel household as Halo welcomed Mina and Sofie into the world. With this being Halo’s first litter, she was an unknown as far as mothering goes, but I must say that she has been a great mom to her two babies from the very beginning. Mina (a blue girl) was born first and weighed 7.2 ounces. Sofie (a grizzle girl) was born second and weighed a whopping 8.8 ounces! Mom and babies are doing great!
 On June 1, Mina opened her eyes! Sofie hasn’t yet, but she is still on target because puppies' eyes can open anywhere from 10 to 14 days after birth.
Both of the puppies from this litter are already spoken for but I am planning to breed Halo again this fall. Once she has her second litter, we will most likely take a year off from having babies because I want Halo to have a chance to get some more earthdog, agility, and rally under her belt. If you are interested in being considered for Halo’s fall 2008 litter, please complete this puppy questionnaire and contact me to schedule a visit.
 June 2, 2008
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COLUMBUS, Oh - The certificate has arrived in the mail! I am very proud to announce that Halo has joined Reggie as one of the BTCA Versatility Award holders! Training with Halo has been a bit of a challenge because of having to start and stop training, and not be able to enter performance events when she's been in season. She is very smart and learns what I want her to do quickly ... in some cases the challenge has been to get her to think that doing something was her idea! I'm looking forward to working with her as we earn the last couple of points that she needs for the Versatility Excellent Award.
So Halo is now Ch. Meadowlake Angel In My Pocket, NA, JE, RL1, CGC, V.
May 1, 2008
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GROVE CITY, Oh - Halo finished her Novice Standard agility title this weekend and earned two of the three qualifying "legs" that she needs for her Novice Jumpers with Weaves title as well.
She was the only Border Terrier entered at the Bearded Collie agility trial held at the Buckeye Ranch in Grove City, but she represented her breed well as she qualified in three of her four runs and ended the weekend with two first place finishes and a second place finish. The two first place finishes were in the Jumpers class. On Saturday she earned a score of 98 and on Sunday, she had a score of 100 and finished 9 seconds under the course time! She picked up all of the rear crosses and changes in direction like a pro! Halo won her NA title with a second place finish on Saturday (the other dog got first place by being 2 seconds faster). She did well in her first try at Open on Sunday, and nailed all of the hard parts (a really hard opening, doing all of the rear crosses, and a hard discrimination) but unfortunately, we messed up on an easy part of the course and didn't qualify.
Halo is now Ch. Meadowlake Angel In My Pocket, RL1, NA, JE, CGC.
February 17, 2008 |
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 GROVE CITY, Oh - Halo and I decided to start the year off with entering an APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) rally trial. I have only recently started working on rally obedience with Halo, and I must say that she is very smart. She picked up the exercises and the two different ways of “finishing” an exercise quickly … the hardest part has been getting her to “heel." With Halo competing in conformation (when you want your dog partner moving ahead and not looking at you) and agility (where you want your dog partner to be able to run at a distance from you), getting her to stay in heel position and looking at me was very difficult for her. She wants to MOVE! But I am happy to say that out of four trials (two on Saturday and two on Sunday), Halo came home with four qualifying scores, thereby earning her APDT RL1 (equal to the AKC Rally Novice title) title and her first leg towards the RL1X Championship title. Not only did her score improve with each trial, but she also earned a 5th Place on her RL1 titling run!
So Halo is now Ch. Meadowlake Angel In My Pocket, JE, RL1, CGC (and 2/3 NA)
January 6, 2008 |
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 GROVE CITY, Oh - Reggie, Halo and I participated in the Golden Retriever of Columbus and Puli Club of America’s annual New Year’s Eve trials. Reggie had a great trial! He came home with his Open Jumpers Preferred title and two qualifying legs towards his Open Standard Preferred title. I moved him up to Excellent Jumpers Preferred on Monday and if it wasn't for the off-course into a tunnel, he would have gotten his first Excellent Jumpers Preferred leg because the remainder of that particular run was perfect. He even would have finished under the course time without the off-course tunnel! What great progress for a little brown dog who has never wanted to run ahead or at a distance from me in agility.
With the Open Jumpers Preferred and Novice Agility Preferred titles under his belt, Reggie now has quite the alphabet soup after his name:
Am/Can Ch Meadowlake No Regrets, RA, AX, OAJ, ME, CG, CGC, OJP, NAP, VX (2/3 OAP)
Halo was quite the fireball out there and I have learned to never plan on doing a front cross with her …ever. She and I managed to qualify for two First Place runs in Novice Standard. Her last run of the weekend was beautiful when she earned her second Novice Standard leg with a score of 100! So Halo is now two-thirds of the way towards her Novice Standard title.
December 31, 2007
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 GROVE CITY, Oh - I was so proud of Reggie at the Bedlington Terrier Agility Trial this weekend. He ended up only qualifying twice, once in Open P JWW and once in Open P Standard, but he ran FAST! He averaged 10 to 13 seconds UNDER the course time for almost every run! I now need to learn how to handle a fast dog. I ended up being out of position several times because I wasn't prepared for how fast he was going, and I was putting myself in the location where I typically needed to be. In fact, on one of the courses, I ended up doing two rear crosses with him (which I was never able to do before because he was never ahead of me)!
Speed at agility trials has been an issue with Reggie from the very beginning. He would either barely meet the standard course time (SCT) or would qualify but have points deducted because of being over time. He has his OAJ and AX, but has never earned one AXJ leg because of his slow time. Reggie didn't start agility lessons until he was more than two years old but I do think that some of the "drive" issue is due to his personality ... he's a pretty laid back Border Terrier (unless he's hunting for rats, then watch out) and Annette Neff says he is a "down" stressor so I'm sure that has also contributed to how fast (or slow) he has run in the past. At the September CATC trial, I dropped him back to Preferred and he readily qualified for his NAP and NJP titles (with 3 double Q's, five of which were 100, and one 95).
I decided to give him a class break (because drilling an obstacle takes away his drive) so instead, we have had several private lessons with Yvonne Mancino (Yvonne has a Doberman ranked in the Top 10 for agility and regularly competes at the AKC National Agility Invitational) leading up to the Bedlington trial. With Yvonne , we worked specifically on getting Reggie to run fast over the dog walk (where he would lose time before because of going over it so slow) and to drive faster through the weave poles (the other part of the course where he would lose time). I'm sure the jealousy factor came into play because we would crate Reggie and let him watch me work with Halo first before letting him come out to play.
This past weekend was also Halo's debut but I can't brag about any Q's with her. The first day, she ended up sniffing between obstacle 1 and 2 on both jumpers and standard, causing too much time to be lost (and refusals or off courses) to qualify, but when I did get her going she ran GREAT (and fast). On the second day, to try to avoid the sniffing, I followed Yvonne's advice about letting her sniff the surface a lot when we were waiting in line for our turn to go out and then I revved her up at the start line by asking if she was ready ... and she took off like a rocket! No sniffing on day 2, but no Q's either. What Halo and I need to work on is running better as a team, but she is going to be so much fun to run!
December 9, 2007
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COLUMBUS, Oh - The certificate has arrived in the mail, so Reggie has officially received his Border Terrier Club of America (BTCA) Versatility Excellent Award.
I am so very proud of Reggie and everything that he has accomplished. Not only is he my first conformation dog, but he is also my first dog to title in Earthdog, agility, and rally obedience. Some activities he enjoys more than others. I think he participates in rally obedience and agility because I ask him to, but his passion will ALWAYS be Earthdog.
A very big “Thank You” goes out to everyone who helped and supported us along the way with words of encouragement and assistance with training and handling. We couldn’t have gone this far without you!
Am/Can Ch Meadowlake No Regrets, RA, AX, OAJ, ME, CG, CGC, VX
Confused by all those initials? Here's what they mean:
Am/Can Ch = American and Canadian Champion
RA = Rally Advanced title
AX = Agility Excellent title
OAJ = Open Jumpers with Weaves title
ME = Master Earthdog title
CG = Certificate of Gameness from the American Working Terrier Association
CGC = AKC Canine Good Citizen
VX = Versatility Excellent
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November 29, 2007 |
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GROVE CITY , Oh - Even though Reggie earned his AX (Agility Excellent) title earlier this year, we have been struggling in the AXJ (Agility Excellent Jumpers with Weaves) class. Because there are no obstacles in the jumpers with weaves (JWW) courses, JWW runs tend to be very fast. Consequently, while Reggie has been running clean runs with no faults, refusals or off-courses, we have failed to qualify for any Excellent Jumpers runs because of being over time.
I decided that instead of worrying about whether we would qualify in Excellent Jumpers, Reggie and I needed to start having fun running agility again. So at the August 28 - 30 agility trial put on by the Columbus All Breed Training group, I entered Reggie in the Novice Agility Preferred and Novice Jumpers with Weaves Preferred classes. The Preferred classes allow you to run your dog at the next lowest jump height (so instead of jumping 12 inches, Reggie jumped 8 inches at this trial) and Preferred allows a couple more seconds of time for each height class.
I'm happy to report that Reggie qualified in six out of six runs, typically running 10 to 20 seconds UNDER the course time, and he qualified with five scores of 100 and one score of 95 (which was my fault because I didn't cue him quick enough on one of the jumps) earning him six 1st places. He finished the weekend earning both his NAP (Novice Agility Preferred) and NJP (Novice Jumpers with Weaves Preferred) titles. I will be keeping him in the Preferred classes at the agility trials coming up in December, where he will be entered in the Open Agility Preferred and Open Jumpers with Weaves Preferred classes.
August 30, 2007 |
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 MOUNT VERNON, Oh - Reggie, Halo and I attended a Border Terrier Club of Central Ohio fun day here on August 5, 2007. As part of the day, the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test was being given, and I’m proud to say that Halo passed her CGC test! The test was being held outside and it had been raining off and on, so Halo wasn’t quite sure that she wanted to do a “down” on the wet grass. But she finally decided to do it and so she is now:
Ch. Meadowlake Angel In My Pocket, JE, CGC
Next we're headed up to Michigan at the end of August for Halo’s first tries at Senior Earthdog. Wish us luck!
August 5, 2007 |
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MEDINA, Oh - We attended the Medina Kennel Club’s rally trial on Saturday, July 21, and I’m proud to announce that Reggie walked away with his third consecutive qualifying score in Rally Advanced, giving him his Rally Advanced (RA) title! So Reggie is now:
Am/Can Ch Meadowlake No Regrets, RA, AX, OAJ, ME, CG, CGC, V
I will be applying for his BTCA Versatility Excellent award once the AKC paperwork that substantiates his new title arrives.
July 21, 2007 |
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TROY, Oh - Reggie got his first two Advanced rally legs at the Echo Hills shows in Troy. Annette Neff was his capable handler and, boy, did he make her work. He was starting to get a little worried out there and a couple of times was trying to decide if he really wanted to sit (or get up into a stand after finally sitting) but we still walked away with the green ribbon in the end and that's all that counts. One more qualifying Advanced leg and Reggie will have earned his RA title.
And a grandma brag: Reggie's daughter got a Group 4 at the Columbus shows in April, won breed both days AND she also got her THIRD Group placement on Saturday!
June 17, 2007
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DAYTON, Oh - Another beautiful weekend for earthdog, not too warm and no rain to be found. Halo, Reggie, and I went to the Gem City outdoor site in Dayton and had a great Earthdog weekend.
Reggie was the only dog out of 4 braces to qualify in Master on Saturday. On Sunday there were no Master qualifiers. Reggie could not seem to make it past the false den on Sunday but, boy, was he actively looking for the rats. He had a great walk up both days, was the first to mark the den both days, and he actually did a great job honoring (the hardest part of the test for him) both days. Halo had a fantastic weekend as she qualified in Junior Earthdog both days and earned her JE title on Sunday with her second qualifying JE run. What a great start to her earthdog career!
In addition to Halo and Reggie getting their runs in, I judged 22 dogs entered in Intro to Quarry (with 4 qualifying runs) on Saturday and apprenticed my third Senior test on Sunday.
June 10, 2007 |
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 DAYTON, Oh - Beautiful weather, Border Terrier friends, and looking for rats with Halo and Reggie at the Gem City outdoor site ... what better way to spend Mother’s Day weekend!
Halo had a great weekend as she qualified in the Introduction to Quarry class on Saturday and Sunday! Since Intro to Quarry (IQ) is not a titling class, Halo didn’t bring home anything other than a green ribbon and nice whistle provided by the Westie Club each day, but she got in some good practice with her IQ runs. I had entered her in Junior on Sunday, but she wasn’t much interested in going into the Junior tunnel when it came to be her turn. The good thing is that she did follow the scent up to the tunnel entrance and poked her head into the tunnel. That’s okay though, Junior is always the last class to run and it was the end of a long weekend. We do need to start getting in some Junior practice though so Halo will be ready for the Gem City earthdog test coming up on June 9 and 10.
Reggie couldn’t get past the roller so was not able to qualify in Master on Saturday. On Sunday, he did qualify and ended up having the only qualifying run in Master. Although he earned his Master title a year ago in June, Reggie loves earthdog so much that there was no way we could go to an earthdog test and not let him run in Master.
In addition to Halo and Reggie getting their runs in, I was an apprentice judge at the Junior and Senior test on Saturday and apprenticed the Senior test on Sunday.
May 13, 2007 |
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DAYTON, Oh - Halo, Reggie and I attended the earthdog practice at the Gem City outdoor facility grounds on Saturday, April 28, and then went back the following day to participate in the American Working Terrier Association (AWTA) earthdog test.
 
I wasn't sure how Halo would react to the rats in practice. She had a great introduction to the rats last September, but hadn't seen another one until the practice on Saturday. I shouldn't have worried because the minute she saw the rat in its practice cage, she was beside herself … and I was thrilled to pieces.
Although Halo did not qualify in Novice B at the AWTA test on Sunday, I think she had a wonderful day, because you could see her thinking about what she was doing. With additional encouragement (which made her not qualify), she entered the below ground tunnel. Once Halo made up her mind to enter the tunnel, she was all business and proceeded to get to the quarry within 10 seconds and worked straight for the 30 seconds needed to pass. After the test day was completed, we went back and practiced a little more and I think she has a good chance to qualify in the Intro to Quarry class when we attend our first AKC earthdog test of the year on May 12 and 13.
Even though Reggie already has his Master Earthdog title, I still run him in Master because he loves earthdog so much. Honoring has ALWAYS been the hardest part of the test for him so he and I practiced honoring on Saturday while the new dogs were having their rat introduction. Then (big mistake), I asked Curt Givens to let Reggie see the rat as his reward for keeping quiet and, quick as flash, he had a hold of the box and I didn't think we would ever get it away from him. After a lot of struggle and one torn up rat box later, we finally got him detached enough to get the box and rat away from him.
Reggie already has his AWTA Certificate of Gameness (CG) title so he was entered in the Certificate Class. Certificate is for dogs that already have the CG title and are competing to see which dog is the fastest and best working qualifying run for each breed. Reggie ended up being the Best Performing in Division and represented the Border Terriers well.
April 29, 2007 |
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COLUMBUS , Oh - We had a wonderful turnout of Border Terrier folks at the Border Terrier Club of Central Ohio's (BTCCO) supported Central Ohio Kennel Club show on Sunday, April 22. The BTCCO sponsored trophies for Border Terriers in Obedience, all Rally classes, and Breed. Many thanks to everyone who attended!
I’d like to extend my thanks to the great handling by my friends Annette Neff and Sue Baxter, as Reggie finished his Rally Novice title yesterday with a 4th place finish! The judge yesterday scored really tough but Reggie finished with a respectable score of 94. So Reggie is now:
Am/Can Ch Meadowlake No Regrets, RN, AX, OAJ, ME, CG, CGC, V
 And I just HAVE to share a grandma brag about Reggie's daughter, Figgy (Sulan English Rosebud). Figgy only needed 2 points to finish her championship and she did it with a bang on Sunday, when she not only got WB for a 4-point major, she went Best of Breed over 2 specials. This gave her a 5-point major win (and one of the specials was my very own Halo) ... and to cap off a wonderful day, Figgy also got a Group 4 in the Terrier Group ... all of this at 14 months of age!!! Sue Baxter, Figgy's breeder and owner, was thrilled and she told me later that Figgy's group placement was her first Group placement ever.
Sue also had Figgy and Maggie (Figgy's mom) entered in Rally and both qualified on Sunday and Monday as well so we had a "family" picture taken yesterday with the obedience judge, Sue, myself and Reggie, Figgy, and Maggie.
April 22, 2007 |
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COLUMBUS , Oh - The Ohio 4H Dog Expo was held on Saturday, April 14 on the main campus of The Ohio State University. Annette Neff, Maggie Merry, Krystal Gaines and myself, all from Wild Weavers, volunteered to work with more than 50 kids and their dogs in four different agility sessions, including "beginning agility" and "experienced agility". For the most part, the kids and dogs were happy to be there … although there were varying degrees of enthusiasm from both.
 The American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test was being administered as part of the Dog Expo so Reggie and I took the test. He passed with flying colors, so I can now add some additional initials after his name!
Am/Can Ch Meadowlake No Regrets, AX, OAJ, ME, CG, CGC, V
And the best news of all is that passing the CGC gives him the fourth category needed in order to qualify for the Border Terrier Club of America's Versatility Excellent (VX) award. With Reggie's advanced titles in agility and Earthdog, he already had the total number of points needed to qualify for the VX award, he just needed a fourth category to qualify for the award. Hopefully we will be adding a Rally Novice title to his list after the rally trial being held this upcoming weekend.
April 15, 2007
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GROVE CITY, Oh - Another agility weekend, when we participated in the Columbus All Breed Training Center’s agility trial on April 7 and 8. Reggie qualified in Excellent Standard on Sunday, April 8, earning his third AX leg (and AX title!) with a First Place. Annette Neff was Reggie's handler once again.
At the last two agility trials, Reggie has run very consistently. Our biggest problem right now is speed. All of his runs this past weekend were clean with no errors; the only faults he had were time faults. Unfortunately, every second over the standard course time is multiplied by 3 so it is very easy not to get a qualifying score if you are too many seconds over the course time.
We will be taking some time off from agility for a while but hope to have good news to post when we start agility back up in late summer and early fall. It’s spring so that can only mean EARTHDOG! Look for our earthdog fun reports in the next couple of months.
April 8, 2007
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GROVE CITY, Oh - March 24 and 25 was an agility weekend for us with Reggie participating in the Golden Retriever Club's Spring agility trial. He qualified in Excellent Standard on Sunday, March 25, earning his second AX (Agility Excellent) leg with a First Place. Annette Neff was Reggie's capable handler again this past weekend.
Although Reggie had a few bobbles on Saturday in Standard, the good news was that many good things happened during all of his runs, including the fact that he not only hit the weave pole entry all four days, but also completed the 12 weaves for all of his runs without a fault. Three of his four runs were clean with no errors except time.
Reggie is entered in his first Rally trials over the weekend of April 21, 22, and 23, so hopefully I'll be posting some Rally brags soon!
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 GROVE CITY, Oh - Reggie participated in the combined Puli Club and Golden Retriever
Club's New Year's Eve agility trial held in Grove City, Ohio, on December
30, 31, and January 1. Out of six Excellent runs, Reggie qualified in
one with his qualifying run in Excellent Standard on Monday, January 1,
making it his first qualifying Excellent leg ever! And, because no other
Excellent A dogs qualified, he came home with a First Place ribbon as
well. What a great way to start the new year!
Many thanks to Annette Neff for handling Reggie this past weekend for
me. He loves to run agility with Annette and he really worked hard
for her this weekend.
January 1, 2007
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 COLUMBUS, Oh - What a weekend! Ch. Meadowlake Angel In My Pocket "Halo" finished her championship at the Mid-Ohio 4-day cluster by going Winners Bitch, Best of Winners, and Best of Opposite Sex on Thursday, November 16 for 4 points; and Winners Bitch and Best of Opposite Sex on Friday, November 17 for 3 points. She finished her championship with four straight major wins!
I moved her up to the Best of Breed competition on Saturday and Sunday and, to put icing on the cake, she went Best of Opposite Sex to her sire (and beating a bitch special in the Top 20!) on Sunday, November 19! I couldn't be prouder of Halo, and best of all, she's back home with her family at last!
November 20, 2006 |
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 DAYTON, Oh - Reggie and I went to the Gem City Dog Obedience Club's earthdog test on Saturday, November 11. Even though he now has his Master Earthdog title, I went ahead and entered him in Master because he loves earthdog so much. Out of the four braces, Reggie was the only Master dog to qualify on Saturday! I stayed to apprentice the Junior test under Judge Krista Williams. Because all three dens were running at the same time, Junior finished up around 2:00, even though it had the largest number of entrants (18, but only 16 were there to run that day).
I learned that Gem City is planning to hold another American Working Terrier Association test in April 2007, so attending that will give Aardehond Border Terriers a chance to warm up on their earthdog skills before AKC earthdog starts back up in May. I'm hoping to get Halo started at that time as well. Earlier this summer she was introduced to a rat and kind of half-heartedly pawed at the practice cage. But when we went to the earthdog practice in September, I was thrilled to see it was a completely different story because she wanted to rip those rats from limb to limb. I can't wait for her to get started next year!
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 FORT WAYNE, In - I am so very proud to announce that Meadowlake Angel In My Pocket ("Halo") has come home from the Fort Wayne show cluster with her two majors under her collar! She was expertly handled by her breeder Karen Fitzpatrick, who said that Halo showed great all weekend and worked hard for her.
Here's the week-end rundown:
On Thursday, Halo was RWB behind Figgy (Reggie's daughter), bred and owned by Sue Baxter. Judge: Dr. Andreas Schemel.
On Saturday, Halo was WB/BOW for a 4 point major. Judge: Dr. Robert J. Berndt.
On Sunday, Halo was WB/BOW for a 3 point major. Judge: Mrs. Keke Kahn.
Halo has been staying with Karen in hopes of completing her championship in 2006, and if she continues on this path, she'll be home with her brothers before we know it!
November 6, 2006
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 COLUMBUS, Oh - Halo and I attended the Kennel Club of Columbus, Indiana’s 2-day show this weekend. I'm pleased to report that she earned another point towards her championship under Judge Keke Kahn on September 23 when she was awarded Winners Bitch, Best of Winners, and Best of Opposite Sex. Unfortunately, two bitches that were entered were not there that day, so it ended up being a 1-point show rather than a 2-point show for Halo. But we're well on our way to our much-coveted title!
September 24, 2006 |
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 GROVE CITY, Oh - Reggie and I went to the Bearded Collie agility trial this weekend. It was his first time running Excellent Jumpers, and while I felt it would be nice to qualify in Excellent, I was really hoping that we would come home with his third qualifying run in Open Standard, which would give him the OA title. I had hurt my knee in class the week before, and it was still tender, so my friends came through for me and ran him.
Running with Maggie Merry on Saturday, there were too many problems in Excellent jumpers for Reggie to qualify. He may have ended up qualifying in Open on Saturday, but the judge called a contact fault on the down side of the A-frame (although Maggie told me that her video clearly showed that he was fine on the contact). Oh well, at least we had another day to try!
On Saturday, Annette Neff ran Reggie, and he did a great job in both Excellent Jumpers and Open Standard. He had one distraction on the jumpers course where going over a jump took him straight over to visit with the scribe and timer, but Annette got back his attention. So even with visiting, he still finished the course three seconds under the standard course time! But because the judge called a refusal for the visiting, it was not a qualifying run. Open Standard was a GREAT run, though ... no refusals or faults AND a finish five seconds under course time. It was enough to earn him not only his OA title, but 1st place as well!
Terriers ruled in Sunday's OpenStandard class. Reggie was 1st with a score of 100, the 2nd place dog was a Parson Russell who also had 100, but Reggie beat him in time, and the 3rd place dog was also a Parson Russell.
August 28 , 2006 |
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GROVE CITY, Oh - Capping a great week in earthdog and agility, and showing what a versatile Border he is, we went to the Golden Retriever Club of Columbus, Ohio's agility trial, and Reggie ended up earning his second Open Standard (OA) agility leg. He had a great run, although at one point I lost sight of him on a cross (must have looked pretty funny from the crowd because I was looking all around trying to find him) but he was on his way over a jump. Since I wasn't there to tell him where to go next, he chose the tunnel for an off-course.
We finished the run with no other problems or faults, and were only 2 seconds over the course time, so it was good enough to qualify for a Second Place. Only one more qualifying run and Reggie will have earned his OA title!
June 25, 2006
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 DAYTON, Oh - Today was a very good day! We went to Gem City's earthdog test (held at the same site as the Specialty earthdog test) to have a go at getting Reggie’s fourth qualifying Master Earthdog leg. Reggie did a good job on the walk-up, finding almost all of the places where the judge had placed scent. He was also the first one in the brace to check out the false den and the first to mark the entrance of the real one.
A lot of Master dogs did not qualify at Saturday’s test because they could not get past the roller inside the tunnel. Reggie had no problems negotiating the roller because he made it to the quarry in 18 seconds! He worked steadily and consistently for the required 90 seconds and I had no problems removing him from the tunnel within the 15 second requirement. Honoring was the hardest part of the test for him, but he did manage to get a qualifying score. So, out of 19 dogs entered in Master on Saturday, Reggie ended up being one of just three dogs to qualify, and one of two Master dogs to earn his ME title. Way to go, Reggie!
June 24, 2006 |
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DAYTON, Oh - Reggie earned his Open Agility Jumpers (OAJ) title at the Border Terrier Club of America’s National Specialty today. With my Specialty volunteer commitments, it felt like I had been on my feet all week long, and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to do Reggie justice by running him in agility that day. So Annette Neff stepped in as my agility handler. Reggie ended up with a course time of 1 second over the standard course time, which earned him a score of 98 and a Second Place in his class.
Reggie qualified for his third Master Earthdog leg under judge Pam Dyer on the same day. I truly enjoy watching Reggie run Master Earthdog. He ran ahead to the den area during the walk up but I was able to get him to come back to investigate the false den. The rest of the run went well and we finished with a qualifying run. Reggie ran in earthdog first before running in his Open Jumpers agility class. I was really worried about how well he would pay attention during the agility run knowing there were rats out there, but he did a great job for Annette.
June 22, 2006 |
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| DAYTON, Oh - Reggie is now half of a Master Earthdog! We went to the Gem City Earthdog test this weekend and he qualified in Master, earning his second leg on Saturday, although he didn't qualify on Sunday. He did everything great that day, and it looked like he was well on his way towards getting his third leg. Unfortunately, he decided to leave after 28 seconds of working to see if he could find another way to the quarry. I think we'll be going up to Michigan in June for another try at the third leg because it sure would be nice for Reggie to finish his ME title at the upcoming BTCA Specialty!
May 14, 2006 |
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 COLUMBUS, Oh - Halo (Meadowlake Angel In My Pocket) went to her very first conformation show this past weekend. On Sunday, she was first in the Puppy 6-9 months class (beating one other bitch) and then ended up Reserve Winners Bitch behind Annette Neff's Poppy (and placing ahead of an Open Bitch).
On Sunday, Halo ended up winning her first point and her first Best of Breed. I had several people come up to me after Group and tell me that she should have won because she was the cutest dog out there! Robert Hutton was the Breed and Terrier Group judge on Monday and he was wonderful to Halo, talking to her the entire time she was on the table and being very gentle and kind.
I was really happy with how Halo showed; she was confident and appeared to be at ease. Now we just need to work on stacking and focusing for longer periods of time.
April 22, 2006 |
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DELAWARE, Oh - Reggie got his first Open Standard leg today at the Delaware (Ohio) Kennel Club trial with a score of 100, and a time that matched the standard course time (and good enough for a Second Place)!!!
 I've been trying things a little differently to get him fired up before running and it seems to be working. Although on Sunday morning, I think it worked a little too well because our run was a disaster (at one point, he actually jumped over the tunnel) so now we need to find a happy medium. He would have qualified in Open Standard on Sunday but apparently he went around a jump and I missed it so we didn't go back to correct. But we actually finished that course 4 seconds under the course time (a first for us!). At one point he was running so fast that I was able to do a rear cross behind him at the A-frame!
So even though we only came home with one ribbon for the weekend, I am happy with how things went because I see Reggie gaining more confidence and having more fun. We're really growing as a team!
April 15, 2006 |
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GROVE CITY, Oh - Another weekend of agility with Reggie at the Buckeye Ranch Equestrian Center, this time put on by the Columbus All Breed Training Club. We originally were on the wait list for this trial, but managed, by the time it closed, to get into three of the four classes that I had entered. I had moved Reggie up to Open after he earned his third Novice Standard leg (and NA title) on March 31 at the Puli Club of America's trial, so this past weekend was our first weekend running Open Standard (in addition to Open Jumpers). 
We didn't qualify on Saturday (April 8) in Open Standard, because for some reason Reggie decided that he didn't want to go through the chute. He was about 12 inches from coming out of the end of the closed fabric when he turned around and came back out the entrance and then wouldn't go back in ... it was an automatic non-qualifying run when I moved him past the chute without him going in it ... but there were a lot of good things about the run. Speed has always been a problem with us, but he is starting to run courses faster, plus I feel that we are becoming more a team out there.
On Sunday (April 9), we had a great run in Open Jumpers. No refusals and great team work. We finished a couple of seconds over the course time, but it was good enough for a Second Place! So Reggie now has his second Open Jumpers leg! He only needs one more qualifying run and he will have his Open Jumpers title (OAJ). We didn't qualify in Open Standard on Sunday afternoon, but I was happy with how we did. He ran really fast and actually went ahead of me towards the weaves (and ended missing the weave entrance), but he did really great on the A-frame/tunnel discrimination. He turned around once before going up the A-frame after coming out of the tunnel so the judge counted it as refusal (in Open you're only allowed one fault), but he went into and completed the chute on the second day. All in all, I felt it was a good run even though we didn't qualify.
We have one more weekend of agility coming up before taking a well deserved rest. Reggie is entered in Open Jumpers and Open Standard this upcoming Saturday and Sunday (April 15 and 16).
Conformation for Halo and Earthdog will be starting up at the end of April and May so we will be concentrating on those events for the next couple of months. I think I may enter Reggie in agility at the Border Terrier Club's National Specialty in June, but won't enter him in any local agility trials until maybe the end of August.
April 9, 2006 |
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COLUMBUS, Oh - Reggie, Halo and I had the wonderful opportunity of attending a K9 Freestyle obedience seminar presented by Richard Curtis. Richard has over 20 years of  experience training dogs and is one of the top competitors and instructors in the United Kingdom. He has three Border Collies and a Portuguese Water Dog, and performs routines and training demonstrations with all of them. He has presented seminars all over the world, including Belgium, Japan, Finland, and many different locations in the United States. Richard and his Portuguese Water Dog “Disco” won the freestyle competition at Crufts (the largest dog show in the world) this year, the first time a non-Collie dog has won!
We had a wonderful time. Richard is a great instructor and had dog and owner handler teams up and moving almost the entire two days. He gave great ideas on developing routine ideas, motivating the dog, developing basic moves and then building on them, and training. Click here to see some of Richard’s routines with his dogs. April 1, 2006 |
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GAHANNA, Oh - On March 18, 2006, Reggie and I attended a 3-hour Rally Obedience seminar at the Wild Weavers Dog Agility Club. The seminar was designed to acquaint attendees with the basics of Rally Obedience, the organizations currently holding Rally Obedience trials, and to give everyone a chance to try sequences and short courses that might be encountered at an actual trial.
It turns out that Reggie and I can actually perform a lot of the exercises already! We were able to do almost all of them, except the dog in a sit while the handler walks around the dog, and the dog in a down while the handler walks around the dog exercises … but, with practice, I’m sure we will be able to do those exercises as well. We may be entering Rally Obedience trials a lot earlier than I previously thought!
March 18, 2006
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GROVE CITY, Oh - Reggie and I participated in the Puli and Golden Retriever Clubs' sponsored agility trials in Grove City on December 30 - January 1, 2006. We came home with only one qualifying run, but it was Reggie's first attempt in the Open Jumpers class, where he placed a very respectable third.
Jenn Crank was his handler.
We still have not been able to pick up any additional Novice Standard legs. Reggie earned his first Novice Agility (NA) leg earlier this year but then had "issues," refusing to go on contacts in steamy outdoor trials over Memorial Weekend in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and again at the outdoor agility trials at the 2005 Border Terrier National Specialty in St. Louis in humid 90 degree weather. Reggie has decided -- and who can blame him? -- that he does not enjoy contact with hot contacts. He did do all the contacts in Grove City, so I am glad that we are over that hurdle (pun intended!).
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Tracy, Reggie, and Judge Jeannette Burger DAYTON, Oh - Reggie competed in his first Master Earthdog test on November 11 - 12, 2005, at the Gem City Agility Club's outdoor facility. I am proud to announce that we came home with our first Master Earthdog leg! The weekend got off to a rather rocky start when Reggie took off like a shot for the tunnel area, zipping right by the walk-up part of the test, although he passed all of the other parts. Happily, on Sunday, he and his brace mate did a wonderful job on the walk-up. He then completed all of the other aspects of the test within the required times. Reggie loves Earthdog, and it certainly shows. November 12, 2005 |
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