The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

On Friday we went to an AKC trial where Star got her second Open Standard leg and a second place Q! She had one refusal and the fastest time. This the largest dog show in the entire state and there were over 5300 runs. So we had tough competition but my little girl was in top shape. In JWW she knocked one bar, a single jump, so no Q but she was the fastest of all dogs and she ran beautifully!

Saturday we went to a USDAA trial for two runs, Masters Jumpers and Masters Snooker. Guess what?
Ms. Star got her first Masters Q in JUMPERS, yes, you read that correctly, in JUMPERS! AND... a second place. We are now running against some hugely experienced teams those who go to Nationals and Star was PERFECT! I felt as if I had won the lottery.

Sunday we went back for three runs. We ran Advanced Gamblers which we don't need just for fun (we are in Master's Gamblers) but it gives Star an opportunity to get her crazy energy out of the way. She did well but knocked one bar.

The Standard run, which is the one that I want most of all she got faulted for a contact and dropped a bar.

The third and last run was Advanced Relay and we ended up with a first place Q!

I have videos of some of the USDAA runs, forgot my camera for the AKC show. I have the two bad ones because by the third one I had felt that the camera was a jinx. I'll post them when I get a chance to download them.

Gamblers run:

http://youtu.be/pCXZwkXI6wM


Standard run:

http://youtu.be/uq6cpcfbZXE

Congratulations Star! This was a pretty impressive weekend. Guess it was a good weekend for girls (see Rosey's report).

That was a huge AKC trial -- 5300 runs. Gee how many judges were there? And was this outside??

Solo

Wow, sounds like a fantastic weekend!

Thank you, Solo!

This is info off the premium:

They had 4 rings but my mom did not like it. It was indoors (no outside trials in November in New England) at a huge building where they also had Rally, Obedience and Conformation. Apparently they had other buildings with other things but we never went. The floor is cement so what did they do? They brought in a ton of dirt, wet it and we ran on that, it was like running in mud on purpose. The amount of dust was horrific to the point that my mom ended up with a headache and now has a sore throat.

What my mom loved was the shopping! Lots of wonderful things for her and for me. I got two new leashes, a massage, I got an adjustment by a chiropractor and The Wizard of Paws checked me out again. It was like a spa day in between runs.
My crate was directly in front of Clean Run!

With a different flooring it would be ideal for Cocker Nationals.

Star

Hi

Rosey got her first EX A jww q under Edie Allyn at a Cocker Nationals. Edie hasn't been out to the west coast in a long time but Mom really liked her.

Intentionally making mud , I think we would skip that.

Mom said that Rosey and I are going to be getting massages soon. Rosey really, really likes them (maybe it is a girl thing). Me, not so much.

Solo

I always used to go to that trial. Midnight got her first MACH in Springfield and I ran 5 dogs to take the edge off of running Midnight. I went there for years,...and YES...got sick every time! The dirt is awful.
The shopping is the best:)
Love the videos..wish you had not forgot your camera!

Thank you, Lucy.

That is right, Edie mentioned to me that she had donated her time by judging at cocker nationals when I tried to hit her up for a donation towards last summer's Cocker Nationals. She used to belong to the yahoo list too.

Do you plan to go again? Wow, running 5 dogs must be an interesting and exhausting experience, not to mention expensive! I'm still not recovered from that dust. It did not help that we were on an airplane all day yesterday either. I was told afterwards that what one needs to do is to crate in the car and only go in as needed to walk the course and run. I'm sure if they had a rubber floor the dust would not be the same. There was a man walking around spraying the floors to keep the dust down and those who have gone previously said it was much better so I can't imagine what it was like before!

Yes, one day I will go again. But not for a while. I have some VERY elderly dogs and mostly VERY young dogs. I will not leave Grandma Angel and Uncle AJ home, they are nearly 14 & 15 now and have health ailments which make it not to their best interests to travel. So I stay local for now.
Yes, it was very pricey to run 5 dogs, but it was cheaper in 2004, about $20 a dog per day cheaper. There was one show upstate NY that was only $20 for both runs! The good old days:) And that was only 6 years ago...not that long ago...prices have gone up so much that I can no longer afford to run more than 2 dogs at a show, not ever.

No, when I was there no man spraying to keep down the dust.,..it was unbearable. Yet...I went for years, LOL.
You have to come my way...NY/NJ!!!! I would love to meet you. You'd get a hoot out of my dogs,,they know all their commands in Spanish!

I understand about not wanting to leave anyone home. How many dogs do you have? It sounds like more than what I had thought. Do you go to the Syracuse show? How local is local? Who is your trial secretary for the area? We see Rita B. running up here a great deal but she does not seem to even think twice about driving a bunch of hours!

So your cockers and mine can speak to each other in cocker, English and in Spanish!

I have eight cockers. This is now my third generation I have bred. Midnight's mother Angel, she's almost 15 is C.C.'s grandma! Four of my eight cockers are between the ages of 13-15...hence why I do not travel anymore. I used to go EVERYWHERE with the 8 cockers when there was nobody with a heart condition like my A.J. (he's Midnight's littermate) and my other MACH dog...A.J. got a heart condition 2 years ago, and I stopped traveling for him and I won't leave him home, no way, so we stay local...and Angel at nearly 15 is very delicate...long van rides would not be in her best interest.
Rita's dogs are all under 7 years old...different story.
I drove all the way to Ohio with 9 cockers for the AKC Nationals,,,,and competed with Midnight & A.J. there...was one of the best trips.
No, Syracuse is too far..300 miles..I used to go there all the time..but nothing that would involve a hotel anymore.
My local trial secretary is Gail Shaw...you must come visit!

Wow, 8 cockers! That must be a wonderful home. Thanks for the info on the trial secretary I'll look for possible trials for us to go to. The winter is when we have more time.

Here is the link to the page:)
http://www.fasttimesagility.com
Take a look at the schedule..would love to have you as our guest!
The shows fill the first day, so you know..you could mail me your entries and we could send them in together. I also do alot of USDAA too..for that trial sec is
http://www.dognutmom.com
I am planning on going to their Feb trial. Andy and Jolie run in USDAA....Andy is in Starters and Jolie needs one leg to move up to Masters...hope we get it this weekend..we are going on Sunday...keep your paws crossed for us!

Thank you, Michelle! I'll check those links. Are these mostly one ring trials or two?

You are welcome Sylvia..the fast times AKC trials are three rings...Open & Nov & Fast in one ring and they run two exc rings.
The USDAA shows in Barto are one ring now, but new building set to open in January and I believe they are going to do two rings there too.