The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hi All,
Well, it wasn't a complete wash-out. Rosey Q'd in JWW and earned 7 MACH Points (based on informal information, we didn't stay around until the official results were posted.) She now has 663 MACH points. 87 points to go.

Buttheadness seemed to be the theme for the day --- for all of us.
I was a butthead in my first run: Time2Beat. I dropped the first bar and then missed my weave entrance, and then popped out of the weaves. Mom was not happy, but since she really doesn't care about this event, she got over it.

Mom was a butthead in my JWW run. I dropped the double jump (3rd jump from the end) and my good friend Bud told Mom it was her fault because she commanded me to "turn" while I was flying over the jump. I put my rear leg down to start a turn and knocked a bar. Had Mom managed to give proper commands, I would have earned about 10 MACH points for that run -- I was flying!

Rosey was a butthead on the standard run (though she is blaming Mom). Rosey got on the dogwalk, but Mom started running too fast and Rosey just hopped off the side. Mom was NOT happy and carried the not-so-perfect-Rosey off the course and put her in her crate without a treat. Rosey redeemed herself later in with the JWW run.

My standard run didn't really have buttheadnesses -- just faults. I knocked the triple jump, not really sure why because I haven't done that for a while. Then I didn't do good 2-on-2-off contact on the dogwalk and Mom did her "huh-hun-no" noise, I put myself back on the DW in proper position. Now if Mom had put me back on we would have been whistled off the course, but since I did it my self, it was considered another fault. I proceeded to do the hardest part of the course perfectly.

Because I went 0-3 today, my q'ing streak has ended . With everyone fixated on Rosey, most people probably didn't know that I earned a Q in at least 1 event for 3 straight trials.

We try again tomorrow. It is time for a nap!

Solo

Get some rest and breathe! Don't worry about the Q's or the MACH points and they'll come more easily and if they don't there is always another trial.

Isn't it nice when the "issues"are equally divided among all participating?

Good luck today!

Sylvia and Star

DAY 2 - THURSDAY 12/29

Only 1 MACH point for Rosey in her jumpers run. She ran great but the course time was very short. She popped out of the weaves in standard so that was an NQ. Because Rosey gets most of her points on the standard runs her recent string of NQs (3 of the last 4 runs) has put her MACH march in slow motion! At this rate it will be Cocker Nationals before she finishes.

I, on the other paw, had a better day! I Q'd in standard and earned 13 MACH points! This is my 4th leg toward my Master Agility title (the MX and it requires 10 legs). I also Q'd in Time to Beat and earned 5 points.
I didn't Q in jumpers because Mom was distracting me in the weaves and I skipped some of the middle poles.

We'll try again tomorrow.

Solo

Wow, Solo, that is fantastic!

Big-Sis Rosey, I think that a MACH at Cocker Nationals is absolutely FABULOUS! (But I understand Auntie Colleen probably wants it sooner than that after all the hard work you have all been doing.)

Good luck today,

Star

Hi all,

Fast update because Mom is shutting the computer off to go take a nap. Videos will be posted later. Rosey NQ in standard because she wouldn't do the weaves, but redeemed herself with a Q in jumpers and 7 MACH points. So the total is 79 points to go.

I also NQ'd in standard because a wrong course but I did a great weave entrance and did my contacts! Mom was pleased enough. Probably she was cutting me some slack because I ROCKED MY JUMPERS RUN ! I earned 11 MACH points and I was so far ahead of Mom I paused before the triple and then still cleared it. Video will be posted after Mom's nap.

Solo

Here are some videos of our runs for the past 3 days.

Rosey- Wed Excellent JWW - Keeshond Club of SoCA AKC December 2011 Q 7 MACH points
http://youtu.be/dEPlr4ivWOM

Solo- Thur T2B - Keeshond Club of SoCA AKC December
http://youtu.be/iTn5uMLCUcQ

Solo- Fri Excellent JWW - Keeshond Club of SoCA AKC December 2011, His best jww run to date! 11 MACH points.
http://youtu.be/UklnT0cHNK8

Enjoy!
Solo

At this point, Mom will take that MACH whenever it comes. We got massages after our runs today and Rosey was a little out of alignment and that maybe causing problems when she weaves. But since she does the weaves in the JWW course it is hard to know what is really going one. Sometimes Rosey just decides she doesn't want to do something and then she doesn't do it .

Solo

Solo, thank you for reporting!! You have no idea how much I enjoy watching Rosey, mom and you run agility!!! I truly hope we can all get together next summer when/if you come to Minnesota!! Hopefully Maureen, who owns Greta's Gym will be there too!!

Keep up the good work and keep on posting!!

Thank you Marge,

Next weekend is our cocker club's trial. The video company will be there again so there may be more videos. Traditionally, we don't do as well at own trials because Mom is often trial chair and isn't focused enough on our runs. But the Club bought really nice High Scoring Cocker prizes and Mom would sure like to win one!

And we'll come see you in No. Minnesota, but you should think about taking a road trip with the girls down to St. Louis for Cocker Nationals -- 3 days of indoor, air conditioned, obedience and rally .

Solo

Solo - we so look forward to your videos.. keep on posting!!!!

We would love to see all of you in Up North Minnesota and we will give some thought to nationals!! Obedience and rally we can do, not sure about agility!!!

Solo, my mom has noticed that every time after I get a massage I always Q. It took her long enough to realize that if I'm nice and loose I jump better and run better in general. So now, whenever we can we get a massage before running.

Maybe you can try the same thing, hopefully it will work for both of you too.

Star

VERY nice! Solo, you are jumping so nicely and it definitely shows that you are making an effort to lift those hind legs. Auntie Colleen, wow, you look like you have lots more energy. You were even ahead of Solo most of the time. Very impressive. We are looking forward to seeing you again at the end of the month.

Star

I just saw Solo video Dec 2011. I enjoyed that. Great job Let us that dont keep up with that please tell us what the titles are.

Hi Steve,
Learning the titles is like learning a new language. And there are several different agility organizations and they all have different titles. The most common agility organizations mentioned on the Forum are AKC, USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association), CPE (Canine Performance Events) and NADAC (North American Dog Agility Council).

These are the most common titles for AKC's original events: jumpers with weavers (often abbreviated JWW and called "jumpers"; and standard agility (I call this the obstacle course to non-agility people). There are also two new events, FAST and Time 2 Beat, but I'll skip those titles for now.

You proceed through levels: novice, open, excellent A and excellent B. Excellent B is the top class and it is the class from which you can try and earn double Qs and MACH points in order to earn the highest AKC agility title -- the MACH. MACH, or speed, points are the number of seconds a dog runs a course under the posted course time. (Think of this as golf and the number of strokes you are under par).

Agility Titles

NA: Novice Agility, an AKC agility title awarded to dogs who earn three qualifying scores from at least two different judges in Novice A and/or B Agility class.

OA: Open Agility, an agility title for dogs who receive three qualifying scores from at least two different judges in Open Agility class.

AX: Agility Excellent, an AKC agility title for dogs who earn three qualifying scores from at least two different judges in Excellent A Agility class.

AXJ: Excellent Jumpers With Weaves, an AKC agility title that requires three qualifying scores from at least two different judges in Excellent A Jumpers With Weaves class.

MX: Master Agility an AKC agility title that requires 10 qualifying scores in the Agility Excellent B class under two different judges.

MXJ: Master Jumper With Weaves, an AKC agility title that requires 10 qualifying scores in Excellent B Jumper With Weaves Agility class under two different judges.

MACH: Master Agility Champion, an AKC agility title a dog earns by achieving a minimum of 750 speed points and 20 double qualifying scores obtained from the Excellent B Standard Agility class and the Excellent B Jumpers With Weaves class. The MACH title is the only agility title that can be placed before the dog’s full name.


Hope this helps,
Colleen

It is like going from DOS to Windows. It is a lot to take in but it is fun to go and watch. I have video somewhere from last Aug. Not sure if I can post it Thanks for explaining it.