# Agility: Year in Review



## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

I thought it would be fun for everyone to give an update on how their year went in agility, what titles they earned, other accomplishments if you haven't started competing. Also, we can write what our goals are for next year.



Mikko earned 15 titles this year, all in NADAC (the only venue we compete in, besides 2 AKC trials we went to, but we hope to expand to CPE and USDAA in 2009).

We also got two high in trials, one at the Novice level, and one at Open. 

We have come a long way this year, Mikko has become fast and seems to get it now. He has always loved agility, but the more he understands, the faster he gets, and the more he loves it! I think I have improved as well. I have more confidence handling him, which I think he can read.

My goals for this time next year are to reach out to other venues, earn our NATCh, and earn enough points for NADAC nationals.











*Please post your accomplishments and your goals for next year!*


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## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

Mikko looks so happy with all his ribbons! He's so handsome.









Risa and I finally got into an agility class this year. Even though we only got to attend 3 of the 4 classes and then had to move away. *Sigh*









My goal for next year is to GET US IN AGILITY CLASSES! (Only been trying for 2+ years.)


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## grmnshpd21 (May 5, 2005)

Molly finished off her AKC Novice Agility and Novice Agility Jumpers title this year and also earned a leg in Open Agility and Open Agility Jumpers. Next year I am due to have a baby at the end of June so that will put some restrictions on agility trials but I hope to at least finish off her Open titles and then move on to Excellent









Congrats on all the great work with Mikko!! Awesome job!


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Thanks Nicky and Jamie.

Don't worry Jamie, I'm sure you will get into classes. Risa is/will be a great agility dog! It is so hard without classes though. I don't know what I would do without them.

Nicky, Molly has had a great year! Congrats on the baby!


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

My big agility year was getting a dog I can do agility with! Hope for a title or 2 in 2009.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

We had an exciting year. 

First, 15 year old Zamboni started it off by showing that seniors CAN do agility. 










At the same time, I was working with my breeder who picked for me the smart and wicked fast Meri -- We took our puppy agility class when she was 4 months old. 





















See something wrong with her weaving technique?



















Camper also took Basic Agility this year. But the Official Pack Photographer (Dh) wasn't able to attend the last class and take photos. So this (slightly blurry) one from our back yard will have to suffice.










One of our major accomplishments for the year was building equipment - lots of it! Dog walk, teeter, jumps, two tires (one puppy size), weave poles, and buying some tunnels. 

Camper models the puppy-height table here: 











Camper and I have an observation at the agility club tomorrow night to see where we fit into their class structure. Meri will likely repeat Puppy Agility since she's only 7 months old. I prefer her to continue jumping on that deep soft sand (and not working contact equipment, other than the table) for another few months. Then she'll take the Basic Agility class and then move into the club too. 

My goals are to compete with both Camper and Meri. Zamboni will likely repeat the Basic Agility class for fun and mental stimulation. My kids are young and I'm new to this, so I don't know what are reasonable goals yet. I'm sure the club will help us figure all that out.


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## luanne (May 27, 2004)

We have only done one trial this year and it was last month. I know what needs to be worked on and have joined a local agility club that holds practices in a large facility with TONS of distractions. This is going to help both me and Gracie! 

Goals for 2009:
1. Take the advanced skills class for as long as my trainer has it.
2. Take advantage of the practices at the club.
3. Go to the agility fun matches when they have them locally.
4. Enter as many trials as possible (there aren't many local).
5. Do all the above and possibly wrap up a title!!!!!
6. Oh yeah....and keep having fun with my girl!!!

Lu


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## luanne (May 27, 2004)

Whoo hoo Mikko!!!!!!

Lu


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## lfitzner (Aug 27, 2007)

We had a good agility year. Gretchen finished her NAP and NJP and we look forward to open next year. Morgan has been in agility class and doing well. Hopefully, she will have her first trial in april (CPE). Poor Quaid has been left out, but I ran him through a pin wheel the other day and he just flew it like it hadn't been four years. His dog issues have kept us out of trials but we're working on some tracking.


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## Aster (May 17, 2008)

Fun thread!

This year Aster and I got to 7 DOCNA trials, 1 AKC trial, and DOCNA Championships.

Titles:
AKC
5/24/2008: Novice FAST (NF)
5/25/2008: Novice Agility Jumper (NAJ)

DOCNA
3/29/2008: Competition - Intern Snakes 'N Ladders Award (C-ISLA)
7/4/2008: Competition - Intern Gamblers Award (C-IGA)
7/4/2008: Competition - Intern Standard Award (C-ISA)
10/2/2008: Competition - Beginner Jumpers Award (C-BJA)
10/2/2008: Competition - Beginner Agility Award (C-BAA)
11/1/2008: Competition – Intern Trigility Award (C-ITA)
12/13/2008: Competition – Intern Jumpers Award (C-IJA)
12/13/2008: Competition – Intern Agility Award (C-IAA)

We're going to one more DOCNA trial yet this year, and my goal is to finish up our titles in Intern North American Challenge (1 leg), Specialist Gamblers (1 leg), Specialist Standard (2 legs) and/or Specialist Snakes 'N Ladders (1 leg).

We also competed at the DOCNA Championships in October where Aster won the National North American Challenge and Regional Traditional Gamblers, and was 2nd in the Regional Standard for our height and level.

Big change this year was that we actually joined a club for the first time - Tail Blazers Agility Club. We've been blessed to be in an awesome class with awesome instructors and as a result, I can definitely see improvement in Aster. Our weaves and entries are better, our contacts are getting more reliable, my handling skills are way way better, and we're getting much better about dropping bars. Aster is also moving up to the next training level in the club which was one of my goals.

Goals for this year:
For Aster is to just keep moving on. We've been working on speed, and also on jumping. The Susan Salo DVDs are on the Christmas list so hopefully we'll have that to work on. I need to work a little more on her weave poles and contacts in a trial setting, so hopefully we'll find some show n gos. I am really really hoping to finish our Merit of Excellence (MEX) title in DOCNA this year (or before I graduate vet school in May 2010). But I'm getting ready to go into clinical rotations at school so I don't know how many trials we'll get too. I also want to finish our Novice Standard (1 leg) title at our club's AKC trial in March (I only do AKC when our club or the GSD club hosts it).










Bryce is going into class in January. The goals for her are to have fun and train the basics as much as I can at home between classes. She's a year in January and I would love to get her to some show 'n go type stuff in the summer. I want good contacts and strong weaves. I'm looking into buying nice channel weaves (I have the PVC ones but I want/need the metal base) now that I am going to have a yard, so both dogs will spend some time on that. Bryce will also do foundation jumping work, because I don't want the chronic bar dropping problem in her that I've had in Aster. My personal goal is to not get frustrated with her. She is younger than Aster was when we started and she's a more hyper, energetic dog (think really big Border Collie!) and I need to remember that my dogs are not the same and things that worked with Aster might not work with her.










For both dogs, my goal is to just get them to class, train at home, and trial as much as possible. With school, its going to be a crazy year for us since I'll never really know what my schedule is going to be like.

Happy training everyone!


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

kathy, good luck with starting agility!

3K9Mom, that is awesome having a 15 year old enjoying agility, i can only hope that i will be so lucky! are your agility classes ongoing? i have that and love it! we will never outgrow it because they adjust with the students, and i don't have to wait for new classes to start.

luanne, those are great goals! fun matches are great practice for trials. 

lfitzner, congrats on your titles and good luck with morgan's first trial.

aster, congrats on all those titles!! i wish we had DOCNA here, looks like fun! i'm always trying to fit a trial in when i visit my family in PA, but they are either too far or on dates that don't quite work out. i'll have to look at DOCNA's schedule.


we're still missing some agility updates! i hope everyone joins in!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Bretta and I are still 'plodding' thru to get our MACH! Knock on wood it'll be next year. Only 5 more Double Q's (need 20 total) and we are almost there for points (need 750 total). 

*<u>MACH </u>*
Number Double Q's 15 
Number Points 739 

Since I keep my ribbons in a bin under my bed, no need to take a photo of that!


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## agilegsds (Dec 31, 2003)

In 2008, Kayto finished her Master Agility Excellent and Open FAST in AKC. In USDAA, she finished her Advanced Standard, Advanced Jumpers, and Advanced Gamblers. My goal for 2008 had been to finish the MX before Sibe Nationals which she did one week before we left. Talk about cutting it close! 

I haven't set goals for her for 2009 yet. I'm still up in the air on that. A MACH isn't on the radar for us because she only has 3 QQs and 131 points and she is at least 8 years old and could be older. We may concentrate on USDAA this year. She needs one Snooker leg for her AAD and she's in Masters in Standard, Jumpers and Gamblers. So some Masters titles may be the goal. It will be a challenge because she has to jump 26" and the course times are tighter than AKC where she jumps 24". She does have one Masters Jumpers leg, so that's something to build on.

Flirt, the baby dog, will be my primary focus in 2009. She's 10 months old and I've been doing foundation work so far, but haven't started formal training yet. That was intentional on my part because I want her to enjoy her puppyhood. The way I look at it, she's only going to be a puppy once and will be spending the rest of her life in agility, so no point in rushing anything. Plus I was waiting for her to grow and didn't want to put any unnecessary strain on those joints. We're formally starting training with privates this week. I couldn't find a class I was satisfied with, so we'll be training with a USDAA person I've respected for a long time. It seems like forever since I started training a new dog, so I am really looking forward to this year. I'm very happy with how Flirt's structure has turned out for agility and she has high food and toy drive. She has NOT been easy to live with for the past 10 months, but I'm hopeful that all of my bruises will have been worth it once all that energy is focused on the equipment. 

Here's Kayto in Louisville in March:










And the babydog (no agility shots yet):


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

This past year was Renji's first introduction to agility. So far he is getting the idea of 2o/2o contacts and he has been on a teeter trainer, through the chute, loves the tunnels, and jumps very well. We've been working on handling and send-outs. He is getting very good with go-arounds and redirections. I have no yard so the goal for next year or the year after is to look into getting a place with a yard conducive to agility. He is FAST. At the park, I've been working with him on general directing and jumping over a pipe on the ground. I can send him over a jump about 20' away from me and can also direct him on the way back over the jump. I can also send him around a tree, bring him back, and wheel him around over the jump (pipe). 

I hope I'm in better health soon so I can get back to going to training. It's been awhile since we were out.







So besides the house with a yard goal, I hope to get healthy and hope to get a CGC with Renji and further our agility training, maybe do rally. I love agility though and he clearly cannot get enough of it, so if all we do next year is continue to have fun and learn more agility moves, I won't be disappointed.


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## Aster (May 17, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: DianaM I can send him over a jump about 20' away from me and can also direct him on the way back over the jump. I can also send him around a tree, bring him back, and wheel him around over the jump (pipe).


Thats awesome! I'm jealous! Sounds like Renji will be an awesome dog to do Gamblers or the AKC FAST class with!


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

*Re: Agility: Year in Review-UPDATE!*

MRL- I have great confidence you will earn your MACH this year! Good luck!

AgileGSDs-congrats on your accomplishments with Kayto and I wish you lots of success with the baby dog

Diana- that distance work is amazing! Now that gas prices are cheaper, you should come watch one of the NADAC trials in Ocala! My one trainer who goes all the time has great distance work with her dogs and teaches a distance bootcamp, which is fantastic.


I also have an update- The "club" that puts on most of the NADAC trials that I go to has a year end high in trial award for a dog at each level-determined by points earned at that level throughout the whole year. I just found out last night that Mikko won the Year End Open High In Trial Award!!! I am soooo proud! They take out an ad in Clean Run with the winners, so I'll post when that comes out!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

*Agility -Year End Open High In Trial Award!!*

Wow, now that's a great 2008 for you both.


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## Gunnermom (Feb 4, 2005)

*Re: Agility -Year End Open High In Trial Award!!*

Wow, congrats to everyone with their 2008 accomplishments! 
Sandy - I didn't know you got a new pup - Looks like you'll have a lot of fun with that baby dog!
I want to get to the point of competing in '09 with my Jayda. She got her CD in '08, so I said we'll do agility in '09 (more fun for her).


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## Riptide (Jun 28, 2008)

*Re: Agility -Year End Open High In Trial Award!!*

2008 has been a very successful year for Kayla! She has earned her AX, NF, OAC, OCC, OJC, TG-N, TN-N, EAC, EJC, TIAD, and TG2 titles. She has also become a lot more relaxed around people and doesn't stress as much in the ring! For 2009 our goals are to qualify for NADAC Championships, get our NATCh, and continue working towards our MACh.


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## Timberlinek9 (Mar 20, 2008)

*Re: Agility -Year End Open High In Trial Award!!*

Sounds like everyone had a great year. Timber earned his Open Jumper title last year, We are still working on his titles in Open Standard (needs 2 legs) and Open Fast (needs 1 leg). This year I will be working towards those two titles and his Excellent titles and get his PAM. I will also be starting my new puppy in the fall.

Congratulations to everyone. Good luck in 2009


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

*Re: Agility -Year End Open High In Trial Award!!*

sandy- good luck starting agility!

kristen- congrats on a great year with Kayla!! that's a long list of titles! our goals for next year are very similar. good luck!!

Michael-congrats to you as well and good luck in 2009!


Thanks for posting everyone! I think it will be fun to look back on this thread at the end of this year and see if we met our goals for 2009- good luck in the new year everyone!


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