Yesterday we got the very sad news that Brodie’s Mom Ceilidh crossed the rainbow bridge unexpectedly and much too young. Our hearts go out to our breeder Shannon. We also received a bunch of CKC mail for Brodie which is a fitting tribute to his wonderful Mom.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Scent Detection, CKC Title, Nosework
It has been over 4 years since the last time the dogs and I participated in Rally Obedience. In fact, Brodie was 18 months old when we last trialed. This past weekend we took a big leap of faith and participated in the Lloydminster Kennel Club’s fall trial. Brodie’s very first Rally trial was in Lloydminster when he was only 7 months old.
My goal for this weekend was to have each dog earn their Advanced title. I am thrilled to say that not only did they meet my goal they exceeded it. Brodie Q’d in 3 of 4 runs, earning his Rally Advanced title and 2 Q’s towards his Rally Excellent. He also had a perfect score of 100 on his first run and a high in class (HIC). His NQ was completely my fault, I had a total brain fart melt down and failed him miserably.
Spirt was the big star this weekend. She Q’d in all 4 runs, earned her Rally Advanced title, 2 Excellent Q’s and 3 HIC. We went home with $80 in prize money for the 4 HIC.
There were a group of Berner breeders sitting together near the Rally ring. When Spirit was strutting her stuff around the Rally ring one of the breeders asked “Any one know who’s dog that is? She is a wonderful performance dog”. It just so happens that Spirit’s breeder, Tailspin Bernese Mountain Dogs, was in the group and she took great pleasure in saying “Why yes I do know who that is, she is one of my dogs”. A proud breeder moment brought to you by my big, shiny, black and beautiful girl.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Rally Obedience, CKC Title, Spirit
I think CKC may be finally getting caught up on all of their outstanding performance titles. In stark contrast, CWAGS issues titles within weeks of them being earned.
Filed under CKC Title, CWAGS, CWAGS Title, Nosework, Scent Detection, Spirit, Tracking, Urban Tracking
So Spirit did a thing today. I’m so incredibly proud of her for passing her CKC Urban Tracking Dog test (UTD) today at almost 7 years old. It wasn’t pretty and she struggled for a very long time at her second corner but ultimately we made it to the magical leather glove at the end. Thank you to our amazing Judge Donna Brinkworth, our track layer and friend extraordinaire Susan Dueck, my training partner Leslie and our coach/trainer Mary Ann. And of course thank you Coreen and Steve of Tailspin Bernese for sharing this big, shiny, goofy black girl with me.
We finally got our official title certificate from CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) for Spirit’s Tracking Dog title that she earned last September. I guess we can be grateful that it only took 8 months….some people have waited almost 2 years to get theirs.
This morning Spirit and I participated in a CKC Tracking Dog test put on by Wild Rose Tracking Club. I am over the moon proud of my big, black hairy girl. Out of all of her titles and ribbons, this one means the most to me. She is just shy of her 6th birthday so that makes it even more special for a breed with a average lifespan of 8 years. We were very lucky and had first draw but I pulled track #6….the last one. The weather forecast was for a cool, very dry and windy day with gusts up to 50km….the later the track the stronger the winds.
Only two of the 5 teams before us were successful so I was pretty nervous at the start. Spirit started well but about 80 metres into our track her head came up with her muzzle up high obviously air scenting, her body went stiff and she started racing back and forth in front of me. It clearly wasn’t a loss of track/turn indication, she was anxious about something that she smelled in the air. It took a while but I got her focused and back on track. From then on it was a blur. She was head down and pulling like crazy. I had to run most of the way just to try and keep up with her. She did a beautiful down on her leather and just like that….it was all over.
Big thanks to Wild Rose Tracking Club, their track layers, volunteers and Judge Greg Martin.
This is how Spirit likes to celebrate her titles:
We got a bunch of mail today. Both Spirit and Brodie got their Novice, Intermediate and Advanced Trick Dog titles. We still have to learn a few tricks to get their Excellent titles.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Title, Spirit, Uncategorized
We finally got Brodie’s CKC Sprinter title the he earned back in August. He is now officially known as:
Filed under Brodie, CKC Sprinters, CKC Title
Our mailbox was overflowing with mail for Brodie and Spirit. Starting with Spirit, she got her CKC Scent Detection Instinct Title (SDIN) and her SDDA Aerial Games Title (SD-GA).
Brodie received his CKC Scent Detection Novice (SDN) and his Chase Ability Excellent (CAE)
SDDA Games Aerial (SD-GA), Games Speed (SD-GS) and Games Distance (SD-GD)
as well as his C-WAGS Scent Investigator (CS-SI).
We ended our racing weekend on a high note. Not only did Brodie qualify in all four of his Sprinter runs but he set a personal best of 45.51kph. The icing on the cake was that he hit 500 points to earn his CKC Sprinter title.
He got to enjoy a post race massage from his Dad
We had to top yesterday’s ice cream cone reward so he got a whole frozen bunny leg. It was definitely a huge hit
Filed under Brodie, CKC Sprinters, CKC Title, Lure Coursing
I’m so proud of my little man. This morning he earned his CKC Chase Ability Excellent Title (CAX) at the Alberta Lure Coursing Association’s Hot Doggin’ trial.
Here is a video of his winning run. At one point he actually caught the lure in his mouth and did a 360 degree spin. When he realized that the rest of the lure was still moving, he spit the piece out of his mouth and took off in hot pursuit again. Gosh he loves this sport.
What do you do to celebrate such a wonderful accomplishment….an ice cream cone from McDonalds of course 😉😂. He inhaled it.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Chase Ability Program, CKC Title, Lure Coursing
It’s Brodie’s turn to get a new title in the mail. This is his CKC Chase Ability title that he earned at the Alberta Lure Coursing Association’s June 7th trial.
Filed under Brodie, CAP, CKC Chase Ability Program, CKC Title, Lure Coursing
Yesterday we got up bright and early to drive to Calgary to participate in the Shiba Inu Club of Canada’s Scent Detection trial at the beautiful Spruce Meadows. It’s a good thing that Spirit went first because the temperature soared to 30C later in the day. She found the hide in 10.61 seconds earning her Scent Detection Instinct Title (SDIN). By the time the Novice teams started it was unbearably hot outside. We started with containers and Brodie had it sourced from the start line so we finished in 8.19 seconds. By the time we ran the exterior searches, the search area was in full sun. Thank goodness he found it in 33.54 seconds. We finished with the interior search inside the barn. Brodie found the environment very “smelly-licious” and wasn’t as focused as he should have been. He found the hide in 33.54 seconds. Only 6 teams passed all 3 searches to earn their Scent Detection Novice Title (SDN) and thank goodness we were one of them. The majority of the teams failed on the hot exterior search. It is very difficult for dogs to scent when they are panting so hard. At the trial 2 weeks ago 20 teams passed the Novice test so the heat really appears to have been a factor at this trial.
Big thank you to the Shiba Inu Club of Canada, the volunteers and Judge Kelley Ladouceur for a great trial.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Scent Detection, CKC Title, Nosework, Spirit
Enjoying a post race massage
On Friday and Sunday we participated in Alberta Lure Coursing Association’s Sprinters and Chase Ability Program races. Brodie ran two CAP and 2 Sprinter events and qualified in all 4. With his CAP Q on Friday he earned his Chase Ability (CA) title.
Big thank you to ALCA for putting on a wonderful weekend despite all the weather challenges.
Filed under Brodie, CAP, CKC Chase Ability Program, CKC Sprinters, CKC Title
My handsome boy got his CKC Novice Sprinter title in the mail. Only 6 weeks from the day he actually earned his title, that’s really good for CKC.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Sprinters, CKC Title
This weekend both Brodie and Spirit competed in Rally Obedience at the Northern Alberta Canine Association (NACA) trial. I’m so proud of both of them. On Friday Brodie got his third qualification for Rally Intermediate and earned his title. He is now known as Copppermoon Lighning Bug CGN, RI, SD-S (SP). We moved up to the Advanced level for Saturday and Sunday. That means he now competes off-leash and there are toys and food used as distractions on the course. Both kryptonite for my boy. The second day he spotted the food bowl and squeaky toy while we were still sitting and waiting to start our run. I knew I was in for trouble. A few seconds into our run he took off and ran and got the squeaky toy. Very proud of myself. I called him back to me and asked him to give me the toy and thank goodness he did. The audience was in stitches. I think I earned brownie points when I put him in a down stay and walked across the course to put the toy back where it belonged. He held the stay and then we resumed the course as if nothing had happened. Little brat! He completed both runs successfully and earned 2 qualifications towards his advanced title. Sunday was also the Golden Retriever Specialty. I was so surprised when the ring steward gave us an an extra ribbon (green) and a beautiful leather leash from the Golden Retriever Club of Alberta for high score in a rally trial. Here’s my handsome boy with all of his swag and a closeup of his new leash.
Not to be outdone by her younger brother, Spirit also had a great weekend. On Friday she got a perfect score of 100 for a high in trial in her first ever Intermediate run. On Saturday she was working towards another perfect score but was spooked when a dog in the adjacent ring doing obedience, ran towards us. We lost 2 points because she got scared and ran to the end of the leash. I was so thrilled with her. She has a history of being reactive and very uncomfortable around other dogs but she didn’t bark and she recovered so quickly and finished the course in style. So proud of how she handled herself. In her final run on Sunday she got a 97 and a 4th in trial. That means she earned her Intermediate title and is now known as Tailspin’s Winter’s Spirit RI SD-A.
A very big thank you to Judges Gail Carroll and Shawn Kelly.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Title, Rally Obedience, Spirit
We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday driving back and forth to Camrose to participate in the Battle River Canine Association rally obedience trial. It was a very tough weekend for Brodie. As a 13 month old, teenage intact male, this was his first exposure to a smorgasbord of intact females and he lost his mind. I’ve lost my sweet, calm and focused boy. He has been replaced by this wild child who has zero interest in his Mom. I’m heart broken but I knew it was coming. Hopefully this phase won’t last too long.
Friday was a complete disaster with a NQ in advanced and then we got excused from the ring during his Intermediate run because he decided to have a poop in the ring…totally out of character for him. Saturday was a bit better. We squeaked by our Intermediate run with a 73 qualifying score and a 4th in trial ribbon. Sunday I saw a brief glimpse of my sweet boy and we walked away with an Intermediate score of 88, our second Q and a Second in Class ribbon.
Thank you to Judges Karen Brearley, Margaret Chandler, Marie-Johanne Cloutier.
Filed under CKC Title, Rally Obedience
We spent this weekend at the Battle River Canine Association rally obedience trial in Camrose. I signed Spirit up just to give her some experience in the trial environment. She can get anxious and reactive around other dogs so I wanted her first trial to be somewhere relatively close to home giving us the opportunity to just take her home if she was overwhelmed. She amazed me. There were only minor signs of stress and I was able to quickly focus and redirect her. Not only did she successfully complete her trial each day with a qualifying score, she earned her Novice title with scores of 92, 96 and 95. On Friday she also got a ribbon for Second in Class. She is now officially known as Tailspin’s Winter’s Spirit RN . Not bad considering we just finished our introductory rally course a couple of weeks ago. Yahoooooooooo Thank you to Judges Karen Brearley, Margaret Chandler, Marie-Johanne Cloutier.
Filed under CKC Title, Rally Obedience, Spirit
Life In The Dog House 