Percy's Pad

Poor Percy

2009-11-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

I had to scratch Percy from the Sno-King agility trial last weekend due to an injury. He pushed his way out the front door and down the path, over the little fence to go and fence race with the German shepherd next door. I went out and collected him and brought him back in. Then I noticed the blood on the carpet! His right rear foot was bleeding and quite profusely. After a lot of styptic and pressure I got the bleeding stopped and left a dressing on it for a while. I wasn't able to really tell where the bleeding was coming from with all the blood and styptic, but when I removed the dressing, it became clear that he had ripped his entire toenail off--ouch! He didn't act like it hurt him at all that night. We even went to obedience class and he didn't show any signs of limping, but by Saturday morning he was not putting weight on it. We went to the agility trial anyway, just to see if he could shake it off and we could compete, but not surprisingly that didn't happen. I visited with friends, and worked as a bar setter in the excellent standard ring (my apologies to everyone whose dog thought it was important to great me--especially Diana and Merlin). It was sad not to compete, but better not to let the poor boy injure himself more, or think that agility hurts. He is still limping a little today, but I expect (hope) he will be ready for AKC obedience in Monroe on Saturday!

2009-11-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

Percy and I attended the ASC of WA show in Shelton on October 24th. We only went for the afternoon shows, as there was no obedience in the morning, and I didn't really want to get up that early anyway, lol. Percy did a really nice job in Nov. A (that was our last time for ASCA) and even got 1st place and High Scoring Aussie in Trial under judge Karen Brearley. We were beat out by a cocker spaniel for High in Trial, but he was a Nov. B dog. Then in conformation we got 1st place in the Open Blue class under judge Gary Dunlop and I showed Percy myself which I haven't done in a while since Kathy Peycke and Laura Pearson have been helping me out. It was a really fun show.

2009-11-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

Percy and I had the most awesome time at Nationals. It came at the perfect time for him as he has been doing so well in all venues lately. On the first day of pre-shows we earned 2 new titiles! In agility he got his Open Jumpers (RJ-O), and Novice Regular (RS-N), and then in obedience he earned his Novice A (CD) with a 2nd place to boot! Besides the titles we earned about 20 ribbons all in all, Had some really nice agility runs. Qualified in all obedience runs (except for the one where he lay down on his sit stay at 59 seconds )0:). He also took 4th place in conformation in one pre-show, thank you to Kathy Peycke for showing him so nicely! We had a really nice time staying in a house in Fort Collins with Kathy and Diana. Percy had a great time playing with all of Diana's boys ( well, not so much with his Daddy, Magic, since he feels that Percy is a snot nosed brat that needs more manners--and he is kind of right :p). Then I decided that we would drive home through Yellowstone Park. It was very cold and a little snowy, but gorgeous. Then came home through Montana, stopping in Spokane for lunch with Uncle Howard and my cousin Reed before completing the journey home. It was a really nice trip and so glad that we went!

2009-09-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

I have been very negligent about updating things here, but am going to get back to blogging! Percy and I have been concentrating more on obedience this summer than agility. Once again we are going to the ASCA Nationals this year so I have had to limit the trials I could enter. Percy now has 2 AKC legs toward his CD, 2 ASCA legs towards that CD and as of last weekend, 1 UKC leg towards his UCD. He also got his first Novice Rally leg for UKC last weekend. We are doing lots of obedience at Nationals, so we should earn our ASCA CD there. I am very excited. Then when we come home we can work on finishing at AKC and UKC as well. We will be doing agility at Nationals too, and we have the opportunity to get several agility titles as well. I will report again as soon as we get back. We leave on Wednesday for the show which is in Greeley Colorado. Then we will return home through Yellowstone park, arriving home probably on October 8th--hopefully with a handful of ribbons to show for it!

2009-05-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

Since our last posting, Percy and I have been very busy going to dog shows and trials. Percy has earned several new agility titles. He earned his NJC (NADAC NOv. jumpers) on Feb. 15th, then his JS-N (ASCA Nov. Jumpers) on March 8, his NAC (NADAC Nov Regular) on April 18th, and today he earned his NAJ (AKC Nov. Jumper's with Weaves)! What a good boy he is! We also showed in Obedience at the Collie club trial on Feb 22nd and got our first leg in Nov. A. Yea! Next weekend we are entered in the German Shepherd club for Obedience on Saturday and we will hope for another leg there. Then on Sunday we will be heading south for Vancouver and an ASCA show. Our friend Kathy is going to show Percy in conformation and maybe she can do a better job than I can and get Percy some points! If not it will just be a fun trip.

We are making plans to go to the Australian Shepherd Club of America National Specialty again this year. It is the last week of September/first of October in Greeley Colorado, so I only have 3 or 4 shows planned for the next few months. Going to Nationals is fairly costly with the price of entry fees, housing, food, gas, and whatnot, so I have to save for that, but it is worth it. I hope to visit 2 of my brothers, who live in Colorado while I am there.

DEC 27th and 28th

2009-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

Percy and I went to the Boston Terrier trial in Elma, WA the weekend after Christmas and had a blast! It was a really fun trial and we did pretty well. On Saturday we started out the day with a jumper's with weaves run. WE started out great, but then I got lost on the course and Percy figured out I didn't know what I was doing so we lost our connection and missed a few jumps and didn't qualify. The course felt kind of random when I was walking it so I wasn't really surprised that I got lost, but we tried hard anyway. That afternoon we got to do our standard run, which as close to perfect as we could get. We qualified and got 1st place! That was our second qualifying standard run, both of them in 1st place to so I felt very good about it! On Sunday we struggled in the jumper's class again, probably I was just late with my signals, but again we started out nicely but somehow lost our connection. We had another flawless standard run in the afternoon. This time we did not finish in the placements as we were in 5th place, but we still qualified and that gave Percy his first agility title. Yeah for us!

2008-11-23T15:31:00.000-08:00

Percy and I just came back from Las Vegas where we competed in the ASCA National Specialty. We had such a good time. We shared a house with our friends, Diana, Merlin and Magic, and Kathy, Keagan and Alec. Our house was really nice, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, with a pool and hot tub. It was really nice to have a kitchen and laundry facilities as well. We arrived in Vegas on Thursday, Nov. 6th and got settled in our house and our stall at the South Point Hotel and Casino, Equestrian Center. On Friday we were entered in conformation it the CASC pre-show. Percy showed very nicely, but the judge didn't place him. On Saturday we tried Obedience. We did sits and downs first. Percy did a really nice job on his sit, but his down was a disaster. As soon as I turned around across the ring from him he started sniffing, I knew we were in trouble when he started looking over his shoulder to sniff and he just sniffed himself into a stand. At the most he stayed in his down for 15 seconds--not much of the 3 minute requirement! Oh well, since you can't qualify if you don't pass the sits and downs, I was pretty relaxed when we went into the ring for the individual exercises. Percy was a little distracted during heeling, and I went ahead and reminded him that he needed to be heeling a few times. He did really well on the stand for exam and recall though. I think we might have passed had we not failed the down. Sunday was a day off for us, although we did spend time at the ARPH booth selling raffle tickets and visiting with people who stopped by. On Monday we were entered in the Nationals Obedience trial. I figured we had it made this time, we had practiced some sits and downs where I was able to correct him for sniffing and he knew what his job was. We passed the sits and downs with flying colors so all we had to do was get through the individual exercises. We did the heeling on leash fine, with some minimal distraction and no sits, but as soon as we started the figure 8 a dog started barking--not just barking, but crying in distress because he wanted out of his crate. Percy was very concerned about him and so he stopped to look and I couldn't get him around the corner. He did start working again when I asked him, but every time the dog would start up again, Percy would stop to look. It really worried him because I had a hard time getting him to sit before any of the exercises and that is not like him. Once again he had nearly perfect stand for exam and recall, but he was somewhat distracted by the dog again for the heeling off leash. I have to give him credit though because every time I asked him to return to work he did. The judge felt he was too distracted to pass him though and it was certainly her call. I had felt that he was really distracted as well, but when I watched the video it really wasn't as bad as I had thought. We work through a lot of distractions in class, but we have not had a dog in that much distress to worry Percy before, so all things considered I think we did really well and while we didn't get a ribbon or a leg for it, I still will consider it a good run for us. We had the next two days off from competing, but we spent time in the ARPH booth again. We entered the raffle, but didn't win anything. I did enter the STAAR (Second time around Aussie Rescue) raffle and won a blue merle scarf, so that was fun. On Thursday we had our first day of agility. We had both our nov. jumpers runs. The first one was okay, we were less than 3 seconds overtime, because of a couple of missed jumps that we had to reset to get, but all in all a good run. We still placed 15th in a class of 21. The second run was much better though, we were a full 7 seconds under time and we qualified in 9th place! We got a really pretty green rosette. Friday we were to do nationals conformation and our regular runs in agility. I didn't want to have to worry about being in the conformation ring when my class was walking or running in agility so I asked Kathy to show Percy in conformation. She took Percy into the conformation ring, and as soon as I was sure I had time, I went in to see how it was going. Percy looked really good out there with Kathy, but after a little while I saw Kathy holding Percy and petting him and I realized that he had thrown up in the ring. Multiple dogs had had a virus or something during Nationals and apparently it was Percy's turn. After they had cleaned up in the ring, Kathy took Percy around one more time and he looked okay, but the judge moved other dogs in front of him so he didn't place--I am not sure she liked him anyway, but I am sure that getting sick in the ring did not help him any. I took Percy of a little walk after he came out of the ring and he seemed okay, but he spit up a little more when I got him back to his crate. Kathy said he wouldn't take any bait from her so he definitely was not feeling well, and he was not his bouncy usual self. I didn't want to push him if he wasn't feeling well, but didn't want to miss competing in Nationals so decided to wait and see how he was doing. We still had a few hours before our first agility run. When it was time I figured I would take him out there and if need be we would just quit. He was very slow, but seemed to be following and enjoying the agility so we did the full course. It took a few times to get in the weaves and when he did get in he did them backwards, starting on the left side of the first weave, but I chose not to push him on it and went on. We were 14 seconds overtime, besides the course faults but at least we finished. The second run was better, and I thought we might have qualified, but we were still to much overtime. At least we tried and had fun. Percy did the best he could under the circumstances so I couldn't ask for more. It was too bad our week had to end that way, but hopefully next time will be better! We are going to do a fun match on Dec. 6th for more practice in obedience and then we will see what we will enter next!

2008-10-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Percy and I went to our first AKC agility trial this weekend and had a really great time. Saturdays runs went pretty well, but Percy was a little overwhelmed by the new venue. He really tried hard but got a little distracted. In our jumpers with weaves run he took an off course tunnel, which I could probably have handled differently and kept from happening, but once he saw the tunnel there was no going back! Then he knocked a bar down which threw him off, but we continued on and he got his weave poles in one try which was really awesome since we haven't really practiced weaves with other obstacles. His Standard run was a little off. Partly I think because we have never practiced a full course with all the obstacles, at class we usually only do a couple of them at once so I think that may have startled him a little to have it all out there. That and the table was strategically placed so that the dogs ran toward it a second time, and he loves the table so he was convinced that was where he should go and he totally missed the A-frame that he was supposed to take. He really worked with me though, and tried hard anyway. Sunday was a better day. His Jumpers with weaves run was really beautiful, and probably would have been a qualifying run had his mother not accidentally called him off a jump. I put him over it properly, but by them he was a little unsure and passed the next jump. I briefly though about trying to get him over that jump, knowing that we could still qualify, but I chose to just go on so as not to unduly stress him over my mistake. He got his weave entry the first time so that was great too. Then our Standard run was almost flawless. He was perfectly comfortable with all the equipment and went everywhere I directed him except the weaves, but that was mostly because he saw his Grandma, who he dearly loves, in the stands and thought he should make sure she was watching him properly. When I finally got his attention back, we got through the weaves beautifully and finished the course. I knew we had Q'd, but wasn't sure what the course time was. When the scores were posted I was pleased to learn that not only had we Q'd, but we got 1st place as well! We were more than 4 seconds under the course time which I was surprised by seeing as how we had wasted precious seconds at the weave poles. I couldn't be prouder of my little boy at his first AKC trial! Next week we are off to Las Vegas for the ASCA National Specialty. Check back at the end of November to see how we did!

2008-07-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Percy and I attended the ASCA shows in Graham over the 4th of July weekend. It was especially nice because it was practically in my back yard, taking me less than 10 minutes to get there in the morning! Also our friend Diana, and her dogs, Magic (Percy's father) and Merlin stayed with us for the weekend, which would have been more fun if the shows hadn't run so late each night, but we still had a really nice time. At the show we also got to visit with Percy's other grandma, his breeder Kathy Marta. Among the dogs that Kathy brought with her were Percy's mother, Matty, and his littermate sister, Maggie. Maggie had a really nice show weekend, getting a lot of notice from the judges. Over the weekend Percy showed in 4 conformation shows in which he did pretty well in the fairly large Open Blue class. The first show he took 4th place, then in the next one he didn't place at all. The third show was even better as we took 2nd place. The last show, which was at the end of a very long weekend, we ended up being excused from the class because for some reason Percy took a dislike to the judge and would not let her touch him. He didn't growl at her, but he moved away, dropped on the ground, leaned on me, and did everything he possible could to stay as far away from her as possible. I don't know what caused that reaction, but I am sure he was just over stressed by the long weekend and he had lost all his coping abilities at that moment. Besides the conformation shows, we entered two obedience shows. We were entered in sub-novice, but we took 2nd place out of 3 dogs each day, and Percy did a really nice job for each judge. The first day we did it, it seemed like his sit was broken! He would not sit at all during either the heeling pattern or the figure 8. The second show though, he sit every time he was supposed to, although a couple of times he was out of position when he got around to it, LOL. I think that he should be doing pretty well by the time we get to Nationals in November. We also entered the puppy sweepstakes. I thought we had a good chance of winning there, since we would be competing only against other puppies. Unfortunately we got 2nd in our class, 18-24 months, but the dog that beat us in the class also won the sweeps so I guess we didn't do so badly ;) We had a lot of fun at the shows, and we got a little more notice than we have earlier this year since we started entering the Open class so I was really pleased with the progress, and hope that means that Percy will soon have his chance at Winner's Dog and getting points toward his championship! I am planning to take the next few months off from showing as I need to save money for the trip to Vegas, and need to put more time into training in agility and obedience so we will be ready for the shows there. I am hoping that we will have good luck in Vegas, but since there will be LOTS of dogs showing up for the national specialty, I am not expecting to come home with placement ribbons, but would be ecstatic if we could come home with a few green qualifying ribbons for obedience and agility!

2008-06-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Percy and I went to the Sirius About Dogs Canine Festival with our friend Susie and her Italian Greyhound, Lily. We entered a fun match for conformation and Percy won 1st in his class, Best of Breed, and Best of the Herding group. That was really fun. Then we took the test to earn the Canine Good Citizen title from the AKC and Percy passed with flying colors, even though he had serious thoughts about eating the evaluator's carrot cake! We also took a turn at an obedience run through. Percy did well there too, with just a few minor lagging issues. His Mom had more trouble on the about turns, I couldn't figure out how to turn to the right! I guess Percy will have to work a lot of right hand turns so his Momma can get it right. Susie and Lili got 1st in her class too! Yeah for Lily, way to go you two! I took some pictures of them in the ring, but they were on Susie's camera, so when she sends me one I will post it for all to see!

Percy and I have one more big show coming up over the 4th of July weekend. It is an ASCA show and is practically in my backyard at Frontier Park in Graham Wa. There will be Aussies galore there, not to mention other breeds entering the herding and obedience competitions! We will write about that after it happens, but then we will be taking a break from showing to prepare for the ASCA National Specialty in November that is being held in Las Vegas. That is going to be an expensive show for us, as we are going to enter Obedience, Agility and Conformation. I wanted to do herding as well, but decided that I just can't afford the lessons, as well as the added entry fees and still be able to make it to Nevada, so we are cutting back a little. It will be loads of fun none-the-less, and we will be doing enough to wear us out as it is.

2008-06-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Percy and I had a great time at the ZAP NADAC trial on Sunday. The video shows his flawless first run in the morning. We had a little more trouble with the later runs, but I made sure that Percy had a lot of fun anyway. This was a huge improvement from his first trial where he didn't realize that you could do more than about 5 jumps in a row. This time he showed that he understood that you should just keep taking jumps as long as there is one in front of you! I know that he is just going to improve with age and practice too!

2008-06-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Percy and I have been very busy since our last post. Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Molalla, Or. for some ASCA shows. There were 5 shows over the 3 day weekend, and while we tried hard, Percy came in 3rd at all 5 shows. Then last weekend we entered two ASCA shows in Olympia on Saturday, the first one we were 3rd again, but there were 5 dogs in the class so coming in 3rd wasn't too bad, we were last in our class for the 4th show, but Percy is maturing and I think soon he will be competing with the other boys and giving them a run for their money:) On Sunday we tried our hand at obedience. We competed in Novice Y, which is a non-regular class so just for ring practice really. While we were doing our long sit (1 min) there was activity in the pasture behind us as they were getting ready for the cattle herding event that was happening at the same time. People were banging in gates, and moving cattle around which was very distracting for the dogs. Percy was looking back over his shoulder and back to see what was going on, but he staid in his sit so I was very proud. The same thing was happening for the long down (3 min). He tried to look over his back, but couldn't see, so finally he popped up--oh well. I put him back down and he stayed down for the rest of the 3 minutes. Then for our heeling and recall on leash, he did a really nice job, losing maybe 6 points over all for slow sits and lagging (plus a handler error or two:p)). All in all it was a pretty nice showing for our first attempt.

Today we did Rally obedience at the Puyallup Dog show. Percy was very focused and in good working mode. We got a 94/100 for our run which tied us with another team for 4th place. Since we had the faster time, we got the 4th place ribbon. 12 dogs qualified in our class, so I am really pleased with that run, and that gave Percy a new title. Yeah, what a good boy! Our new title picture is posted above!

2008-05-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 3rd, we went to the ASC of Wa. May Flowers show. I agreed to be the ring steward for the morning show. I had never done that before, so I was a bit nervous about it, but it seemed to go pretty well. It was kind of fun for a change of pace, but I think I would much rather just show my dog! It is too much pressure trying to make sure the judge has everything he needs, and making sure the forms are filled out properly and that all the dogs are at ringside for their classes. Hopefully I will be lucky and no one will ask me to do that again :o) Percy was shown by his "Grandma", Diana Hefti, since I was busy ring stewarding and he got 2nd in the Open Blue class. Even though he has matured a lot over that last few months, he still looks kind of puppyish next to more mature dogs, but he will continue to mature. Percy's Daddy, Magic, won Best of Breed for that show, so we were very proud of him! Way to go Magic! The second show of the day I showed Percy myself, and we again got 2nd in the Open Blue class. We have a number of shows coming up. We will be heading to Oregon for the ASCA shows in Mollala over Memorial Day Weekend. Then the next weekend will be conformation and obedience at the ASC of Wa. shows in Olympia (there will be herding as well, but we aren't ready for that yet), then we will do an AKC show on the 7th of June and try to get Percy's Advanced Rally title and on that Sunday will probably try another day of agility, and after that an obedience and conformation fun match. So it looks like we have the next 2 weekends off, before a long stretch of busy weeks! May have to get some gardening and house work done now! The above picture is of Tucker, a dog I was fostering for the Aussie Rescue. He went to his new home today, where I think he will be very happy. He has an Irish Setter named Murphy for a brother, and a nice young couple to take him on walks and runs and to play at Marimoor Park. I wish them all luck with their new life together!

2008-04-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, 4-19 and 20th, Percy was entered in his first agility trial. It was the EAT NADAC trial at Argus Ranch in Auburn. He isn't completely ready for all the equipment so we had two runs on Saturday, one Tunnelers run, and one Jumpers run. The tunnelers was first, and I wasn't sure how he was going to behave since this was his first trial, and he had never seen so many tunnels before. I was quite pleased that he held his stay at the start line so I was able to lead out to the second tunnel. He ran like he knew what he was doing, diving into each tunnel and then checking in with me as soon as he came out. There were a couple of places that were a little tricky so I called him to make sure he would get the right tunnel, but almost pulled him off the correct tunnels because he already knew where to go. I was very proud of him and pleased that we had a qualifying score (or a Q). Later that day was our jumpers run. Once again he held his start stay for me while I got in position, then we started off great for the first 5 jumps and then he skipped one, I got him back on track and then he missed another jump, and then jumped it backwards to get back to me, I got him going the right way and we headed for the finish line, where he missed the last jump. I didn't care though, he was having a good time, and didn't know he was wrong so I just left it that way and gave him his cookies for a good job. We had not really ever practiced that many jumps in a row, mostly just sequences, so I thought he really did well for his first full course! Then on Sunday we just had one jumpers run, which worked out nicely because we had our agility class to go to as well that day. He tried very hard on our run, but still missed a few jumps. One I had tried to get ahead of him so I could cross in front of him after a jump and he ran so fast to catch up that he missed a jump. Then we were out of position for the next jump. He got a head of me a couple of times and then didn't know what to do so missed jumps there. I fixed the first couple of missed jumps, but after that we just ran and had a good time to the end of the course. Percy just turned 20 months yesterday, so I am quite proud of his performance at his first trial. We will both improve as we learn how to work together to navigate the courses, but for now I am very happy with a Q from his first trial. I hope to have a picture to post soon, as soon as the photographers post their pics to their websites!

2008-03-30T19:18:00.001-07:00

Percy and I have had several shows since we last wrote. First we went to the Seattle Kennel Club show march 8th and 9th where we made our last appearance in the 12-18 month class. We were 3rd in our class on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday. We had a good time and Percy showed pretty well, but it was hot, and with the time change on Sunday he was dragging a little. After our ring time we helped man our WWASA club booth and Percy got to play with everyone that came by which he thought was great fun. Then a Few weeks after that, on March 23rd we went to the Peninsula Dog Fanciers Club show in Bremerton. That was our first outing in the Open class. Percy did a really nice job for me and we showed well, but he was definitely less mature than the other dogs showing. We got 3rd, but as he matures more and more he is going to do better I think! We had fun and that is what matters anyway! Then this weekend we had another go at Advanced Rally. Yesterday, march 29th, we had a fairly hard course and I wasn't sure how he would do after our last outing, but I worked on remaining optimistic, and playing with Percy and keeping his focus until we went into the ring. He did a fabulous job! He did try to jump a cone when we got to the serpentine, and he kind of wandered away a few times briefly, but came right back when I called him. I was really very proud of him. We passed with an 88 and were 7th out of 13 dogs. Not bad for a boy who is barely over a year and half. Then today we had another attempt, and we did even better. The course was a little easier than Saturday's, and we passed with a score of 92 and were 5th of 13, so I couldn't be any prouder! Coming up in the next few weeks we have a couple of ASCA shows, and we will have to enter another AKC obedience show so we can earn his Advanced title!

2008-03-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

February 23rd and 24th Percy and I went to the Collie Club trial and made our first attempt at Rally Advanced. While Percy has practiced in class with out a leash, this was our first time in a show ring without a leash, and apparently not only did that make him feel like he didn't need to be obedient, somehow the unclipping of the leash also disconnected his brain and he acted like he had never done any obedience in his entire life. On Saturday he was perfect for the first two signs, and then after that kept wandering off, getting out of position, going over the jump 4 times and anything else his little puppy head thought of. Finally at the last sign when he wouldn't come back into heel I took him off the course. There were 4 other dogs that day, two qualified, and two didn't qualify, but Percy had to be a non conformist and not even finish. The next day was better, slightly. There was only a broad jump and he didn't feel like he needed to go back and jump it more than the one time, so that was nice, but he only made it through the first sign before he decided he didn't know how to turn left. The he wandered off before almost every sign, but we were able to at least finish that day. There were 7 dogs on Sunday and 6 of them qualified (in case you didn't guess, Percy was the only one who didn't!) Oh well, more practice for us and then hopefully we will do better at the next show in a few weeks. For better news, the above picture is of Percy's first herding lesson. He had a blast, and knew immediately that he should control the sheep. He hasn't figured out all the rules of this "game", but it shouldn't take long for him to get it all down! Next week we are off to the Seattle Kennel Club show to compete in conformation. The Aussies show at 9 am so you if you are there, stop by the ring and say hi, or you might find us at the W. Wash. Australian Shepherd Association booth later in the day!

ASCA benefit show

2008-02-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

Percy and I went to the ASCA show in Shelton yesterday. This show benefits the Aussie rescue so we were happy to support that. There were two shows, and Percy got first in his class in both of them. I also got to show Diana Hefti's, Merlin in Best of Breed for the AM show. That was quite the comedy! Merlin is quite the momma's boy, and was not happy that he had to be with me rather than his mother who was showing Magic. He refused to stand still for me, or to let me stack him, and I don't think he took one step that the judge could look at and judge his movement. He also spent the entire time making whiney noises. People were wondering how he ever became a champion :o)LOL. Poor Merlin just couldn't control himself! Diana decided maybe he didn't need to show in the afternoon (thank goodness-LOL). Percy got a lot of comments from people on how handsome he is getting so it was a nice day. The weather was COLD and wet though. There was still snow on the ground around the fairgrounds, and the parking lot was icy and slippery in the morning. I forgot to wear my long underwear--I don't know what I was thinking, it is always cold there!

BKM's Magical Sir Perceival RN

2008-01-19T11:46:00.001-08:00

I have been negligent on reporting on Percy's activities of late. Between the holidays, shows and then having a horrible cold, I just haven't gotten to the blog, but here we go. Over the weekend of of December 1st & 2nd we went to Bow, Wa. for the ASCA shows there. Percy was 1st in his class for all three shows, so that was fun for us to come away with all blue ribbons. Even better though, Percy's father, Magic, got BOB in the Saturday PM show, and his mother's cousin, Merlin, earned his championship. We congratulate Diana Hefti (owner of both dogs) for those wins! The next weekend was our ASC of Wa. Christmas party, where the ROM (Record of Merit)awards were handed out and Percy earned Puppy of the Year! Yeah for Percy!!! Then this past weekend, Jan 12th and 13th we were entered in the Puyallup Dog show in both conformation and Rally obedience. We were fortunate and the schedule worked out so there were no conflicts for which ring we needed to be in. In the conformation ring, Percy got 2nd in his class on Saturday, and first in his class on Sunday. No attention in the winner's ring, but in another couple of months we will start showing in the open blue class and watch out for us then LOL!!! Our Rally runs were even better. On Saturday Percy was a little distracted by the obedience ring right next to ours and all the people and dogs, but he did pretty well. We got 89 out of 100 which was a qualifying score and that earned Percy his very first title, RN (Rally Novice B). We chose not to move up to advanced for Sunday as there would have been a ring conflict and I thought the extra on leash in the ring practice was worth while. We will be trying Advanced, which is performed off leash, in February at the Collie club trial so we will keep our fingers crossed for puppy brains!!

ASCA shows, Nov 10th in Shelton

2007-11-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

These wonderful pictures of Percy were taken by our friend Lori Charron at the show. She has taken such beautiful shots of him. Percy and I entered both shows that were held in Shelton. In the morning the judge gave us 1st in our class (12-18 month puppy dogs), and said that Percy was "nice" although she spent a little time looking up the standard on nose pigmentation and mentioned the pink on his nose. Percy was in a bouncy mood that day and had bounced once the the class ring, and then bounced twice more in the winner's ring, right when the judge was coming to look at us again. She apparently has very high standards for puppy behaviour as she passed us up at that point. She might not have selected us as the winner's dog anyway, but I am not going to worry about my dog showing some enthusiasm in the show ring! The afternoon judge was more interested in a different type of dog, more of a working bred type so we were 2nd in our class there. We had a lot of fun with our friends for the day, despite the cold wind and the cement floors. Now we will look ahead to the next ASCA shows on Dec. 1st and 2nd. We will keep our fingers crossed that Percy will have his day there! And if not, there is always next year!

Obedience !

2007-10-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

Percy and I decided to try our hand at Rally obedience and entered a trial on Oct. 13th and 14th. We have been taking a CD obedience class since Percy was about 7 months old, but we had only dropped in on a few rally classes. We hadn't done much training without a cookied present up to a week or so before the trial, so I was a little nervous that we might get past the first 2 or 3 signs and then Percy would start demanding a cookie before he would do anything else, but I was pleasantly surprised that he continued to work for me for the whole course. He wanted to be a little ahead of me much of the time, but other than that he did wonderfully. We passed with 93 points out of a possible 100. On Sunday I was less nervous and so Percy was as well. We passed again with a 94 this time and we got 4th place ( and all the other dogs were more mature than Percy so that was really good!). Percy got his first two green qualifying ribbons this weekend, and he just needs one more to get his Novice Rally title. He is such a good boy!

ASCA shows, Labor Day 2007

2007-09-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

Percy had a great time at the ASCA show in Clayton, Wa. over Labor Day weekend. The show itself wasn't very well organized. We got there around 9PM on Friday and thought we would set up our canopy for the morning, but there wasn't any indication of where the rings would be and there wasn't really anyone to ask about setting up so we decded to just go back to the hotel for the night and set up in the morning. Our friends Kathy and Keagan were with us, and we would be meeting Percy's breeder, another Kathy, on Saturday. Percy was the only one entered in the Saturday morning show, they were having Veterans and Puppy sweeps, Keagan is 19 months old and the puppy sweeps only went to 18 months so he couldn't enter, and the other Kathy was bringing Percy's litter mate sister, Maggie, but didn't plan to enter her. Percy got 2nd in his class, 12-15 month puppy (boys) and we were disappointed to learn that only the Best in Sweeps, and best Opposite Sex in Sweeps got prizes (sometimes everyone gets a little something). The show for the afternoon was a regular show, so everyone was entered. Percy got 3rd in his class, this time 12-18 months, but the judge was very nice and made a point of telling us all that this was his opinion of the breed standards and that there were a lot of things the dogs had in common, and a lot that was different. Maggie also got 3rd in her class 12-18 month puppy bitches, from that same judge. The next day, Sunday, the judges that were there for both shows were Keagan's breeders so he wasn't able to show, but Percy was. the judge was Melinda Gann, and she really liked Percy. She gave us first in our class, and so then we got to go into the winner's ring. She pulled us out and put us at the front of the line, but after all the running we had done already, and the 80+ degree weather, Percy and I were running out of steam when she sent us around the last time. I really tried to run fast enough (which I have trouble with even at the start of a show) but I knew we were both dragging, so she picked another dog as the Winner's dog, but I was really excited that she gave us Reserve Winner's Dog. That was our first real win of any kind, and we got our first regular rosette which was so much fun. The afternoon's judge was Melinda's husband, Rick Gann. Unfortunatly he didn't like Percy quite as well and only gave us 2nd in our class. The last day, Monday, there was just one show in the morning. The show got started late because the judge's plane was late. This was bad because it just kept getting hotter, and the canopies that the club had set up for shade at ringside had all blown down the day before so there was NO shade in the ring. The judge for this show was Rich Mysliwiec Jr. There were only 2 dogs in our class this time, one was a red dog with a Jr. handler nammed Hannah, and then Percy. The judge gave Percy 1st place, but when he handed me the ribbon he asked me to have someone run him in the winners ring who could move him a ittle faster. I felt badly about that for a moment, as I want to be able to show my dog myself, but then I realized that he wanted to give Percy every opportunity to win and he really wanted to see him move better. Since my friends were going to be in the ring with their dogs, I couldn't ask either of them to show Percy, so I decded to ask Hannah if she would do it. They were packing up to leave already when I asked, but her Mother said that Hannah could do it--she seemed really pleased to be asked, and her mom said she had been wanting to be able to do that for a while so i was really glad that I had asked her. I gave her Percy so she could work with him a little bit and I tried to disappear so he wouldn't be looking for me when they went back into the ring. Hannah did a nice job with him, but Percy was very squirmy and kept breaking his gate. Then Hannah would stack him for the judge and have him facing his buddy Keagan so he just wouldn't hold still. The judge really worked them, trying to give Percy a chance to show his stuff, but he just wasn't going to do it. The judge really liked Keagan too, and I thought maybe he would get Winner's Dog, but he wouldn't stack nicely for the judge so he ended up picking another dog. The judge gave Hannah and Percy another chance to move again before he picked the Reserve dog but he broke gait again. Hannah felt badly and apologized when she handed him back, but she really did a nice job with him, he was just being squirelly after a weekend of hot weather and 4 other shows and then to be thrown into the ring with someone he didn't know. When I passed the judge on the way back to the set up, he said to me,"He just wouldn't settle down. I tried! He is really cute!" I felt almost as good as I would have had we gotten the ribbon since it was so clear that he liked Percy a lot. This was the first show were we really got some notice, so it is nice to know that Percy is starting to mature, and we are likely to find judges who will like him in the future.

Percy the show dog

2007-08-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

Percy started his show career in December of 2006 when he was just 3 months old. He first showed in some Australian Shepherd Club shows as a puppy in non-regular classes. He was the Best of Opposite Sex Puppy in a Feb. 2007 show. Since he turned 6 months old, he has shown in a number of both AKC and ASCA shows, where he has frequently won 1st in his class. So far he hasn't earned any points toward his champion ship in either AKC or ASCA, but he is still very young. Percy just had his first birthday on 8-22-07. He is entered in an ASCA show near Spokane, Wa. over Labor Day, this will be his first outing in the 12-18 month old dog class. He still really looks like a puppy, so I am glad to keep him in the puppy classes a bit longer. We will report on our success after the show.

The Begining

2007-08-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

I have 4 dogs, Achilles, a 13 year old yellow Lab, Hector, a 6 year old chow/shepherd mix, Jackaroo, a 4 year old Australian Cattle Dog, and Percy, an 11 month old Australian Shepherd. When Jackaroo came into my life, I knew that he would need a job to keep him busy so I started training him for agility and I was hooked! I knew that I wanted to get another dog for agility at some point, and had a friend with Australian Shepherds so I started to consider that breed. I began to have a little trouble with Jackaroo being dog aggressive on leash, which makes for trouble at a dog show! I worked hard to get him through it, and we tried more obedience and some sheep herding, but being a cattle dog sometimes means having an attitude, and I finally ecided it was time to retire the boy. He didn't really enjoy going to dog shows anyway, so now he gets to go herding for fun, or stay home and play with his "brothers". Percy is the first dog that I bought specifically to be a performance dog, and we are having fun. He started going to dog shows when he was about 3 months old, and he really enjoys it. We are training for conformation, obedience, agility and herding. We may not do much more herding as there is only so much time and money for these activities, but he enjoys everything we do. The picture above shows Percy soon after he came home last October playing with Jackaroo his new best friend. It is good for Jackaroo too, because the older pups don't want to play with him very much.