March CPE Agility

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the most perfect Keeshond of all? Me, me, me, me, me Kiwi! Last weekend, we played 3 days of CPE Agility in Washingtonville. There were 3 runs Friday night, and 4 on Saturday and Sunday. I Q’d in all 11 for my 5th Perfect Weekend! Hooray for me!! 10 of those runs were at the C level and one was Level 5 Jackpot. Mom says I only need 2 more of those for my C-ATCH – whatever that is. I think it means a T-bone steak is in my future.

Mom ran all 5 of us this weekend. Boy was that funny to watch ‘cause we all jump 16 inches so mom was doing the Keeshond Shuffle a lot. Luckily there were lots of people willing to hold us so mom could make the switch easier. Sefina ran in 6 classes and Q’d in 5. She would be just like me if she would just get over her teeter issues. Rockin’ Robin Q’d 4 out of 8 runs. Mom says he blew all of his contacts this weekend. He can be really stubborn. Calvin Q’d in 2 of his 6 runs, including a standard run so he earned his Level 1 Standard title this weekend. He’s still really new at this and bounces all over the place and one time bounced right in front of mom so she had to play leap frog with him to avoid a collision.

The other big news is that after being benched for a long time, Mom decided to run Voodoo in Fullhouse and Jumpers on Saturday. I’m happy to announce that he got his very first agility Q ever in Fullhouse! Hooray for Voodoo! He finally figured out that agility is much more fun if you stay in the ring. He did get the zoomies in Jumpers but came back to mom and finished the course. But they were 13 seconds over time for that one and didn’t qualify. At least there’s hope for Voodoo after all.

I am going to keep this short since we’re heading back to Washingtonville to play AKC agility tomorrow. It will be Calvin’s first AKC trial. We’ll update you on that this weekend. Meanwhile, here are some pictures of Robin and Calvin playing CPE agility at Medina SWARM last month.

Medina County CPE Agility

Hi Everyone! We got to play CPE agility yesterday (Sunday February 21st). It’s been almost 2 months since we got to play, except for the Diva who played a couple days of AKC agility. Mom drove us to a new place called Medina SWARM that was 2 hours away in Wadsworth, OH. It was a little strange for us. First of all there was no fun place to walk and also there was no crating space left, not that there was much to begin with. So mom parked close to the entrance and car kenneled us since 4 of us were running and a lot of times in the same classes. Good thing for mom it was a rare sunny day this winter since she had to keep running outside to switch dogs. Thankfully, a few nice people offered to hold one of us while mom ran with another for a couple of small classes. Then the other thing that was different was the ring. It was long and narrow when we are used to it being square. But that ended up being a good thing – we really loved running there. At least Kiwi, Calvin, and I (Robin) did. Sefina didn’t like it so much.

I had a perfect Sunday with 4 Q’s! I finally finished Level 1 with a Q in Standard. Mom says it’s because there wasn’t a dog walk for me to leap off of. She says that is the first time she’s seen a standard course without a dog walk. I also Q’d in level 2 Jumpers and Jackpot, and Level 3 Colors. I really liked that it was long and narrow cause I got to run in a straight line most of the time and didn’t have to argue so much with mom about what to do next. Calvin also had a perfect Sunday with Q’s in his 3 runs. I beat him in Level 1 Standard (I got 1st place since I blew all the other dogs away while he got 3rd). But in Level 2 Jumpers, Calvin got 1st place even though he was way slower than me and was 3 seconds over time. But I knocked a jump over so ended up with 5 faults instead of his 3 so I got 2nd place. Calvin also Q’d in Level 2 Colors. He did really well, especially since this was only his second trial.

Mom drove us all the way out there hoping that Kiwi would Q in Level 5 Jackpot, which she did, plus she also had a perfect Sunday with Q’s in Level C Standard, Colors, and Jumpers. Since we were all doing so well, mom thought she’d have a perfect handler Sunday but Sefina had to S#%T on that idea, literally, in the middle of the ring during her Colors run. She was trying to tell mom she had to go, even though she had just taken us for a walk, by running amok in the ring. But Mom thought it was because it was a different place. But Sefina also didn’t really like running there. During her Jumpers run, she reverted to her old self and didn’t really want to do the jumps so she ended up being way over time and didn’t Q. Lets hope she gets over it by the time we play again at Washingtonville next month.

Conformation, Agility, & Snowmageddon

Hi Everyone! It’s the handsome one, Calvin. Mom took me to Erie the last weekend of January to play conformation at the Erie Kennel Club dog show. I was the only open Keeshond entered so I automatically took 1st place and Winners but mom says I didn’t receive any points for that. Then I went up against 3 special Kees for breed but I did not win. Mom says we mainly went to get some experience. She says we’re getting better each time. Mom says there are no more dog shows until the end of March. But I get to play in a few agility trials before that. I can’t wait! I love agility.

This past Friday, mom took the diva to play AKC agility in Edinboro. Kiwi double Q’d in Jumpers with Weaves and Standard! She missed a Q in EXC A FAST. It was a difficult send that consisted of a jump that was 15 feet away, a set of 12 weave poles 10 feet away, and then the far end of a tunnel. Kiwi did the jump and was doing the weave poles without hesitation and then popped out at the last one! Mom says she must have overheard the judge say that he considers 1 dropped bar or 1 missed weave pole a clean run during the briefing. But she obviously missed the part when he said that the AKC doesn’t agree with him.

It was probably a good thing Kiwi didn’t Q in FAST so they could leave early and get home before rush hour traffic in Pittsburgh since it started snowing Friday - a whole lotta bunch. And it kept snowing and snowing until about noon on Saturday. We love the snow. Once I discovered there was so much snow on the ground, I kept yelling at mom to let us out. She’d let us out and shovel snow off the deck so she could open the door. And then she’d make us come in cause we were covered in snow. And then I’d tell her to let us out again. Plus, the power kept going off and on for about an hour which freaks Kiwi out. I think because of all the things that go beep when the power goes off. It doesn’t bother the rest of us one bit but Kiwi wants to high tail it out the door. So that started happening around 10:30 PM and then the power went out for good at 11:30 PM – right after the guy on the news said there would only be 8-12 inches of total snow. Boy was he wrong! There was close to 2 feet before it finally quit. Mom says the official amount was between 21-22 inches and was the fourth highest snowfall in Pittsburgh’s history. All we know is that it is fun, fun, fun to play in. Mom was getting a little worried though because we still didn’t have power Saturday morning and it was 55 degrees in the house. By noon, she decided she should start shoveling the driveway. But it took her a while to shovel the front steps and then shovel a path to the carport. Then she started shoveling the flat part of the driveway. She says the biggest problem was where to put all the snow. She decided the best thing to do was shovel a path to the hill down to the creek so she could dump the snow over. So it took a while to shovel out enough area to back the car out and turn it around since she carried most of the snow over to the hillside. Mom tried to see if the Jeep would drive in 2 feet of snow but she said it didn’t. By then it was dark so we were snowed in for another night. It was 47 degrees inside. It doesn’t bother us but we all piled around mom to keep her warm. Luckily the power came on at 8:30 PM. Boy was mom happy! Sunday, mom went to work on the rest of the driveway. You see, we have a very long and steep driveway and to make matters worse, the snow plows created a nice snow mountain at the top. But mom was determined, and then a friend came over to help so mom was able to go to work today. Mom says we’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow. I hope so – it sure is fun to play in. Here are some pictures.

Here are the front steps and our tire jump. Three woofs for winter agility!

These two are of Robin and me (Calvin) making our own trails in the snow.

Agility 2010

Happy New Year! It’s Sefina, again. Boy it’s only 17 days into the new year and we’re already way behind on blogging. We’ve been pretty busy and mom has been sick. She is so high maintenance when she’s sick - slow to feed us, not playing with us much, and her coughing has really been keeping us awake all night. Good thing we can catch up on our sleep when she’s at work. Anyway, mom is in Seattle now visiting our grandma, aunts and uncle, and our canine cousins. We really wanted to go but she said we had to stay here and watch the house. And update our blog. So here goes…

January 1-3 we played CPE agility at Four Seasons in Washingtonville. We all got to play, except Voodoo who came to play in the snow covered fields and cheer us on. Kiwi got to play in everything all 3 days, including 2 rounds of Jackpot. As you may know, Kiwi needs Jackpots Q’s to earn her C-ATCH. On Friday, there were 2 sets of weaves poles angled away from mom as part of the distance challenge. Kiwi went in them but popped out when she started to lose sight of mom. Good thing there was another Jackpot on Saturday. That was a non-traditional Jackpot so she Q’d no problem. So 1 down, 4 to go!

Now for my (Sefina’s) weekend. Mom only entered me in 5 runs because I don’t do the teeter yet. On Friday and Saturday, all I did was level 2 Jackpot and I Q’d in both of them - take that Kiwi! I also Q’d in level 2 Fullhouse and I finally Q’d in level 1 Jumpers so I am officially finished with Level 1 now. I would have Q’d in level 2 Snookers but mom screwed up and forgot to take the last red jump. I am having so much fun playing agility now. Mom says I am a faster version of Kiwi.

Rockin’ Robin had a grand ol’ time as usual. He got a Q in Fulhouse finally so he finished his level 1 Fun Games title. He’s still not quite done with level 1 though. He needs a Standard Q which he keeps missing cause he likes to leap off of the dog walk, missing the contact zone. He did Q twice in level 2 Colors. Mom says he would Q a lot more often if he would stop arguing with her at every obstacle.

Last but not least - it was Calvin’s very first agility trial and he Q’d 4 out of 7 runs! That was more than Robin. And he even earned a title - Level 1 Handler Games with Q’s in Colors and Wildcard. He also Q’d in Jumpers and level 2 Colors (mom almost forgot to move him up to level 2). That was a really great end to a pretty rocky start. He started the weekend with 2 Standard runs and he wasn’t sure what the point was so he made mom work really hard and explain each and every obstacle to him. But then on Saturday and Sunday, once mom got him started on the courses, he started running and having fun.

We also had lots of fun between runs. It was really super cold and snowing so we had a blast playing in the fields. Robin & I wrestled so much that his mane was frozen by the time mom made us go back inside. And then there was the jailbreak. When we first got there Friday morning, mom put us all in the Xpen and went outside to bring more stuff in. We were worried that she was leaving us so we all jumped up on the same side of the Xpen and down it went! So then we split up in all directions - fur a flyin’. But our freedom was short lived since there were lots of people who snatched us up right away and put us back. So when mom came back in, we were all sitting pretty like nothing happened. But then people tattled on us.

OK, now I have to turn the keyboard over to Kiwi…

Erie Kennel Club AKC Agility Trial

Hi, it’s me me me me, Kiwi. Friday, January 8, mom took a day off of work to play AKC agility with me at the Erie Kennel Club trial in Edinboro. It was the day after a pretty decent snow storm and it was real cold. Mom says she likes to take me up there in the winter time cause I run faster when it’s cold. I love the snow and cold but I especially love that mom only takes me me me me me. That’s the way it should always be. I was so happy that I got a Jumpers with Weaves Q. Mom says I need 3 more of those to get my second Masters degree. That would be really cool cause mom only has one of those. I also got my first Excellent A FAST Q. I guess I didn’t Q in Standard which is my favorite game. I headed for the table a second time instead of taking a jump. Mom didn’t expect me to do that but we train the table a lot and I get lots of treats for it so I figure it’s really important.

Well, that’s it for now. Mom is away for a few days so that gives us a chance to finish all the yummy homemade treats that Auntie Danae sent us for Xmas. We especially enjoyed the sweet potato chips and all the ones with peanut butter in them. When mom gets back, Calvin has to get the ‘B’ word cause he has a show in Erie at the end of the month.

Hooray for Snow!!!!

It snowed all day yesterday. We LOVE snow. We were bugging mom to go outside constantly since about 2:30AM! We can't get enough. Here are some pics of us enjoying the white stuff.

In this picture, we're telling mom where to put her camera!

Cleveland Weekend

Hi everyone! This is Calvin. Mom says I get to tell you about our 3-day weekend in Cleveland. On Friday, mom took Sefina up to the IX Center to play AKC Rally. Mom was hoping she would get her Advanced title but Sefina says the place was real big and there was so much going on that she didn’t feel like playing. She was too busy checking everything out so Mom called it quits at the 5th station. But Sefina wanted a souvenir so while mom was getting her leash from the ring steward, she went back and grabbed the stuffed monkey out of one of the bowls in the offset figure 8. She went strutting out of the ring looking really proud and everyone laughed but the ring steward took the toy away from her. So then Mom & Sefina went to stake out a spot in the grooming area for me on Saturday & Sunday. Then they went shopping. Sefina got a little stressed out by all the commotion so she was feeling down by the time they left but as they were walking out, who did they run into? Sefina’s favorite Boxer Izzy! Oh boy, did she get excited. Sefina loves to get tackled and drooled on by Iz. None of us can quite figure out why but Sefina says that was the highlight of her day.

Saturday was the Keeshond Specialty. Mom took me up early since another Kees person, Ann, offered to help groom me. She didn’t find her until almost ring time for the Sweepstakes so mom did the best she could which is too much in my book. But then Ann saw me and insisted on fixing my feet so they fussed even more. Then I went up against 3 other males in the 12-18 month age group and ended up last but mom says we got $2 for that. Then Ann fussed with my feet even more. Then I went back in the ring and since I was the only 12-18 month Open dog I got 1st place and a Xmas mug and socks for mom. I thought it should have been Xmas cookies or bones for me since I had to do all the work. I got the short of that deal. Then I went up for Winners dog and didn’t make it. Boy did that judge check us out though. We had to go around the ring 4 or 5 times. I was getting pretty bored by the end. Then mom & I watched the rest of the Keesies. There sure were a lot of us. And the judge made everyone go around and around. It took a long time. After that was over, Ann fussed over my feet even more. I wasn’t happy about that but worked it for lots of treats.

Sunday was quite the experience. You see, instead of getting a motel, mom drove between Pittsburgh & Cleveland each day since she couldn’t take all five of us into the IX center. Friday & Saturday were sunny, dry days but Sunday morning it started to rain right before we left and turned into ice when it hit the cold ground. Mom saw that there were lots of accidents on the news and they were closing roads so she rushed me out the door as quick as she could. We barely made it out of the driveway – it’s really steep but we got out and mom drove real slow. But then she went around a curve by our favorite ice cream place and we went flying! Mom was real worried that we were going to hit a car that was pulled over but we missed that. But then we headed into some posts sticking out of the ground and a telephone pole. Mom thought for sure we were going to hit but managed to escape damage by inches on the driver’s side and inches from the telephone pole in front thanks to some shrubs. Mom was so relieved! So then she backed out and pulled over into another driveway (after taking another slide) and got out to make sure there was no damage. Then she got back in to get ready to pull out and here comes a car from the opposite direction in a slide heading right towards us! He managed to stop a couple feet before hitting us. Whew! So then we got back on the road. You see, mom used to live in Alaska so she isn’t daunted by the weather around here, but she does have a healthy respect for icy roads. We went real slow and got on the freeway and then we got stuck behind cars going really, really slow and blocking both lanes so it took a long time to get to the turnpike. But we finally made it and mom was careful. She says by the time we got past New Castle, the roads were OK so we were able to make ring time – barely. She fussed over me real quick for about 15 minutes and then we went in. It was a repeat of Saturday, 4th in Sweepstakes and I didn’t make the cut for Winners dog. But she says it was a good experience. She learned more about grooming me (I could have done without that) and she was happy with our performance in the ring both days. When we got home, mom found out that we left just in time because they closed all the highways soon after we left.

So that’s officially the end of our 2009 conformation/rally/agility trial season. We sure did a lot this year. Kiwi earned 9 agility titles and her TDI this year! Little miss over-achiever. But Sefina who idolizes her wasn’t far behind with 8 titles, including her CGC, TDI, Rally Novice, and 5 agility titles. Then there’s my crazy under-achieving brother Robin. He managed to get 2 agility titles this year, but that’s still really good since he only joined the family in March. And me, I earned 4 points towards my AKC Champion title. It probably would have been more if I didn’t have to sit out for 3 months recovering from a leg injury and also if I had a better handler (sorry, mom). Voodoo didn’t earn any titles since he doesn’t like to compete but he still has a noteworthy accomplishment to report. He is no longer afraid of sneezes! At least not of mom’s sneezes. The verdict is still out on other peoples’ sneezes. But after 3 and ½ years, that is a huge step for Voodoo!

AKC Agility in Edinboro

Hi all! It’s me me me me me me me me, Kiwi. Friday, mom took me to play at Clarion Canine Obedience Club’s AKC trial in Edinboro. Mom likes to take me there in the winter since it is usually really cold up there. She says I run faster. She’s always telling people that I’m slow but I must be fast ‘cause I got my Open FAST title Friday. Mom says that isn’t a game of speed though, that it’s about distance. I also double Q’d which means I qualified in both Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves and Standard. I was 1 second under in Jumpers and 8 seconds under in Standard. Mom says that’s a record for me so see, I am FAST. OK, not like Robin but hey, I’m perfect & beautiful so take what you can get, mom.