Hannah ADX

Hannah got her Agility Dog Excellent Title (ADX) yesterday with a First Place too! She had two first place and two second place awards in her five passes needed for her title and she had one of her passes in Queensland. The pic shows Hannah with her 5 Qualifying Cards.
We were at the SAODC double trial. In the morning run Hannah messed up by going in the tunnel  instead of up the dog walk, but she got everything right in the afternoon. I was in the Open class and popped out of the weaving poles a bit early but did the rest very well, then in the jumping Open I went in the weaving poles instead of the distance section so I was an NQ in both. Keith was judging in the afternoon, so I did not have a run.

Hannah RAE

Hannah is now a Rally Advanced Excellent dog (RAE) which means she has passed Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent 10 times at the same trial. She got her title today at the SA State Titles, with a 3rd place in Excellent B too. It was a busy weekend with both of us competing in Rally on 2 days, and KNK judging on alternate days. It was quite warm in the sun and I was not too interested in working, I did pass one trial each day, but not both classes so Keith is a bit disappointed. Hannah made it through both Advanced and Excellent on both days, and that was enough to get her the highest title in Rally, and we think she is the first Toller to get the RAE in SA. The pic shows her rushing back to our crate to get her Chicken reward, dragging Kathy behind her.

Noarlunga Trials

Here is a photo of me leaping through the Hoop at the Noarlunga City Trial yesterday. I could only run in the morning because Keith was judging in the afternoon. I missed a weaving pole in Agility so there was no qualification there, and in the jumping I went the wrong side of a jump and got a DQ. Hannah did not do much better in her runs, but our half sister Maggie passed in jumping and agility with two first places and a title.

Warrnambool Beach

We are on holiday at Warrnambool with Maggie and Minty. The pic shows us running on the beach, I am in front with Maggie next and Hannah close behind. Minty is too small to run with us, but she had a good time at the beach too. The waves were pretty big and when I got too close to one it knocked me over. After that we were not allowed in the water, something about a rip, but it wasn't us that ripped anything. We will be down here for a week then returning home.

Tiffany's 5th Birthday

Tiffany is 5 years old today. We have had extra chews and Scooby snacks and a present each. I got a Yellow Dog and Tiffany got Rancid Raccoon. If you don't know who Rancid Raccoon is then you probably don't play Farm Hero's Saga on face book. KnK took a great delight in watching Tiffany de-squeak him then cheered when we started playing tug of war with him.  The pic shows Tiffany giving Rancid a good chewing. The toys are really good because inside them is a plastic drink bottle that makes all sorts of noises as we chew them, and when the bottle is completely wrecked, the humans stick another one in.
It has been a good year for Tiffany, she has gained titles in Agility Games, Agility, Rally and has several qualifications towards her Masters Title in Agility and Jumping. We have been in competitions in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Territory, so we have seen a lot of the Australian Outback, met up with old friends and made many new friends too.

Agility Games

Agility trials are back. We were at the Agility Dog Club's Games Trial last night, the Pic shows Hannah jumping a "Red" as she looks across to Kathy for direction to the next jump. Not a very successful night. Hannah popped out of the weaving poles two poles before the end on the last obstacle in Snooker then bumped her head in a tunnel and was shaking her head instead of running to the gamble in Gamblers. I missed a critical contact colour and also missed the last poles in Snooker. I ran up the Dog Walk as the siren went for the Gamble and by the time I got to the gamble I was out of time. I did do the Gamble in 8 seconds so Keith was happy with that.
Strategic pairs was our usual laugh. We take turns in doing sections of the course. I missed a weaver so Hannah had to do them for me. I did her next section which left Hannah to do the final twisty bit of 5 jumps which included a tight turn on the Broad jump. By the time Hannah had done that I was right with her and we both did the final two jumps together. Unfortunately we were out of time, but we did have a good time.

Hot days in Adelaide

What can you do on a hot day?

It has been a hot summer. Temperature is in the 40+ degrees Celsius for lots of days and stays warm all night. We have been hiding in the air conditioning most of the time, but come out to play in the evenings when it cools down a little. Kathy waters the garden and we help. Hannah chases the water where it hits the ground while I go for the nozzle where the water comes out of the hose. We get our blue shell filled with water and we play in that too. I kick the water up and Hannah bites it, we can keep it up for ages, but eventually when we have had enough KnK towel us down and we go back in the air conditioning for a sleep.
Training is starting again and we have been practising our agility and obedience skills. I can still get round the course, but Keith needs a sit down about halfway round to get his breath back. It should not be too long before we get the handlers back in shape.