Wednesday, January 7, 2015

2014 - An Agility Review

Well another year of agility is over by the calendar anyway so I'm going to put our accomplishments into perspective.

Our 2014 year didn't really get started until April and it didn't start off all that well. I had entered a trial to try and get some Steeplechase Q's with Beckett and in our very first run I pulled my hamstring. It wasn't nearly as bad as the calf muscle I tore the year before but again I couldn't run. I pulled Beckett from his runs after trying a second time to run without success. I had a friend run Keltic for his runs and was pleasantly surprised to see that he would run for someone else.  I was disappointed to say the least as I thought perhaps our year was done before we even got started.

I had healed enough to run at Regionals in May although I took the precaution of wearing a thigh compression sleeve.  Keltic did fine in the warm-up runs even though he still wasn't weaving all that well. I couldn't have asked for more from Beckett he got both Gambles and did remarkably well in all of his other runs. He made the podium placing 5th overall in his height class.


AAC Nationals Qualifiers

























The next big event for us was to be Canada Cup the first weekend of July. I had hoped to make the finals as I had the previous year but that was not to be. Beckett ran well but I don't think I was up to par and we finished out of the finals. In one event we were only a few seconds behind the last dog that made the finals. Keltic did well too, almost having a clear round in one of the Jumpers runs; that was until his handler forgot the course.
Canada Cup
We took much of the rest of the summer off before heading to Nationals. I had hopes that we would do well and that perhaps Beckett could place in one of his events. We certainly have the ability on a good day to run with some of the best, at least I think so.  But again this year, it was not to be, the weather was crappy and we didn't have a lot of luck. We didn't have a single clear round in the Nationals events; the one bright spot was the two qualifying scores that Beckett got in Steeplechase which put him only one qualifying score from his Expert Bronze Steeplechase title.

When we came back from our holidays down in New Brunswick, we entered an agility trial with a local club that was just starting to host trials. We had a spectacular weekend getting 5 Q's and 5 best runs.


Keltic got his first title that weekend Starter Games Dog of Canada.  And Beckett got two Standard Q's at one trial, almost unheard of for us which put him only one Q away from Expert Standard Bronze and Bronze Award of Merit.

Keltic - Starter Games Dog of Canada (SGDC)
Well Beckett got that last Standard Q and that last Steeplechase Q and as a result got not only Bronze Award of Merit but also Bronze Versatility but to cap off the year he also got the Q's he needed for Masters Team Relay Dog of Canada as well. Keltic on the other hand still needs one more Q for his Agility Dog of Canada title, maybe 2015 will start out that title.

Beckett - Master team Relay Dog of Canada

So for a year that didn't start out the best, it certainly ended very well. We're looking forward to new adventures and challenges in 2015. In the plans are another trip to the Canada Cup, possibly to Regionals with Keltic and we're even thinking of doing some UKI trials. But the biggest change in 2015 is that, for AAC trials anyway, Beckett will now be jumping as a special and his jump height will drop to 10 ", that should prove to be fun.


Run fast, run clean, have fun!




3 comments:

  1. Congratulations and well done! You guys are superstars!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  2. This was a great idea, I'll have to steal it for next year. You and the boys have done fab work and look to be having a whole lot of fun too. I guess all the pretty ribbons you win doesn't hurt?
    hehe. Hope 2015 is just as amazing.
    -Dee

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