# We're back from our first AKC competition!



## IslandPaws4Raw (Sep 7, 2011)

I am sooooo proud of my boy. He did really well at his first big show. The flight we take over to the U.S with the dogs is a nice one, they get to travel in the cabin with us in their soft crates at the back of the plane. All the noise at the airports don't phase him a bit. He trots right up the stairs and into his crate.

We were both a little overwhelmed at the trial site at first, all he wanted to do was say hi and make friends with all the dogs....and check everything out....he's my social butterfly.
We did eleven runs over four days, and while he only Qualified in five of the runs, I'm still pleased with his performance. He was a total monkey butt in the Standard runs, acting like the contacts were going to eat him :wacko: but I expected it in that environment, we have been fixing this issue at home......but I guess he wasn't quite ready to commit yet. We could have gotten a leg on the last day....he hit all contacts, but I was off and sent him off course 1 too many times  yeah I need lots of work too!
Whatever we Qualified in though we came first place! FIVE first place ribbons and a Jumpers With Weaves Title! It takes three Q's to get a title, so we swept the JWW and moved up to Open JWW on the last day. Unfortunately we didn't Q that first leg because of handler error. It would have been the best run of the Trial, but I turned too soon on a wicked corner double jump and a bar came down.

And we got two legs towards his FAST title. For those who don't know the ins and outs of the different runs, FAST is really fun. It's like a gamblers course in horseback riding, they put a point value on different obstacles and you chose your path to rack up as many points as you can as well as the fastest time. With dog agility you also have a bonus area that will have two-three obstacles that have to be performed in sequence at a distance from the handler. The bonus area MUST be performed at some point during the run to qualify.

So here are a couple pics of our adventures. I will post videos once I can get them uploaded. 
READY BUDDY!
 

FOCUS!


GO! GO! GO!


YAY! Our title ribbon, posing with the Judge

:cheer2::cheer2::bounce::first:


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

Fantastic!! Congrats to you and Ari on a very successful first competition!! :thumb:


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Congratulations - you guys did fantastic. Would love to see the videos when available.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

WOOOHOOOO! Awesome job to you both....congratulations!!!!


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Yay! Congratulations! Looks like he had a great time!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Wow, thats awesome you guys. And, it's just the start too. Keep training hard, you two have a bright future!
Congratulations. Bet Ari got a nice steak dinner that night!

PS: I've been wondering how he's been. No more episodes?


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## IslandPaws4Raw (Sep 7, 2011)

MollyWoppy said:


> Congratulations. Bet Ari got a nice steak dinner that night!
> 
> PS: I've been wondering how he's been. No more episodes?


Thanks Penny! He's been great, no more problems. I did have a vet's appointment to get him checked out there before we left, but my traveling partner had a really serious emergency with her dog, so I didn't feel right asking her to drive me an hour away. Her dog spent the whole weekend in the hospital, poor girl. I will keep a close eye on my super star though, and get his blood checked every couple months.

Here's a funny story for you. When I got his import permit back the day before we left, they had him listed as a Cocker Spaniel!!! LOL! Anyways the way we came back in I never even showed them the papers, gotta love private airports!

ETA: no to the steak dinner unfortunately. Since we can't afford to feed much beef here I didn't want to cause cannon butt at the show!


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

Congrats on your wins! That sounds like so much fun and I know you have to be so proud of him. Goooooo Ari!!!


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## lmgakg (Jan 1, 2011)

Awwww so cute!!! Congrats! I just bought my daughter an agility course for her to practice with my boy at home!! It's so much fun for the dogs and the humans!!!


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Congratulations to you both!! I loved doing agility with my Chows and Lhasa's but never actually did a competition because they are the SLOWEST breeds in existence at it. It would be so fun to actually do it for 'real' and not just backyard.

Can't wait to see the video's you post!


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## Mia (Oct 4, 2010)

Awesome pics!


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## IslandPaws4Raw (Sep 7, 2011)

Here is one video I put together

You can tell we're pretty Novice LOL! In the first part he blows past the weaves, but it doesn't matter because it's a FAST course. And we miss a jump in the second (my fault)

Ari's first two runs at Tailwaggers Trial - YouTube


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## IslandPaws4Raw (Sep 7, 2011)

chowder said:


> Congratulations to you both!! I loved doing agility with my Chows and Lhasa's but never actually did a competition because they are the SLOWEST breeds in existence at it. It would be so fun to actually do it for 'real' and not just backyard.
> 
> Can't wait to see the video's you post!


Thanks! It was a lot of fun, and I know as we climb the ranks we will be up against the super fast border collies, so I have to enjoy the blue ribbons now LOL! I saw a couple Lhasa's flying round the courses! There is always more than enough time to at least qualify if you run a clean course.


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## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

That is so exciting! Congrats!


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

Big congrats!


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

IslandPaws4Raw said:


> I saw a couple Lhasa's flying round the courses! There is always more than enough time to at least qualify if you run a clean course.



When I got Chelsy as an 8 week old pup (so very long ago) I was told she had doggie's in her close lines that were AKC agility champs so I know that Lhasa's are capable of doing it. I would have like to have her do it but she injured her back when she was only 3 and that put an end to that. 

I'd like to try agility with my next little hairy puppy, whenever and whatever I end up with. They are so cute when they are flying around the ring with all that hair going every which way! It's not graceful like the big boys, like your guy, but they are still cute when they do it.


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

Congratulations to you and Ari!
I can see why you are so proud!


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Wow you did great! I love the picture that says FOCUS. He has a lot of drive!


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