New Plan

My original plan for this year was to get out of Open by June (Check!) and be collecting MACh points by the end of the year. Now I've decided to return Zoe to CPE until March/April of next year.

1. More runs per day means more time to improve speed and distance, which we will need in AKC excellent.
2. Games = FUN!!!
3. CPE Nationals are going to be in Ohio for 2013. We need to get 19 Q's to finish our level 2 title and then we qualify to go. I've always wanted to go to a netional level event as a junior and this will probably be my best chance.
4. Getting to see the wonderful CPE people that I haven't seen in almost two years.

Hopefully I'll get a job good enough to pay for the number of entry fees that I will need to get those 19 Q's. I'll send in my appliaction in mid-June because early June will be spent in Florida :) I'm also super happy that Zoe and I are going to be heading to Columbus in June to attend a seminar with Tori Self!!!!! I'm really looking forward to work with a very succesful trainer who is a former junior handler :D

May 13th Trial

Today was our first run in Excellent JWW. Zoe was a good girl and would have Q'd if it weren't for silly handler mistakes ;) Standard was fabulous and we ran clean for a 1st and our OA title. This will be our last trial for at least a month. We do have a seminar the second week of June and I'm hoping that a little tune up will both get us ready for some serious trialing in late summer/fall and will allow me to save up some funds for entry fees.

Boomer is coming along well and his birthday on last Saturday just reminds me how far he has come. Friday he did his first hard barrel shute and his first dogwalk. Teeter training is progressing nicely and weave training will start soon. If everything goes well he will be unleashed on the trial circuit in late fall :D

May 6th Trial

We had a great day at Countryside and met all of our goals for the day. Standard went fairly well, just a small zoomies episode and an off-course (Entirely my fault, I forgot the course). We still managed to Q with a 1st leaving just one leg needed for Zoe's OA title. Jumpers was one of the best runs we have had in a while and we again had a Q and 1st, meaning that we finally got our OAJ!! Its been a  long hard road to get to this point and now we're on a roll. Zoe is just happy that she won some new toys to play with :) I am sooo excited for next weekend when we'll have the chance to get our last OA leg and get to run in Excellent for the first time. I think that our chances are pretty good because the trial location is Zoe's absolute favorite place to do agility and she's usually really focused there. We are getting closer and closer to our goal of collecting MACh points by the end of the year. Yesterday (Tuesday) I let her blow off some steam at the beach and we'll run a backyard course tomarrow to get her prepped for Sunday. Friday will be Boomer's second agility class and hopefully a leisurley bike ride for Zoe.

Intro

Hi! My name is Sam Adams and my dog is Zoe, AKA Reality Check CGC NA OAJ CL1-R. I am a junior handler who trials in agility, obedience, rally, dock diving, and K9 disc. She is a 3 year old Border Collie X JRT X Beagle mix whose favorite things are playing disc, agility, swimming, and scent detection. Zoe came into my life two days before my 13th birthday when I rescued her. She was completely feral and was terrified of everything. We have overcome huge odds to become a succesful agility team and are currently racking up titles on our quest for a MACh. She is my heart dog, my best buddy, and the best agility partner I could hope for. My up and coming agility and obedience star is Boomer, also known as JKA Boomerang Houdini. He is a year old Shih Tzu that I rescued from a hoarder. Most likely his competition career will begin in late 2012 or early 2013. I live in NE Ohio with my dogs, my mom, my brother and two cats. 4-H is another hobby of mine and I show dogs, dairy cattle, and ducks. Rounding off my list of activities are Science Olympiad, cross country running, mountain biking, and horseback riding. This blog will largely consist of my adventures with my dogs as we partake in the wonderful sport of agility.