Up Coming Agility Events:Jonna, Pippi and Heydoh will be at these events.
*Cambridge - Agility Championship x 3 & Double Jumpers Event. The 11 & 12 February @ McKinnon Park Cambridge. *Hawera - Agility Championship x 3 & ADX. The 25 & 26 Feb. @ Normanby Domain, Ketemarae Rd. Normanby. *Upper Hutt - Agility Championship x 3 & Double Jumpers Event. The 3 & 4 March @ Maidstone Park, Railway Ave. Upper Hutt. *Napier - Agility Championship x 2, Jumpers Events x 2 & ADX. The 24 & 25 March @ Sandy Rd. Meeane. | Introducing "your" Agility Editor:
My name is Jonna (pronounced "Yonna") Gibson, I am married to Chris and we live in Wanganui. We are now the lucky owners of three Vallhunds. Our first Vallhund, Pippi (Valkrista Starshine), was born 20.08.2002 and was my first dog. We joined the Wanganui Dog Training Club and Pippi and I worked our way through the four grades of Obedience. After a year we were invited to join the Agility group and we have never looked back since. Heydoh (Valkrista Solano), was born 30.7.2006 and arrived at our house at 15 weeks old. On his first day with us he started off by showing us his jumping skills when he leapt over the "baby gate" - his destiny was clearly evident. In March this year, our latest addition Ani ( Vallarity Chantilly Lace), was born 29.12.2010 and completed our team (Well - for the moment!). Beside the three Vallhunds we also have a six year old large orange/red tabby cat called Fluffy. Agility is not the only sport we participate in. We also compete in Flygility, and both Heydoh and Pippi have to date won the title of (FDX), Flygility Dog Excellent. Pippi's achievements/titles so far in agility are AD, ADXS (Agility Dog Excellent Silver). We are at the moment working on the ADXGold and also her JDX (Jumpers Dog Excellent) - there is still a bit to go on that one. Heydoh's achivements/titles in agility to date are AD, ADX Bronze, JDX. We are working towards his ADX Siver and finally his Gold. Ani has just started her basic foundation agility training. It will be another eight months before she will have her first outing in the agility ring. Beside training my own dogs I am also an agility instructor and committee member of the Wanganui Dog Training Club, and co-operator of K9 Puppy Kindergarten in Wanganui. In 2002 I trained as a Vet Nurse and at the moment I work at the Wanganui Pet Motel. As you can see - the last ten years of my life have totally "gone to the dogs". Sylvia Lord & Mandy will be at these events.
*Greenhithe - North Shore & Hibiscus Coast Dog Training Clubs Double Agility Championship & Double Jumpers Event. The 18 February @ Wainoni Park Orwell Rd. Greebhithe. The 19 Feb. Western Reserve Orewa. *Cambridge - Agility Championship x 3 & Jumpers Event. The 11 & 12 Feb. @ McKinnon Park, Corner Taylor & Brown St. Cambridge |
Results from earlier events:On Sunday - 31st. July we made our way from Levin to the Kapiti Dog Training Club's Agility Championship and Jumpers Event. We had had a very heavy frost during the night but it looked as if it was going to be a very nice day. Indeed it was!
We were on cloud nine from the achievements the day before in Levin. The dogs had three runs each. Intermediate was up first. Pippi missed one contact and Heydoh took a pole off! Senior was next and this was a very difficult course with a lot of "traps". Pippi had a beautiful run, did all the very hard bits, but knocked a pole off! Heydoh got caught in the trap right at the end, in an otherwise very fast run! The Jumpers were at the end of the day and Pippi was up before Heydoh. We managed a clear run, not pretty, but we got there. When it was Heydoh's turn I had it all sussed out (lots of front crosses in a very tricky course). I pushed him really hard and we got a clear run, and ended up winning Jumpers B - his first in a Championship event. I was really pleased with him! What a great weekend we had had! Agility Events Results:
On Saturday and Sunday, the 20th. & 21st of August, we attended Feilding Dog Training Club's Jumpers Events X 6. It was a very cold morning and as the first Jumpers A got under way the ground was still covered in frost. This proved a bit fatal for some of the first handlers as the tread of their shoes filled up with ice which made it impossible for them to stay on their feet as they tried to do fancy front crosses! We were a bit luckier in Ring 2 - the sun had made the ice melt and it was not too bad under foot. It turned out to be two absolutely beautiful days with sunshine and hardly any wind - couldn't have been better. I even got a bit sun burnt on my face. The Feilding event had managed to attract a large number of entries, which meant that all the classes were split into the three individual heights (Maxi, Midi & Micro/Mini), with ribbons and prizes for each group. This weekend it was Pippi's 9th.birthday and it just happened that she was up first in Jumpers B before Heydoh. She got a clear round and ended up 6th. overall. Heydoh on the other hand was in form and he took out the 1st. place. This was to be the first of several ribbons over the weekend. By the end of Saturday, Heydoh had won two 1st. places and a third, which now meant that he had qualified (with his win from Kapiti), to move up in to the top Jumpers A group! So, he has now gained his JDX title (Jumpers Dog Excellent). Pippi also got another clear round and a fourth placing. Sunday started off just as well as Saturday. Pippi came 2nd. in Jumpers B4. I then got in the way and pushed Heydoh out of the last jump in his run which was unfortunate. Then, in Jumpers B5 we totally cleaned them out!!! Heydoh came first again, with Pippi taking the second placing. Yahoo!! By now they were all sick of seeing me up there on the podium with my dogs! But that wasn't the end of us. In the last jumpers, B6, Heydoh managed to come in second. What a weekend - we were all exhausted but very satisfied. NALA Award: (National Agility Link Association) On Sunday 11th September 2011, at North Taranaki Dog Training Club's Agility Championship show, Heydoh was presented with his 2010 NALA Ribbon! He had achieved a 35th. placing in the national competition! Nala is run as a national competition. It runs for 11 months of the year with over 600 dogs competing for the top 50 places. All the dog clubs throughout the country run a set course once a month at their club grounds, and each dog's results are compiled. At the end of the year the top 50 places are announced. Heydoh was the only Mini dog represented in the top 50 lineup! | On Saturday the 30th. of July we attended Horowhenua Obedience Dog Training Club's one day Agility Championship and Jumpers Event. It was Heydoh's 5th. birthday and the Norse gods were with us as it was not raining. (We were hoping for a good day to celebrate the boy's birthday). We were up first in Senior and Heydoh was up before Pippi. We had a great run! He was fired up and ended up winning Senior, achieving his first Challenge Certificate. Pippi unfortunately missed one of her contacts. Next we were up in Intermediate. Here Pippi was the shining star and she came in on a second place. Heydoh took a rail off as I slipped and fell on the rather wet grounds. Our last run of the day was Jumpers B. Here Heydoh managed to come third and Pippi knocked a rail off. But overall, a very good day, a bit cold, but luckily we had only one little shower. The North Taranaki Champ show on the 10 & 11 of September was a bit of a damp affair which at the best of times turns Heydoh into a bit of a sook. He absolutely hates getting wet, not to mention the muddy stuff between his toes. So as the weekend progressed and the rain got heavier, he almost ground to a total halt. His last Jumpers run on the Sunday was clear but that slow that he got a time fault - this has never happened before in his agility career.
But during the Saturday morning Heydoh managed to get his ADX Bronze before the weather turned to custard. (Our Pippi faired a bit better - she loves that wet stuff. She came 1st. in Intermediate 3, 4th. in Intermediate 1, and 2nd. in Jumpers B). Receiving his NALA ribbon made up for him having an off day. |