At the Memorial Day week-end BOTC show, May 28th -30th, Miss Mellie earned her MACH 3 title. Quite an achievement and she is the first Phalene to get to this level in AKC agility. She was fast and happy and earned several good placements despite a large and competitive 8″ class. (Plus another 164 MACH points!) She also managed a Q in Ex. A FAST class with a nice distance element accomplishment. She QQ’d all three days showing the consistency that has brought her to this point in her agility career. Wow. Such a rush to have this great dog to play our favorite sport with.

Not to be outdone, the rest of Team Alasera had some other great accomplishments as well. Here they are:

Ripley: Star of the now famous “Ripley Agility Adventures” video, held it together to not only get another QQ (five total now!), but he put the finishing touch on his standard run to get leg #10 for his MX title. He didn’t exactly break any speed records, but he did get 33 MACH points to add to his collection. He couldn’t resist visiting a bar setter on his jumpers run on Saturday, and he HAD to visit the judge on Monday, so those runs were a big NQ. But, hey, we are making progress.

Katie: Three words. SUPER DUPER FAST. Katie had some interesting runs at Soccer Blast but she managed to put it all together and get her final Open Standard leg to earn her OA title and the privilege of moving on up to the Excellent level. She earned another Ex. A. Jumpers leg on Monday and her time beat all the rest of the 8″ class. Over 30 dogs. She was smoking hot and Terry knows he has real contender in Katie. The rest of Team Alasera will be looking for scraps after Katie gets into Ex. B. Sigh. Katie also earned a leg toward her Novice FAST title.

Ace: Two words. Jumper Specialist. Ace nailed all his jumpers runs to earn 42 MACH points. Unfortunately, the TEETER was at Soccer Blast. Not just any teeter. THE teeter. The really scary one. So, that was a no go. He had some good moments and pretty nice runs in Standard when not refusing the teeter. Just another challenge to overcome. Hang in there Terry!

Abby: Yet ANOTHER bout of reverse sneezing kept us from running one of the jumpers runs. Too bad too, because she Q’d in Standard that day and so we missed a QQ. She had a brief lapse in judgement and hesitated at the table in Standard on Saturday, so we forfeited a Q (and hence…the QQ) that day as well. But by Monday, I had figured out how to keep her from getting too excited before her runs (which starts the reverse sneezing attack) and we easily achieved a QQ and a placement to boot. She earned another 90 MACH points. Not that she needs those anymore! She ended up with two 3rd place finishes and a fourth place finish for the week-end and believe me, that is a pretty good set of ribbons given the level of competition. She also managed to get the final leg for her Open FAST title, so she moves up to Exc. FAST class.

Next week-end is a three day USDAA trial. More fun to be had.

In the April 2011 edition of Clean Run magazine, I wrote an article titled, “The Agility Addiction”. Guess I can say I am a published author now! Can’t believe I went from one dog back in 2003 to a family based hobby in 2011.

Mellie was awarded the “Phalene Achiever of the Year” Award at the 2011 Papillon Club of America’s Phalene Banquet at the National Specialty this month. She had earned the distinction of being the first Phalene to have both a breed championship and a Master Agility Championship. She also earned her MACH2 title this past year as well. We were not able to be at the banquet as we did not attend the Specialty this year, but it is still an honor to receive that recognition among fellow Phalene fanciers.

At the Twin City Lhasa Apso Club agility trial over Easter week-end, Alasera hopped to it and enjoyed a great week-end of achievements.

Ace led off the week-end by earning his MX title and his 6th Double Q. He also finished the requirements for qualification for the 2012 AKC National Agility Championship trial in Reno next Spring. He was super speedy and earned 48 MACH points and two 3rd place and one 4th place finish, much to Terry’s delight.

Katie earned her OAJ title and showed off more super-sonic speed. She enters Excellent level jumpers next and will run the same courses as her fellow team members.

Ripley once again missed earning double Qs due to his lack of focus and desperate need to meet the ring crew and judge. He did have two qualifying runs and earned a few MACH points to boot. He needs two more Excellent standard legs to earn his MX title. His handler needs to have lots of patience in the quest for a MACH on this little dog.

Abby had three great runs (had to pull her at the start of one run for the dreaded “reverse sneeze” attack). She had three second place finishes-mostly to Mellie. On one run, she did finish ahead of Mellie but not enough to take the first place lead. She earned 91 MACH points and a QQ. She is also now qualified for the trip to Reno! Best of all, perfect teeters both days.

Mellie had another great week-end; three first place finishes, one third place finish, two QQs, and 150 MACH points. She is getting a good fast start off the line again and appears to know exactly what I want from her. Only two more QQs for MACH 3!

Mellie and I attended the 2011 AKC National Agility Championship trial in Lexington, Virginia on April 1-3. Fellow Team Alasera member, Terry, also came along for moral support. We were entered in the Friday State Team Tournament and then the 2 day (3 rounds) NAC trial. Mellie managed 4 clean runs out of the 5 runs and her only mistake was a blown dog walk contact which we would contest. :-)

She ran well overall, with only a few slow starts to mar the performance. Perhaps the “big” trial experience and the travel caused a drop in motivation. Who knows? But despite all that, she ended up 23rd overall out of 115 dogs.

Being able to watch some of the best teams in the nation during this trial was a great thrill and very inspiring. We have lots of work to do but I know I have a wonderful agility partner and we can achieve even more success in the future.

We are already qualified for next year and we plan to return!!

At TCOTC on March 4-6, 2011, Team Alasera strutted their stuff on the agility courses. All team members did their part to stay connected, focused (for the most part) and have fun while successfully completing many courses. An embarrassment of colorful ribbons are on the kitchen counter!

Katie earned her NA and NAJ titles and an Open Jumpers leg. All were first or second place finishes. (see previous entry)

Ace earned a Double Q and much to Terry’s delight, beat Mellie straight up on a Jumpers run for fourth place. He ended the week-end with four qualifying runs, two placements (2nd, 4th), and 93 MACH points. A very good week-end. He is now very close to qualifying for the 2012 AKC National Agility Championship trial.

Ripley held it together to earn a QQ and finished the long week-end with 4 out of 6 qualifying runs. No placements for Mr. Slow and Steady but he did manage a whopping 55 MACH points. Truly a great week-end for him. But for his wandering visitation ways, we might have actually gotten another QQ, but he remains a free-spirit.

Abby really made some headway this week-end. Handler Lisa tried a new tactic in the ring (no screeching and no clapping) and Abby seemed to really enjoy the runs at her old training grounds. She went a perfect 6 for 6 and earned three QQs and finally achieved her MX title. All runs were placements except one. She ended up with one 1st, two 2nds, and two 3rd place finishes and a huge 170 MACH points! She is almost qualified for the 2012 AKC National Agility Championship trial. So proud of her beating back her trial stress and completing three successful teeters!

Mellie continues to triumph in the ring, but is finding heated competition more and more. Not only against her fellow Alasera teammates Ace and Abby, but also some speedy fellow 8″ dogs who are not willing to stay behind. She will have to step it up and rise to the challengers. Heaven forbid when granddaughter, Katie, arrives in the Ex. B. class. Mellie went a perfect 6 for 6, earning three more QQs, many placements (two-1st place, one 2nd place, one 3rd place and a fourth place finish) and another 190 MACH points. She is closing in on MACH 3.

At TCOTC on March 5, 2011, Katie and Terry earned their first agility titles together. In fine style, she earned her 3rd legs for her NA and NAJ titles after just two week-ends of trialing. Very fast performances and Terry could not be more proud. She moved up to the Open class the very next day and had a great, super speedy qualifying run in Jumpers. She got a bit distracted at the start line on her Standard run and ended up heading out of the ring to follow her friend, Myth, who had to leave the ring early. She is a true friend. Terry was a bit disappointed to not get to run, but we know there will be plenty more to come. (photo courtesy of Great Dane Photography.)

Team Alasera was in fine form at the Min Pin Club agility trial at On the Run on Feb. 11-13, 2011. All dogs had successes and Katie finally made her trial debut, much to Terry’s delight. She did not disappoint. In addition, Ripley got a new title and Mellie had one of her best week-ends yet. Here are the results of a great all-around week-end.

Katie: Clearly a star. With no trial stress, whatsoever, she and Terry qualified in all four of their Novice runs. Fast as lightening, you can see her runs in the posted video. She will not linger in Novice level for long at this rate.

Ace: Terry and Ace had a great week-end as well. Ace qualifed in 5 of his 6 runs, earning two QQs and second place finishes behind Mellie. He had super fast times and no problems with the teeter. Exhibiting lots of confidence and focus, he earned a whopping 121 MACH points. He is well on his way to qualifying for the 2012 AKC National Championship trial. Wow.

Mellie: Another great week-end. She finally got to debut in Exc. FAST class, which requires distance skills. She managed a fine performance, earning a Q and first place. She qualified in 6 of 7 runs over the three days, only one mistake preventing a clean sweep-and we can blame the handler for that. She took first place in all her qualifying runs despite a competitive field of 8″ dogs. Two more double qs and a smashing 232 MACH points. A new record for a week-end. She is heading into the AKC National Championship in Virginia in April just in the nick of time.

Ripley: Qualified in 2 jumpers runs and earned his MXJ title. Unfortunately a few handler issues and a few loss of focus issues prevented any qualifying runs in Standard. He still shows great progress and with a bit more patience on the handler’s part, should still be in the running for some great runs in the future. Once again, did feel the need to visit a ring steward, but promptly returned to his regularly scheduled agility run eventually and finished strong.

Abby: Had to scratch her from two runs due to excitement (anxiety?) induced reverse sneezing attacks. She did her teeter well and she had some really nice runs with only a few issues. Overall, she is running great, just little issues that prevent the Q’s. She did earn two qualifying jumper runs and two fourth place finishes. Hopefully, this stress she has will evaporate in time. She earned another 30 MACH points and now has 749 points toward her MACH title. Need those Double Qs!!

Overall, very pleased with our dogs. They all enjoy the game and present interesting challenges as well as great moments of fun and companionship. We are truly blessed.