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.

On January 22 and 23rd, Team Alasera once again hit the road for agility, this time to Simon Arena in Cannon Falls, MN on one of the coldest week-ends of the year. All four dogs competed on both Saturday and Sunday. Here’s the rundown:

Abby managed TWO successful teeter completions and for extra good measure ran clean and fast in all four runs of the week-end and earned TWO Double Q’s!! She earned 75 MACH points and earned placements in 3 of the 4 qualifying runs. Fast and consistant. NO trial stress, so this was a good week-end all around for her. Hopefully, more success to come.

Mellie managed two first place finishes in Standard beating some very competitive dogs in her class. She dropped a bar in Jumpers on Saturday (very unusual) but Q’d in Jumpers on Sunday with a second place finish and barely out of first. She loved running in the dirt and was super speedy. So a double Q for her and a whopping 137 MACH points for her 3 qualifying runs. Well on her way to MACH 3 and almost qualified for 2012 National Agility Championship.

Ripley lost focus on both Standard runs. First day with an off course jump and tunnel entrance in Standard and then on Sunday, visited a bar setter. But both runs, he came back to me and ran clean and nicely for the rest of the run. He qualified in both jumpers runs but needs to speed up to get more MACH points. All in all, he has come a LONG way since the last trip to Simon Arena last January when he refused to let me catch him at the end of his runs. He has potential, I’ll give him that!

Ace had nice runs but only Q’d in his Sunday Jumpers run. A blown A-frame contact one day, a refused teeter the next and a bit of handling at a weave entrance prevented the other Q’s. He really is coming along and will soon be getting those Double q’s again.

Next trial is in two weeks and Terry and his newest team member, Katie, will make her debut at On The Run Canine Center in Ham Lake. We look forward to seeing her start on her successful competition agility career.

Team Alasera hit the agility ground running on New Year’s Day at the North Star Herding Group Club trial at our local training center. All dogs had some fabulous runs, but Ripley gets the accolades for FINALLY running two clean runs on the same day to earn his first ever Double Q. Quite a feat actually. We ran both Saturday and Sunday and between the four dogs, many impressive placement ribbons were earned. Here is the summary:

Ripley went clean 3 of 4 runs for the week-end. No placements but he did managed to rack up quite a few MACH points. Only a short distraction kept him from two double Q’s. Good job, Ripley!

Ace had two great Jumpers runs and just missed qualifying in both of his Standard runs. All runs were fast and focused and he and Terry have really done well as a team lately. He earned more MACH points and even got a fourth place finish on one of the Jumpers runs.

Abby had some interesting teeter issues again. On Saturday, she bailed the teeter and hit the ground on her face. She shook herself off quick and kept going. On Sunday, I got too far ahead of her at the teeter and she reverted to past behavior and refused to go on the teeter. So, no double Q’s for her this week-end. She was a Jumpers specialist though, not only qualifying in both Jumpers runs, but took first place in both and earned 64 MACH points for her efforts. Way to go!!

Mellie once again showed why she is Queen of Team Alasera. Two double Q’s, placements in all runs and a load of MACH points again. She is so consistent and fast lately, a joy to run. Nice to see this going into the months leading up to the AKC National Agility Championship trial!

Team Alasera had another fantastic week-end at the Border Collie Society of America’s first agility trial at On The Run Canine Center on December 4th and 5th where we also train the dogs. All were entered except Katie. All dogs had qualifying runs and a few enjoyed some great placements and double Qs. Here are the results:

Mellie: The Queen of the 8″ class. Mellie dominated the 8″ Ex. B. class with perfect runs both days and all first place finishes. She had her fastest Jumpers run ever with a time of 5 yards per second. She was flying and in perfect harmony with me. It was a great accomplishment and I know we are really pushing to get that extra bit of effort to pay off. Two double Qs and 176 MACH points. Incredible.

Ace: After finally breaking into the Ex. B. Standard class last week-end, Ace and Terry wasted no time in starting to accumulate those tricky Double Qs. They went 4/4 to earn two Double Qs and 63 MACH points. Wow. This is a huge accomplishment and they are on the hunt for their MACH title. Ace also placed in several runs earning third place finishes in his Standard runs.

Ripley: Missed out on a Double Q on Sunday only because I overhandled a weave entry for him. Bummer. He had two nice Standard runs and qualified in both of them. He even earned a fourth place finish in one of the Standard runs. A rarity for him to place with Mellie, Ace and Abby in the running too.

Abby: Had three great runs, qualifying in both Jumpers runs with great fast times. Not fast enough to beat Mellie, but awesome runs, nonetheless. She came off the A-frame on Saturday, likely from my being too far ahead, so missed a double Q that day. Unfortunately, on Sunday as we came up to the start line on the Standard run and she started reverse sneezing, which she does when she gets excited. So..no run for her. Just lots of treats, hugs and kisses. We’ll get that next Double Q soon.

So, once again, lots of nice placements, MACH points and accomplishments for Team Alasera!

Team Alasera put together an impressive array of accomplishments at the 3 day TCOTC agility trial over the Thanksgiving break. All the dogs were entered except for Katie, who came along purely for supportive purposes. Here is a run-down of who did what.

Ace: Clearly the big winner. Terry and Ace, after much hard work and persistence, finally got the final 2 legs in Ex. A. Standard to achieve their AX title. This was a hard fought title, taking a grand total of 34 tries. Teeter angst, trial stress and a few other issues always conspired against success, but no more. I have a feeling the Q’s will come much quicker now with all that behind them. Ace qualified in 3 of 6 runs and only missed out in the others by single problems. Great job Terry and Ace!

Ripley: The come-back kid. He was only entered 2 of the 3 days, and although he did manage to go visiting all those nice people in the ring, he held it together for qualifying runs in one Standard and one Jumpers run-going 2 out of 4 qualifying runs. He even earned 26 MACH points! Until this week-end, he had just ONE point, so this was a fabulous leap forward. No QQ’s yet, but someday!

Mellie: Bedeviled by dumb handler errors in a few runs, and a blown A-frame contact in another, Mellie only managed 3 out of 6 qualifying runs. No QQs for us, which is a rarity. However, lest you think she is falling behind, we actually are pushing harder and harder for speed, thus, opening the door for more mistakes in the short term. But long term, we will be a more formidable team. She did make it count in the other runs, with two first places and a third place. Earned 125 MACH points in those 3 runs. Wow. She is running fast right from the start, so we are really picking it up in course time.

Abby: My new little star. She is OVER her trial stress. Big time. She loved every one of her runs, earning 4 out of 6 qualifying runs. I blew a cue in her first standard run and then pressured her near the dog walk in the third standard run. Totally my fault why we did not qualify in those runs. Beating my forehead over and over for that. She earned three first place finishes and one second place finish (losing to her training buddy, Josie, the Lhasa Apso by 1/10th of a second). Earned a QQ and 129 MACH points!! Seeing that she has to compete against Mellie, she is really moving well. The best part of it all, is she (and I) are so relaxed, happy and working well together. Truly, some of the unqualifying runs are better than MANY of the qualifying runs we’ve had in the past. She is just awesome. It is fun to run both Mellie and Abby and pit them against each other. They each run very differently and thus test my handling skills.

Agility, it’s not just a game, it’s an adventure!!!!

At the Wright County Kennel Club dog show in Hutchinson, MN on 10-10-10 ( a very lucky day!), Mellie won a 3 point major to finish her AKC conformation championship at 7 years of age under judge Paul Thomann. She moved very nicely and looked great in her full show coat.

Best of all, she is a history maker. She is the first Phalene to have both a breed championship and a MACH title. She actually has her MACH 2 title to boot. This has been a long standing goal of ours and it is a sweet accomplishment.

At the MAC USDAA agility trial in Lake Elmo, MN, on September 4th and 5th, Team Alasera enjoyed some nice achievements on a beautiful weather week-end.

Mellie-jumping 12″ for the week-end-earned two Master Standard legs, a Team Relay leg and best of all, another Super Q in Snooker-topped by 1st place in that class. During the week-end, she definitely seemed slower with the higher jump height and came off the start line a bit too unmotivated for her handler’s liking. But she still managed some nice runs. Although she did not qualify in her Steeplechase tournament class, she did get to advance to Round 2 where she took second place and earned $12 for her efforts. Some really speedy dogs run in her class in USDAA so we have our work cut out for ourselves.

Abby showed some trial stress with some sniffing and some refusals, but she managed to do all the teeters I asked her to do and she earned two fabulous Performance II snooker Q’s and two Performance II Jumpers Q’s. Her best effort was her first Performance II Gambler run, nailing the distance challenge and getting her first Q in that class. Awesome.

Ace had some great teeter performances and would have Q’d in Advanced Standard except he looked up at Terry at the end of the teeter and slipped off it before it could come down. He didn’t seem too fazed as he gave Terry a mighty quick down on the table obstacle right afterwards. Ace had two fabulous Snooker runs, qualifying in both and earning his Advanced Snooker title. He also earned an Advanced Jumpers leg for good measure. Still a bit slow on the courses, but he is putting it all together.

Riply and Katie were along for moral support. No more USDAA trials until next winter.