Team Alasera played to the home court advantage and brought home lots of ribbons, MACH points, and a title. At TCOTC on March 5-7th, the flying Phalenes had a great time.

Mellie: Still the queen of the course, she earned three doubleQ’s and a whopping 110 MACH points. She placed in every run-earning two 1st places, a 2nd place and three 3rd place ribbons. Nice to see some good consistency and pretty good speed getting ready for the AKC National agility championships.

Abby: Finally overcoming a teeter fear, Abby managed to qualify in 3 out of 6 runs, earning two Standard legs and a Jumpers leg and another Double Q. Handler Lisa got lost on course and NQ’d the team on a Jumpers run but Abby did great. She managed to place in all those qualifying runs, earning a first place, a 3rd place and a 4th place finish. She totalled up 64 MACH points on those three runs. Unfortunately, the last day, the teeter fear crept back, so she needs to still work on that problem. All in all, she was great.

Ace: Had only one qualifying run in Jumpers, but started getting better weave performance as the week-end wore on. He avoided the teeter too so it appears him and Abby have been discussing this obstacle. He did earn another 7 MACH points. We have high hopes for Ace…he just needs a bit more work to put it all together.

Ripley: Ripley managed to qualify in 3 out of 5 runs. He was really trying to focus despite the presence of a judge and people who sit in chairs in the ring. He had a great Ex. A Jumpers run and finally got his AXJ title with a 1st place finish. He also qualified and got his first leg in Open Standard with a first place finish. (Well, yes, there was only one 8″ dog in the class…) Best of all, he sat and let me put his leash on in all five runs at the end of the run. No more running away from me!!! He is really responding to some new training we are doing and I couldn’t be happier. He also earned his first ever MACH point the next day and took third place on a very difficult Ex. B. Jumpers run. Go Ripley!!

Katie

Katie

Katie loves her toys.

Ace and Marty-father and son

Uncle Ripley and Katie

Tippi- the polar bear cub

Tippi

Prancing Marty

Katie

Marty

Ace went 0 for 2 but really had a spectacularly fast Jumpers run with one run-out-probably handler induced. Lovely weaves. His Standard run had some interesting activities, but once again, the teeter was just too much for him. Time will get these things under control.

Ripley lost all focus in his jumpers run but did manage to finish the run with just a few errors. But he proved he is not ready for further trials at this time. I scratched him from his Standard run. We will work on getting that focus in the upcoming weeks. Not an easy task!!

Abby had a nice jumpers run and qualified with 11 MACH points. Unfortunately, she had another stress meltdown at the thought of a course with contacts. On her Standard run, I did, somehow, miraculously get her to do the teeter, but the run proved just too much for her. We’ll give her some time to settle back into competition. I’m certain great things are in store down the road. Patience, I am told, is a virtue. Who knows, maybe she doesn’t like running in dirt?

Mellie is the new star of the Alasera team. She rocked the courses, gaining another Double Q, a fourth place finish in Jumpers and a first place finish in Standard. Outstanding times, earned another 60 MACH points in just this one day. She is focused, excited, happy and fast. Took 4 1/2 years, but hey, who is counting?? Check out her runs below.

Mellie: The star of the week-end. Qualified in 5 of 6 runs earning two Double Q’s, and great placements. She took first place in two Standard runs, and tied for 2nd in the third Standard run, and had a third place in one Jumpers run. She tallied up 129 MACH points including the multiplier bonus. She looked great and obviously didn’t mind running in the dirt!

Abby: This was Abby’s first trial back since August and having her litter. Her first day was fabulous! She earned her first ever Double Q and fourth place in both Standard and Jumpers runs. Against very tough competition! The second day, she had another qualifying Jumpers run (and third place), but had some stress issues in the standard course. She earned 29 MACH points for her runs. The third day was tough. She had major stress issues-esp. with weaves. In her Standard run, she refused to even take the second jump. It may be that three days of trialing after all that time off was just too much. We’ll see how things go.

Ripley: Ripley earned another Ex. A. Jumpers leg. He actually had some very nice other runs, with just a few issues. Unfortunately, he decided that he wouldn’t let me catch him after the runs and played “keep away”. Needless to say, he didn’t listen to me at all at that point. He actually forfeited his Ex. A jumpers title, because although he had a clean run, he decided to chase after the next dog that was running the course. An embarrassing moment, but obviously, he still needs to learn more control.

Ace: Ace had some very nice runs with just enough errors to keep him from qualifying. He had issues with weaves, and definitely still has some trial stress with the teeter still. He went 0-6 but am sure he will rebound once he gets a few more trials under his belt. Not sure he enjoys running in the dirt, and three days may have been a bit much for him as well.

Alasera’s Back to the Future, “Marty”, met his new owners today. He joins the Winsor household, and will be Laurel Winsor’s new agility partner and companion for the whole family. He will have new canine siblings, a French Bulldog and a Standard Poodle. We wish them all a wonderful life together. We will miss him, but am glad he will be here in the Twin Cities, so we’ll see him around.

On New Year’s Day, Roisin O’Donnell braved subzero weather to become Tippi’s (previously Thelma) new mom and owner. Tippi (Alasera’s National Treasure) and Roisin flew to her new home the next day in Tucson, Arizona. She will enjoy the warmer weather!! Roisin and her husband Bill look forward to having a dog for the first time. We wish them all the best!

After much deliberation and soul-searching, we have decided to add Louise-now known as Katie-to our household and Team Alasera. Picking just one puppy out of a beautiful litter is not an easy task! She is formally named Alasera’s Catch Me if U Can and we hope she will not only excel as Terry’s new agility prospect, but Lisa hopes to have success with her in future conformation competitions. Look for updates in the upcoming months!