Off to a BAD Start
Bad AttitudeEmily Venator & Glenn Hamilton of Barrie, Ontario, Canada (Venham)
Wed Mar 19 1997
Hi Libby!
This Beardie Agility line is quite the undertaking! Congratulations!
Sorry about the delay as we've been away at a Flyball tournament this
weekend past and since my daughter's was hosting and I was judging, the
prep time time extended from Friday to Monday. We are still
recovering!
So here's the scoop on our kids, and its a long one.
The Venham Dogs:
Denia, Can/Am CH Melville's Poetry in Motion TT HC ADC FM NA NAC CGC VA,
is 9 years old and still very active in all that she does. Denia began
her agility career in Bermuda in 1991 when Emily's flyball team and mine
were asked to bring 10 dogs and handlers for a week long presentation at
their spring fair. What a blast! 10,000 people on the island and we
had 5,000 of 'em rockin' in the stadium. However that's a story for
another day. Our agility was more a steeplechase than formal agility
but it got us interested. We dabbled a little in USDAA, as it was the
only game in town, and later became invloved in the Canadian Agility
group (AAC or ADAC). We created a challenge match called the Dynamic
Dogsports Challenge Cup which sidetracked us for a few years (see below)
so our competition was limited.
In June of 1993 Denia became the first Beardie to obtain a Canadian
Agility title under Julie Daniels. In 1994 we attended the inaugural
AKC Agility event in Houston, where Denia took a 4th in the Novice B 20"
class. Two weeks later we attended the next 2 trials in Minneapolis
where Denia won her class one day and came third the next day gaining
her NA as the first Beardie in Agility. Now, if you count awards as
they were handed out that day, she was the third dog ever and the first
Breed Champion ever to get become an AKC agility dog. But, who cares.
Denia has returned to AKC last fall and earned an Open leg in Dayton in
early Feb, 1997. She has her NAC from NADAC earned in just one weekend
last summer. We will be returning to NADAC this summer in addition to
any AKC trials that we can find in the Northeast US. But, I bet you
were wondering what some of those other titles mean.
Denia was Temperment Tested in 1990, earned her Herding Certificate with
the BCCA in 1993 and in Canada in 1990. ADC, NAC and NA are novice
Agility titles for the various agility organizations. Denia received a
Versatility Award from the BCCA in 1995. Denia completed her Flyball
Championship in 1991 by gaining 500 points in Flyball competition and
her FM, Flyball Master in 1994 when she reached the 5,000 point
plateau. Currently, she is at 9,500 points and will reach her Flyball
Master Excellent in April of 1997. She also has group placements in the
Breed Ring, and was awarded a Select at the Bearded Collie Club of
Canada National Specialty in 1992.
Hope, Can CH Pandamonium Hopelesly Devoted FbDCH NA CGC followed in her
mother's footsteps and was just coming into her own at 7 years of age.
Hope earned a 4th in Novice "B" at the Florida Specialty, and
a 4th in
Novice at the Cleveland Show in December, with 250 dogs entered in the
Agility Trial. The same weekend she earned a 5 point major in Breed.
Hope finished her Canadian Championship at 10 months of age, with a
number of Breed and Puppy Group wins. She had over 15 points in the US,
and was one major away from finishing. Hope was 1/2 way to her Flyball
Master title with 2500 points earned in racing and is the fifth place
Beardie all-time. We were eagerly looking forward to the challenges of
the Open ring, and competing with Hope in NADAC this spring. Hope's
approach to an agility course was to take everything in stride, as
nothing was too much of a challenge. She was very methodical and a joy
to work with.
Denia's two boys, (sired by CH Crish Daybar Wizard ROM) started their
Agility training as puppies, and are into "phase two" this spring.
Depending on the time we have available for training, the weather, and
their response they may be seen in some NADAC games classes in August.
Rhys and Tweed show the same attitude for Agility that Hope and Denia
have. Early puppy training, Novice obedience training, and Flyball 101
training have been met with the "What's next" attitude from both
of
them.
That's it for the Venham Beardies! The remainder of the household are
two Border Collies, and two Terriers. Jake, is an 8 1/2 year old black
& white BC. His introduction to agility was in Bermuda with Denia and
he has earned his Companion Dog titles in Canada, and the US. Beginning
in August 1996 to date, Jake earned an ADC, NA, two legs towards his
NAC, and 1 leg towards his NADAC jumpers title, and his first AKC Open
leg. In 1996, Emily took over Jake's training, and the handling of Jake
in Agility. Glenn's business has him working out of town for 5 days a
week, and working with Jake was impossible. The combination of Emily
and Jake has proven successful, and will continue in 1997, unless Glenn
wants his dog back! Jake's flyball racing career has been spread out
over three teams and he reached Flyball Master Champion status this past
weekend having earned over 15,000 points in racing. (Dogs earn 25
points for each time their team runs all four dogs in under 24 seconds,
5 points for under 28, and 1 point for under 32.) Jake's love for
Flyball makes him a great dog to run, although he will run for anyone on
our team, Jake's best times are turned when he is handled by Glenn.
Henna, is our Border Collie with a difference. She's red, and she's
smooth! After "dealing" with Beardie coats in all kinds of weather
its
a welcome difference to have a wash and wear dog. Henna is from Vergil
Holland's breeding, and has a strong herding instinct; both her parents
are featured in Vergil's book "Herding Dogs". Her first introduction
to
stock was at 7 months of age at the Instinct Test held in association
with the BCCC National in Detroit. Although Henna wasn't allowed to
compete for her HC she did get to work with the sheep, and demonstrate
the strong eye that she is known for. Herding tests, and trials are
just getting a start in Ontario so we are looking forward to finding
some training for Henna & the Beardies, and being able to compete in
trials in the upcoming future. With maturity we have been able to find
Henna's off switch. She is a graduate of our "Challenge Cup" Agility
series, and will be beginning her NADAC and AKC agility career in the
summer. Controlling her speed will be the challenge!; the same speed
that keeps her in the lead position on our 18.95 second Flyball "A"
team!
The terriers at Venham are an Airedale and a Toy Manchester Terrier.
Both are Canadian Champions, with "Annie" the Toy Man being pointed
in
the US, and earning group placements in both Canada and the US. Annie
is an eager Agility competitor, who sometimes is more of a Terrier than
a Toy dog. We have worked through her "attitude" (where she thinks
that
she should protect the Agility ring from spectators!), and now she is
comfortable with having the judge, scribe, timers, and ring crew in her
space!
Running a small dog (12") is a challenge that everyone should
experience. The most difficult part is knowing where she is, and timing
your commands at the exact moment before she has the chance to do the
terrier tear around the ring. If you're late on a command she can cover
more ground than a beardie running full tilt.
Lileigh, is the Airedale with a Herding Dog mindset. She was a gift
from one of our Agility partners, and was raised by Denia. As is the
case with all our dogs versatility is a must. Lil is the number one
Airedale in Flyball, with over 2,800 racing points. Her Agility career
has taken a back seat to that of Jake, Hope, and Denia. With the
emphasis being on Flyball and Obedience, and on never letting her know
that she is one of the "King of Terriers", we are looking forward
to
competing with her in NADAC, and AKC. Lil will likely never see the
inside of an USDAA or AAC agility ring, with her height being just above
the borderline for the 30" classes in those events.
Sorry Libby! This isn't just A scoop, but "Two Scoops of Praisins!"
from what I can see.
Dynamic Dogsports Agility:
Our initial agility group, Dynamic Dogsports, was a small private club
of only four people. We were largely responsible for increasing
awareness of AAC (formerly ADAC) agility in eastern Canada. In 1993 we
started the Dynamic Dogsport Challenge Cup. Our goal was to build a
training ground for competitors and dogs as well as ring crews, judges,
timers, scribes and all else. Entries were based on teams of six dogs
who competed in three events per day over a four match series during the
summer. A team could enter 4 dogs in each event (Standard, Snooker,
Jumpers, Gamblers, Pairs or three dog relay) and their score was
totalled for each team. Individual scores were a no-no as we were
fostering team competition. Each dog on a team had to compete an equal
number of times which suppressed the urge to stack a team.
Participating clubs had to host the match and/or provide judges for the
match. Each person competing had to be a member of ADAC. The membership
in the Agility Dog Association of Canada grew from 50 to 300 in one
year. All in all, the Challenge Cup was a tremendous success.
In 1993, the first year, we had nine teams compete in Southern Ontario.
In 1994 there were 34 teams competing in Quebec, Ontario and the
Maritimes provinces. And in 1995, our last year, we had 41 teams
competing from Michigan through Ontario to Quebec. The last couple of
years were an organizational nightmare. Matches were split into 4
regions who each ran the same courses in the same sequence of weekends.
Getting the matches coordinated (4 regions times 4 weekends times 3
events) was difficult. Competition became very intense as clubs wanted
to be declared the Challenge Cup National Champion. In addition to
coordinating all of the events, in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime
provinces, we were also the trial secretary for a minimum of 4 Dynamic
Dogsports AAC Agility trials a year. This made finding the time to
train and compete with our own dogs a minimum.
The 1995 Challenge Cup featured an All-Beardie Agility Team called "Air
Beardie". That's a story for another day!
In 1996 Dynamic Dogsports decided that Agility in Canada had outgown the
need for the Challenge Cup. There were now several hundred dogs of
competition quality in Southern Ontario alone yet our own dogs were now
3 years older. Emily and I decided it was time to train and compete
with our own while another partner planned to move out west. The party
was over. But you know, it was kind'a fun when 3 of the 4 dogs placing
in Hope's class in Cleveland in Decemeber 1996 were all graduates of the
"Cup"! Additionally, one other lady came up that day and asked
"if we
remembered her and her dog from the Challenge Cup?". Of course we had
and were pleased to see that she had won her class as well!
Closing:
Well, this has taken a morning to write and will probably take an
evening to read! As an aside, the Beardie to get the first USDAA title
could be either "Chester", Amberlea's Legacy owned by Lisa Danchuk
of
Woodstock, Ontario or possibly "Kassi", Mithandril Buidh O'Xerox
owned
by Leslie Dawson-North of Wabigoon, Ontario. Kassi was the first
Beardie to compete in the USDAA Grand Prix in Houston in 1994. I'm not
sure if I have her registered name correct above. Please check your
catalogue from the 1996 Florida Specialty. Kassi was the dog winning
the Novice "B" class.
Hope that this helps. If we can help further, please do not hesitate to
write!
Cheers
Glenn Hamilton & Emily Venator
Venham Bearded Collies