Joanne Williamson of Cranford
NJ (Balgrae)
Sun Jun 22 1997
I have had Beardies since 1982. My first Beardie is still a member of the
family. His name is Am/Can Ch Sir Dworkin of Arrochar UD, HC and he will
have his 15th birthday in December. He doesn't do any Agility but likes
to run around and bark while the other dogs do. The other current house
dog is Ch Britannia Sweet Black Angel HCTs (Lily). Although I have done
obedience and herding training for a number of years we started agility
about one year ago.
My three agility Beardies are:
Am/Can/Bda Ch Parcana Lord Corwin CDX, NA, HC (+ 1 leg on his UD).. Corey
is one of the oldest dogs to earn an AKC NA (at 11.5 years) but he can still
give the younger dogs a race. Now that he understands weave poles, he will
be working on his Open title.
Ch Balgrae's Rob Ruadh HT, NA, JHDs.. Rob is my "autopilot" Beardie
and at three my youngest. His runs are either magnificent examples of distance
control {because I can't run that fast) or total disasters. His favorite
trick is to bark loudly at me whenever he thinks I've made a handling error.
Ch Balgrae's Sean Mackay CD, HS, STDs, JHDs.. Sean is the newest to Agility.
I started him about 2 months ago and he earned his first two AKC Novice
legs last weekend with placements. He will never be my fastest dog but I
suspect that he will be the most reliable.
I started Rob and Corey in agility in order to participate in the first
Specialty trial in Orlando so I didn't bother teaching them weave poles.
Since it is difficult to do agility in the winter here I started weave poles
in
mid-March. By fall all of them should be proficient enough to start NADAC.
I don't plan on running in USDAA since all my boys would have to jump 30"
and I feel that is too high. We do this for fun after all!
I find it a real challenge to run all three dogs on the same day. I have
to remember they are all individuals and handle them, accordingly. And sometimes
I forget..like last Sunday I crossed behind Sean after I had sent him to
a tunnel..and he incurred a refusal because he turned around to see where
I had gone..I had forgotten that I was not running one of the more experienced
dogs!
I am also taking the correspondence course in Agility Course Design that
is offered by "Clean Run". I find I am learning a lot about handling
from course analysis. And when I'm not doing agility, obedience or herding
(or grooming!), I work for Merck Research Labs as a biochemist. And in the
spare time I have left over have an occassional conversation with my husband
who unfortunately is not a dog person..but since he is a wine enthusiast
will be coming to the Specialty.
BAD enough? Joanne Williamson
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Dear Joanne,
What a lively introduction! I can just picture you and your agile Beardies.
Most of us training and trialing can recognize our Beardies in yours. Some
of us have autopilots and others have steadier dogs who need to be taught
how to run faster. Yesterday at a NADAC event, Tammy Wiebe, our Specialty
Judge was giving us clues on how to pick up speed, namely by moving out
ourselves and trusting our dog will move with us, especially for the more
reliable ones--in other words not breaking our stride to give voice commands
but leading out more with our bodies. I am eager to see if that helps those
whose dogs are obedient and tend to heel, as for ours, they are both autopilot
types and don't need encouragement for speed!
Your correspondence course in Course Design sounds fascinating and those
of us on BAD would love to hear more about it!
I notice that you have all male champions doing agility with quite a bit
of herding and obedience experience! We are working with two male champs
ourselves. Many who come to agility with a firm foundation in the performance
areas tend to progress rapidly, as long as we are handling properly, since
the agility part is what a Beardie is all about! The agility boys tend to
run with speed and it is a great joy to see a bitch out there running with
the same vigor.
Thanks so much! Keep up the great work! Look forward to seeing you at the
Specialty.
Libby
Off to a BAD Start
Bad Attitude