Lisa Humm, Specialty Trial Chair
Friday the 13th with a full moon certainly didn't bother BAD dogs or handlers. Even the changeable Midwest weather was good for the trial. Judge Jean Munger was most impressed by the athleticism, attitude and skill of the competitors. The courses were NOT easy.....the Beardies and their handlers were that good. Personally I've always found Jean's courses to be challenging but very logical with good flow. Two of the Beardies, Ann Krafcheck's Simon and Peggy Hammond's Rio, liked the judge so well that they had to take a break from their runs to plant a big juicy smooch on her cheek.
Wasn't it great that so many conformation exhibitors came to watch the agility trial? They seemed to enjoy it and some expressed interest in getting involved in the sport.
The BAD people were wonderful workers and filled in wherever they were needed. The table workers were so fast with posting the scores and calculating the placements that I could hardly keep up with them. Some of you know that this was my first experience as trial chair and that sometimes I'd experience frustation and befuddlement. One of the scariest aspects was who/how to fill the work slots with people I've never met. The reality was that there was such a level of expertise and camaraderie at the trial that the worker list became superfluous. I am most impressed and will be forever grateful to those wonderful people. For me it was a blast!
Dear Workers,
I would like to take this opportunity to post an open thank you to those who helped with the trial.It is the great people like you who make an agility trial a success. Sure you need judges and equipment, but it's the course builders, gate keepers, timers, scribes, transcribers, jump setters, book keepers, leash runners, scribe sheet runners and "go fors" who make the trial actually come together. Thank you so very much for volunteering your time and talent for the agility trial. All your hard work and effort are truly appreciated.
Beth Canner worked the entire day as gate steward, course builder and scribe; Peggy Hammond was timer and course builder; Pam Harris and Jana Dozet were incredibly efficient at the table; Linda Leek was scribe, course builder and hospitality; Gary Marple handled sign-in; Libby Myers-Buhite was statistician, cheerleader, and host of the BAD Dinner; Karen Barratt, Ann Chandoha, Liz Cox, Eileen Dinneen, Teri Fleming and Kim Horsley were course builders and filled in when timers and scribes needed breaks. Jerry Molette served as grounds keeper and handled general care and maintenance. When I arrived in the morning Jerry introduced himself as Jerry Molette Poop Patrol. He did so much more than that. Clifford, Leslie Dawson-North's husband, was a tireless course builder and equipment loader. I wonder how he learned to organize and move so much stuff. Maybe he learned those skills from years of gathering and loading his wife's prizes????
Please forgive me if I've left anyone out. Everyone helped in some way or another. Thanx, Lisa
Libby Myers-Buhite, BCCA Agility Chair
For me the Agility Trial was the highlight of the 2000 Specialty. It felt like a Beardie Fest indeed, as we finally put faces to our e-mails, met our seasoned competitors, welcomed those who are new to our Agility Community, and saw our agility Beardies run. The most frequently expressed sentiment since the Specialty, besides the joy of meeting one another, is that you had FUN at the Trial whether you qualified or not! I was thrilled at your performance and happy to meet so many of you at last!
In all there were 85 entries and 73 runs. This was the largest Specialty Agility Trial ever and the Beardie/Handler Teams were truly outstanding! Our 42 Beardie participants represented several geographical regions. Seventeen, the largest group, came from the Midwest. Six came from Canada, six from Texas, four from the Northeast, four from the Southeast, and five from the Western states. Of the 42 Beardies who participated in the Trial, 24 qualified, 6 with double Q's! In Standard Agility 17 out of 42 qualified and in Jumps with Weaves 13 out of 31 qualified. Our Judge, Jean Munger, told me at the BAD dinner afterwards that she had designed what she considered to be difficult courses and was both pleased and amazed at the quality of our Beardies.
The rate of qualifying in Excellent B (Masters level) is the highest I have ever seen at a trial, a full 75% in Standard and 50% in Jumps with Weaves! A 15 to 25% qualifying rate is considered normal.
I would like to offer special congratulations to Leslie Dawson-North who, true to what we all expected of her, besides earning two Double Q's also won High in Standard with Kassi and High in Jumps with Weaves with Chase. At nine years of age, Kassi was our most senior competitor, yet ran the fastest of all 42 Beardies on the Standard Course! Chase is the first and only Beardie who ever earned a placement at the AKC National Agility Championships (the Westminster of Dog Agility) and is the first and only Beardie to have earned the very difficult USDAA (United States Dog Agility) Championship.
100 - 1st/42 - 182 yds/50.56' (- 5' for table = 182/45.56') = 3.995 yds/second
Leslie Dawson-North with Chase and Kassi
Photo by Doug Klein
Five of our Excellent B Beardies earned "Double Qualifiers" for both Standard and JWW: Leslie Dawson-North's Kassi and Chase, Karen Barratt's Jet, Doug Klein's Maggie, and Charles Gibson's Mikie. Twenty of these "Double Qualifiers" in Excellent B are part of the requirement for the AKC Agility Champion title.
Karen Barratt and Jet earned their 9th Masters leg at the Specialty and his MX the following day at the Fond du Lac Trial. There was great jubilation that night! Congratulations to all of our double qualifiers and new titlist!
Eileen Dinneen's Desi, the youngest qualifier at only one year and four months, had a perfect score of 100 and was the fastest of all the Novice and Open Jumps with Weaves competitors. At last year's trial only two Beardies under age five qualified. This year there were eleven!
Several of our Beardies earned Titles. Sharon Worsley with Bentley, Carol Carlsen with Dugan, Sharon Dunsmore with Devlin and Nancy Winter with Bevin earned Novice Standard titles. Eileen Dinneen with Desi and Nancy Winter with Bevin earned Novice Jumps with Weaves titles. As you can see, one of our Novices qualified in both Standard and JWW: Nancy Winter's Bevin. So proud of all of you!
The Agility Trophies were lovely! Many thanks go to Karen Shaw and Nancy Steckel, Trophy Chairs , and to those who donated to the Trophy Fund! First through fourth places in each class won beautiful hand-painted boxes. Leslie Dawson-North's two High in Trial Beardie boxes caused such a stir that she had trouble holding on to them. At one point Leslie was surrounded by an admiring group, eager to snatch away the boxes or their accompanying dog beds, if Leslie showed any indication whatsoever of not being able to carry away all of her loot!
A Trial of this size is difficult to organize and Lisa Humm deserves recognition for an expertly run event! She oversaw every detail with quiet efficiency. She was aided in her endeavors by our former Agility Chair Beth Canner who oversaw the gate, helped build and check the courses and assisted with almost everything all day. Pam Harris and Jana Dozet worked all day at the table getting out those scores with incredible speed! Linda Leek also worked the entire day, expertly handling many of the various jobs. The course builders expedited the trial by having all ready well in advance of sign-in and made swift course changes between each level. To you and the many generous trial helpers, a big thank you!
"The agility trial was an experience that will last a lifetime. I close my eyes and I still see the image of the trial site that says so much about the joy of being. Green grass, pine trees, beardies and owners relaxing and having fun, and flocks of geese flying formations overhead on a partly cloudy fall day. It just doesn't get better. I would take that weekend anywhere, any time. . . . .And, even though the dogs, trials, and ring competition were great to watch; even though the parade of veterans and rescue parade brought tears to my eyes, making me proud to be a part of the beardie family, one of the best moments of the whole specialty was giving you a standing ovation at the BAD dinner. We can't thank you enough for founding this group, guiding the site to its high level of quality, and keeping it there for so long." --Doug Klein and Maggie
"I enjoyed watching all those beardies fly and having such a grand time - Didn't hurt that Devlin got her NA at the National either!! " -- Sharon Dunsmore
"We are so lucky to have you. It was great meeting competitors from the west, and because of you they all felt like friends!" -- Teri Fleming & "the Paws"
"Well, Rio is one of the ones who went to give the judge a kiss. I think he may have got the biggest laugh; he had a good time. That's all I have to say about his run ;)" --Peggy Hammond
"Just a short note to tell you how nice it was to finally meet you at the specialty! That was such a treat for both Charles Gibson and me. Thanks so much for your hard work and for the work that all of the agility community put in to make the agility event such a fun part of the specialty. It was tremendous fun meeting everyone. It was also great to see all of the new novice Beardie/handler teams. Well, Simon was the other novice Beardie who jumped up and tried to kiss the judge. I was so proud of the little guy, who made his Novice B debut. He hit all of his contacts and ran very smoothly, aside from a few distracting moments, .like when he paused for a loooooong time at the apex of the A frame until I started beating the ground to get him to begin his descent and when he went around the tire, but all in all, he had a very nice, smooth run, which ended with a beautifully flowing move through the chute. I appreciate how the crowd cheered him on. It was great for Simon to debut at a place with such Beardie support." --Ann Krafcheck & Beardies
"The agility trial at the Nat'l was our first time entering a trial, and we had a wonderful time! Wonderful meeting so many of you BAD members, and seeing those fantastic BAD dogs." --Marilynn Snook, Lakotah! and Cheyenne
"It was wonderful to meet you at the specialty. It was so much fun to put faces to the emails finally. I think you have done such a wonderful job with BAD. The certificates you made were wonderful. You put so much time and effort into this club. I just wanted to thank you again and let you know how much we all appreciate it. The agility trial went smoothly and the courses were fun. Becket was not at all disappointed that she didn't qualify. So neither was I." -- Kim Horsley and the Great Beard, Becket
All of the JWW Excellent Qualifiers earned a "Double Qualifier"
Excellent A Standard and JWW-No Qualifiers
Open Standard 20": 167 yds/72'
Open JWW 20": 125 yds/36'
Novice B Standard 20": 123 yds/67'
Novice B/A Standard 24": No Qualifiers
Novice B Jumps with Weaves 20": 108 yds/36'
Novice B JWW 24": No Qualifiers
Novice A Jumps with Weaves 20": 108 yds/36'
Novice A Jumps with Weaves 24": 108 yds/36'
A huge thank you for a well run trial to:
Lisa Humm, Trial Secretary
Beth Canner, Pam Harris, Jana Dozet, Linda Leek and the many trial helpers!
Karen Shaw and Nancy Steckel, Trophy Chairs
Last updated 8 June 2004
BCCA Agility Awards - 2003
BCCA Agility Awards - 2002
BCCA Agility Awards - 2001
BCCA Agility Awards - 2000
BCCA Agility Awards - 1999
BCCA Agility Awards - 1998
BCCA Agility Awards - 1997
BCCA Agility Awards - 1996
