1999 BCCA National Specialty
Olympia, WA
This year's Specialty was a joyous event for Jack and me. We had great success with Skyedance and his son Caper in agility, where they both took firsts in Excellent Jumps with Weaves, and in herding, where they earned their PT titles. Jack's speech on "Agility and the Breed Standard" for the Judge's Education Seminar was well received, the Beardie Agility Diehard's Awards Dinner was a smashing success, and the BAD Website took a first in its category, many thanks to Karen Norteman, its original creator and to Gretchen Blackburn who designed our Logo. As an added bonus, my Photoshop art entry of Caper "Weaving through the Aspens" won High overall from the Judges in the Art Contest and was the People's Choice as well. Yet, as I look back, what I remember most are the marvelously warm, supportive, and enthusiastic Beardie people and the superb organization of the Northwest Club.
The Agility Trial was run efficiently thanks to Betty Winfield,
Trial Secretary; Jane Cooper, Mark and Linda Glaman, Trial Chairs;
Robin Hood, Christiana Taylor, Amy Steltz, and Eileen Pergamit,
Trial Committee. The careful preparation they put into this Trial
was evident in their attention to every detail, from the moment
we signed in until the final trophies were awarded and the courses
in both rings torn down.
The Trophies chosen by Robin Hood were incredibly lovely! We are
cherishing our suncatchers, etched with the Specialty Logo, which
were awarded for first through fourth in each class. Those of
us lucky enough to get High in Trial in either Standard or JWW,
really appreciate the coolpacks handmade by Pam Jernegan which
will keep our Beardies happy on warm days. Those awarded Highs
in Standard love the A-Frame trophies handmade by Al Glocker.
It was a nice touch to give cooling scarves to each participant
and stuffed dog toys to the many generous workers, without whose
help this smoothly flowing trial would have been impossible.
Judge Gillian Crawford designed great courses for our Beardies
which were fun, fast, and challenging. She also did an outstanding
job of educating and involving the large crowd of spectators who
drove out to St. Martin's College to see for themselves what the
"Agility Craze" is all about and to cheer us all on.
Gillian's lively sense of humor was well suited to the many Bouncing
Beardies and their equally zany handlers. Who can forget Caper's
breath-taking Excellent JWW run at 5.4 yards/second, barking all
the way, or Tom Severson's lying down on the ground beside the
pause table to demonstrate to Cosette what he meant by "Down!"
It obviously worked, since she took two firsts in her Novice Classes.
33 Beardies were entered in the Standard Classes. 30 ran with
6 qualifying. 26 Beardies were entered in the Jumps with Weaves
Classes. 24 ran with 10 qualifying. Of the 16 dogs that qualified
only two were less than five years old (Molly and Caper), two
were seven (Zooey and Cosette), two were eight (Annie and Skyedance)
and one was ten (Betel). So, in Agility, at least, one improves
with age! 3 Beardies qualified in both Standard and JWW: Miss
C with Betty Winfield in Excellent B, Colton with Barbara Stone
in Open Standard and Novice B JWW, and Cosette with Tom Severson
in Novice B Standard and JWW.
The decision was made to offer six "High in Trials,"
one at each of the three levels in both Standard and Jumps with
Weaves. Five "High in Trials" were awarded. Betty Winfield's
Miss C, who took High in Excellent Standard, was definitely the
"home favorite" and is nationally recognized for her
21 agility titles. Jack Buhite's Caper is famous since the Humbolt
County Fair "Weave Pole Knockout" where he aced 36 weave
poles in 9.44', roughly 4 poles a second. He has been called the
fastest Beardie in the West, but, according to Mazie Blanks who
filmed the event, he is the "fastest Beardie in the world!"
We were hoping that he would give us all a good show, which he
did in both of his runs. His High in Trial Excellent Jumps with
Weaves run was completed in 15 seconds under Standard Course time,
beating his dad, Skyedance, who was only 7.4 seconds under SCT.
Christiana Taylor's Jake, another home favorite, took High in
Open Standard. Jacqueline Byrnes' Paisley zipped through Novice
Standard and Cosette, with Tom Severson, the most entertaining
handler, took High in Novice Jumps with Weaves!
That evening 50 of us, almost all of the Trial participants, gathered for the BAD Awards dinner. Christiana Taylor had reserved a banquet room at the hotel for us, where the "Agility Diehards" dined on pizza and beer, shared our ideas and enthusiasms for the sport, and relived our triumphs both at the Trial and throughout the year. Many thanks to Eileen Dinneen, Patsy Sullivan, and Jack Buhite who helped with setting up dinner. The Awards ceremony was a great success, punctuated by enthusiastic applause, laughter, and even tears, as several were presented with the beautiful certificates made by Gretchen Blackburn. I gave "Weaving through the Aspens" T-shirts as thank you gifts to those who make BAD possible. Other gifts which accompanied the awards were: agility magnets handcrafted by Helix Fairweather, coffee brought from Alaska by Pat Hanson, and huge inflatable bones, appropriately scripted,"BAD to the Bone!" Needless to say, I couldn't stop with my prepared list of Awards and gave out all the goodies until they were gone! So ended a fabulous day, but the magnificent memories live on!
100 - 1st/7 - 57.21'/65' - 180 yds - 3.45 yds/second
Photo by Jeff Jernegan
100 - 1st/6 - 30.91'/45' -167 yds - 5.40 yds/second
Photo by Chet Jezierski
90 - 1st/5 - 61.63'/75' - 176 yds - 3.11 yds/second High in Open JWW-No Qualifiers
100 1st/18 - 49.99'/76' - 142 yds - 3.16 yds/second
100 1st/13 - 32.52'/38 - 115 yds - 3.54 yds/second
Excellent A Standard 20"/24"-No Qualifiers
Excellent A JWW 20": 167 yds/45'
Excellent A JWW 24"-No Qualifiers
Open Standard 20": 176 yds/75'
Open JWW-No Qualifiers
Novice B Standard 20": 142 yds/76'
Novice A Standard 20": 142 yds/76'
Novice B/A Standard 24": No Qualifiers
Novice B Jumps with Weaves 20": 115 yds/38'
Novice A Jumps with Weaves 20": 115 yds/38'
Novice A Jumps with Weaves 24": 115 yds/38'
A huge thank you for a well run trial to:
Betty Winfield, Trial Secretary
Jane Cooper, Mark and Linda Glaman, Trial Chairs
Robin Hood, Christiana Taylor, Amy Steltz, and Eileen Pergamit, Trial Committee
Robin, the Trophies were incredibly lovely!
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
