Vanished

Saddly, our cat Patches just vanished. We're not giving up hope that he might return, but it hurts that he's gone.

Last Sunday's Videos!

Here's our runs from last Sunday, May 17th:

Nando was really slow this time, usually he's a bit faster... can't tell what was going on! Sometimes it's me, though. I'm still coping with those level 2 runs, so it might b me... But I thought I'd share them anyway!!

Jumpers:


Standard:


Thanks to Anna for filming me and posting it to her YouTube channel! You should definitely check out her other videos, too!

Maybe, it's not gonna be so cold, after all...

... another Sunday, another Trial! This time, we completed both runs, and only knocked off one bar in each run - yes!! The Jumpers was tough, we had trouble finding the weave poles as the entry was at a 90° angle, from the right - that's still a little bit to much for us! The Standard run was fine, Nando tried to cross my path into a tunnel and I almost fell, but we managed in the end!

We took 10th rank in Jumpers, 11th rank in Standard run and made for an overall 7th place out of 24 competitors at level 2 (large class). Well done, my boy!

It's gonna be cold again... wanna bet?

Yesterday, Nando & me went to Aurach for an Agility Trial - first in a series of three (1. SVÖ Regionalcup Nord-West). It was a hot sunday, and we were melting away in the sun (I got a sunburn!!)... The judge built two challenging parcours, but Nando and me managed to complete both of them. I was very happy about that; we're still getting used to the challenges of Level 2, as this is only our third trial since we moved up from Level 1 (there's a total of 3 levels). On the downside, Nando seems to be certain that the cold weather will return. He knocked off 2 bars in the Standard Run and no less than 4 in Jumpers. Guess he thought he should start collecting wood early? Anyway, we still managed to rank 8 out of 11, which suprised me but was nice :-)

May Day Agility Match - "Mühlbachturnier"

Our first trial both outside and at the A2-Level... and we got two DIS (disqaulifacitons) - both of them caused by me, *LOL*! Other than that, it was nice, the weather was dry but not hot, the courses were hard but doable... if you're not me!! Guess I ought to buy a new owner for Nando? Well at least the photographer was able to get a couple of nice shots...



Photos by Moments & Movements Photography

Flagility!!!

This is my sister's Flat Coated Retriever Giaco - a.k.a "The Blog Clown" getting his try at Agility. What shall I say - he loves it! He's got nice speed and makes uneblieveably wide jumps, yet he manages to turn quickly or wind himself around easily if we change direction. He knocked off a few of those bars, but mostly it's my fault cause I either rush him or don't tell him early enough were we're headed. Bad case of "handler has to learn more than the dog"! Jump height is approximately 23 inches (60 metric centimeters). Though the tunnels are tied down with sandbags, he always will move them anyway. That dog is sheer power. Many thanks to my "filmteam" :-)

A year ago today...

... we were there, doing this:

Giaco - RBP II

Kora & Giaco (Giacomo umbra fida) today passed the RPB II, a basic retrieving test, with a 94/100 score. I'm quite proud :) Good teamwork!!

Finally... Sunshine!

Usually I'm a "Winter-Wonderland"-Lover, but this year, we were in an out of rain and frankly, I couldn't stand it anymore. I was sick of getting soaking wet just from taking a 30 minute walk... but finally, spring has arrived! It's a really nice day today, so I took the camera along for our walk... see the results below... (these are *clickable* thumbnails).










Of course the dogs still managed to get wet!

Eiskristalltrophy - 3/22/2009

So, this is the first post to our new blog. I've never done this before and therefore I'm just a little bit excited...The neat thing is, I get to start this blog with nice, nice, nice news! Last weekend, I took my Golden Retriever Nando to an Agility Trial. This was the first time we ran on the advanced level (A2). The Standard run started a little chaotic, but we still managed... the Open Jumping was just fine. I'm really proud of my boy. I've posted the video to YouTube - so here it goes...