Performance Newsletter October 04 Edition
By Jane Eno

For anyone who doesn’t know me, my name is Jane Eno. I own a Kerry Blue Terrier named Jessie. We are currently working on our UDX in obedience. I also have a Shih Tzu named Bailey who is working on his CDX. In this column I will attempt to capture the performance achievements, stories, and events of the month. Please send me any brags, stories, or announcements you would like posted to: Jane Eno No brag is too small! Just let me know! If you realize I have missed something, don’t worry, just send it to me and I will post it in the next month’s column.

October was a wonderful month for anyone who owns a Kerry Blue Terrier and loves performance events. We saw the first ever Kerry Blue Terrier Obedience Specialty the same week as Montgomery. Three wonderful days of agility were held at the same venue. And it was a completely rain-free Sunday at Montgomery to top it off. Who could ask for anything more?

It was my first Montgomery. I always said, if they ever offered obedience, I would be there. Well, they did, and they did it right. The Combined Terrier Obedience trial had 133 entries. The USKBTC, the chapter clubs, and the Kerry enthusiasts donated the most wonderful collection of trophies I have ever seen at a trial. I was lucky enough to take home first in Open and Utility along with High Combined. What a great honor! The Waterford Crystal sits proudly in my office to remind me of a perfect day.

I really enjoyed watching all the Kerries perform and was so proud at the high scores everyone got. On Friday I also got to watch the Kerries run in agility. Wow! Can Gabby go fast or what? It was so much fun. I hope everyone can make it to see some of the agility or obedience next year.

Finally, every month, when possible, I am going to try and write up a separate piece honoring a performance Kerry that is now retired or deceased. This was inspired by Diane Lee’s post on retiring Joy, so we will start with her. Please see the page honoring Ch. O'Mara's Joy of Connemara CGC CD NJP ROM following this column. Please feel free to send me suggestions on whom to include in this part of my column for future months.

Obedience Brags

CD:
CH Casey's Rae of Sunshine CD NA NAJ (Lisa Franklin) – NEW TITLE

UD:
Garryowen's Smarty Pants UD NA (Virginia Barishek) – NEW TITLE

UDX:
Primrose Jessie James UD (Jane Eno) – 3rd & 4th Legs

HIT:
Wedgwood BlueBelle of the Snow CD (Carol Oddi/Wert)
196 Score from the Kimberton All-Terrier Combined Obedience Specialty

HC:
Primrose Jessie James UD (Jane Eno)
390 Score from the Kimberton All-Terrier Combined Obedience Specialty


Agility Brags

NA:
Tantara’s Cosmic Phoenix UD NA NAJ (Evelyn Gansfuss) – NEW TITLE
CH Casey's Rae of Sunshine CD NA NAJ (Lisa Franklin) – NEW TITLE

NAJ:
Tantara’s Cosmic Phoenix UD NA NAJ (Evelyn Gansfuss) – NEW TITLE

MX:
Lookout Shannon’s Bailey Boo CDX AX MX MXJ (Eric Shannon) – NEW TITLE

Double Qs:
MACH Keriland’s Talk About Town (Janet Beeby)
Lookout Shannon’s Bailey Boo CDX AX MXJ (Eric Shannon)

The High Scoring Kerry of the cluster:
Bryan Kincaid’s “Daisy” - CH Kerigolf Flower Power MX MXJ with 300 points and a total of 15.49 seconds under Standard Course Time (SCT).

This from Sharon Burnett:
Rascal earned 2 new titles in NADAC
Novice Agility Veteran (NAV)
Novice Gamblers Veteran (NGV)

She is just 10 points shy of earning her Novice Gamblers Outstanding. Rascal is Keristars Mutual Fun. She is 8 years old and is titled in AKC & NADAC agility. Rascal was bred by Betty Ann and Bill Clayton of Anthony Florida. She is my first Kerry and my first agility dog.

New CGC
By Maggie Kelly

(Important Note from Jane Eno: This is a story and brag of a new CGC from Maggie Kelly about her wonderful Kerry, my neighbor and Jessie’s good buddy, Casino. Now I’ll have to add before you read this that Casino and Jessie took to each other right away, and Casino is one of the few dogs I will trust loose with my Shih Tzu – he is always gentle and polite with dogs that show him the same respect. That said, here is her story.)

As Jane knows, our Kerry, Casino, is not great around any dog bigger than him (or any bus for that matter)! Small mean dogs are no problem, but the nicest, goofiest, sweetest big dog is a big problem for our little Napoleon.

Casino has been through lots of obedience classes, a dog aggression class, agility classes, and we put him in a CGC/ Therapy dog class one spring. To our surprise and amazement, Casino passed the CGC/ TDI with flying colors (ie: he did not try to eat the black lab that he had to encounter during the test.)

The next week we were at the vet/chiropractor and I was bragging to her about Casino's achievement. Usually at the vet we bring him in a back or side door to avoid the possible other (big) dogs, but since Casino was a newly minted CGC we decided to walk through the waiting room.

Big Mistake.

As she walked me out of the waiting room, Casino came close to a Springer Spaniel, ( a dog of comparable size,) and you can all guess how he acted- just like a little Napoleon Kerry Blue Terrier defending his kingdom with as much force as he could muster.

The vet asked us to use the back door in the future.


A Kerry Named Joy
By Diane Lee

On retiring her bitch, Joy, Diane Lee wrote a wonderful post to the USKBTC newsgroup. This inspired some of us to want to save these memories and continue on by honoring other exceptional kerries.

Here is her original post plus a short interview with Diane on Joy. Please click on the title of the article to see a picture of Joy in action.

This past week has been about making memories. It's been about accepting that Joy is getting older and accepting that fact. It's been hard for me to acknowledge the reality that Joy is 12 and a half. In part it's hard because she doesn't look or act her age. ( What IS a Kerry's age really?)

We had our last agility class. In order for me to have a class time for my younger dog Joy had to give up her class. I couldn't have two dedicated regular days off. Hospitals don't work that way. So Joy brought goodies to her last class to share with her classmates. She had a final fun run. It's only been about a month since she got her first leg in open jumpers, preferred of course. But there aren't any more local trials till after the first of the year. I may assess how she is in the spring, but at nearly 13, I don't imagine she has many more times to run. I also entered her in our local specialty in the veteran sweeps. One last time in the ring to hear the applause of the crowd, to be the “special" one. Her son won the veteran sweeps, pretty nice going to have mother and son out as veterans.

Joy's extended family and friends went together and purchased a special statue to recognize her retirement. They ordered a sculpture of Joy coming out of the agility chute done from a photo of her taken during a competition. And it looks like Joy, captures the intent look she has during a competition. It's a truly lovely statue, one that will always trigger memories of not only the "joy" that we had together but the inspiration she brought to others.

This was her grandchildren's weekend to shine. Her granddaughter was Best in Sweeps, WB at the specialty, WB the following day. Another granddaughter won the open bitch class at the Monday show only to loose to her cousin who won the 12-18 class and went on to be BOS.

So the torch has been passed. It's time, and some say past time, for the younger generation to pick up the torch and carry on.

Diane Lee

Interview between Jane Eno & Diane Lee

What is Joy’s full name and what titles has she earned? Include any important wins or honors (HIT, HC, CGC, Invitational, Dog World):
Ch. O'Mara's Joy of Connemara CGC CD NJP ROM, ( dam of 9 champions). She has also done herding, but we didn't have someone who did certification at the workshop.

Joy’s Sire: Ch. Kinetic Comrade (he was WD at Montgomery, but I'm sorry I don't know the year). Must have been about 1990

Joy’s Dam: Ch. Connemara O'Katyland

Joy’s Birth date: 5/12/92

Where did your Joy come from? Tell us a little about her breeder and how you selected them:
I'm Joy's breeder, or rather one of them. I owned but co-bred the litter with the breeders of her dam and her dam's sire.

How did you select Joy from her litter?
There were several puppies in the litter I really liked. She was overall balanced in structure and she had a very cute attitude.

I was actually in the hospital when Joy was born. One of the co-breeders had to run get her as she was only days from whelping when I was hospitalized.

What were your goals for Joy and did you reach them? Did they change as you worked with her, if so, how?
I was hoping that Joy would take over for Wheeler as both a breed champion but also a performance dog. Her time was just the beginnings of positive training but she wasn't terribly food motivated and toys were only good at home. No, she didn't reach the performance goals I had set. I had her trained through open but couldn't get her to take a dumbbell, can't do open if you can't retrieve let alone utility. She retired after novice and I finished her children. I did take her to an agility class when she was young, a sort of parks and rec class just for fun. I started up again while waiting for a puppy just to have something to do and learn along the way.

What are her favorite treats and training toys?
Her favorite training treats are the boiled chicken gizzards and hearts. She also likes the Bil-jac guberlicious. She won't play with toys away from home, though here she is never without one in her mouth.

What class did you and Joy enjoy competing or working in the most?
Agility and she strongly prefers jumpers. Was there anything you would do differently with Joy if you could do it all again?
Of course, but the training and the times are different. You can only train with what is available at the time, you can't go backwards and improve what you didn't know about.

What about Joy made her so successful? Her attitude.

Was there anything that proved particularly challenging for Joy? Anything she just never wanted to do?
Wouldn't take the dumbbell. Wheeler just watched her try to learn to touch it for food. He'd run in and do it, expect to be treated. When I tried to set the bar higher for him he "told" me, this is what I had asked of Joy that's what he was offering. And for whatever reason, she really doesn't care for the standard agility courses. She likes to run, and I think the obstacles slow the course down too much.

If you were going to advise someone with a dog like Joy on how to have a long and happy performance career, what would you tell him or her?
Train forever. Did you find competing in both obedience and conformation difficult? What advise would you give someone thinking about doing this?
I couldn't do both with Joy at the same time. She's a one ring dog. Whatever ring she competed in first for the day would be the one she'd do well in (including juniors). Wheeler had a different mind set. He could compete in four classes and maintain the same level of enthusiasm from one to the next. Joy did one and was through for the day. It really varies from dog to dog. I had both Wheeler and Joy started in both early, it worked for Wheeler not for Joy. Mia has just done conformation but is started in agility classes. Obedience is in her future. And today with the training in all venues more positive, there should be less difficulty going back and forth. Dogs can learn the difference. They, most of them anyway, aren't stupid.

Last Updated: 11/02/2004, 10:37 am