Performance Newsletter

August, 2005
By Jane Eno

August has been an exciting month for the Kerry Blue Terrier. We now have our first Champion MACH (Master Agility Champion) – the Kincaid’s lovely CH MACH Kerigolf Flower Power NAC NJC. Plus a Kerry Blue Terrier, Virginia’s Andy, won First Place in the Advanced/Excellent class of the All Star Performance Dogs Association Rally Tournament. This was the first time the All Star competition included Rally, so the win was a historic triumph for the Kerry Blue Terrier. I am sure I can speak for everyone in the Kerry community when I say we are all very proud of all these dogs and handlers! There is more on their achievements in the “Brags” section.

I hope right now everyone is planning their trip to Montgomery County for the big terrier trials and shows. I plan to really test my “mature” boy by having him run agility and compete in both Utility and Open obedience on the same day. His 8 year old muscles will probably be a little sore by the weekend, but hopefully not too sore to have fun. We’ll do a lot of jogging and walking to get ready for the week.

I do hope many people make the trip, although with the recent horror that Katrina (the storm) has wrought along our eastern coast, I know it will be hard for many. This is a trying time and I wish the best for those affected by this storm. It came to my attention that some confusion about how brags get posted might be out there. All the brags I post have been emailed to me by the owner of the dog or the breeder of the dog. I do not have access to information that is not sent to me, and even if I do know a dog has achieved some title or win, I never know if the owner of a dog wants a brag posted unless they have emailed me. Please DO send in brags because I know all of us love to read them. No brag is too small! Funny stories are also welcome.

BRAGS

From Bryan and Dana Kincaid:
This past weekend our Kerry Blue Terrier, Daisy, completed AKC's Master Agility Champion (MACH) title. Her new title is CH MACH Kerigolf Flower Power.

With this title, Daisy enters an elite circle. She is one of only three Kerry Blue Terriers that have earned an AKC Championship title in any non-Conformation event; she is one of only 2 Kerries that has earned the MACH; and she stands alone as the first Kerry Blue Terrier to earn multiple AKC Championship titles.

We are especially proud of Daisy having earned her MACH at this time because she has made a strong and seemingly effortless return to Agility after a 4-month maternity leave. Her litter of 5 pups was just short of 12 weeks old when she earned the title. We have high hopes that Daisy's offspring will continue her winning ways. We owe special thanks to Daisy's breeder, Lynn Duckett, for demonstrating her faith in us - relative newbies at the time - by allowing us to adopt a very promising puppy. The breathtaking 12-week-old that Lynn sent home with us in 1999 has grown into the loving pet, keen competitor, wonderful mother, and history-making Kerry Blue Terrier that we dreamed of.

The MACH title generally takes years to achieve and demonstrates, over the course of many trials, a mastery of Agility's competing demands of speed and accuracy.

From Virginia Barishek:
Andy (Garryowen's Smarty Pants, UD, NA, RA) finished in First Place in the Advanced/Excellent class of the All Star Performance Dogs Association Rally Tournament, held in York, PA, on Friday, August 5, 2005.

Andy and Finn (Finbar's End of the Rainbow, RN--a USKBTC Rescue alumnus) were the only two Kerries entered in the tournament. Finn was entered in Rally Novice, which is done on leash, and does not include an Honor exercise. Although he tried hard, we finished last after two rounds. (But, he looked great in the practice ring.)

The Rally tournament consisted of two rounds for each class (Novice and Advanced/Excellent), with a possible 100 points in each round. Andy and I lost two points in each Advanced/Excellent round, for a total of four points, out of a possible two-round total of 200. Judge Roger Ayres's courses were challenging--18 stations plus the Honor exercise, performed at the end of the run, with a Down for Round 1 and a Sit for Round 2. The courses in Advanced/Excellent were a combination of stations used in the Advanced and Excellent classes under AKC Rally rules; however, handling as permitted in the Advanced class was allowed. The walk-through for Round 1 began at 9 AM; the Round 2 walk-through began at 3 PM. Both runs for Rally Novice were in between, separated by a lunch break.

All the dog and handler teams in the Novice and the Advanced/Excellent classes were lovely to watch, showed wonderful teamwork, and clearly had a good time. It was a great experience, and I was happy that Andy and Finn qualified to enter (three scores averaging 95 points, from the same class and registry--either AKC or APDT--plus a title earned in that class, were required). Everyone who entered received a commemorative certificate, which states in part, "in recognition of the excellent performances that earned them the qualifications required to compete with the best-trained dogs in North America." I'm thrilled that the boys were able to be part of All Star's first Rally Tournament. It was truly an honor just to be there.

From Dana Flint:
Apollo, Ch. Harmony's Flint to Fire, hit the Rally ring in his true comic self.

Apollo has been dedicating his time to the show ring, so has spent little time in obedience classes for the past year. We were talked into doing Rally for a show that we were already entering for conformation. He is a Kerry Blue, and second he is my dog, so he is very smart. hehehe! We won Breed and then made the cut in the Group Ring, and then it was our time to really shine.
"183, be ready to go.”
I turned and looked down. "Ok Apollo, here we go." We stepped into the ring and stood in front of the start sign.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Apollo heel!” Like a racehorse out of the gate, he shot to the end of his leash. Panic set in, and then I remembered HEY! I can talk to him!
"Apollo now watch? Apollo?" Hello Apollo are you out there? Oh Hi! "Apollo, charge, stay!"
I dropped my leash and walked around him. Oh no! You don’t drop you leash!
"Apollo heel," and around the cones we went faster than a speeding bullet.
"Apollo Watch!"
"YELP!" Yes, I managed to step on his foot because he was wild and dodging in front of me. Finally! He is heeling beautifully beside me.
Call forward, heel right and sit. "Sit? sit? Apollo sit?" No way Mom, you just stepped on my foot! Wait, Apollo knows hand signals too! Hey, I love this Rally!

"Apollo heel," and off we went like we were picture perfect! We finished the last stations with no problems or having to beg to complete a simple exercise. We shot out the gate, Apollo went wild and I busted up laughing. My friend was laughing and wondered what we were doing out there. It was like we had seized a moment that all eyes were on us, and we were going to make it worth watching. After our performance, I’m sure many went and entered the next closest show, because they felt if those two can do it, we can. If someone would have put some music on, you would have thought we were doing freestyle.

Well I’m happy to report, Apollo and I marched back in proudly at the end of the trial and collected our beautiful green qualifying ribbon. Yes, oh yes we did get our 1st leg. I was and still am proud of our score of 79. Apollo and I made an agreement that our other legs will be in the 90's or that perfect 100.

From Jane Eno:
My Kerry Blue Terrier, Jessie, competed in his first NADAC agility trial. Although he did not “Q”, he still won a 1st, a 2nd and two 4th place ribbons competing in some fun classes like Tunners, Touch’N’Go, Jumpers and the Standard class. NADAC is a very fun place to compete in agility with lots of different types of courses – give it a try!

Last Updated: 09/08/2005, 12:17 pm