Report for May 2006

By Jane Eno

Below are two stories, one by Eve Fishell, the breeder, and the other Evelyn Gansfuss, the owner, of Phoenix about her recent accomplishment finishing her OTCH. I want to thank them for putting this together for the newsletter. Following their writing, we have a long list of wonderful performance brags. May was a very exciting month for many performance Kerry Blue Terriers – setting the tone for a very fun summer of trials and adventures.

OTCH TANTARA’S COSMIC PHOENIX UDX2 NAJ

By Eve Fishell and the Tantara Kerries

I was asked to get Evelyn to write about Phoenix, and she sent us the following wonderful insight into Obedience Competition at the highest level.

The Obedience Trial Championship is the only Championship title, other than Conformation, entirely depended on defeating other dogs. To get an OTCH, the dog/handler team must have 3 first place placements under 3 different judges, with at least one in Open B and one in Utility B. Only one of these may be at a specialty. They have to accumulate 100 points, receiving points for placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th depending on the number of dogs competing. It takes 6 to 10 dogs to get 2 points for placing first in Open B and 20 to 30 dogs to get any points for placing fourth. Now you must imagine how difficult this becomes when your competitors include the top Obedience Handlers with their Border Collies and Goldens, many already Obedience Trial Champions.

I am privileged to have had Evelyn choose two of my Kerries. As I often said, it is every breeder’s dream to have their puppies attain their full potential. But in this instance, my puppies were guided to far beyond their potential. I pride myself on breeding healthy, sound, friendly, clever, trainable Kerries. Having said that, no one can be more aware of my Kerries' weaknesses. They are very soft - any force will shut them down. They learn fast, but get stale easily; they get bored and slow down and become inattentive. In short,make it fun or forget it! Harsh training simply does not work with Kerries – mine or anyone else’s. Too much repetition is deadly. Yet Evelyn is able to keep them working accurately and happily at this highest competition level.

THE DAY OF THE OTCH

By Evelyn Gansfuss

It was one of those strange days. When I got up it was 40 degrees and frost was on the grass. I hate those days because the dogs get wet. I arrived at the show needing approx 10 points, (later I found out is was only 9). We got settled, Phoenix and the three poodles. The sun came out, and it got hot and humid. But that didn't last long, because you could see the storm clouds coming in and hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.

I thought, "Oh no, Phoenix is afraid of thunder and doesn't like working in the rain." It rained and then cleared up and got hot again. What a dilemma. Was it going to be sunny and hot or cold and raining?

Dogs were failing left and right. Mostly silly things - or losing major points for crooked go-outs or going right to finish. But you never know what can happen in Utility B. My turn was coming soon and so were the dark rain clouds. As the dog ahead of us was doing the last exercise, it suddenly started to rain, and you could hear the thunder in the distance. We went in and much to my surprise Phoenix didn't pay any attention to the thunder and the judge remarked how wet she was. We qualified, and I was pleased with her performance and thought her fronts and finishes were good.

The class was finally over, and I had not entered Open B, since it wasn't necessary as I had several Open 1sts. The judge called out 4th place, then 3rd, then 2nd and I was keeping a lookout for the Border Collie who usually beats us. The judge called out the 1st place number and the Border Collie didn't move, and I suddenly realized it was our number. Without Zeke I had no idea how many competed and how many points there were. He always kept track for everyone.

24 dogs competed in Utility B ( only 9 qualified) and that meant 24 OTCH points. More than I needed to finish her OTCH and my score was 196 1/2. Phoenix finished in style. What a gal.


BRAGS

From Virginia Barishek
Brag from Garryowen's Smarty Pants, UD, NA, RE: At Allentown DTC, May 20, 2006, Andy got his 2nd UDX leg with a 180 under judge Virginia Kinion in Utility B, and a 186 under judge Janet Lewis in Open B. This was exactly 10 days after celebrating his 10th birthday.

From Tracey Fulmer
Bailey (Lynmar My Bleu Heaven OA OAJ) now has one leg in both AKC Excellent A Jumpers and Standard agility and one in USDAA Starters Jumpers. It would have been two legs in Excellent Jumpers, but he decided not to stop at the end of a clean run; rather he went to visit a vendor who had toys displayed right outside the ring. So we got a "refusal" on that run, thanks to his being a Kerry. Still, I wouldn't trade him for the fastest Border Collie in the world, (although the thought did briefly cross my mind!)

From Susan Coliton
Eidenbock's Jamison Lee, CD, RAE - this title was completed on May 13th at Davis Dog Training Club in Dixon, CA. with second placement in both Excellent B and Advanced B . . . Nice scores of 90 and 95.

From Lisa Frankland
Katie Rae finished her Companion Dog Excellent title in style on Friday, with a 193 and 1st place in Open A at Sandia Dog Obedience Club's trial here in Albuquerque. She also let me know why she chose today to finish--partly to give me an unforgettable birthday/Mother's Day present, but more because the judge we qualified under, Pamela Weaver, is the same judge that Lav finished his CDX under in 1993. The judge got a big kick out of hearing that, especially when my instructer showed her the title photograph of the two of us with Lav, (my all-time favorite show picture of Lav), and then being told that Lav is still bopping around at 16. We did our best to duplicate our poses from Lav's win photo with Katie's, so hopefully I'll end up with something just as special.

Katie especially enjoyed dismembering the stuffed teddy bear she got for winning the class. :-)
On to playing in Rally while we finish proofing Utility!

From Jane Eno
Jessie got three more Excellent level Agility legs in the Preferred classes. He now only needs one more in Standard and one more in Jumpers to get his titles.

Last Updated: 07/09/2006, 6:23 am