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Kerry Blue Terrier Performance Newsletter
By Jane Eno
Hope all is going well with everyone, and they are out there training and trialing their kerries. I’m having a blast trialing my Kerry Blue Terrier, Jessie, on a limited basis now. He is only competing in Obedience and Tracking for right now. He is officially retired from agility competition. (We will run agility occasionally for fun, but without the weaves, which he does not seem to enjoy as he has aged). It is fun trialing an older more experienced dog. We pick up Qs in Open B and Utility B on a regular basis now, with High Scoring Terrier prizes and such thrown in. This last weekend I entered him in my own local obedience club trial, where he picked up a UDX leg. People that are starting in obedience often ask me, "When do you stop feeling nervous?" I, at last, have the answer. After you’ve receive a Q 36 times in Open and 35 times in Utility, (that is the number we have reached), that knee shaking does stop. I can honestly say that 90% of the time I no longer feel at all nervous. I’m sure when I get a new puppy, the nervousness will return.
This week we have a correction to the Open A, First & Foremost Points for 2006, and the Open and Utility First & Foremost Points for 2006. (This includes both Open and Utility, A and B classes. B classes are for dogs that have finished their titles).
First & Foremost Points for 2006
Published in Front and Finish.
First and Foremost points are based on scores won by dogs, not on placements. Novice A Obedience competition is open only to dog and handler teams that have never received an obedience title before. If the handler or dog has ever received a title, they must show in Novice A. Congratulations to both the Novice A handlers for competing in Obedience for the very first time.
Open A is the second level of obedience training. Any dog that has a CD but has not yet earned a CDX and is owned/shown by a handler who has never earned an OTCH with a dog competes in this class.
Front & Finish® Score Point Schedule
Score Range Point Value
200 = 8 Points
198.0 - 199.5 = 7 Points
195.0 - 197.5 = 6 Points
190.0 - 194.5 = 5 Points
185.0 - 189.5 = 4 Points
180.0 - 184.5 = 3 Points
175.0 - 179.5 = 2 Points
170.0 - 174.5 = 1 Point
Correction to Open A (as published in July):
2006 Open A First & Foremost Points
2.CH Casey’s Rae Of Sunshine CDX RA OA AXJ
L Frankland/L Croley – 15
Reported in error by Front and Finish as 10 points. Katie received 3 first places in Open A to achieve the fifteen points, all scores in the 190s. Congratulations to Katie and Lisa on this very admiral accomplishment.
2006 First & Foremost Points
1.OTCH Tantara’s Cosmic Phoenix UDX2 NAJ
E Gansfuss 103
2.U-CD Garryowen’s Smarty Pants UD NA RAE
V Barishek 51
3.CH Wedgewood Blubelle Of The Snow CD RA
C Oddi/H Wert/R Schaefer/M Schaefer 18
4.CH Casey’s Rae Of Sunshine CDX RA OA AXJ
L Frankland/L Croley 15
5.Primrose Jessie James UDX RA NA NAJ OAP AJP
J Eno 10
6.Wildside’s Quiet Man CD RA
P Sontag/W Sontag 4
From Betty Richardson
Grand Junction, CO
Hi Jane,
Just wanted to share my brag: Riley earned his Open FAST title at the Front Range Agility Association of Denver's trial in Castle Rock, Colorado on Sept. 30. He is now Dalton's Riley RN,OA,AXJ,OF.
Kimberton 2007
Lisa Frankland
(Finally, I’d like to include Lisa Frankland’s write up on the performance events at Kimberton during Montgomery week. I’d love to hear from others on the fun they had at these events.)
The Kimberton All-Terrier Trials had another great year, with a strong turnout from the Kerry Blues, especially in agility. We had four days of agility trials, each day hosted by a different national breed club. The Kerries and their owners who competed this year were:
- Jane Eno with Jessie
- Eve Fishell with Tonka, Tide, and Molly
- Lisa Frankland with Katie Rae
- Tracey Fulmer with Bailey and Isobel
- Maggie Hall with Riley
- Bryan and Dana Kincaid with Daisy and Wendy
- Jim and Judy Ricketts with Jenny
- Brenda Vogel with Bates
- Carol Wert with Belle
- Finnegan (Sorry, didn't catch his owner's name, though this is the second year I have watched them compete, and I really enjoyed visiting with her.)
Because we've been getting such a nice turnout for the agility trials, this year we divided up the awards into three different categories: Excellent, Novice/Open, and Preferred (all levels). We gave out prizes to the top-scoring dogs in each category for each day and overall. Winners were determined by both the number of "Q's" (qualifying scores) and how quickly they completed each qualifying run. These dogs and handlers were the technical winners--but then I am fond of saying that every trained dog, regardless of titles earned or prizes won, is a winner!
Excellent
Tuesday: Katie Rae :-)
Wednesday: Bates
Thursday: Bates (Brenda's dog is a real pistol on the courses--literally a barking bullet!)
Friday: Riley
Overall: Tide (She and Daisy had more Q's than anybody else--consistency pays! Congratulations to Eve Fishell on this well-deserved win.)
Katie Rae also finished her Master Agility Excellent title (MX) during the week, while Carol Wert's girl, Belle earned her Excellent Jumpers (AXJ) with some beautiful, attentive runs. Believe me, it's every bit as much of a thrill and honor to finish a performance title during Montgomery week as it is to complete a championship!
And I have to mention this, because the agility people are just so darn proud--this is the same that won a truly impressive veterans class at Montgomery, and then went on to receive an Award of Merit. Could this be because Riley, who turned 9 just five days after Montgomery, is in such great condition from running agility? He certainly did not look or act like a veteran in the ring on Sunday! We do know that much of his success and longevity in the agility ring can be attributed to correct structure, good temperament and health, and that elusive quality we call the heart of a champion. Congratulations to proud owner-handler Maggie Hall and her "nice cobby dog" on an awesome week--spending all day Saturday bathing and trimming Riley after running agility 6 of the previous 7 days turned out to be well worth it! And thank you to all the responsible breeders out there who strive to produce dogs that are beautiful, functional, and well-socialized. We couldn't do this without you! Nearly all of the Kerries that participated have champion parentage, and several are champions themselves.
Novice/Open
There were some nice runs, but no qualifiers in the regular Novice or Open classes on Tuesday or Friday. Wendy took home the honors Wednesday and Thursday, as well as overall. She also finished her Novice Agility Jumpers title (NAJ). Wendy is a daughter of Daisy, the first and so far only Kerry to earn both AKC conformation and performance championships. Breeding (and training) definitely tells! Looks like the Kincaids and their Kerries are going to be burning up the agility courses for a while yet.
Preferred (all levels)
Daisy, our breed's only Champion/MACH, and still raring to go after taking time off to recuperate from an injury, came back this year to compete in the preferred classes and swept this category, winning every day and overall by qualifying in six out of eight runs, and easily earning her Novice Preferred (NAP) and Novice Jumpers Preferred (NAJP) titles. It is always an privilege to see Daisy and Bryan working together, though Daisy would certainly never refer to agility as "work!"
Due to entry limits, the Terrier Group obedience and rally trials hosted by the PRTAA on Wednesday, October 3, was represented by only two Kerries, Katie Rae and Jessie. Several other Kerry owners tried to enter but were unable to because the trials had already filled. In fact, some of the top ranked obedience and rally Terriers in the country failed to make the entry. The overall competition was still excellent, but we're all hoping for no entry limits next year! Jessie and Jane Eno did our breed proud by placing second in a very nice Utility B class with a 194 1/2, which also made Jessie the high-scoring Kerry in the trial. Katie Rae earned a qualifying score in Open B, as well as a "double Q" towards her RAE in the rally trial.
Thank you to everyone who donated cash to the obedience/perfomance events fund, or contributed specific items for prizes. Thanks to the generosity of these people, we were able to award very nice prizes to our top-scoring dogs and offer dog toys to all the Kerries who participated. We hope to see more Kerry people next year, whether you are there to compete or just to watch! The Kimberton show site is in the Valley Forge area, just a short distance from the Devon site and easily accessible from the PA turnpike. Please plan on joining us!
Last Updated: 11/05/2007, 10:44 am
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