Kerry Blue Terrier Performance Newsletter

May 2008

By Jane Eno

Over the Memorial Day weekend I added a new member to my family,a 10 week old Kerry Blue Terrier puppy named Oscar. He is absolutely the most beautiful, sweet and smart puppy I have met since my last Kerry Blue Terrier and Shih Tzu. Could it be I’m smitten?

We have started a very gentle entry into training for everything we want to do. We are working on a nice tuck sit, a down, a stand, and a strong recall. For agility, we are working on a wobble board, entry into two weave poles, and running to a target. Oscar has a wonderful natural retrieve – racing out fast, grabbing hard, and returning quickly. This will make my life very easy, and I am just encouraging it with lots of praise and play.

Jessie has become the babysitter. Oscar wants to be touching Jessie or me at all times. Jessie actually seems to be enjoying the attention. Walking Oscar on a lead is much easier, when he has Jessie to trot behind.

It is hard not to want to try to get Oscar to do all the obedience and agility exercises right away. I am fighting the urge and letting him be a puppy and have fun. He’s got many years to learn all he needs to know, so right now I’m just trying to get to know him and teach him that going to new places and participating in training is lots of fun. We have already gone to some matches, where he has played with other puppies, gotten treats from friends, and watched other dogs in the ring. In a few month, he will participate in a match – but all that will entail is entering the ring and playing with toys and getting treats from the judge. There is no rush. We have lots and lots of time to perfect everything we want to do.

BRAGS

From Lisa Frankland:
Busy month...and it's not over yet. But in two weekends of obedience trials, Katie has picked up three more UDX legs, for a total of seven. I'm crossing my fingers that the end just may be in sight! We've also earned two more double Q's in agility and been having a lot of fun. We'll be in Amarillo for the AOTC agility trials Memorial Day weekend, and then that will be it for at least 6 weeks.

I did manage to drive up the road a bit to Colorado to attend the Terrier Only Performance Summit (TOPS) May 16-18, put on by the Rocky Mountain All Terrier Club and too many dedicated (or maybe obsessed) volunteers to mention. The RMATC put on three days of agility, obedience, and rally, with a fourth day of Earthdog trials at another location. Five Kerries and their owners participated in this inaugaral event:
Lisa Frankland (NM) with Katie Rae (CH Casey's Rae of Sunshine UD RE MX MXJ), in obedience and agility
Maggie Hall (CA) with Bird (True Type's Taylor Made AX MXJ XF) and Riley (CH MACH Kallehan's Blue Moon Rising RN XF), in agility (both) and rally (Riley)
Josephine (Jo) Porter (NM) with Zoe (Tontine's Once in a Blue Moon CDX RA MX AXJ OAP OAJP) in agility and rally
Betty Richardson (CO) with Riley (Dalton's Riley RN AX AXJ XF) in agility

Rosettes and engraved silver platters were awarded to the top scoring dog in each breed and to the top four terriers overall. Katie Rae was awarded TOPS in Kerry Blue Terriers and finished in eighth place overall, earning four qualifying scores in obedience, including a UDX leg, OTCh points, and a high combined; and three qualifying scores in agility, including a "double Q." Close behind was Maggie Hall's Riley, with three qualifying scores and a title in rally novice and three qualifying scores, including a double Q, in agility. Riley and Maggie also took home an original drawing by Nanette Loya for being the top agility Kerry in the competition.

In addition to Maggie and Riley earning their RN title, Jo Porter and Zoe earned their Rally Advanced (RA) title along with their preferred open agility titles (OAP and OAJP).

There was a fantastic catered dinner at the show site on Saturday night, and I had a lot of fun socializing with the other competitors and seeing Katie's breeders and my friends Lois Croley and Charlene Dwyer, and another friend, Sarah Thompson. And Katie got to unwind from the day's competitions and provide part of the evening's entertainment by performing her favorite trick in front of everyone: popping balloons as fast as she could! TOPS didn't draw the number of participants this year that Kimberton does, but it was great competition and a lot of fun. I'm predicting it will only get bigger, and even better (i.e. MORE KERRIES), in the coming years!

From Jane Eno
Just to remember you can’t keep an old dog down, at least if it is a Kerry Blue Terrier, my 10 and half year old boy Jessie picked up another UDX leg in May and a few other Qs in Open and Utility. He still loves to go into the obedience ring and have fun showing off all he knows.

Last Updated: 06/16/2008, 8:07 pm