New *NATCH* Acadia's Warrior Princess

About a month ago Linda send the following message, "Xena and I are back to agility once again.  I tore the ligament in my foot in January of 2014.  Dang old body of mine keeps getting in the way of agility.  She was going very well before I had that back surgery in 2012.  Then my foot, then her cataract surgery.  She never forgets what to do even with the breaks.  She is one super little dog.  Anyway, I hope to have a great picture with her, a judge, and a NATCH bar soon.  We only need one CHANCES run. 

Here are her latest NADAC titles.

ECC         Elite Chances                           2-3-14

Elite Versatility                                          2-3-14    

O-TN-E    Outstanding Elite Tunnelers     2-23-14

O-EAG-E Outstanding Elite Regular        2-23-14

NATCH Regular                                       3-16-14

NATCH Tunnelers                                    3-29-14

1,000Lifetime Points                                 3-30-14

O-EJC-E  Outstanding Elite Jumpers       3-30-14

O-ECC-E  Outstanding Elite Chances      5-26-14

NATCH Jumpers                                      11-16-14

Thanks again for all your support.  I enjoy this little dog so much and she continues to amaze me."

The North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC), Agility Trial Championship (NATCH) requires a dog and handler team to earn 230 Elite Regular, 130 Elite Regular, 130 Elite Chances, and 130 Elite Jumpers points.

Well, here is the Great Picture with Linda, Xena, and the judge of that last Chances Run.  CONGRATULATIONS  LINDA AND XENA.   We are so proud of you!

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Linda and Xena are Back and Running!!!

Linda Hall and Xena were going at a back breaking pace....  and it turned out, that statement was almost the truth.  She had gotten Xena spring 2010 and I was beginning to think that they were going to MACH by 2 years of age (keep in mind you can't start trialing until 15 months of age).  But then,  in January 2011 Linda needed back surgery. 

 

Linda had a long recovery- but finally, she is BACK!  I am so glad that she has recovered and I sincerely hope that she feels like a new person!  This weekend she went to a NADAC agility trial and Xena qualified 5 out of 6 runs and placed 1st 4 times and second 1st.

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Cache and Xena have a very good weekend

(picture of Cache taken at home in our yard)
Cache was Winners Dog on Sunday for his first 2 points. Saturday he was Reserve Winners Dog. That is certainly a nice way to start a show career. This was Cache's first dog show, and it was indoors. I had chosen to set up my grooming space along a wall. I didn't give much thought to the electrical outlet that was way above my head- until Saturday when one of the extension cords that was plugged into it blew up with a loud bang and a flash of light. Someone had plugged in a damaged cord, and had electrical tape around the damaged area, but then plugged a strip into the extension cord and had 3 dryers coming off of it. That was too much for the damaged extension cord and it blew up- right over the crates my dogs were in. I thought, "oh my gosh. I have just ruined Cache forever!" Nope. Luckily we had already shown that day, and the next day he won! It is so nice to have good steady temperaments!

Linda called Sunday night to say that Xena (littermate to Cache) had completed an ASCA jumpers course in 5.84 feet per second- that is SMOKE'N! Good luck keeping up with her Linda! I think it is so cool that Linda competes in so many different agility venues. That is a great way to keep the dogs interested and up on the game. Each venue focuses on a different aspect of the sport. For one venue it is speed, or another it is the ability to call your dog off an obstacle, or another it is the ability to handle from a distance. Each is a good skill and each gives confidence and makes the dogs think.

It is so nice to be able to report on the successes these dogs and their owners are having.

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Tucker then and now

Donna Dugger sent this picture of Tucker- the puppy is Tucker as a baby, and a current picture of him. He is sired by Rincon x Faith and a littermate to Xena and Finn.

Donna reports that he has 2 Q's in Jumpers and one in Touch n' Go. She said he is super fast too.

Thanks for the picture and update Donna.

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First AKC agility title for Acadia's Warrior Princess, *NAJ*

WHOO HOO Linda and Xena!! You two are SMOKIN'! These two were the Star of the Trials! Xena had 3 runs each for Standard and Jumpers with weaves. She qualified all three times in Jumpers to complete her first AKC agility title. Not only did she qualify three consecutive times, but she placed 1st in her class TWICE and was 2nd in her class the other time- each class had at least 7 dogs competing, so that is quite a nice win!
Linda says, "I could not be more pleased with her progress. She listens, watches me, and loves to jump."
I am just so excited for these two. Thanks for the great video!

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Xena's ASCA jumpers run- For exhibition only

In order to compete in ASCA agility, you must be 18 months old. Xena is only 16 months old- so she couldn't compete to gain qualifing scores towards a title. HOWEVER... in this run, if she WAS able to officially compete, she would have place 1st !! Her time was 22 seconds- standard course time was 42 seconds.

She ran a second course on this day, but Linda was not able to video that run. Xena's time for her second run was 19 seconds. Have fun keeping up Linda!! :-)

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Linda Hall, Donna Dugger and Tucker

Linda Hall lives in TX and owns the infamous Xena. This summer she and her family traveled to South Dakota for vacation. Xena's brother, Tucker, lives in South Dakota with Donna. Linda contacted Donna and got to meet Xena's brother. She said the two of them are so similar- Linda just fell in love with Tucker.


I just LOVE the fact that dogs bring people together! I LOVE having a a much larger family- thank you guys- you are the BEST!!!!!!!!!

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12 months old, 1st in a 12 dog class, jumping 12"

The Rincon X Faith litter turns a year old today. I am having so much fun following the successes of this litter. They are all doing so well. Today Linda called to say that she took Xena to a TDAA- Teacup agility trial. Xena has never done a full course and she had 4 runs today. She Qualified in 2 of the 4. This is not an AKC venue (AKC will not allow dogs to compete until they are 15 months old), and one of the courses had to be run "mute'. In other words, the handler can not talk, clap their hands, click, or any other noise- it is ALL body language!!! Xena Qualified! That demonstrates teamwork!

Xena placed first in the 12" standard class. There were 12 dogs in the class (of all ages). This is a huge accomplishment. Linda celebrated with balloons, cake, and 1 happy dog! The next day Xena followed up with more "Q's" (qualifing scores) and a NEW TITLE!!! The picture above is with Linda Hall and judge Courtney Keys.

Finn (pictured right) wanted to have his picture taken with sheep today, but the snow was too deep to even get the sheep out of the barn. Poor Finn- he loves his sheep.

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Xena doing Weaves with front cross

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9 month old Xena is doing 15 obstacles

Linda Hall called on Sunday to tell me about Xena. Xena is one of the Rincon x Faith puppies and this week she will be 9 months old. If you click on Xena's Label to the right- you will get to see a few videos of her as a young puppy. Linda has been training Xena from the moment she got off the plane- but this past weekend Xena really showed her accelerated training.

Linda went to a NADAC agility trial to compete with her two older dogs. Xena went along for the socialization and experience. One of the nice things about NADAC is there are LOTS of classes to compete in and each one is very different. In AKC there are only 2 classes- Standard, which is jumps, weave poles, tunnels and 3 "contact obstacles", or Jumpers which is just jumps, weave poles and tunnels (no contact obstacles).

At the trail that Linda was at, a class called "Tunnelers"- (because every obstacle is a tunnel) was the last class of the day. Linda stayed to help the club clean up, and when most everyone was gone, she asked if it would be OK to run the course with Xena. They said yes and Xena ran a 15 obstacle course under course time!!!!!!! How GREAT IS THAT!

Linda had to send her from one tunnel to the next, making sure she took the correct entrance, making sure she took the correct TUNNEL! It is not easy to do a course where all obstacles are the same- but it is even harder when the dog can not see you most of the time (because she is inside a TUNNEL!). Changes of course, become more difficult and your signals must be clear and the dog must understand, or they "pop back out" the same way they went into the tunnel. Linda was amazed at the maturity level and work ethic of Xena. True- Xena has work ethic and drive- but it is Linda who is developing the mental mind of this dog and making Xena the working partner she is becoming. Congratulations Linda and Xena- I KNOW we will continue to be reporting GREAT THINGS about you two.

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10-20-2010 I just had to post!

So I missed posting on 10-10-10, but I happen to think today's date is better! 10-20-2010

It's a good thing Lori sent me this really cool picture of Cache (tri in back) and Tryk (sable in front). The legs are exactly the same! What a great picture- perfect timing Lori!

Cache is owned by Morene Brown (owner of WIT, Kiabab and Mike) and Tryk is owned by Lori Grega- both in Tucson, AZ. Cache is from the Rincon x Faith litter and is a littermate to Xena and Finn and Tryk is from the Manny x Glory litter.

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17 week old Xena Working on 2 on 2 off

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Where did the tri puppies go?

I am really looking forward to reporting on the successes of this litter.
Xena- girl- is in Texas in an agility home
Finn- boy- is in Nevada in a herding/agility home
Tucker- boy- is in South Dakota in an agility home
Cashe- boy- is in Arizona in an agility/herding home
Willow (pictured)- boy- is in Pennsylvania in a pet home
Harley- boy- is in Pennsylvania- in a pet home across the street from me!

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Xena at 10 weeks 2 days- one of the cute tri puppies

This is the Cutest video of the female puppy from the Rincon x Faith puppy litter. She is in an agility home in Texas. Thank you Linda for sending this video. Linda has put a few really, really cute videos of Xena learning tricks, playing and doing agility on YouTube .

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7 weeks

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Faith's puppies eyes have opened

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It's A Boy!

Faith is currently delivering her puppies. So far 3 boys*

She had me worried at one point and I even called the Vet. She had started into light labor in the afternoon. Mike came home from work early and asked how she was doing, "good, I think she will have them during dinner- let's eat early." I said. We had dinner around 5:00pm (we normally eat late) and Faith had just started having some harder contractions.

At 6:23 I started writting down her contractions- two hard ones both within 6:23, 4 contractions within 6:30, 5 contractions within 6:40..... and so it went, about every 10 minutes she would have a series of hard contractions right in a row. From 7:42-7:43 she had 13 good contractions- but no puppy. Should I call the Vet? Mike, my voice of reason said, not yet. At 8:30pm I couldn't stand it any more- I called, but got the answering service, so I had to wait for him to call me back.

He called back right away. While I was on the phone with him, the first sack appeared. Phew! I guess I just needed to let Faith know I really meant it.

Birthing takes time- but I am not very patient when it comes to labor. So much CAN go wrong during birth. I just hate to see so much effort and no result. I know, I know plenty of people have stories of being in labor for HOURS.

The first puppy was a little larger than the other two. First puppy weighed 244 grams, 2nd puppy 214 grams, 3rd puppy 208 grams. All are doing well and so is Faith. There are more to come, but I am much more relaxed- and if she wants to take a few hour break between puppies, I am OK with that now- the first one (3 actually) is out and doing fine.
* Faith had 6 puppies - 5 boys and 1 girl.

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