Spark is now 18 months old. In the dog world that means she is now old enough to compete in agility trials. We celebrated her coming of age by entering two agility trials back to back. The UKI Western Spring cup and a CKC agility trial the following weekend.
Spark exceeded my expectations. She was confident and happy each and every time we entered the ring. We ran 7 runs both days of the UKI trial and she gave me 110% on every run. Spark was fast, sassy and loving every minute of it. Spark won the 12" Speedstakes Challenge, won the second 12" Masters Series, earned a bye into the finals at Nationals and earned her first agility title: Beginner International Dog! It was a thrill to run Spark on some very challenging courses and we held our own against dogs much older and more experienced than her. Unfortunately I was too busy hosting the event and running two dogs to get any videos. I wish I had of taken the time to get a few of her runs recorded. I would have loved a record of our first time in the ring together.
Our CKC trial debut was equally successful with Spark qualifying in all her runs and earning her Novice Agility and Novice Jumpers titles. I did manage to get a few of those runs on video, they are below.
Spryte was also entered in both trials. The UKI trial was her first event since September and since whelping her last litter. The UKI trial had some highs and lows for Spryte. She was pretty excited to be trialing again and her self control was really lacking at times. She leaped off a few contacts and ran past me a few times to take off course tunnels. But she also had some really great runs, winning the 16" Masters Series on the first day of competition.
The CKC trial was a huge success for Spryte and I. This was the first trial that she held pretty much every single contact all weekend long. It has been over a year since this has occurred. I have been battling getting control of her contacts ever since I tried to teach her a running Aframe last winter. I have struggled with her leaping off contacts in competition for a year and I was really wondering if I would ever get back the reliable dog I used to have. But this past weekend control happened for us and I now look forward to future competitions with Spryte.
Our little pack of Shelties has increased to four. It was not my intention to keep from our Quick/Spryte litter, but after several homes fell through for Syrah I decided that she was meant to be my dog. She is an amazing little puppy with tons of drive and heart. Syrah is the happiest Sheltie puppy I have ever met. Her tail never stops wagging, and there is always a smile on her face. We joke that she is half lab puppy. I am so happy I kept her and I am having a blast raising and training another little spitfire puppy. I will try and post more often with updates on Syrah. I really love this puppy!
