Terriers Only Performance Summit

[bradl]

It's not too early to begin planning to attend a celebration of terriers in Greeley Colorado next May: four AKC events (subject to AKC approval) Agility, Rally, Obedience, and Earthdog.

Agility, Rally and Obedience are sponsored by the Rocky Mountain All-Terrier Club. Earthdog is sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Earthdog Club.

Plans are tentative, but here is what is being discussed:

[Greg P]

Thanks, Brad

It looks like a good time.

[PeppersMom]

This sounds like a great event...was wondering how dogs would respond to the thinner mountain air if we were to attend? I live in Minnesota.

[kjwarnold]

Now that we've got an RV (and a nephew in Denver), this might be a good road trip for us. Even if Packy doesn't compete, we could learn a lot and he could give some things a try if they would let him. I'll be interested in hearing if anyone else is attending.

Of course, we've always got Purina Farms here and the All Terrier Fun Days coming up. But we could do both!

[bradl]

We're planning on attending.

[bradl]

Entries are open! Entries close 6:00 p.m. (MT) April 23, 2008. Some events are limited, so don't delay.

Full premium List [pdf]

Obedience/Rally entry form [ pdf / doc ]

Agility entry form [ pdf / doc ]

Earthdog entry form pdf

More information

All information: TOPS2008.net

[goforette]

Thanks for the info brad, even if my girls don't participate, it would be great to go see since we're so close to Greeley -

[bradl]

Well, we're camped out in Rawlins, Wyoming tonight and will be rolling in to TOPS HQ tomorrow. Hope to see some Cairn folk this weekend! We'll be providing object lessons in How Not To Do It in Novice Obedience and Rally if you want to say Hi.

[bradl]

Found some open WiFi at the TOPS site, so...reporting in from Day One at TOPS. The Island Grove Regional Park is an awesome venue for this event. There is tons of setup space and the rings are perfectly laid down. I don't know diddly about agility so I'll have to ask how that building is for competitors. It rocks that everything is all terriers, everywhere.

Lots of Cairns here! The Colorado folks are well represented of course (and nice as pie). The Cairn Terrier Club of Denver had a Meet the Breed display and gave every Cairn entered a goodie bag which was cool. I'm afraid I lost track of who did what with so many Cairns participating in everything ... so I can only report for the Northwest contingent (as best I can recall).

Our friend Missi and the UD Cairn Tucker qualified in Utility and *just* missed a UDX leg when Tucker laid down on the long sit in Open.

In Novice obedience Stella did not qualify. Apparently "stand for exam" does not mean "play catch me if you can with the judge." Echo already has a Novice leg with today's judge, so she had a "bye" day for obedience.

In Rally Novice we hit the trifecta, with Haggis, Echo, and Barley all qualifying. It was our very first time in a rally ring so we were happy to get out alive.

[Greg P]

It is Val, reading Greg's computer...I am sooooooooooo jealous! Sure wish I was there too...next year. Yeah for the northwest. Okay if I post the info on our blog?

[bradl]

Saturday update. The weather was clear and warm today. I loved it. (Even though all events except the earthdog demo were inside). The host club - the Rocky Mountain All Terrier Club - put on a nice dinner event. The event dinner featured a hilarious "Best Trick" contest. The eventual winner was a Norwich who danced, "sang," jingled a whistle, played a toy piano, said his prayers, and then pulled a blanket over himself to go to bed.

Tucker had an off day and didn't qualify in Utility or Open. Not sure what he did in agility.

Stella NQ'd again for the same reason as Friday (stand for exam). Her Heel Free was excellent, losing only three points.

In Rally Novice, Haggis and Barley both qualified again, with scores of 92 and 93 respectively. At the TOPS dinner tonight, Barley and a Border Terrier both got prizes for being the oldest dogs entered in competition (both are 13).

In the obedience ring, despite never sitting even one time today (to the obvious bemusement of the judge) Echo qualified again, earning her CD title in her first three entries.

[mattoleriver]

Congratulations on the Qs and the new title!

George

[bradl]

Last post before I lose wifi as we head up to the earthdog site.

Tucker had an off day in agility, but qualified in Utility.

Stella had a three-peat of her stand-for-exam NQ. She only lost 3 points (each) on her heeling. She'll be terrific when she conquers that danged SFE. Stella had her first try in Rally Novice and qualified for her first leg.

Echo earned a "safety" leg in Novice B obedience, by the skin of her teeth. She earned her second Rally Novice leg with a 91.

Barley and Haggis completed their sweep of Rally Novice and earned their RN titles! Haggis learned a flip finish during warmpup in time to score a 95. Yay for the senior Cairns.

Carins were the second highest entry at TOPS, (18, second to the Borders with 32). Andrea Faucette with her dog Dottie earned the TOPS Cairn cumulative points award, as well as a MACH 11 (!) effective today. Awesome.

Will report on earthdog happenings on the road home, probably Tuesday night. Time to pack the RV and head for the hills above Fort Collins.

[Greg P]

Brad,

Looks like you're going to be bringing home a bushel basket full of green ribbons! Way to go!

[bradl]

Looks like you're going to be bringing home a bushel basket full of green ribbons!

That's a fact. I'll post a picture when I get home and have a cable to get the silly pic out of my camera.

Added two more on Monday at the earthdog venue: Stella and Haggis Q'd in Master. Echo NQ'd on several counts. Barley did it all, but at 13 she just took too darn long to reach the quarry. As I waited for Peggy and Barley to come down off the hill with the judge, their bracemate's owner melted my heart with raves about how impossibly *darling* Barley was. Eathdog people are the best!

We hope to make it home tomorrow, but twelve hours is a lot for these aging bodies in this RV heap, so it might be Thursday before home sweet home.

[bradl]

It took 13 hours to get from Brigham City Utah to home, battling white-knuckle wind gusts almost the entire way. At one point I swear I thought the RV would simply be blown over. The Columbia River Gorge was actually worse than Utah and Idaho - we had both wind and curves. Yikes. The wind KILLED our gas mileage (as you'll see on our refrigerator whiteboard).

Here's a shot of a whiteboard we have on the freezer door of our unit. We use it to keep track of ringtimes, etc.

An here's a shot of our haul We have four dogs and they were entered in five events each. We pulled Haggis and Barley from Veteran Obedience after watching a Utility dog leave the ring to sniff along one wall (rodent?), deciding to put our focus on their third and final Rally Novice legs. All told, thirteen Q's and 3 titles for the trip. Some of them none too pretty, but hey, the ribbon is the same color for a low score as for a high score. Haggis wins our prize for most improved. In his and my very first entry in Rally we stumbled around (literally!) to squeak out a 70. His second leg we got a 92 and on his third leg, we got a 95. I guess you can teach an old dog (and handler) new tricks!

OK, I'm done bragging. I sure hope that next year we'll see lots more Cairn brags from TOPS. It's a terrific event in a fantastic venue. If any TOPS 2008 Cairns wander in to Cairn Talk, be sure to post your brags!

[Greg P]

Very nice, Brad and Peggy,

Nothing builds a better relationship between a dog and owner than training, then competing. Every ribbon represents a little tangible piece evidence of your love for your cairns.