USAgility Training Center

All Breed Agility Training

Student News & Brags - 2008


Blue Star Noni - Double Q From Kim Dembinski:

The Streak Continued for Noni with a DOUBLE Q December 28th!  First place in Excellent A Standard and Second in Excellent A Jumpers.  Go Team Black Dog!


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

Nell - Title Highlights at Southwester Rottweiler Club of San Diego trial, December 27 and 28, 2008:
 
Nell won Novice B 12" Standard and Novice B 12" Jumpers/Weaves Saturday and titled on Sunday with another 1st-Place Q in Jumpers/Weaves (all 100's)!  This was Nell's second trial at 15 months of age.
 
Unfortunately, Nell switched to puppy mode in Standard on Sunday and continuously veered off to greet everyone around the ring!


Blue Star From Maria Marshall:

At the December 13 and 14th CPE trial in Temecula, Cherokee earned Qs in 7 out of 10 runs for the weekend, completing all necessary legs for her CPE Level 2 titles and making progress on Level 3 Standard.
 
Augie completed all his Level 1 legs and started on Level 2 legs by earning Qs in 9 out of 10 runs.
 
Meg continued working well at Level 3, Qing 8 out of 10 runs.


Red Star From Pat Rundel:

It wasn't the Q's that Rio got during the CPE trial in December that the brag is about, it was the fact that after 3 long years Rio finally did a teeter in competition.  It was such a great feeling and the cheering from my friends, they know how we have struggled, made this my biggest brag of 2008.
 
Thanks Sandy for taking us on and making me believe that it was possible to overcome this nemesis.  Rio and I usually fly by the seat of our pants in the hope of pulling out the big win.  Sandy is now giving us the skills and more importantly the confidence to do it right.
 
Rio and I may never get Double Q's, NATCH's, MACH's, etc., but we did get the teeter that one day in December and I won't forget how great if felt.


Blue Star From Kim Dembinski:

Noni Q'd 5 for 5 at the Temecula Valley CPE trial on December 14th.  One of the Qs was a Standard run that I didn't walk through because I was too focused on the snooker walk through at the same time!  She has moved up to Level 3 in all classes.  Thanks to Hilary and Frank for coming out to support us!


Red Star Team Black Dog From Kim Dembinski:

Noni emerged victorious in Excellent A Jumpers on Bruce and Sandy's wedding anniversary on December 7th.  This ended a 6 month no-Q streak!


Blue Star From Alyce Sumita:

Max
On November 22, 2008, at the AKC trial held at Rohr Park, my oftentimes unfocused and inattentive Basenji, Max, found his focus!  He double Q'd and we attained our long awaited NA and NAJ titles!
 
Thank you Sandy - those shoulder pulls and focus exercises really did the trick!!


Red Star From Maria Marshall:

Cherokee Augie
Cherokee earned her NADAC Novice Regular and Chances Agility titles at the UDAC Veterans on Parade Trial November 15th and 16th, 2008.  She was definitely a star as she came away with four 1st place Qs in her Regular runs and Qs both days in Chances.  She also had a 1st place Q in Jumpers on Sunday, and 2nd place Qs in Touch and Go and in Hoopers (our first time to run a Hoopers course!).
 
Augie also earned his Novice Regular Agility title, Q'ing in three of his four Regular runs!  He also Q'd both days in Jumpers (placing 3rd and 4th), and in his Hoopers run (placing 2nd).  This was Augie's first NADAC trial.
 
Meg wasn't feeling 100%, but did earn a Chances Q on Saturday and a Hoopers Q on Sunday, despite the awful heat.
 
It's great to see my dogs doing so well in multiple venues. Of course, they had great foundation training- thanks Sandy!


Blue Star Augie From Maria Marshall:

We attended the American Belgian Tervuren Club and Superstition Kennel Club trials in Tempe, Arizona, November 7-10th 2008.  On Sunday, Augie earned his Novice FAST title.  He competed in FAST on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, earning his three Q's in FAST runs on three consecutive days, placing first each day.
 
On Monday, Augie earned his Novice Standard title after receiving two first place Q's (Friday and Monday) and a 2nd place Q (Saturday) in Novice Standard runs.


Red Star From Maria Marshall:

On Saturday, October 25, 2008, at the San Diego Golden Retriver trial at Rohr Park, Augie ran a clean Jumpers with Weaves course for his Novice JWW title taking 3rd place.  On Sunday, Augie earned his first Open JWW Q taking 1st place.
 
On Sunday, Meg earned a first place Q in Excellent A Jumpers with Weaves-the only Excellent A dog to qualify.


Blue Star From Sandy Crook:

Highlights from the Golden Retriever Club of San Diego Agility Trial on Sunday, October 26, 2008, at Rohr Park, Bonita, CA; Hattie won Excellent B Jumpers/Weaves 12" (against 19 competitors) in 29:47 seconds (Standard Course Time was 46 seconds) earning 32 MACH pts.  (She was less than a second behind the overall fastest time winner in the 8" class.)  There were very few qualifiers in all heights.
 
Geronimo (dad) had a 3rd-Place Qualifier!


Red Star From Joy Vinson:

Roxy - First Trial
Roxy had her debut AKC Trial Sept. 27-28, at Rohr Park.  she walked away with two Jumpers Q's and two Standard Q's, in Novice, placing in all four.  We are very excited she did so well.  Thank you Sandy for your exceptional training.


Blue Star From Ian Long:

On Saturday, Oct 11 at the SCAT AKC trial, Misty Double Q'd earning her MX title.  On Sunday, Misty Q'd with a 4th place ribbon on the STD course.
 
Brandi earned a 1st place Q on the Open STD course.  She was the only 12 inch Open dog to Q.


Red Star From Diana Walker:

At the Aztec Doberman Pincher Club of San Diego AKC Trial on September 27 & 28, Dottie Qd on Saturday in Excellent B Standard with a 3rd and on Sunday with a 4th.
 
Pebbles Qd on Sat in Excellent B Standard and on Sunday in Excellent B JWW.


Blue Star Augie - Jump From Maria Marshall:

At the Aztec Doberman Pinscher Club of San Diego Trial on September 27th and 28th, Augie qualified, taking 1st both days, in Novice Jumpers with Weaves.
 
The boy loves to jump!


Red Star From Diana Walker:

At the Golden Retriever Club of Los Angeles AKC Trial August 30-September 1, Dottie on Saturday got a 1st in JWW and on Sunday got a Q in JWW.  On Monday she got a double Q with two 1st place finishes.
 
Pebbles got a Q in JWW on both Saturday and Sunday. On Monday she got a double Q.
 
It was a very hot weekend, but great fun.


Blue Star From Bruce & Sandy Crook:

Highlights at the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles three-day Labor Day trial, at Noble Creek Community Park, Beaumont, CA (the desert):
 
Despite a blown trailer tire en route to trial in 96-degree hot/humid weather, strong winds uprooting and twisting canopies and jumps and a heavy rain storm, Bruce had Qualifying Excellent Jumpers runs with Sparky and Tommy!
 
Sandy with Hattie had Qualifying Excellent Jumpers runs each day and Geronimo topped that with a Double Q!


Red Star From Maria Marshall:

Augie - Tire Jump
Cherokee earned her Standard/Level 2 title at the August 16-17th CPE Trial with two 1st place qualifying runs on Saturday.  She ran Wildcard/Level 2 for a 1st place Q and also had a 1st place Q in Jackpot/Level 2.  On Sunday, she had two 1st place qualifying runs in Standard/Level 3 and one in Full House/Level 2.
 
Meg worked well in Level 3, earning qualifying runs in Wildcard (3rd), Snooker (2nd), and Colors (4th) on Saturday.  On Sunday, Meg qualified in Standard (5th), Colors (2nd), Wildcard (2nd), and Full House (4th).
 
Augie, the foster/permanent poodle, joined our group for his first outing at this trial.  He started off his agility career with two 1st place qualifying runs in Wildcard and Snooker on Saturday.  He placed in several other events over the weekend, as well, but didn't have any other qualifying runs.  Augie took three private lessons with Sandy before joining her group classes in mid June-two months ago!
 
Great reflection on Sandy's training that we could even come close to being ready for a trial this early in Augie's career.


Blue Star Noni - A-Frame From Kim Dembinski:

At the CPE trial on August 17th, Noni qualified in all 5 of her classes!
First place in Standard, Colors and Jumpers
Third place in Standard 2 and Fullhouse
She got her Level 2 standard title and Level 2 Fun title:)


Red Star From Ian Long:

Last weekend at the SCAT trial in Costa Mesa (August 9 & 10), Brandi earned her Nov STD title with a second place finish.


Blue Star From Maria Marshall:

Meg - Jump
On August 9th, 2008 at the South Coast Agility Team trial in Costa Mesa, Meg ran the Jumpers with Weaves course flawlessly for her Open JWW title.


Red Star Brownie From Larry and Barbara Emdur:

Brownie (Bedlington Terrier) moved up from Novice to Open Standard in the June 28th AKC trial in Chula Vista, Ca.
 
In the Doberman Pinscher trial July 27, 2008 in Chula Vista, Ca, Brownie had a clean run in Open Standard taking first place with a run in 46:49 seconds.  He beat out two Australian Shepards whose times were 62:58 and 69:58.  My compliments to Sandy whose great instruction is really paying off.!!!!!


Blue Star From Jennifer Brennan:

Shayla
NATCH TITLE!!!!  After 10 years of training and trialing only in San Diego, Shayla Ann has earned her NADAC NATCH title in Dehesa at the one ring trial April 2008.
 
Thank you to Sandy for all the tools, coaching and support to get us both to this level of competition.
 
Shayla still loves to run and agility has kept her in shape and mentally on the ball.  We continue to work as a team, with Sandy helping us with our next personal challenge, to cleanly run the NADAC elite "bonus line" at trials.


Red Star From Diana Walker:

Dottie - MACH
At the Aztec Doberman Pinscher Club of San Diego AKC trial on July 26 and 27 2008, Dottie got her MACH on Saturday!!!  We had a great day.  Thanks Sandy
 
Pebbles got a first on Saturday in Standard and on Sunday got a Double Q.


Blue Star Meg - Chute From Maria Marshall:

On July 27, 2008 at the San Diego Doberman Pinscher Club Trial, Meg turned in a 3rd place qualifying run in Open Standard for her title.  Thanks for the new pictures, Bruce!


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

On a hot/muggy Sunday, July 27, 2008, Hattie won (42 MACH points)the very challenging 12" Excellent B Standard Class of 18 at the Aztec Doberman Pinscher Club of San Diego AKC Trial, Rohr Park, with Sandy without her bionic left knee!


Blue Star From Maria Marshall:

Cherokee - NADAC trial Meg - NADAC
Cherokee and Meg attended their first NADAC Trial at the 2008 Wags for Wishes event at Otay Ranch.  Both dogs ran all 14 events over the three days, but only Mom seemed pooped!  It was great to have so many US Agility students at the same trial all cheering each other on.
 
Cherokee Q'ed in two of our three Novice Chances runs.  She also Q'ed 2nd and 4th in Novice Standard runs.  In addition, she received a non-qualifying 1st in Novice Jumpers, and two 3rds and one 4th in Novice Standard runs.
 
Meg Q'ed 2nd and 4th in Novice Standard runs and also Q'ed in Novice Weavers and in Novice Touch N Go.  Yes, she managed to hit all the contacts!  In addition, she received non-qualifying 1st, 2nd, and two 4th place finishes in Novice Standard runs.
 
We're all getting there!


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

Sparky - MXJ
At the Golden Retriever Club of San Diego AKC Trial on June 28, Bruce with Sparky attained her MXJ title with a 1st-Place Q and 14 MACH Points in the 20" Division!


Blue Star Rush - Novice Title From Diana Walker:

At the Golden Retriever Club of San Diego on June 28 & 29 Dottie had a great weekend.  On Saturday she double Q'd and earned a lot of MACH points.  She's getting really close.  Sunday I really messed her up, but she had a lot of fun.
 
On Saturday Pebbles got a fourth in Jumper.  On Sunday she got a double Q.
 
On Sunday Rush got a frist in Novice Jumpers and a second in Novice Standard earning her Novice Standard title


Red Star From Kim Dembinski:

Super Noni qualified with a first in Open Standard on Sunday June 29th.  She now has her Open Standard title and is in the running with the big dogs of Excellent Class!
 
Noni has been able to excel thanks to the challenging weekly courses and support from Sandy and Bruce---she has earned Excellent JWW and Excellent Standard in less than a year of competing with a new handler and Sundays only of competing!


Blue Star From Sandy Crook:

At June 15 at the San Diego Rhodesian Ridgeback Club AKC Trial Bruce Q'd with Sparky in Excellent B JWW - hearing the bystanders, you'd think he got his MACH!


Red Star From Diana Walker:

At the San Diego Rhodesian Ridgeback Club on Saturday June 14 & 15, Dottie got a 4th in jumpers on Saturday and a Double Q on Sunday.  On Saturday Pebbles got a 4th in jumpers.


Blue Star From Ian Long:

At the Ups and Downs NADAC trial at Skydance Ranch on May 31, Misty ran away with three 1st place runs in weavers and tunnels courses.  Brandi followed closely with a 1st place in tunnelers and a 2nd place in weavers.  Those lefts and rights really paid off.  Thanks Sandy.


Red Star From Diana Walker:

At the Mission Circut Southern California Portugese Water dog club on May 24,25,26 On Saturday Dottie got a double Q.  On Sunday she got a Q in Jumpers.
 
Pebbles got double Q Saturday and Sunday.  On Monday she got a Q in Jumpers.
 
Rush earned a Q in both Standard and JWW on Saturday.  On Monday she got a Q in Novice B Standard.


Blue Star From Ian Long:

Brandi Brandi - Before At the Portuguese Water Dog Trial last weekend, Misty got back on track with a Q in Ex Std earning two more points towards her MACH.
 
Brandi won her first leg in Nov STD with a blazing 1st place finish.  Thanks to Sandy's training both dogs have shown tremendous improvement with much more to come.
 
Brandi before Sandy's training to left; after training to right.


Red Star From Diana Walker:

Rush
The AKC trial on May 3 & 4 was Rush's first trial.  Thanks to Sandy we survived with a 1st in FAST Novice B with 76 points.  Her other runs were great for our first trial.
 
On Saturday Dottie earned a 2nd and her Excellent B title in FAST.  On Sunday she Qd with a 1st in FAST and a 5th in jumpers.
 
On Saturday Pebbles earned a 2nd in FAST.  On Sunday she earned a Double Q.
 
What a great weekend


Blue Star Geromino's Start Line From Sandy Crook:

Highlight at the Dog Agility Club of Ventura Agility Trial on Sunday, April 13, 2008: Out of a total of 32 dogs running in the Excellent FAST classes, Geronimo was one of only three Q's and got a 1st Place in the 12" division.


Red Star From Kim Dembinski:

Super Noni won 3 first places and 3 Q's at the April NADAC trial.  That gave her Novice Standard Agility and Novice Chances titles!


Blue Star From Diana Walker:

Dottie
At the Agility Club of San Diego AKC trial March 29, 2008, Dottie got a first in Excellent Standard.  Her hair cut really helped her speed.
 
Pebbles got a 3rd place in Excellent Standard.


Red Star From Joanna McKim:

Georgi got a Standard Excellent A leg at the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club AKC trial. She won her 8" class in a speedy fashion.


Blue Star From Diana Walker:

The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club AKC trial on March 22 & 23 2008.  was a really great weekend.  On Saturday Pebbles got a Double Q with a 4th in JWW and a 1st in Standard.
 
On Saturday Dottie got a 3rd in JWW.  On Sunday she got the last double Q needed for her MACH.  We are now working on points.  On Sunday she earned a 1st in both JWW and Standard.


Red Star From Jennifer Brennan:

At the Wearin' O' The Green trial, March 15 & 16 in Dehesa Shayla got her NATCH points in Standard and another run toward her Chances NATCH title.  She has 1 chances run left for her NATCH title.  Her clean runs were beautiful, smooth and felt effortless!  The judge even said "Good fir you!" at the end of her 1st place standard run on Sunday.  Shayla also took 1st in her standard class on Saturday, and 1st & 2nd in her jumpers runs for the weekend.  Most of those 1st place runs, she was the only dog to Q in her division.
 
Theo is having fun on the agility courses and he is teaching me something new each time.  He took 2nd in his jumpers runs both days, but dropped a bar each time.  He did Q on his chances run Sunday, ending my weekend on a high note.


Blue Star Lizzie From Joanna McKim:

At the Keeshond Club of Southern California AKC trial at Hidden Valley last weekend Lizzie picked up two Excellent "A" legs in Standard to get her AX.  She also picked up an Excellent A leg in FAST and Georgi picked one up in Excellent B.


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

On Saturday, 3/8/08, at the Keeshond Club of Southern California AKC Trial, Geronimo attained his Master Excellent FAST title (MXF) with a 2d-Place Q in Excellent B FAST 12" and got a 1st-Place Q on Sunday!


Blue Star From Kim Dembinski:

Super Noni found her weave again with 2 qualifying runs and 2 first places in Open FAST and Standard at the AKC trial on Sunday March 9.  Thanks to all her friends for coming out to see her fly.  We couldn't keep going without the support of Sandy who keeps reminding me to "run her like a border collie"!


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

Bruce and Sandy
At the Fiesta Cluster Hattie achieved her AX title with a 1st-Place Q in 12" Excellent A Standard and also was awarded High Scoring Excellent B Agility Boston Terrier by Meghan Thomas of the Arizona Boston Terrier Rescue.


Blue Star Fiesta Cluster From Maria Marshall:

The Fiesta Cluster in Scottsdale AZ turned out to be a great trial for us!  In the first two days, Meg earned her 3rd Q in each event for all three of her Novice Agility titles - Standard, Jumpers with Weaves, and finally, FAST.  In the final two days, she earned Open qualifying legs in FAST and then in Jumpers, earning a 4th place!  Each run, she becomes more responsive, confident, and consistent.  In Meg's first tournament, she dropped several bars; this weekend, only one bar came down in 12 runs (and that was in FAST!).  Not bad for such a young 'un- Meg turns two next week.  As always, Sandy and Bruce were there to cheer us on.  Many thanks!


Red Star From Jennifer Brennan:

Theo got his Novice Standard title at the Ramona NADAC Fun-raiser!  He also Q'ed in Chances for the first time!  Distance work and directionals pay off!  He also Q'ed in Jumpers with 3rd place.  Shayla racked up the Q's and really made headway toward her NATCH title.  She took 2nd and a Q in 3 standard runs, 2 jumpers runs and a 3rd and Q in Touch N Go.  She completed her NATCH jumpers, Outstanding Open Touch N Go and Outstanding Elite Standard titles.


Blue Star From Kim Dembinski:

Noni got her first Open leg in JWW on Sunday March 2nd at the AKC trial in Orange County.  She came home with a second place ribbon missing first by less than half a second!


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

Highlights of the Rainy/Muddy Outdoor AKC Silver Bay Kennel Club Trial on February 23 and 24, 2008 in Del Mar: Geronimo and Hattie are proven "mudders"; Sunday Geronimo walked away with a 1st and 2nd Place Double Q and Hattie took a 1st in Saturday's Excellent B FAST (3l:03 76 SCT 35 with the most points in the least amount of time all jump heights) and another 1st Place on Sunday!
 
Hattie attained her Master Excellent FAST Title (MXF) with her 1st-Place Q at Silver Bay becoming the first Boston Terrier to earn this title.


Blue Star From Max Latifi:

Max with Robin and Ribbons
Max Latifi and his Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever [aka Toller], Robin [Javahill Boy Wonder, RN, CGC, TT] had 3 Q's at the Silver Bay KC agility trials on Feb 22-23, 2008 to complete their NA and NF titles!  The Q's included a first place in Standard and a first and second place in FAST.  This was only their third agility trial, so they are very pleased and proud of their accomplishments....and one last thing...Tollers rule!

Thank you Sandy for all your encouragement, support and solid training!


Red Star From Diana Walker:

At the Silver Bay Kennel Club AKC weekend trial it was a little wet, but we had great fun.
 
On Saturday Dottie got a 4th in Excellent JWW and a 1st in FAST.  On Sunday she got a 1st in FAST.
 
On Saturday Pebbles got a 1st in FAST.
 
Bam Bam didn't Q but got his weaves on the first try in all 3 rings.  It was great.


Blue Star From Kim Dembinski

Noni Q'd with a 1st place in slidding off a muddy table in Novice Standard at Silver Bay.  She completed her Novice title---look out Open!

Red Star From Maria Marshall:

February 3rd at the Portuguese Water Dog Club event in Industry, Meg received 2 Q's, both for second place - one in Novice A Jumpers with Weaves and one in Novice A Standard.  Thanks to the whole US Agility gang for encouragement and hanging around to cheer us on, especially Sandy for all her knowledgeable advice on how to approach our difficult obstacles!


Blue Star From Vicki Nelson:

Zelda's first competition was a great success, with 4 Q's at the January 20th CPE in Murietta.  She finished with a first in Snooker, Full House and Jumpers and a second in Standard.  I think she's a chip off the old block (her dad is Geronimo).  Thank you Sandy - we're hooked!


Red Star From Jennifer Brennan:

Shayla had an AMAZING chances run at the UDAC Oceanside trial Jan. 26.  While most of the competition worked the line in an "L" shape through the course, I layered 3 obstacles out and pushed in on an angle.  (Picture running the long side of a 90 degree triangle while the dog has to work the other 2 sides.)  I was the only handler to try this path and when she completed the course, cheers went up from people watching in the tents around the ring.  What a great feeling, to do something that other people view as "too hard" and make it look easy.  To top it off, she earned her Outstanding Elite Chances title with that run!


Blue Star Arizona Wags From Maria Marshall:

We attended Arizona Wags for Wishes, January 18th and 19th, Friday and Saturday.  This was only our second ACK Agility event.  After just failing to qualify in her runs on Friday, Meg qualified in her first Novice Jumpers with Weaves on Saturday with an almost picture perfect run!  Thanks, Sandy, for all your tips and support.


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

Our very best "Q" at the Arizona Wags for Wishes AKC Trial, was with Geronimo aka Stud Muffin.  It was the last day, last class of a 3-day trial, Sunday, January 20, 2008!  Something to be said about endurance.  With testosterone raging and illusions of grandeur with Lucy in season, Geronimo got a 1st Place Q in a very fast and challenging Excellent B FAST class.  He was one of a handful of qualifiers and the only qualifier in all lower height divisions.  So I forgave him for blowing a Double Q during an extremely difficult Standard course where he lost his mind running out to a chute (something with a skirt on)!


Blue Star From Kim Dembinski

Noni had 4 Q's at the CPE trial in Murietta on January 20th.  First place in Snooker, Jackpot and Wildcard and a Second in Jumpers.  Who says labs aren't fast????


Red Star From Sandy Crook:

Hattie and Geronimo turned heads at the West Coast Cocker Spaniel Club at Industry Hills Expo Center 1/5/2008 by being two of very few qualifiers all classes for Excellent B FAST!  Hattie took a 1st and Geronimo (dad) a 2ndin the 12" class!


Blue Star From Diana Walker:

At the Golden Retriever Club of San Diego on Dec 29 & 30 and Southwestern Rottweiler Club of San Diego on Dec 31 & Jan 1
 
On Saturday Dottie Q'd in JWW, and FAST with a 2nd, on Sunday she Q'd in both standard and JWW with a Double Q. On Monday she Q'd with a 1st in FAST and on Tuesday she Q'd with a 3rd in Standard.
 
Pebbles Q'd with a 2nd in JWW on Sunday and a 1st in FAST on Monday.