Tuesday, December 30, 2014

NAMAA Nationals 2014: LGRA Racing

 Pi with his rosette, Photo by Iola Stetson

I am so behind on making posts to this blog, so I will make this last installment of my 2014 Nationals coverage as brief as possible.

 Patti, Photo by Gary Claggett

The LGRA specialty is always held the second day of the specialty, and this year we had a total entry of four. After taking a pretty bad fall at the previous day's ASFA trial, Gilly was a little bit gimpy the next day so I decided not to run him in the race meet.

 Luna and Gator, Photo by Gary Claggett

The convenient part about having such a small entry of just four dogs is that we only have one race per program, which we can get done quickly so we can spend the rest of our time helping the Silken folks run their dogs.

 Pi on his way to a race meet victory
Photo by Gary Claggett

At the end of the day, Pi was the High Score Hound, however I'm almost certain that had Gator not been tired from running in the ASFA trial he would have handed Pi his ass. I scratched Pi from the ASFA trial after prelims so he would be fresher for the race meet, and it certainly paid off.

Luna, Gator, and Pi
Photo by Gary Claggett

In between the race programs, we did a couple of practice runs with Rietsu and her kennel-mate Saluki, Bukra. In the past, Rietsu has shown only a little bit of interest in a squawker, so we hoped that running with another experienced dog would help encourage her to run, and it did! We look forward to continuing her training, and hopefully she'll be ready to race by springtime.

Rietsu following Bukra down the track
Photo by Iola Stetson

And so concludes my reporting of the second annual NAMAA National Specialty. It was an exhausting two days, but we can't wait for next year! Unfortunately, Jairi and Rietsu had to go home before we took our customary group shot, but we'll make sure she's in it next year!

Tom with Gator, Me with Pi and Gil, Olivia with Patti, Kyle with Luna and Dude, and Rita with Holly the Ridgeback
Photo by Iola Stetson

Thursday, December 4, 2014

NAMMA Nationals 2014: Conformation, Day 2

 Patti: BOB, Pi: BOS
Photo by Iola Stetson

Our second day of conformation was much drier and sunnier, thank goodness! Our judge that day was Marcella Zobel, a local Borzoi and Whippet breeder.

Gator, Photo by Iola Stetson

As had happened the previous day, our dogs were highly distracted by the race track being setup not far from the show ring. This made things a tad challenging for us, but the judge saw past our imperfect handling and seemed charmed by the happy Agar spirit :-)

Rietsu holding her stack
Photo by Iola Stetson

Dude, unfortunately, had to be scratched from the show because he sustained a minor toe injury during the field trial and had a noticeable limp. Gil was also a bit stiff after his fall during the trial, but he managed to show decently nonetheless.

Gil, looking good at the trot
Photo by Iola Stetson

As it turned out, the results of the show were not much different than from the day prior. Patti and Pi both took top honors again, but decided to switch their BOB and BOS awards!

Pi on the move
Photo by Iola Stetson

Patti on the move
Photo by Iola Stetson

I was so proud of Patti; she has never showed more beautifully than she did that day. She offered me amazing free stacks and gaited perfectly. 

Luna, Photo by Iola Stetson

Stay tuned for the last installment in this series ...