November 21, 2010 - UPDATE We entered the Fargo Moorhead Kennel Club show with Annie this weekend to finish her Rally Excellent title.  On Saturday Annie earned her 2nd Rally Excellent leg with a 1st place score of 88 under Judge Randy Capsel. On Sunday Annie finished her Rally Excellent title with a 1st place score of 80 under Judge Catherine Peters. Let me introduce: Eclps Ann RE HTADIs November 7th, 2010 - UPDATE We decided to head to the BOTC Obedience and Rally trials for one rally trial and two obedience runs.  On Friday Shock finished his Rally Excellent title with a 90 under Judge Mrs. Louise Botko.  Aron was very naughty in the ring and we NQ for what would have been his RE title.  Oh well, there is always another trial out there.  On Saturday I had entered Ace for Novice B and was so nervous I NQed us.  I really need to figure out what to do with a leash in my hands:)  On Sunday, Ace was so distracted we also NQed.  I also came to the conclusion I really don't enjoy regular Obedience.  So we are probably going to drop that from our show schedule:) Let me introduce: Fox Hat Shock CGC RE HTADIIs HTADIIIs (HIT) November 2nd, 2010 - UPDATE The American Kennel Club is offering a new program called the Breeder of Merit.  In order to qualify one has to be active in AKC for 5 years, have put 4 performance titles on dogs the person has bred and own or bred and co-own, member of an AKC Club, and follow all Heath Checks recommended by the breed's Parent Club.  So I am proud to announce I have met all the requirements and I am now a Breeder of Merit.  I am so proud of the work and time I have put into my Border Collies.  We have accomplished so much in such a short time and plan on continuing on the path we have set out with improvements along the way:) I THANK all the people along the way who have helped me achieve my goals:) October 9th, 2010 - UPDATE We decided to do another one day only Rally trial at St. Paul Dog Training Club in St. Paul.  Annie was entered for the first time in Rally Excellent and earned her first Rally Excellent leg with a 2nd place score of 84 under Judge Karen Anderson.  Aron was having some major issues with concentration, but managed to qualify for his second Rally Excellent leg with a 3rd place score of 79 under Judge Karen Anderson.  So all in all, not bad for a drive down Thursday night and drive back after the trial on Friday:) September 27, 2010 - UPDATE We have been off most of the summer in Rally and than the show snuck up on us:)  So we didn't get as much practice as we wanted.  But all in all not a bad day out.  Annie finished her Rally Advanced title with an 88 under Judge Debra Schneider and Aron earned his first Rally Excellent leg with a 1st place 93:) Let me introduce:  Eclps Ann HTADIs RA We also finally uploaded some videos of Annie and Ace herding for their 1st time last year and linked them to their webpages. July 11, 2010 - UPDATE We went to the MAC NADAC Agility Trial for one day, with Annie and Ace running in  Regular Round 1 and 2 and Jumpers.   Both Annie and Ace earned a 2nd place 10 point Qualifing score in Jumpers.  Annie finally made it under course time and was really showing her stuff this weekend.  She actually beat Ace in her time:)  Ace ran just great in Jumpers and really did our team proud. Standard was another thing...  I decided to practice this week with them and that messed our contacts up.  Annie missed her Aframe contact in Reg. Round 1 and took a Tunnel trap in Reg. Round 2.  Ace blew his weave poles in Reg. Round 1 and missed his Dogwalk contact in Reg. Round 2.  So we will review contacts once more and just leave them alone from now on:)  But I am sure proud of our runs this weekend.  We actually may have video of the runs later this week to post. May 24, 2010 - UPDATE We had a blast attending the MN Mixbreed NADAC trial in Savage, MN this past weekend.  I had entered Ace in Novice Standard and Novice Jumpers both days and Annie in Novice Standard and Novice Jumpers both days.  We did pretty good:) Ace earned his first NAC leg on Sunday with a 4th place qualifying score.  He decided on Saturday he had no idea what contact obstacles on Saturday.  He also for some reason is knocking one bar in his jumpers runs.  So we didn't qualify in those.  But all in all I am very proud of our runs. Annie loves Regular/Standard agility.  She earned her first NAC leg on Saturday with a 1st place qualifying score.  On Sunday the course just didn't feel smooth for us and we had problems, which made us go over course time.  Her jumpers runs are getting faster.  We are now about 0.83-0.11 seconds over course time.  We are slowly getting there:)  All in all, I am very proud of our runs this weekend. April 26, 2010 - UPDATE Well this was a fun day at our first NADAC Agility trial for the year.  We went to the Agile Canines trial for Sunday only with Shock, Aron, Annie, and Ace.  We sure had fun, but didn't qualify in any run - Oh Well. Annie was entered in Novice Standard and Novice Jumpers.  She ran cleanly through both, but we really need to work on speed with her.  She was .11 seconds over course time in Jumpers.  She had a blast with the Aframe and Dogwalk.  The Aframe she went to the top and sat down with her paws on the downside and her tail wagging back and forth.  I looked at her and called her down while laughing my head off.  The dogwalk she paused in the middle and looked at the Judge and wagged her tail and than continued her Annie trot to the other end.  All in all, I am very proud of her.  Like I said we just need to get some speed on her which will come with more confidence. Ace was obnoxious in Novice Standard, but ran clean.  He was way over course time since he was being so obnoxious.  His jumpers run was perfect.  I haven't ran like that since Tucker was in his prime.  It was fluid, cues were on, he and I moved smoothly and we were coming to the last bar of the course and he knocked it down.  So there was our run, but I am very proud of that jumpers run. Aron was Aron out there.  This was his first time out with only a little practice and he was more interested in everything going on around him versus what we needed to be doing.  So I may pull him for this year and finish his Rally titles and put him in later this year.  He was Aron out there - fun, full of life, and having a blast with himself:) Shock was down in Veteran Skilled Novice Jumpers so he was jumping 12 inches instead of 16 or 20.  Lets just say the lower height didn't help his time.  I ran the long ways around the course and he was still 3 jumps behind me wagging his tail:)  He took everything, but backed jump the first one - so a no Q for him.  But he had fun.  Agility is just not his thing:) But the most important thing is we had a blast, ran our hearts out and just plain had fun. April 18, 2010 - UPDATE Our first weekend back in Rally went rather well.  We went to the Fargo Moorhead Kennel Club Rally Trial this weekend with Annie, Shock and Aron.  Annie earned her first RA leg with an 86 under Judge Phyllis Fleming and her second leg with a 94 under Judge Lynn Tamms.  Aron NQed for his last RA leg under Judge Phyllis Fleming since I pulled him becasue he refused to pay attention, but came around on Sunday and earned his last RA title leg with a 3rd place 97 under Judge Lynn Tamms. Shock earned a 4th place 91 for his second Rally Excellent leg under Judge Phyllis Fleming, but was way off on Sunday and NQed for the first time under Judge Lynn Tamms. But let me now introduce:  Eclps Aron JHD RA Way to go Eclps dogs for a wonderful time:) April 6, 2010 - UPDATE We decided to start our agility year out entered in the Fargo Moorhead Kennel Club AKC agility trial this year.  We were entered Sunday only and I took Ace, Tucker and Annie down.  This was Annie's first AKC agility trial and she did rather well.  I took off on her to fast and she dropped the first bar, but otherwise she ended her run with tail wags and bouncing.  So she seems to finally want to play in agility.  Keep an eye out for her this year in NADAC. Tucker was running in Open Jumpers Preferred and he is having some issues with his rear and landing.  So he was not up to par out there.  He was stumbling and having a hard time hearing me.  So I will probably retire him from AKC agility for sure, but may try him in NADAC for a couple of shows if he seems comfortably jumping 12".  So we shall see. Ace was out to get his feet rewet:)  He had a blast and ran a fast, clean and very nice run and earned himself a 1st place leg towards his NAJ title.  He only needs one in AKC to earn his NAJ title.  Way to go Ace man:) © All content, graphics, and pictures are copyright to Eclipse Border Collies  2002.