Rockin' in the mountains

It's been a while since we've received news on Ella.  Her family relocated to Colorado last fall so getting settled in has taken a while.  But I finally got the following report from Ann.

Ella finally made her AKC agility debut a few weeks ago.  It was a long time coming and was delayed due to: 1) Our move 2) My knee replacement surgery, and 3) Not making it into trials in CO through random draws, and 4) Ella coming into season when we finally did make it into a trial via random draw.  

Our first trial was my first time ever competing at a 3 ring agility trial and only our second time ever running on dirt.  We were and are still rusty after all the time off, not being able to get into any classes and not having a practice area set up at home yet.  But, our very first run was a Jumpers run and we Q'd which made me very proud of my little girl.  She tries VERY hard to please me and is amazingly athletic and fast.  My challenge is helping her to focus and trying to get cues to her in a timely manner, which, as you can see, is not always successful.  Since that trial we've picked up a second Novice JWW Q at our second trial. 

After the move, Ella started having challenges with the teeter, so I backed up and retrained the obstacle to help her get comfortable with the different equipment here in CO.  She seems to have worked through that issue, and at our last trial we also entered Standard, but due to Momma mistakes, didn't cue in either of those runs.  

We finally got a spot in an agility class here in CO, and by next week I should have my new basement training area set up and ready to go.  So far I only have weaves, jumps, a tire and a tunnel, but there's plenty of work that we can do with just those obstacles and a very eager and willing partner.  

Looks like Ella is on her way to a successful agility career.  Ann did include a video with her message but it wasn't formatted correctly.  When I do get it I'll be sure to post it.  Thanks for the note Ann!

The snow is almost gone and temps are starting to warm.  The spring show season will be starting soon and I'm looking around the property and coming up with ideas on projects I'd like to do before the grass and weeds start to grow.  As always, updates on what the rest of the litter is doing are encouraged.