Here it is, the Big Day! It all comes down to this, the last run for the Championships. All the dogs in the Finals start with a clean slate, running in reverse order of finish from their combined Semifinals round. Wildcards go first.
The day started out a little cooler, but then out came the sun! Once again, we had to deal with terrible heat and sun for most of the day. I don't know about anyone else, but I know both Taz and I were definitely feeling the strain of 4 days in the sun. The members of Brag and Swarm and everyone else they got to help out deserve a HUGE round of applause for all their work. Shane McConnell, Steve Lewis, and of course the announcers Bill Sterling and Terry Herman just worked their butts off all weekend. To put on this size of trial for 3 years in a row, with the huge amount of growth each year is just incredible. Each year's show was better and smoother, so congrats to everyone involved.
The schedule ran a little differently this year. We ran the Inter-regional and Strategic Pairs in the morning, while the handlers walked the Grand Prix course. After the opening ceremonies, we started with the Juniors Championship. How nice to give the Juniors ceter stage. Next was the flyball demo, then the Veteran Grand Prix, frisbee dogs and the main event.
The course for the Grand Prix was quite challenging. A couple dogs ran right by the first jump to the teeter off to the left. After the first two jumps, you turned right to another jump, then had to bring the dog around it back into the course. Some wide turns lost time here, and at least one dog back-jumped the jump on the way back. Straight across the course, through the chute, then a 180 back over the Aframe, over a couple jumps and back to the table. Again, wide turns lost time here and there was at least one runby a jump. Typical table problems, some dogs stopping in front or not going down, but lots of superb ones as well. Off the table over a jump and then back to the dogwalk, yet another place to lose time. Through a tunnel, and then they head up to the weaves, a turn out of the weaves, and then back to the tunnel under the Aframe, and over the last jump. None of the dogs took the Aframe rather than the tunnel and I don't think anyone missed the last jump, although this was also another place to lose time. Overall, the course was challenging, but as a group, the Finalists really did great, there were many, many clean runs, and some really exciting finishes. Can't wait for next year! On to the results...
Results of the Veteran Grand Prix:
8" Dogs
1 - Ripple (CWC)
2 - Hanna (Border Terrier)
3 - Mac (Poodle)12" Dogs
1 - Chana (Eskimo)
2 - Kiri (Shiba Inu)
3 - Wiley (All American)16" Dogs
1 - Megan (Chessie)
2 - Rembrandt (Nova Sc. Duck TR)
3 - Ramsey (Kees)
4 - Jackie (Collie)
5 - Dallas (BC)22" Dogs
1 - Party (PWD)
2 - Hayley (Foxhound)
3 - Tasha (All American)
4 - Guinness (GSD)
5 - Tiger (All American)And here they are....the Championship results!! In the order the class ran...
26" Dogs
1 - Whist
2 - Lilly
3 - Ravin
4 - Jazz
5 - Disney
6 - Jordan
7 - Dreamer
8 - Jagger
9 - Dodger
10 - Jeremy
11 - Spring
12 - Timeflies
13 - Calvin
14 - Houston
15 - Piper
E - Toad
E - Spiffy12" Dogs
1 - Parker
2 - Flint
3 - Sparkle
4 - Jingles
5 - Fancy
6 - Zoe
7 - Stitch
E - Sam
E - Chipper
E - Rusty16" Dogs
1 - Shimmer
2 - Banchor
3 - Morgan
4 - Duncan
5 - Scamp
6 - Squiggles
7 - Spot
8 - Blaze
9 - Duder
10 - Ginger
11 - Guy
12 - Casey
13 - Chilly
14 - Lily
15 - Praline
E - Kaos22" Dogs
1 - Riot
2 - Scout
3 - Asti
4 - Ajax
5 - Buddy
6 - Spyder
7 - Dory
8 - Simon
9 - Snap
10 - Morgan
11 - Stoni
12 - Ozzie
13 - Mattie
14 - Hope
15 - Peggy
E - PhoebeThe first game of the morning was Strategic Pairs, where two dogs run at the same time, the course is a bit mixed up, and the handlers decide which dog does each obstacle. There must be at least two switches and if a dog faults (misses contact or drops bar) the other dog must do the obstalce successfully. It can be a really fun class, a tension breaker, and well-timed runs are spectacular to watch. Here are the results:
12" Dogs
1 - Fletcher and Zoe
2 - Junior and Flint
3 - Moose and Blizzard
4 - Hanna and Tinker16" Dogs
1 - Shimmer and Boogie
2 - Duncan and Dustin
3 - Buzz and Riley
4 - Birdie and Mack
5 - Pinto and Putt
6 - Lily and Lucy22" Dogs
1 - Swift and Riot
2 - Rubi and Ajax
3 - Alice and Tango
4 - Buddy and Larrie
5 - Curry and Morgan
6 - Rusty and Tory
7 - Rusty and Secret
8 - Sash and Keds26" Dogs
1 - Wicked and Spiffy
2 - Mick and Scud
3 - Meggie and Boz
4 - Suni and Nifty
5 - Disney and Jordan
6 - Tristan and Reb
7 - Caper and Andy
8 - Buzz and ToddOther game was Inter-regional agility. You ran a standard course and scores for the dogs from each region (decided by state you live in) were combined to determine the high-scoring region. Not really sure how they determine the winner, but the winning region was Region 4 (Texas).
Well, that's all from Cleveland. My congrats to all the winners, and indeed all the competitors for such an exciting event, it certainly was some of the best competition I've seen. See you all next year in San Diego!!