Category: Blog

As I hoped, both girls Qed in the only runs we ran. That gives Macy her 4^th Game 3 Q and Dulce her 1^st Game 3 Q. Each need 5 for their Game 3 title. It will be a while.

We ended up leaving the trial after the first class.

There were two major problems. The place that the trial was being held at isn’t doing maintenance, and one of the corners wasn’t well lit. I’ve posted pictures on Facebook already. I couldn’t see well enough to run.

PLUS, the club had food out where dogs who run out of the ring could get it.

I am working on an issue with Dulce that was caused by the people who run the place – so having food at ready access was NOT a good idea. Also having food poisonous to dogs readily available was also not a good idea. It took some major tantrum throwing but they did agree to let me leave and refund my money.

I got the check today, and went out to the web and finally found out that we Qed today!

While I have been in Austin, Macy was lying near the door, waiting for me, and wouldn’t spend a lot of time with my husband—unless he had food.

When I came home, she happily greeted me. But she has ignored me the rest of the time, even walking away from me when I called her.

Now, I know that the beagles with sore ears have avoided me so that their ears don’t get doctored – this is why we get our ears packed from now on, but this behavior is ridiculous.

Went to a fun match at a new training facility in Frisco to work on Dulce’s ring issues. They have been open for a while but haven’t had a match when I have been available plus their conditions are a bit sterile to be effective.

Had a nice relaxing run with Macy working on her speed and distance. She had fun.

Dulce had the zoomies her first run but she came back and got some sequences in. Second time she stayed with me, but I think I pushed too hard as she peed in the weaves. We got two nice runs in after that though.

I have decided to enter Saturday trials only until we get our issues resolved.

Today has been a looking back day….

The beagle girls (Macy and Dulce) and I made a trip to the beagle house. I’ve been working on Mildred’s website at http://www.tesorosbeagles.com and I went there to see if there were some missing pages on her computer (they weren’t there).

Dulce visited with her mom. Okay, they sniffed each other and nobody flashed teeth. Always a good thing.

On the way there, an internet friend mentioned she was at Shelburne Museum which reminded me of Marcie – Bettner’s Byte of Magic. Marcie was born at Shelburne Farms and owned by the groundskeeper’s family.

An internet friend noticed that one of Deenie’s beagle puppies looked exactly like my Peppermint Patty. We hooked up and made arrangements to ship Marcie to me. Thankfully, while Marcie was the smallest puppy in the litter, she ended up being a very LARGE 15″ beagle. If she was the slightest overweight, she would go over the wicket.

Patty was very special, and one of my 12″ – 13″ beagles. Both were blue tick beagles. Mostly black, with white and brown ticking, resembling blue tick beagles. Patty was the number one obedience beagle in the country, and got me into police dog training. I don’t think anyone could have taken two almost identical beagles that perfect.

Marcie’s litter was a “magical” litter as Deenie was the daughter of an east coast dog fancier and had purchased two very well bred beagles for her boys to hunt with. They had keep the two beagle apart, put them together a few times to breed, and no puppies so they gave up, and let them live together in a run. One day Deenie went out and Marcie’s mom was great with puppies. Thus the litter appeared magically, I think she was 6 or 7 at the time. Plus there were a large number of puppies.

Marcie was a very good beagle, having the uncanny ability to read the agility cones. Ask anyone around here. (Okay, the true secret is that she didn’t appear to watch me, but would catch the tinest movement, and I would often spot the correct cone at the last minute, saving many an almost off course. But it’s more fun to believe that she was truly magical and could read cones. We had one club that used flat plaques instead of cones and I would always tease them that Marcie couldn’t read their numbers and that we would have to required them to get cones.

See Patty was perfect at obedience, Marcie perfect at agility. Too bad they didn’t have a perfect handler.

Many years ago, I went to an agility trial and there was glass in the dirt – in fact, I’ll tell you exactly where it was – Monroe, Louisiana – in the summer.

I had a hotel reservation for the entire weekend, had planned for my family in Mississippi to come visit me there (I live in Texas, so it’s somewhat convenient for them).

I will admit, I have an issue with broken glass — and I tried really hard.

I had three dogs entered in the trial – Marcie, Maggie and Macy, in Excellent, Standard, and Novice, so I had a lot of money invested in the trial – and again, remember, my family was coming to see me.

Every time I went into the ring, I found another piece of glass. Or two or three.

Now I am NOT going to endanger my dogs for an agility trial. I couldn’t pick up the broken glass myself – I had to get someone to pick it up for me – and each time I went to someone on the trial committee. After the third course, I couldn’t take it anymore, and asked for my entries fees back. I think I even went to the rep (can’t remember if there was one there). I also know I immediately wrote to the AKC.

Guess what. I didn’t get my entries fees back but I left and I haven’t been back. It’s been at least 5 years. They don’t even have trials at that same convention center, but I STILL haven’t been back, even though it’s quite convenient to visit with my family when I’m there.

Interesting concept, build a restaurant in the middle of a dog park.

We did have a widely popular indoor dog park for a year. There are a lot of apartment/condones around.

Dulce and I are visited without the vest. So far, nice though. Lots of rules, and I get the pit bull thing.

Real table service, a bit slow, I think they only have one waiter.

They have Baylor sharks in the parking lot.

Sent from my Windows Phone

We went to another new place to do agility – Teacup again – but this time, indoors and climate controlled in Goldsby, Oklahoma, just south of Oklahoma City and Norman.

It was easier on the beagle noses – fewer distractions and they do better in A/C, even though we train in heat and it doesn’t seem to bother them.

Macy tried really hard, but made a few small mistakes each run. Unfortunately you have to be almost perfect in Superior. I think we left Dulce’s brain back at home – but she had off night at class too, so who knows.

She was just down right silly.

It was the longest drive we’ve made in a while but wasn’t bad until we were about an hour away from home. We were cruising along when all of a sudden traffic was at a standstill. Very slow through Denton, then picked up again until Lewisville. Not sure what was up with that, but Lewisville actually had a wreck.

I’m planning to go back in July and more in the future.

Not reading the rules is not always a good idea, but thanks to a good trial secretary, I was taken care of and Macy ended up with a Q after all.

Here’s the deal – Macy is considered a veteran in Teacup now, which allows her to compete at a lower jump height (good for me, since running two dogs in the same class is hard), and gives her extra time. However, it doesn’t affect her titles.

So I was entering her in a trial next weekend and a sharp eyed trial secretary caught the fact she was a veteran. It didn’t dawn on me, and I’m probably in denial anyway.

Then it dawned on me, that we probably needed that time to Q and I emailed yesterday’s trial secretary and asked her. Sure enough! Since everyone was still on site, we were able to recover that Q.

So now Macy has 3 games towards a Teacup Game’s title, and needs 2 more.

Dulce just finished her Teacup Game 2 title, making her: Tesoros Sweet Tempation TG2 — she also has had some Qs in AKC (Correction – Dulce still needs a Q for TBAD)

We got up early and drove to McGregor Texas, which is south of Waco. Object Familiarization was a good thing, as Dulce did her famous dash out of the ring when I took off her leash. Everyone else panicked, but I calmly called her, picked up some cookies on the way and called her to the truck and her crate (she’d made it outside the building and was sniffing near the truck). She ran away from anyone who wanted to catch her, which I predicted, but was happy to get in her truck. I put her cage in the building later, but she didn’t take off again.

She was quite silly all morning but was better each run. I wasn’t even sure she had gotten the last Q, but I can never remember the rules and have to rely on the judge to tell me Q or not.

It was quite warm and Macy made one or two mistakes each run – not good since we’re in the top level (Superior or Games 3).

All in all a productive trip and we’re going to make a run up to Norman, OK next weekend if it is still there by then.

I almost had class beagle in Excellent Standard.  She did some fabulous distance work. 

After that, we were all exhausted and couldn’t go a full course going in time.  It’s been a long time since we’ve done a trial and it showed.

Especially poor Dulce as she has to take care of mom AND run agility.  She stopped two lows in one day – GOOD GIRL!

However, she didn’t run out of the ring.  I won’t count that demon completely gone yet, but I am feeling good about it.

Q ratio 0/0 but that’s okay