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Danny
and Darka 2008 USA Southwest Regional Championship
Congratulations to Danny and Darka for competing
at this years USA South West Regional Championship. The judges were, Elmar Mannes and Doug Deacon. The host club
was Phoenix SchH Club. It was a tough competition with many good dogs competing. Danny and Darka worked really
hard to polish their tracking and every little detail in obedience. In protection, as many of you already know, Darka
is....well, Darka!! She is all fire and intensity and super fast. They were trialing to get Darka's
SchH3, as well as, compete against a field of 23 other dogs. Their run began with tracking--they ended up tracking fairly
late in the morning, but despite the heat, Darka tracked a 93. Obedience and protection came next. Most people
who see Darka work, can't believe how fast she is, this includes retrieves, send out and blind searches!! Her obedience
didn't have any major flaws, just little things here and there. Unfortunately, little point deductions
add up and she got 90. In protection, she was all power and intensity. She had fast blinds, fast escape
and great grips. She does get a little too enthusiastic at times, costing her some points, but over all she did
a great job with a 90a.
Darka and Danny make a great team. This was only their second big trial together
and they ended up placing 3rd in the region, earned their SchH3 and Darka was High Female!! We can't wait to
see what else this pair will do in the future!! Danny plans on having a littler this Spring/Summer, and then it is on
to the nationals and who knows what else?!
Click Below to see Photos from the Regional
Championship
Photos
To go to Darka's Website
Click Here
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Joe's OFA Results
Congratulations to Joe for
getting OFA excellent on two of his dogs (Nala and Ares)!! Joe and his male malinois, Ares, from Temple of the Tree's
"A" litter, had their OFA x-rays taken recently. Ares, turned 2 years old this past August, and got an
excellent rating on his hips, and his elbows are normal. Joe had Ares' eyes CERF certified earlier this year, along with
many of the other club members, so this completes Ares' qualifications to be CHIC!! Nala, got OFA excellent
at 4 years old and is still working on the rottweiler requirements to become CHIC.
Many of the other
club members have also participated in doing the necessary pre-breeding and over all health certifications. These
tests include OFA (hips, elbows), CERF (eyes), blood work for proof of thyroid health etc and cardiac exams. Please
see member bios for individual dogs' health certifications.
Our Members |
Seminar
with Uschi Fuchs November 2007
Club road trip!!! Several of the members
(Bob Schneider, Jim Downey, Danny Craig, Michelle Forney, Jim Forney, Sunny Baik) all caravanned to Phoenix, Arizona for a
seminar with Uschi Fuchs. We left on Thanksgiving Day and drove for about 6 hours...we ended up eating at Marie Calendar's--yep,
the traditional Turkey Day dinner, then off to potty dogs and try to get a good night sleep, so we would have plenty of energy
the next morning.
Friday morning we pulled up to the park and began a fun filled, busy training weekend.
Friday we dedicated to obedience, and each of us got to work our dogs twice. All of the dogs did really well and all
of the club members got to see a great trainer in action. Uschi gave all of us many different tips and methods to improve
our training and handling, and she was great at spotting the more advanced dogs and handlers. All of the members really
appreciated the time, effort and enthusiasm that Uschi gave to each dog, as well as her positive training methods.
Friday night we opted for Chinese and ate dinner at Pei Wei. We were all very happy to finally sit down and eat (we
trained straight through the day)!!!! Dinner also provided all of us an opportunity to discuss the training and the
different tips etc that we had learned earlier that day. Plus, it gave us another opportunity to ask Uschi questions
about dogs, training etc, since she came with us.
Saturday morning we were scheduled to track, but when we got up, it
was blowing so hard, the tracking field was a big dust storm, so we opted to sit at the field and have an open discussion
about different tracking problems. After that, everyone was back to working mode to do another session of obedience,
followed by protection. By now, we were all fairly relaxed and back into our "training groove". All
of the dogs that worked, showed improvement from the day before...and the handlers did too!! Jim Downey had Uschi "proof"
his routine since he is trialing in January for his VPG1. Addie did a fantastic job, but Jim had some improving to do...apparently
he walks like a farmer!!  Michelle and Blitz hit the field and showed off some great heeling with food and a super fast puppy recall. Danny
and his two puppies (Brogan and Bobby) showed great focus and great drive for the food and ball. His other female, Darka
made huge improvements in her heeling. Danny provided everyone with a few humorous moments as he tried to stop using
some hand signals during his motion exercises (hard to break habits when you don't even realize that you are doing it)!!!
Jim with Jake impressed everyone in protection. Jake is always such a sweet boy, but he came out on the field with intensity
and lots of drive. His bites were full and fast and he meant business. Bodhi did some great food obedience with
Jim and some great puppy rag work. Bodhi showed no signs of ever having been injured...he and Jim came out
and worked hard and looked really good together. Sunny worked Dralion both days, and it was obvious that he hadn't
forgotten anything in his time off. He was as crazy to work as he always has been. Sunny's
puppy, Baudouin, did some great drive building with tugs and some great food obedience. Uschi worked him in
protection and he showed some great promise..nice grips and a great attitude. Bob with Bico...well, Bico was
Bico. Uschi had Bob focusing on trying to keep Bico calmer and making his exercises more correct. Bico is always
impressive--big dog, crazy drive and one of the sweetest dogs around.
Danny, Sunny, Michelle and Jim Forney had
another reason to be extra excited for this seminar. Donna McGinniss lives in Arizona and she has Beau (a brother to
Baudouin, Bobby, Blitz, Bodhi and Brogan). It was great to see all the puppies in action and reunite with old friends
and make new ones.
This was the first road trip for many of the puppies and young dogs, and they all did really well.
Some reacted a little more to the new surroundings, but overall, everyone had a great time training, socializing and playing
dogs! |
Danny and Darka VPG2
September
22, 2007
Congratulations to Danny and Darka for a successful trial--VPG2!!
The trial was hosted by North County Schutzhund Club and So Cal Working Dog Association and was judged by Mr. Jim Elder.
Their day started off early with tracking, which was on plowed dirt. Danny drew track two. After the temperment
and tattoo check, for all the teams entered, the trial had officially started. When Darka came out, she was ready to
go!! They reported in and flew through the track. Up the first leg, beautiful first corner and down on the
article. After re-starting and making it around the second corner, her speed picked up (now she was running  ), but she made it down the third leg and to her last article. With only a few faults here and there, she recieved a
96. Field work was due to start until the afternoon, so she had a few hours to nap (not that she needed it).
In obedience she came out full of energy and full of herself. All of the exercises showed her usual speed
and intensity, although during her heeling she was so full of energy and excitement, she lacked some focus. Over
all the judge appreciated her high spirits and happy attitude and they got a 90. Protection is by far her favorite phase.
She came out with her ears up and her tail high, ready to do battle. Unfortunately, her eargerness cost them
4 points right off, since she opted to only run the first blind, then head straight to the bad guy (missing 3 other blinds).
Her guarding, as usual was very "real" and intense, her grips full and powerful and over all she was very impressive.
The judge commented on her power, and her character and gave her a 93a (with pronounced fight drive and courage).
So, at the end of a long day Danny and Darka earned their VPG2 with a 96-90-93a for a total of 279!!! Congratulations
to them for a job well done and to the club for coming out and supporting/cheering them on. |
Danny and Darka at the 2007 AWMA Nationals
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Danny and
Darka competed at the 2007 AWMA National Championship in Flint, MI. The judging was really tough and the
conditions were equally tough!! Danny and Darka tracked on Friday at 1pm (in mid-day heat!) The ended up
tracking in 18 inch alfalfa. Well, poor Darka has never seen that--between the heat, not liking all the tall alfalfa
hitting her in the face etc, tracking did not go as well as hoped. She skipped the first article, made the first corner
and tracked down the second leg. Unfortunately she lost her track at the second corner. They ended up with a 44. They
did the stadium work on Sunday. Obedience was a good phase for them. She wobbled a little on the retrieve over
the wall (didn't come back over), and during the "send out", the temptation to go towards a blind was too
much, but over all, they showed very well. Despite all the little bobbles, they earned an 88. In protection (Darka's
favorite phase), they impressed the judges and the crowd with very intense work. The guarding was great, as were all
the transports, but unfortunately her grip on the long bite wasn't as full as it normally is, so she lost points there
and during the call out. They ended up with an 87a (pronounced).
Danny and Darka are a new team, plus Darka
is still a young dog. The club is extremely proud of their performance and expects to see great things from the two
of them in the future. The judging at a national event is always very tough and even the veteran dogs have difficulties!!
This was Darka's first big event, but even so, she managed to impress a lot of people with her amazing speed, agility
and intense drive to work.
Good Job Danny and Darka!!! |
Bodhi's Story and
Recovery
Click here to see Bodhi's story
Amputation through 1 month post graft
Finally, after months of bandages, surgery,
medications etc Bodhi is getting to be a puppy!! He still has to wear an elizabethan collar to keep him from chewing/licking
his foot when he is alone, but now he gets to go out and play!! The tendons/ligaments are still weak, so he doesn't
get to work yet, but he is going for walks and gets play time and is finally getting to live a normal puppy life. Bodhi
is a very brave and happy puppy despite all that he has been through. The club can't wait to see him out
on the field working. We can already tell that he will be a fire cracker and give his dad a run for his money--good
luck Jim!!
Finally, Bodhi gets to run and play!!
See the video here
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