WAG Trial Weekend April 6- 8

What a great weekend outside Waco! WAG really puts on a nice trial. My friend Marj Vincent flew in to Judge from Oregon despite post DFW tornado damage delays.  Thanks again to Rena, Marcie and the rest of the WAG folks.

We ran the whole crew. Rookie and Zack are fast finding their place on the list of crowd favorites. Rookie is now exclusively in Elite having earned his Open Weavers Title on Saturday. Wyatt nailed a beautiful 20 Point Regular Bonus line. He is just amazing.   Tank earned Natch-7 and for WAG's cumulative 2 trial awards Cathy and Alex earned 2nd Place and Tank and I earned 1st Place HIGH IN TRIAL!  Some weekend for our Herd to be sure. And even more Awesome was earning these under our returning good friend and judge Marj Vincent.

                Alex & Cathy 2nd Place High In Trial, Judge Marj Vincent,
                Tank & Me 1st Place High In Trial and Tank's Natch-7!!!!!!!


We confirmed some of our final Run As One Agility Inaugurate Members this weekend too. We are happy and honored to have some great folks becoming integral parts of Run As One Agility.

LASTLY, a fond WAG Trials Farewell to my close friends TIM & JENNY who are and will continue to be a big part of Run As One. I know the WAG folks should miss them and all their work over the years. While they are Officers in Run As One Cathy and I will miss watching Jenny, Cooper, Casey, Tim & Grizzly in McGregor. We are proud and privileged to have them as friends and look forward watching them at ALL OUR TRIALS as they too ... RUN AS ONE!

San Marcos Trial & Gunner The Foster

What a great weekend at the AK9X Trial in San Marcos, TX this past weekend. RV'ing on site just 30 feet from the crating area was sweet. 

My friend Kim Galusha along with the club allowed us to take our temp. Foster.... yes I really mean foster this time, our Inn is full!!!..... Gunner. Gunner is a beautiful sweet and big Border Collie possibly a bit of other big dog mix.   Many friends walked & helped care for him. Deb even taught him a few commands. He is very smart.  He was also very sweet, excellent on-leash and had a lot of adoption 'interest'.  He is still available as of today if you know anyone? He does have two people 'testing' him in their homes over the next few days. If interested in him please email me soon!

We had a blast running. Admittedly I was not myself on Sunday so Tank, Wyatt & Zack did not get their best handler moments. That said, thanks to Jumpers... God willing... Tank is now just 2 Jumpers away from his NATCH-7, Wyatt earned a 20 pt Jumpers Bonus and Zack 'the youngee' earned his first Elite title!   Rookie earned his first Open Hoopers Q and Cathy & Alex won their second High In Trial for Veteran Dogs... their second HIT in 3 weeks! Awesome!

Chances one liner for this week to all reading.... Get Off That Line...... and Run As One!

Website Goes Live

Well, here we are!  Hope you enjoy!  Please go back and start at the October 1 Post. It sort of sets the stage for where we are now and where we've come from since last year.

It's March now too so... in advance... Happy St. Patrick's Day!

and remember....Run As One!

Farewell Calera

     Bittersweet it is officially over in Calera. The last FundRaiser was this past weekend. I am mixed with emotions still. I am happy for the NADAC folks for having sold the property so they can make their final? move to California. I am sad for those of us who found a home away from home there. We have already missed Sharon & Chris and my buddy Marj who have been gone for a while now... but my friend Becky Woodruff who held that place together these past several months will be dearly missed most of all.  The feral dogs, the rescues, the trials, the gathering of people, the kindness. the friendships... are all now soon to be wonderful memories.
    Well, we went out with a bang. Two full days from dawn to dusk... trialing, eating. The food people brought was ridiculous. I wished all these year we had had the desserts and pastries table out near the lines like last weekend. Run a dog have pastry, run a dog eat a cream puff, run a dog munch a cookie.....burn those calories, put 'em back on. Whoever put that table out there.... Genius I tell you... Genius!!!
    Our family alone ran so many runs up there, earned so many titles up there. Just recently Cathy and Alex hit 5000 Lifetime Points.  Tank earned 4 or 5 of his Natchs on runs there.  Wyatt and I really started pushing long distances and received much guidance there too.   Rookie was one day from being put down before NADAC Rescue saved him and took him to Calera. My  young Zack was even a brief Calera rescue.
     Truly as much as few wanted to talk about the last runs, folks were laughing, smiling and taking in every moment.  The atmosphere up there is so relaxed.  I have learned so much about dog's and agility there. Hopefully now I can take more of that knowledge and teach it too.  I hope Gunner finds a home or at least a good foster situation soon. He is a good dog that will be Great given some direction and a chance.
     I will miss the best parts of many of my days... Waking Up there my 3 dogs by my side & feet, taking out all the dogs, getting breakfast and walking right over with friends dwindling in to all Run As One!

Looking Briefly Back at January

    Three trials in Calera this past month. Alex led the house again with 18 Q's.  OK, I know ... Q count. Well they were awesome. Tank and I are still working to get our timing back after his time off from agility. Notice I say our timing when it is really my timing that need work. His is Exceptional. He is getting his muscle mass back too. His speed is crazy fast. It's like he is trying to make up for lost time when he could have been running.        Haven't had too many Bonus Lines for Wyatt and I to work from but we keep "practicing" at every trial.  Rookie earned another Title and my baby boy Zack earned his first Open Level Title. I really need to start practicing more with him. Don't we all???  He really loves this stuff!
     Folks are starting to ask about Seminars again! Stay tuned and... Run As One Texas!

Last New Year's Calera FunRaiser Trial?

    Sad but possibly true. Our home away from home in Calera, Oklahoma just north of the Texas border my be selling the property so this may have been that last FunRaiser there. That also means trials may be coming to an end there.
    New Years was terrific though. 4 Days of Running, visiting with old friends we seem to see too little of.  Many laughs and of course it's still the Holidays... so way too much food.
 It seems like we all occasionally get pulled into what I think of as the "Q Count". And while Alex and Cathy had something like 14 Q's and no less than 3rd place, Wyatt and I worked distance, youngee Rookie earned 2 Titles, my youngee Zack earned his first Open Tunnelers Q.... then there was Tank.
     Tank you may recall had been wearing the "E- Collar" or as we like to call it "The Lampshade"up to the Day before Christmas. So we had a week of light training leading up to not pushing him too much for the trial. I truly did not know how much I would run him if at all.  We ran very soft on the Weave Poles as his mouth was healed, but likely a bit sensitive.   Anyway, he had his handful of Q's and placements... but it reminded me more than ever of something.
    The best runs are not always the clean ones. I was just happy to have my partner back running with me.  After the last 6 months I will always appreciated every moment of every run more than ever.
     Oh, and my oldest dog Luke "The Wonder Dog"... He's Still Got It!       Run As One America!

Tank or as he is currently nicknamed "Lampshade"

     So my dog Tank has had some past five months. What started out as many possibilities from stroke, to Horner's syndrome, impact trauma, aneurysm... turns out current diagnosis 'idiopathic' which translated means 'unkown'.  I suspect when 2 of the dogs collided (there were 3 running around our shrubs 'playing') that loud thud I heard was the beginning of the problem. Shortly after 2 Vets, MRI and a broken canine from the collision it was time for action.  Brain scan showed no markers so his brain was fine. No consistent pathology issues. Antibiotics, anti inflammatories, etc......
    So, off to a Dog Dentist and Facial specialist. Yes they do exist.  Not cheap mind you, but they do exist. My other concern was the canine tooth roots proximity to sinus tissue. Willing to try anything to help my boy who's head was crooked, face partially sagging (no, not a stroke) we chose to bone graft and repair the canine. Thus my action Agility North American Grand Champion dog and travel/errand partner was restricted to a liquid diet, a crate and just 3 light walks a day while stuck wearing what looked like a Lampshade around his neck and head.  He was one sad looking boy.
     But a trooper through all of it. Patient, he never whined or cried. He made the most of our 3 daily walks and occasionally me 'scratching' around his neck being very careful to have NO contact with his mouth. Three procedures over 3+ weeks too.
    So we are hopeful for many things this Christmas. More than any that when he gets this Lampshade off he will heal ok and be able to get back to his normal life.  I miss running with him. But I'd still rather have him in a Lampshade than not have him at all.