2015 BSCA National Specialty

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Joan and I drove to the Belgian Sheepdog Club of America national specialty in Bozeman a couple weeks ago. We stopped at Spokane along the way where we met up for an Obsidian mini-reunion at a city park with Maggie, Blaede, Colt, Stacy, Brian and Luca. We had Heart, Rogue, Knife, and Lark along so I’m sure we made a quite a spectacle for the other park visitors.  One neighbor came over to find out what gives with all the black dogs and she stayed for a half hour just to enjoy the company of the Obsidians. A fun time at the park was had by all and delicious pizza was enjoyed by the humans (Thanks Brian and Stacy!). Maggie, Joan, our dogs, and I continued east as the sun set to the west.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn in Bozeman on Monday evening.  Just enough time to get the dogs exercised and have a good rest before the agility trials next morning.

What a day!  There were two trials held back to back.  First dog went to the line at 8 am and we didn’t finish the awards ceremony until after 6 pm. Knife was spectacular.  He won the standard excellent course in the first trial and the jumpers course in the second trial.  Knife won the high in trial award for trial #1 and Joan got a very nice chair from the club with the HIT embroidered on the back. Maggie and Colt were entered in agility too.  Colt had a couple of really nice runs that showed how well he is improving with age.

There were two obedience trials and two rally trials on Wednesday. This was Knife’s second obedience competition. He and Joan won the Novice B class in the first trial with a score of 195.5.  In the second trial, Knife had a 196 going into the long sit.  It was getting very warm by this time and the dogs were in the sun.  Knife decided to relax and lay down, so he got disqualified.  It was funny, because three other dogs with high scores sat up on the long down, so the class was won by the only dog that stayed put.    Knife’s combined score in agility and obedience earned him the BSCA Celebration of Life Trophy sponsored by Linda Brady.  This is a very prestigious award in the club.

knifes_ribbonsJoan and I expected a strong showing from Knife at the specialty because Knife is always strong.  We weren’t so sure about Heart because she hasn’t always done well on long-distance trips.  But we needn’t have worried.  Heart was a happy little traveler the whole week.  This was her first rally trial.  It was particularly challenging because rally and obedience were run simultaneously in different rings.  So it turned out that Joan would have to run from the obedience ring, hand Knife off to me, run to the van to get Heart and immediately run into the rally ring without a warmup.  Joan was discombobulated and got lost in the first trial, but she and Heart still won first place.  They earned a perfect score and first place in the second trial!

Knife received a lot of attention just because he looked so different than every other dog at the specialty.  Some people asked me if he was a black Malinois, which isn’t too far from the truth.  I overheard a couple of people speculating that he was probably a mixed breed. Most of the BSCA folks have never seen a Groenendael from working lines, so it was worth the long trip just to educate the membership about these type of dogs.

Maggie and Blaede were entered in the amateur handler class in the conformation show on Thursday. Blaede is developing into a really handsome dog and Maggie has learned to present him very well.  He earned second in his class which is a nice achievement considering the competition at a national specialty.  Good work Maggie!

We said goodbye to Bozeman on Thursday morning and headed home.  No matter how many times we travel through the Columbia River
Gorge we never get bored with that landscape.  The park at Cascade Locks is the perfect place for a short walk along the river. We were welcomed home by Rocky and Sharpy by 10 that evening.  A wonderful trip!

 

Sharpy: New TDU Title

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sharpy_tdu_award_miller_20141005This morning Obsidian’s Accipiter (“Sharpy”) earned her Tracking Dog Urban (TDU) title at the test held in Monmouth, Oregon by the Luckiamute Tracking Club.   Sharpy kept her nose down and negotiated some complicated passages along the track. It wasn’t until the last 3 yards, with the glove in sight, that I started to doubt whether we were going to pass.  Sharpy was proceeding very strongly on damp grass along the last leg of the track.  I saw the glove indicating the end of the track near the corner of a building ahead. As Sharpy approached the finish, she caught scent of a squirrel and shot around the corner, jerking herself hard when she got to the end of her lead.  The “self-correction” caused Sharpy to run back to me with her ears down and apologetic for chasing wildlife. To prove she had changed her ways,  she stayed at my side and refused to move toward the squirrel or the glove.  In spite of multiple commands to track, Sharpy stood fastened to my hip. I was in a terrible predicament.  The end of the track was 3 yards away and my dog wouldn’t restart.  Just when I was about to give up hope, Sharpy caught a whiff of the glove and laid down where she was.  The judges recognized this as Sharpy’s article indication from the previous articles we found on the track!  So they signaled to me that we had successfully finished the test.  I’ve had close calls in tracking tests, but never quite this close before.  The judges today were Curt Curtis and Judy Stromquist.

sharpy_tdu_map_20141005 Rogue and Heart also were entered in today’s test.  Rogue got into trouble midway down the track and we wandered off until we heard the whistle.  Heart made it down a difficult first leg that included two driveway crossings and quite  a lot of other non-vegetated surfaces.  I knew we had come to the first turn and held Heart patiently until she committed to a new direction…the wrong direction unfortunately.  Even though we failed, the judges let us finish the track.  Heart performed very nicely and was hardly distracted by a tractor that passed within a few feet of her or by the barking huskys lunging toward Heart at the end of their leads just as she approached the glove.  A very strong performance in spite of the fail.  Of five dogs in the test, only Sharpy passed.

The TDU is a relatively new AKC tracking test. The major specifications of the test are:

  • 400-500 yards in length
  • The track is aged between 30-120 minutes
  • The track has 3-5 turns
  • 10-30% of the track must be on non-vegetated surfaces

I believe that Sharpy may be only the second Belgian Sheepdog to have passed the TDU test.

The award photo is courtesy of Peggy Miller.

 

Reunion 2014

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Glace Noire Sabre d'ObsidianLast Sunday we had the chance to visit with seven of Heart’s offspring at the Obsidian Kennel reunion held at the Rogue Farm in Independence, Oregon.  Pack members traveled back to the Willamette Valley from California, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The Obsidian offspring in attendance were:

  • Obsidian’s Atlas (Flag)
  • Obsidian’s Aye of the Hurricane (Storm)
  • Glace Noire Sabre d’Obsidian (Sabre)
  • Obsidian’s To Build a Fire (Colt)
  • Legendary Broadsword of Obsidian (Kupo)
  • Obsidian’s Black Rock Buccaneer (Blaede).

and of course our own Sharpy (Obsidian’s Accipiter).  Sota, sire of the Obsidian B-Litter, also stopped by to be admired by the gathering.  The guest of honor was Heart herself.

The center of activity was the shaded deck behind the farmhouse.  From there is was an easy walk to the Willamette River where the dogs could cool, and it was even a shorter distance to the tasting room where we could refill a growler with Rogue’s Brutal Bitter.

8. Which of the following is considered a fault under the AKC standard for the Belgian sheepdog?
a. 25 inches tall for a male
b. Chest broad, not deep
c. Eyes: brown, preferably dark brown
d. tends to single track on a fast gait

Legendary Broadsword of Obsidian After a picnic lunch,  I subjected the gang to a game of Belgian trivia with 18 questions about breed history, the AKC Belgian sheepdog standard, performance event rules, and the Obsidian family.  I thought I’d stump everybody when I asked them to name the sire or dam of the earliest Groenendael foundation couple,  but Connie Batsford had been waiting for that one.  “Petite”, said Connie.  Good Girl!  Trivia was followed game in which we blindfolded one of the group, who was then presented with three different dogs and they had to choose which was their own.  Those A-Litter boys look like they were made with a cookie-cutter, so it was definitely not as easy as it sounds.  Joan, hands down, proved herself the champion by correctly identifying all three dogs, only one of which she owns.

Obsidian's Aye of the HurricaneIt was wonderful to see how nicely the A-Litter has matured at three years old.  They are a very handsome pack of Belgians.  Kupo and Blaede from the B-Litter show so much promise.  We know they can look forward to success in the show ring or the performance arena. They are all lucky dogs to have the owners that they do!  Thank you Connie, Wendy, Maggie and Michael, Sean and Lauren, Heidi and Jeff, and the other owners who couldn’t attend for the rich lives you are providing these dogs.

 

Portland Agility Club AKC Agility Trial

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Groenendael Knife Agility
Photo by Joe Camp

Knife has only been competing in agility for seven months, but he finished his AX title last Friday and went on to earn his first double Q at the PAC trial today.  He took first place on the 24″ jumpers and standard course, racking up 40 speed points!

Both our girls also did well.  Sharpy finished her novice standard title this weekend and Heart took second place in a competitive 16″ standard class on Friday.