Joan and Knife are starting to compete in more USDAA agility trials this year. These difficult courses tend to be more similar to European agility than what is usually offered in the AKC program. Joan’s dream is to qualify for for the 2015 FMBB championships in the Czech Republic, so she and Knife will be doing a lot more USDAA to improve their game. In the meantime, I’ll be dreaming of ordering koláče and vepřo-knedlo-zelo in Prague, foods I used to enjoy in my Aunt Tet’s kitchen a long time ago.
Last weekend, Joan and Knife competed at the Willamette Agility Group (WAG) USDAA trial. The event had a particularly large entry because USDAA nationals are to be held on the West Coast for the first time in a few years this coming fall. A lot of western competitors are working hard to qualify. This was only Knife’s 3rd USDAA trial, so he was still in the starters and advanced classes at the beginning of the weekend. But it’s not going to take Knife and Joan too much time to be powerful contenders in masters class at the regional level if last weekend is an indication of his prospects. They took a 3rd place in starters gamblers, 2nd place in advanced standard, and 1st place in starters pairs. But Joan’s favorite run of the weekend was the masters challenger standard course on Saturday where she and Knife took 2nd place against all other 26″ dogs, including national and international finalist competitors. I foresee a lot more blind crosses and K-turns in Knife’s future!