It;s been a long time since Bear's last update! We competed at the 2006 AAC Nationals and Bear once again gave me a darned good showing. It wasn't enough to earn a ribbon or a placement, but was more than I could have ever expected when we started hopping over broomsticks all those years ago.
Bear did earn his Masters Steeplechase Dog of Canada title on the Friday of Nationals, and that was a thrill. He has now earned every title that the AAC offers. I love this dog.
Make it 5! Bear is now a 5-time Nationals qualifier after another great Regionals. He went clean on both Jumpers and both Standard runs, earning him 467 points and placing him 16th in a very competitive class of 50. We're going to one more Nationals, and I can't think of a finer way of wrapping up a magnificent career.
One more time - VOTE FOR BEAR!
And that's a wrap on the agility season! We did our last trial in Nanaimo, with the wonderful DAWG folks. Bear loves NADAC, and ran his big fluffy heart out, giving me enthusiastic runs throughout the weekend. He went 5/7, finishing his Superior Touch n Go title, and picking up two each of Standard and Jumpers Qs. He even broke the mythical 5 YPS barrier in his first Jumpers run!
A very successful year for the best dog ever - 19 AAC Qs, his AAC Agility Trial Champion of Canada title, his 4th consecutive National Qualifying score, 19 NADAC Qs, and four new NADAC titles. That's a whole lot of success for the big dog!
Bear made his flyball debut the last weekend of October! Running with the Kings Wild Bunch Division 5 team, he was lead dog for about half the races over both days and didn't make a single mistake. We even had a perfect 0.00 start in one run! Certainly not the fastest dog out there, but one of the loudest, and fluffiest, and, in my opinion, the cutest.
Been a while since our last update. Let's see, there was the Cliffhanger trial in August, where Bear ran in very hot conditions and still picked up a Masters Jumpers Q. Then we did the Matsqui trial at the beginning of September, where he got another Masters Jumper Q, as well as a Steeplechase and Snooker Q. Finally, we ran at PAC in October, where he earned Steeplechase, Snooker, Jumpers and Standard Qs. In his Jumpers and Standard rounds, he was really moving! For an older dog, he still has moments of pep.
That concludes his AAC trial season, his most successful ever! 19 Qs, two titles, including his ATChC, and he's finally running with joy, which is our biggest accomplishment of all..