My Beagles...

Emma and Levi......are 5 months apart. Emma was born 3 November 2004 and I soon realised she needed a playmate. I was very lucky to find Levi within a few months of getting Emma, as I waited nearly two years for Emma!Levi was born 28 March 2005 and was the naughtiest puppy alive! Him and Emma immediately hit it off and became the best of Beagle Buddies.I desperately needed to find an outlet for my Beagle kids' energy, and ventured into the world of agility. It soon became one of my biggest passions, apart from the Beagle breed, and today Emma and Levi are both competing in the top grades. I made a friend in Slovenia, running her Beagle Xsara in agility, and she inspired me to start teaching them tricks. I'm enjoying it very much and hopefully this blog will be as entertaining and inspiring to others, as Xsara's is to me.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Levi's day!

Saturday was Levi's day! I'm so proud of my boy. He ran two beautiful clear and very fast rounds. The first was in Contact Grade 2 to gain a qualification with the most stunning weave-pole entry... and the second run was in Non-Contact Grade 3, at a speed of 5.1m/s! He was my star of the day! Unfortunately I have no video of his runs. :(

Emma had an OK day, mommy made a bad handling error which caused us to disqualify in the Dog Jumping event. In Contact Grade 3 she still managed a win, although on a straight we were going so fast that she sent a bar flying! :) In Non-Contact her clear round only managed a 3rd place, as Beagle brother Levi obviously took the honours of first place there.

BC sister Chinzi had a 5-faulter day, knocking a bar in each of her 3 rounds sadly. Looking on the bright side, she worked very well, had brilliant contacts and lovely weave-pole entries, all at lightning fast speeds. She still managed a 3rd place in Contact 1 and a 1st in Non-Contact 1.

Well done to my 3 jumping kids! It was a very enjoyable show, and they did me proud.

Now I'm lying sick in bed, but hopefully will recover by the weekend in time for our next trial on Sunday.

Oh, and Chinzi also obtained her FDX (Flyball Dog Excellent) status on Saturday, but more about that on her own blog.

Big woofs and wags from the Beagles.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Knysna 2008!

We travelled to Knysna for the Southern Cape Regional Trials over the past weekend. Again, it was our Border Collie "sister" Chinzi's first Regionals, so our mom concentrated on her a bit more than on us poor Beagles, but we still had fun and did her proud.

Levi didn't have too good a weekend, but it was mostly mommy's bad handling that saw 6 disqualifications from our 8 rounds, and two Agility rounds with missed contacts. My boy, you worked well under the circumstances and I'm sorry we couldn't have more time on the course, but mom will make it up to you, I promise!

There was lots of distractions for the dogs, as it was held at show grounds where they were having the annual Oyster Festival. Kites flying in the wind made Levi sometimes run away, tail between his legs, and loud music from the stage also didn't help, but I think they did well overcoming all the obstacles, still giving their best and a performance to be proud of, all around.

Emma was the usual steady star, receiving two silver medals, one for Agility and one for Jumping. She had 2 other stunning clear Jumping rounds but unfortunately was placed 4th. She had another 3rd and 4th placing in Agility with faults. Overall she still managed to secure a second place for the weekend and received a beautiful rosette for it. Photos to follow soon! We are having floods and non-stop rain, so haven't had a chance to pose for some sunny photos yet. :)

We also did not have someone to video us, so no rounds of Emma's weekend sadly. :(

Here is one of Levi's Agility rounds, unfortunately with naughty missed contacts! :)


Now go read about our BC sister's AMAZING weekend on her blog http://www.chinzigotops.blogspot.com/ !!!

Some photos of us sniffing at stops on the way home...











Photos in slideshow courtesy of Gary Killian.

Levi pulling out front in Drag Hunt

Photos in slideshow courtesy of Nico Nel.