Driving the Ferrari

Our dear friend Mariann is sidelined with a medical issue and can't run her Border Collie Sammie right now, so Jim, as he put it, was handed the "keys to the Ferrari" and got to run Sammie in a USDAA trial yesterday!

The video below is from Jim and Sammie's Gamblers run, in which they qualified and got first place!! This is the very first time that Sammie has run in a trial with anyone other than Mariann. You can see him looking for her at the start line, but once he and Jim started running together, Sammie did great! Jim did a pretty good job, too, considering he's used to driving a slow and steady sedan, not a fast, flashy Ferrari!!

Sammie is an awesome dog, and Jim had a fun time running with him yesterday. He did double duty, as he also ran Tess, who got a first place Q in her PII Standard run, along with first place runs in PII Gamblers and PII Pairs.

Tess - AX Title!

Tess earned her AKC Agility Excellent (AX) title today at the Golden Triangle Obedience Training Club trial in Cheswick, PA. Tess and Jim had a beautiful first place run and are now in Excellent B in both Standard and Jumpers with Weaves. Tess will be working on her MX and MXJ titles, each of which require 10 qualifying scores to title. Go, Tess!

Circus Fun

The Greater Pittsburgh Dalmatian Club held its annual Fun Day in the Park this past Sunday. This year, it was a circus theme and we all were supposed to have a circus act with our Dals. Below is Tess, the clown, and Jazz, the man-eating, liver-spotted Dalmatian lion!!

This is Jazz's mom Gia (on left) in her pearls and circus tutu, with Jazz (on right) in her lion mane. Doesn't Jazz look like her Mama?

Jazz and Tess clownin' around


Jazz and Tess in the circus collars that our Fun Day chairperson had for all the dogs

It was a beautiful day in the park and a really fun afternoon for us and our Dals (we even had a pair of Whippets, a Basset, and a Yorkie in attendance with their Dal family members). Thanks to the folks at GPDC who put this all together. I know my girls had fun learning to be circus dogs!!

More photos and a link to the slideshow from the Fun Day at the GPDC blog.

Spot a Cure

In May of this year, a good friend of mine and fellow Dalmatian owner was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was the second Dal friend who received this devastating diagnosis in the past year. I struggled with a way that I could support my friend through her diagnosis and treatment, and I teamed up with a graphic artist and a printer to design and sell t-shirts to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness, in honor of my friends. As a result of our efforts, I formed a non-profit called "Spot a Cure."

Pictured below are the two t-shirt designs that we developed. Design #1 is called "No Obstacle Too Big to Conquer" and is printed large on the back of a white t-shirt with Design #2 printed smaller on the front left chest of the shirt.

Design #2 is called "Spot a Cure" and is also printed large on the back of the t-shirt with Design #1 printed smaller on the left front chest of the shirt.

If you look closely, you may see a Dal you know! Tess was the model for the "No Obstacle Too Big to Conquer" shirt, and Jazz's handsome half-brother Gage was the model for the "Spot a Cure" design.

Each of these shirts is available in adult sizes S, M, L, XL, and 2XL for $15, plus $5 to defray expenses of shipping and handling. Nearly $10 from each shirt will be donated to breast cancer research/awareness. The shirts are digitally printed in full color, front and back. They are available for purchase on our website at http://www.spotacure.com/, where you can securely order online through PayPal.

One in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. The woman you help by supporting Spot a Cure may be you or someone you love! Please pass this information along to any of your friends or family who may be interested in purchasing one of our t-shirts. With each shirt purchased, we're including a laminated shower card with instructions for performing a breast self-examination. Both of my friends detected their tumors through this important test only months after having clear mammograms. Help us "Spot a Cure" for breast cancer by ordering one of these great t-shirts today!

More CPE Agility

Jazz ran in CPE agility again this past weekend and earned her Level 1 Strategy Games title with a first place Q in Snooker, which also completed her overall Level 1 title. She also qualified in Level 2 Full House. Our next few trials will be in AKC and USDAA with Tess, so Jazz will keep training until the end of October, when we'll try another CPE trial. Jazz and I are also working hard on Rally and will make our Rally Advanced debut in September.

Also at CPE, Tess qualified in her first Championship level run with a second place in Wildcard. Go, Tess, go!!

Perfect Weekend!!!

After several near misses, including being just 1 point away, Jim and Tess earned a Perfect Weekend ribbon at CPE agility!! That means that they qualified in all eight of their runs over this past weekend, all of which were in Level 4 and 5, which are the higher levels of competition. Tess also got her Standard Level 4 and Fun Games Level 4 titles. Jim and Tess have become a great team, and we're so very proud of them!

Jim, Tess, and the rest of the gang who earned Perfect Weekend ribbons at the CPE trial at K9 Athlete Center in Washingtonville, OH, along with judge Art Malott from Ontario, Canada, eh!

Tess wasn't the only star this weekend. In only Jazz's second CPE trial, she qualified and placed in five out of six runs, earning her Standard Level 1, Handler Games Level 1, and Fun Games Level 1 titles! Jazz had a lot of fun on her runs and is gaining confidence in us as a team. I was thrilled with how well she ran for me this weekend and look forward to our next runs together!

Here's a video from Jazz's Jumpers run on Friday evening, judged by our friend and fellow Dalmatian owner Susan Zimmerman

USDAA Performance Versatility Pairs

Over the weekend, Tess participated in her first USDAA Performance Versatility Pairs competition. Two dogs/handlers run as a team and their scores are combined and they must earn a percentage of maximum points to qualify.

Tess and Jim were invited to be on a team with our friend Margaret and her Border Collie Josie. Our team was called "Black and White and Spotted All Over." Long name, but appropriate for these two! My sister embroidered their team name on t-shirts, along with their logo, which was the yin-yang symbol.

Tess and Josie made a great pair, not only qualifying, but taking first place in Performance Pairs! Tess also did well in individual competition, earning her very first Super Q in Snooker! Way to go, Tess, Jim, Josie, and Margaret! What a fun weekend.

Judge Bud Houston, Jim, Tess, Margaret and Josie

Tess with the team medallion she won, with Jim in his team shirt

A closer view of Tess with her medallion


While Jazz did not compete this weekend, she was a very busy girl chasing grasshoppers and playing with her friend Abby in the field at the trial site! Jazz and I always enjoy trialing at K9 Four Seasons Athlete Center, because it's on a big farm and there are lots of places for us to run and play!