Today we got some very welcome mail - Casper's Certificate of Merit arrived from AKC! A CM is the rare breeds' (breeds in FSS and Miscellaneous classes) equivalent of a Championship, and is a suffix title instead of a prefix. Since Kooikers will be fully recognized in January 2018, before Casper even turns 2 (and... Continue Reading →
RBIS and adventures in birddogging
The first weekend of July is the UKC Washington Classic show series at Argus Ranch in Auburn, WA. This year I took only Casper, with the goal of winning the Total Dog award - this is given when a dog qualifies in a performance event AND wins a competitive placement in conformation, at the same... Continue Reading →
Casper’s Flyball Successes
Casper has "flown" through his first four tournaments brilliantly! He really hit his stride this weekend in Langley, BC. He ran half Saturday and full-time Sunday (minus one race) and earned 492 points, finishing his Flyball Champion Silver title and setting a new personal best time of 5.192 seconds. Even though he is still handicapped... Continue Reading →
Miscellaneous Class Thoughts
Kooikerhondjes are in AKC's Miscellaneous Class. AKC has a program through which rare breeds have to clear their hurdles in order to receive full recognition: their Foundation Stock Service program. Rare breeds with an active club can apply to be FSS listed, and then they are eligible to compete in AKC's Open Shows (read: rare... Continue Reading →
Successes in Open Show, Rally, and Flyball
We are just back from the Ephrata-Moses Lake Kennel Club Open Shows in Moses Lake, WA. Braam is coming home having been awarded Best In Miscellaneous/Best of Breed twice, and Casper Best In Miscellaneous/BOB once, proceeding to Best In Open Show! We would like to thank the EMLKC for offering these three shows in... Continue Reading →
Braam, THDN CGC
Braam got mail today! In recognition of his hard work performing therapy visits to schools and medical facilities as a registered Alliance of Therapy Dogs team, Braam officially has the titles THDN CGC after his name.
Seattle Kennel Club 2017
Seattle Kennel Club was the very first show I ever entered, with Braam in 2014 in the Pumi Club's Open Show when we were still in FSS. That year I also decided we should start a Meet The Breed booth at the event, so in addition to never having shown a dog in my life,... Continue Reading →
Recent adventures in rally and nosework
Casper is continuing his success in 2017 by beginning to compete in new performance events. At the end of January, we entered two UKC rally trials, despite knowing nothing about UKC rally - and after I had taken two rally classes with Braam, not Casper. We practiced a bit at home and once in the... Continue Reading →
Best In Show!!
Say hello to new UKC Ch Qunacks Favor New Years Special - Casper - who finished his Championship in a big way this weekend at the appropriately-named NWSWS Year End Bash cluster. On New Year's Eve he took a group 3 and a group 1, and on New Year's Day he upped the ante and... Continue Reading →
Training eendenkooi work/tolling
In my last post about designing and building a training eenenkooi (Building a practice eendenkooi) - my "feendenkooi" - I briefly touched on how I have been training the dogs to toll. I wanted to expand upon the training process in a separate post. Briefly, the behavior ideally looks like this: the handler/boss stands on the... Continue Reading →