|
You Just Have to Be A Dog Person
to Get It! |
|
|
|
|
|
I am going to preface this
by saying that when I told my non-dog friends about the wonderful
time I had at the NADAC Trial they thought I was nuts. It was
November. It was either raining or windy or just plain cold
depending on the day. It was, however, despite all that, a great
three days!
For all you AKC and non-dog types, NADAC
is the North American Dog Agility Council. Formed in 1993, the goal
of NADAC is to provide all dogs with an agility venue and sanctions
Agility Trails held by their various affiliate clubs. In many ways,
NADAC Trails are like the AKC Trials - the dogs are highly trained
and can receive awards and titles, the handler’s lament about
their mistakes on the course, and the judges are tough - but there
are some differences as well.
First of all, mixed breed dogs are
allowed to compete. Bonnie, my Demo Dog Excellent, an “Almost
Pyrenees,” and I were thrilled to see this! I have to admit, I
have been so busy showing the Poodles AKC all these years, that I
never took the time to look outside the AKC venue - and what a
shame! Bonnie and I could have been doing NADAC Agility all along!
How dumb was I? (And yes, we are starting training in the Spring!)
Second, NADAC Trials offer different
classes than AKC Agility Trials. The two I found most interesting
were Hoopers and Tunnelers, both of which take using directionals to
new levels. The courses consist either entirely of hoops or tunnels
and as such, doesn’t allow for the use of an obstacle name as a
directional - talk about difficult! I was blown away by the
precision handling involved in both these classes!
Third (and this is the one thing that
absolutely made the event for me), is the atmosphere. I know I am
probably going to get into trouble for saying this and some of you
will take it wrong but I have to admit that at AKC Events I always
get the feeling that it is a “do or die” situation and that
there is tension in the air. There is none of this at a NADAC Trail.
Everyone - dog, handler, spectator, and vendor - has a great time
and thoroughly enjoy each other’s company. |
|
|
|
Ready?... Set?... GO!!!! |
|
|
By Nature Pet Foods |
|
By Nature Pet Foods |
|
|
|
Contrary to Popular
Belief,
Bulldogs CAN Fly! |
|
|
|
|
Walkin' The Walk! |
|
The particular
NADAC Trial I attended was sponsored by In The Zone and was
held at the Salem County Fairgrounds in Woodstown, NJ. In the
Zone is run by Lisa Bonker and I don’t think I have ever been
at such a smooth running event. That is quite the cudo to Lisa
because the weather obviously just didn’t want to cooperate!
Friday we had rain that alternated between mist and actual downpour.
Saturday we had rain in the morning followed by a break of sun and
wind - OMG! The wind! Sunday it was damp … and windy … and COLD!
Lisa took it all in stride - pausing classes as necessary, setting
up courses between raindrops, and even providing music for the
holding area during down time. She did a great job!
I also had the pleasure of meeting Barry
Rosen, Photographer Excellent! (Those are his photos you see on this
page!) Unlike the photographers the AKC events who only take
pictures of the winners, Barry is all over the place taking shots of
all the exhibitors and really capturing what an Agility event is all
about - ACTION! It was great to watch him work - especially when he
had on his Frog Togs and his camera had a raincoat and umbrella!
I also had the pleasure of seeing some
of Barry’s other work - beautiful portraits, fun candid shots -
and what he was able to do with them. He can do everything from
making them look like an oil painting to weaving them into a
tapestry or blanket to making them into these really unique
necklaces. When I see him again, I am going to have him photograph
Bonnie so I can have a necklace made. I really, really liked those! |
|
The Stars of the Event were,
of course, the dogs - and I was able to meet a few when they weren’t
busy . Team Bully was there with their Bulldog that could actually
jump. Ben, the Cocker, who, I was told ,was formerly a very shy boy,
came over to visit (and do quite a bit of winning, too!), Jo-Jo, the
lab/poodle mix that washed out from service dog school, two labs
that were consistently doing well and their wonderful owner that was
totally devoted to these athletes, the two Dobes (Barry did a
gorgeous portrait!), the mixed breed that was probably the most
athletic dog I have ever seen (you should see his movement and
jumping ability!), Borders, Jacks (or do they call them Parsons
now?), a Smooth Collie - yep, it was great … and everyone had a
great time!
As part of the event, By Nature held a
drawing for the book “Performance Dog Nutrition: Optimize
Performance With Nutrition by Jocelynn Jacobs.
It is a great book and stresses the importance of feeding the
competition dog properly to achieve better result. While we had tons
of entries, the winner, chosen at random by my Kennel Manager (a
totally unbias and somewhat surprised that I would ask, third
party), was Alice S. of Tom’s River, NJ. I hope she enjoys the
book! I also hope that all the contest participants make use of the
coupons I sent out - $5.00 off is nothing to sneeze at! (I highly
recommend the Active Formula for anyone participating at these
levels of competition!)
Now to all my non-doggy friends … yep,
I know you think that I didn’t have enough sense to come in out of
the rain (and wind, and cold) but, I’ll tell you what …there
really is nothing better than being able to watch great canine
athletes and their handlers compete at such high levels. The
athleticism of the dogs is breathtaking and the skill demonstrated
by the handlers is awe inspiring. Just look at the pictures! It is a
sight to behold - no matter what the weather! |
|
|
|
Hoopers! |
|
|
|
|
Tunnelers! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
