# Doin' the happy dance!



## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

I headed to Michigan this weekend to run my boys in Michigan Flways RC's fall tests at Omega Farms. They had been entered at MArshbanks GRC the weekend before, but their Master overdrew, was split, and I ended up judging for them instead doing the SH (44dogs!) and JH(38 dogs!) assignment of the judges who were moved to the Master B.
So, we went back this weekend. My little guy (not so physically little, but he's my baby boy!) got two JH legs. The test today was very challenging, and while he did it in a unique way, he did it!
For a lark, I entered my big show dog in the SH. He's been training well this summer, and his blinds have really come along. Well, Saturday, that big wind in Michigan could have blown me down, but he passed the first SH I have ever put him in! And today, he passed again (including a beautiful one-whistle land blind that got a "Nice Blind!" from one of the judges)! No pictures yet--just grinnin' at home with a beer!


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Congratulations! 

Of course this thread is worthless without pictures. 
(Don't forget the beer)


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Congrats<:

It was apparently a good weekend for a lot of people at Omega Farms.


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Yes it was! One friend finished a SH| and a MH on her flat coats! Were you there?


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Oooh congrats!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

sterregold said:


> Yes it was! One friend finished a SH| and a MH on her flat coats! Were you there?


I think that was our current instructor.... 

But there were other people I know whose dogs did really well. They must have loved the weather.

One of these days I'll have to go out and watch. It's one of those things I've been meaning to do.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

HUGE Congratulations Shelly! The more I learn about field, the more incredibly impressed I am with people like you, and dogs like yours!!!


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

WOW I didn't know you were there! I was at Marshbanks, as a spectator at the end. My husband worked the JH I was down the road running UKC agility (unsuccessfully). 

Yes I too train at Northfield owned by Adele who finished SH with one dog and MH with another. Pretty impressive! I also have a lab friend who got her final two passes in JH to finish her title. She ran JH for the first time the weekend before (Marshbanks) for her first two passes. 

We were up north this weekend so we did not head out to Omega. However my thoughts were often wondering how things were going. Glad you had a great weekend.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Wow - major congratulations  Sounds like an incredible weekend


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## Tex-Mex (Feb 14, 2010)

Congrat's Shelly To think you were pretty worried on Wed when I saw you Winter came up big!!!!


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Congrats Shelly! Sounds like quite an accomplishment - Cheers and enjoy your beer!


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Maxs Mom said:


> WOW I didn't know you were there! I was at Marshbanks, as a spectator at the end. My husband worked the JH I was down the road running UKC agility (unsuccessfully).
> 
> Yes I too train at Northfield owned by Adele who finished SH with one dog and MH with another. Pretty impressive! I also have a lab friend who got her final two passes in JH to finish her title. She ran JH for the first time the weekend before (Marshbanks) for her first two passes.
> 
> We were up north this weekend so we did not head out to Omega. However my thoughts were often wondering how things were going. Glad you had a great weekend.


Cool! If your husband worked JH on Sunday at Marshbanks he was part of my worker crew!!

I did not get much of a chance to visit with folks at JH this weekend with having Win in SH. I was back and forth between the stakes most of the time, and trying to watch a few friends in MH as well.

I have friends in both the Marshbanks and MiFly clubs, so usually make the trip over for their tests. You'll have to look for me next year!


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

My boys with their ribbons--Winter (l), and Butch (r)









No pictures yet from Laura who was clicking away at JH. Unfortunately I did not get any shots at Sh. Most of us were runing between stakes so there wasn't really anyone taking pictures there. However, I did sketch out what the tests looked like. I like to do this to have a record of what judges put on.

The tests
SH Saturday
This was a very hard field, with a gully down the centre as well as other knolls which created in essence optical illusions for the dogs. We did a walkup to the flyer--many dogs had handles on the flyer as the wind made the fall very erratic and difficult. Then we ran the blind--huge suction towards the flyer station with the flyer, wind direction and the hill which fell of towards the flyer station. We then ran the double to finish the land test. Many dogs overran the go bird and ended up on the beans--and a few found themselves back int he flyer fall. On water, the go bird was not long, but fell into really thick muck. Getting dogs to the water blind was also a challenge with the wind that kept pushing dogs out into the open water. It was very hard for the dogs to hear whistles all day with the wind conditions which made some of the blind work pretty ugly--admittedly including my own!









SH Sunday
The heavy cover made this test challenging. Many dogs had big hunts or handles on the memory bird as they were thrown off line by the changing cover. On the blind, the dogs had to leave the cut field and enter the cover at an angle.
On water, the ponds were small making the marks relatively straightforward. The blind was challenging though as the little creek was quite narrow and had many points as well as the channel to the right which proved tempting for some dogs.








JH Saturday
Heavy cover and the wind were tough factors for the young dogs in this test. Some dogs had a hard time digging ou the flyer, and dogs who deeked left of the decoys on bird two tended to run long and have a hunt. the water marks were not long, but the young dogs had to re-enter the water across the spit with the decoys which caught the interest of many en route.











JH Sunday
This was a big junior test, and the flyers just did not want to die! The very first dog got a completely alive bird, and Butch also got a barely crippled bird--luckily he thinks they are fun. Some of the youngsters ended up with big hunts on one bird or the other.
On water, I did not get to see many of the other dogs run, but the left hand mark was the meat of the test. The right hand bird required the dogs to exit the water and climb a hill a little ways to get the bird. The left hand bird was about 65 yards out between two large dead trees anbd past a whole lot of flooded timber. Butch had to check everything out on his way to the bird and so took an interesting route but knew exactly where the bird was the whole time!


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

WOW what a great week-end! Congrads.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

A friend emailed me a video of her dog running JH on Sunday. That was right up by the road. I can't picture the water there but I have not been to Omega that many times. Thanks for sending us the tests. Pretty cool.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Great news! Congratulations, team.


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Some pictures of Butch from Laura Reich of Lor-Al Labradors


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

GO BUTCH!!!!

Great water entry.

What a nice dog.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Holy Moly, he is focused on the task at hand. Great Pics.


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