DCA President Carl Holder, John Willmore, Diane Webb, and Olive!

We're back from the Dachshund Club of America National Specialty --

48 dachshunds qualified in at least one DCA 2014 field or companion event (field, earthdog, agility, obedience, or rally) and 7 qualified in two events.  Probably around 100 or more dachshunds participated in these events.

Only three dachshunds qualified in 3 events and were Triathlon qualifiers -- our three girls!

-- Olive, who received 16 points from earthdog, agility and obedience.
-- Bossa, who earned 16 points in field, earthdog, and agility.
-- Asti, who earned 10 points in field, agility, and rally.

Olive received one more point than Bossa in Triathlon Conformation to finish with 19 points and is the DCA Triathlon Dog of 2014!

To recap our DCA --

We started with field trials in January.  Bossa won the Open All Age Bitch stake and Best Open, and finished her Field Championship (5 triathlon points).  Asti was awarded an Award of Merit from the Field Champion Bitch stake (6 points).  And Olive was robbed. ;-)

Olive had to qualify in Junior Earthdog the next day to keep her Triathlon hopes alive, and she did (3 pts).  Bossa easily qualified in Junior Earthdog as well (3 pts.)

Olive needed to earn top points in both agility and obedience at DCA last week, and she did.  She qualified in first place in both Masters Preferred Standard and Jumpers with Weaves (9 pts), earning both Preferred High in Trial awards and her PAX (Preferred Agility Excellent) title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXmT0CZ1QM4

Then, Olive earned a score of 188 in Veteran Novice obedience (4 pts) on Thursday -- conditions were tough (hot and sunny on grass with goose poop) and this was the best score earned by any dachshund in obedience.

Bossa earned her Novice JWW agility title on April 25 and we gambled by moving her up to Open JWW for DCA.  She came through in style, qualifying in first place (8 pts) and earning the JWW High in Trial. Bossa's not quite ready for rally or obedience. ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46kiJm-GTAo

Asti needed to qualify in agility and rally, events in which she has solid skills but hasn't done in several years.  She had a great performance in Novice FAST Preferred (2 pts) on Monday and fought her nerves enough to qualify with a 78 in Advanced Rally (2 pts) on Friday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSqWx6gio-4

I won't dwell on Triathlon Conformation (the final event on Friday) which once again was a bit of a debacle.  In the end, Olive got 3 points and Bossa 2 points, making Olive the Triathlon winner.  Asti also got 2 points and finished in third place with 12 points.

We are extremely proud of all of them!  It is the accomplishment of a lifetime for Olive, who has now qualified in three Triathlons over five years.  Bossa almost won at just over two years old and continues to show great promise.  And Asti showed what a talented girl she really is.

-- Diane & John

Carl Holder, John, Diane, Bossa, and Olive!

The footing was pretty bad today. The ground was soaked in the rings. It drizzled off and on and the light spots in the ring are rice husks put down to dry up the mud. I'm proud of Olive for keeping up her effort.   - John Willmore

A cooler day, small breakfast with victory boxes after each run. Olive looked like she was having fun, both in and out of the ring.  - John Willmore