Saturday, April 30, we decided to play some last-minute UpDog (dog disc) and boy are we glad we did!
Sas played for the first time since her litter and spay, and nailed 2nd place in Throw N Go with a new personal best of 48 points! She was on fire!
Junco earned 3rd place in Greedy and a new personal best of 32 points.
And last but not least, Flicker played her first official game in public, and while we didn’t get a score, she had a blast and it’s obvious she LOVES the game!
We’re still early in the disc season, so I imagine we will have quite a few of our dogs earning invitations to next year’s UpDog International Finals.
We took a long trip to western Kentucky this weekend to compete in the 2022 UpDog International Finals. This was a long awaited event, cancelled twice because of COVID, and I’ve been qualified since 2020 with the older boys. Swift got her qualifications in 2021 for this year.
The weather was absolutely awful. Until Sunday, it was freezing, sleeting, hailing, snowing, raining, and gusting 15 mph winds all day. Frisbee is hard to play in even perfect conditions some days.
We didn’t play super well most days, but Friday we jammed. Pax tied his own personal best in Frizgility, and then Hawk blew me away with an amazing round – beating his own personal best by FIFTY points. I have never seen my wild boy stay so focused and I was so incredibly proud of him.
The icing on the cake for the weekend however was our surprise podium appearance – with Swifty! Swift placed third in her division (size) in FunKey – making her not only the first Mudi to qualify and attend UpDIF, but also the first Mudi to podium at the event
Overall, I cannot say enough about my amazing dogs. We played in terrible weather, with four active fields swarmed by humans and other dogs. My crew has never played such an open format before and not once was their focus jarred. Even the dogs who weren’t competing were angels and got plenty of disc time themselves throughout the weekend. Nobody had an issue with the long drive, being crated long days, sleeping in a hotel, or anything else I threw at them over the weekend.
Today I’m refreshed and energized to practice and be even better for next year!
Swift, sporting her 3rd Place medal for FunKey mini division.
We’ve hit the ground running this summer, and it’s still early!
Our first news to share is that Swift earned her BCAT title! BCAT is the first level title for Fast CAT (lure coursing). Swift debuted in FAST Cat earlier this year at the Piedmont Kennel Club, raced again in Williamsburg, VA, and then earned her first title at her third event in King, NC.
The girls have had a blast dock diving this year, as well. We welcomed Swift’s mother, Sas, to the family a few months ago. Sas loves dock diving, and earned her Dock Master title within two events. Swift has set a new personal best already this season, jumping 16’9” at Teamworks in Youngsville, NC. Both Swift and Sas have earned invitations to the 2021 NADD Regional Championships.
For herding news, we are working hard on new skills. Swift earned two started level herding titles through the American Herding Breed Association last November, shortly before her first birthday. She’s currently the youngest Mudi in the U.S. to achieve started herding titles on sheep! We do not plan to trial again until this fall.
Stay tuned for more exciting news a little later this summer!
Swift had a fantastic event this previous weekend at Teamworks Dog Training in Youngsville, NC. She jumped two splashes on Saturday and four on Sunday, and took first place in the Master division (Lap class).
The first place finish earned Swifty an invitation to the regional championship in October. Regionals will be held at the Carolina Training Center in Stony Point, NC.
In addition to her regionals invite, Swift also earned her Dock Master (DM) title! She is now Wodan’s Fastback ATD DM.
Thanagar Mudi 