C-ATCH-2 ALVA

On January 5, 2014, almost 6 months to the day Alva earned his C-ATCH (CPE Agility Title Champion), he earned his C-ATCH-2 (the next champion title) with a not-so pretty Standard Level 5 run.  He needed all 3 Standard Qs (qualifiers) that weekend to earn his C-ATCH-2.  I was not optimistic, but after two very nice Standard runs on Friday, a day off on Saturday, it left Sunday's Standard run for the big title!  Here is the run, commentated so sweetly by my friend, Mary:

He knocked a bar (probably my fault for pulling him into the serpentine so sharply), and we spent an ETERNITY in the corner with the wrap (yes, we do NOT do wraps...  dude hates them) that I had to be sure he made time before celebrating.  We easily made time since he was decently fast the rest of the course, but that corner wrap had me worried...

Alva can now happily run CPE as a Specialist, jumping 8" like he does in NADAC.  He is 9 years old, and is really feeling some aches and pains.  He loves to play agility, but he doesn't need the pounding that it takes on his body.  I'm especially ecstatic by this...  he really needed to move down a year ago, but he was so close to his major titles that I hated to do it.  Now he can play however he wants.  I have no more goals for him in CPE...  just play.  I have goals for him in NADAC so we'll use CPE to practice distance handling and endurance, and just plain have fun.  That's what agility is all about... having fun with your dogs. 
-Dayle