Lancaster- Crusty Classic
We had a great weekend and lots of fun! It was part of the Bark at the Park festivities in Lancaster this year (we alternate between venues in NoCal and SoCal each year). The dog festival had all kinds of doggie events going on in conjunction with our Disc Dog competition. Doggie Dock Diving, doggie supply vendors, dog trick performances, Homeland Security canine bomb sniffing demonstrations, where I was the target bomb toter (they actually planted about a pound worth of explosives on me.... I was walking around very gingerly until the dogs targeted me as the threat), and lots of other fun activities.
The dog competition is called the Crusty Classic in honor of a beloved disc dogger who died a few years ago, Steve "Crusty" Walsh.
Well, before I tell you the results, let me just give you a quick rundown of this year with Bailey. Late last year and early this year I noticed Bailey slowing down a little bit after long naps or periods of inactivity. It seems the toll of being a high caliber athlete was finally starting to wear on my boy Bailey. When we go out and play, he is still as amazing and athletic as he ever was. But later in the evening you could see some of the discomfort beginning to edge it's way in. So I decided to stop taking the sport too seriously and just have fun with my crazed frisbee muncher. We'd go out and just play catch with the frisbee or the ball. No flips. No trick practicing. We even missed the first few events of the year. But then the Wags for Wishes event came up in Del mar California. This is in conjunction with the Make a Wish Foundation where all the proceeds go to the foundation. It's an amazing weekend of a whole horde of doggie events such as: flyball, lure coursing, agility, dock diving, sheep herding, and a bunch of others I can't even remember.
Well, this event comes up with the added prestige of being a USDDN Regional qualifier for the National Finals taking place later in the year in Kentucky. So I decided I would take Bailey on out and just have some fun. No real practice. No pressure. And we went out and had the BEST round of freestyle we had ever performed. It was great! We ended up taking 3rd place and getting an invitation to Kentucky for the National Finals!
Well, since that results I started going to events, no practicing, and Bailey has been lighting it up! He had always been good at the straight Distance Accuracy rounds where you get points for how far you can throw and have you dog catch it, and how many times you can do it in a minute. But we were always a step down when it came to the freestyle portion of the event where you perform tricks choreographed to music. Well, the few events that happened after Wags for Wishes established that this was no fluke, and Bailey was starting to get consistent in the freestyle arena.
This leads up to the Crusty Classic. This event attracts competitors from all over California, and some as far away as Washington and Wyoming. Some great teams were out there. Well, Bailey continues to put on a great show and we post two days of great Freestyle rounds and get a 4th place overall for the weekend! Actually, we did this while having a bad weekend on our usual strength of distance accuracy. So that tells you how well Bailey is doing in the freestyle as of late!
If you have ever seen a Disc Dog competition you can appreciate what an accomplishment it is for Bailey to be able to compete with the usual canines of Disc Chomping. Your average competitor in disc dog is usually some variety of cattle dog, weighing in anywhere from 20 pounds to 45 pounds on the top end. Bailey hops and jumps on the scales at about 72 pounds. Some of these lightweight pups leap on the backs of their handlers then launch 15 to 20 feet in the air!!!! If Bailey tried to do that to me, he'd kill me. But we make up for it by emphasizing Bailey's strengths with horizontal power moves and speed! You should see my boy go! And don't let his size fool you. He can do a backflip with the best of them!
Our current routine is performed to Jump, Jive, and Wail by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I wear slacks, a suspender, black wife beater tank top (or white t-shirt), and a fedora hat.
In November we are driving out to Arizona to compete in the Ashley Whipet World Championships and the FDDO Nationals both being held as part of the Cynosports Games in Scottsdale Arizona at the West World facility. The Cynosport Games is another conglomeration of dog sports all happening at the same time. It's definitely one of the best, if not the best, dog events of the year. Competitors come from as far away as Japan, Germany, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, and possibly Korea to compete in these games. The Japanese teams are amazing to watch!
The Cynosport Games are October 31st through November 4th.
We had planned to make it to Kentucky to compete at the USDDN National that we earned an invite to, but I did not go out and acquire a sponsor so I don't think we'll be making that trip this year. I believe the USDDN Nationals are the following weekend in November.
The dog competition is called the Crusty Classic in honor of a beloved disc dogger who died a few years ago, Steve "Crusty" Walsh.
Well, before I tell you the results, let me just give you a quick rundown of this year with Bailey. Late last year and early this year I noticed Bailey slowing down a little bit after long naps or periods of inactivity. It seems the toll of being a high caliber athlete was finally starting to wear on my boy Bailey. When we go out and play, he is still as amazing and athletic as he ever was. But later in the evening you could see some of the discomfort beginning to edge it's way in. So I decided to stop taking the sport too seriously and just have fun with my crazed frisbee muncher. We'd go out and just play catch with the frisbee or the ball. No flips. No trick practicing. We even missed the first few events of the year. But then the Wags for Wishes event came up in Del mar California. This is in conjunction with the Make a Wish Foundation where all the proceeds go to the foundation. It's an amazing weekend of a whole horde of doggie events such as: flyball, lure coursing, agility, dock diving, sheep herding, and a bunch of others I can't even remember.
Well, this event comes up with the added prestige of being a USDDN Regional qualifier for the National Finals taking place later in the year in Kentucky. So I decided I would take Bailey on out and just have some fun. No real practice. No pressure. And we went out and had the BEST round of freestyle we had ever performed. It was great! We ended up taking 3rd place and getting an invitation to Kentucky for the National Finals!
Well, since that results I started going to events, no practicing, and Bailey has been lighting it up! He had always been good at the straight Distance Accuracy rounds where you get points for how far you can throw and have you dog catch it, and how many times you can do it in a minute. But we were always a step down when it came to the freestyle portion of the event where you perform tricks choreographed to music. Well, the few events that happened after Wags for Wishes established that this was no fluke, and Bailey was starting to get consistent in the freestyle arena.
This leads up to the Crusty Classic. This event attracts competitors from all over California, and some as far away as Washington and Wyoming. Some great teams were out there. Well, Bailey continues to put on a great show and we post two days of great Freestyle rounds and get a 4th place overall for the weekend! Actually, we did this while having a bad weekend on our usual strength of distance accuracy. So that tells you how well Bailey is doing in the freestyle as of late!
If you have ever seen a Disc Dog competition you can appreciate what an accomplishment it is for Bailey to be able to compete with the usual canines of Disc Chomping. Your average competitor in disc dog is usually some variety of cattle dog, weighing in anywhere from 20 pounds to 45 pounds on the top end. Bailey hops and jumps on the scales at about 72 pounds. Some of these lightweight pups leap on the backs of their handlers then launch 15 to 20 feet in the air!!!! If Bailey tried to do that to me, he'd kill me. But we make up for it by emphasizing Bailey's strengths with horizontal power moves and speed! You should see my boy go! And don't let his size fool you. He can do a backflip with the best of them!
Our current routine is performed to Jump, Jive, and Wail by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I wear slacks, a suspender, black wife beater tank top (or white t-shirt), and a fedora hat.
In November we are driving out to Arizona to compete in the Ashley Whipet World Championships and the FDDO Nationals both being held as part of the Cynosports Games in Scottsdale Arizona at the West World facility. The Cynosport Games is another conglomeration of dog sports all happening at the same time. It's definitely one of the best, if not the best, dog events of the year. Competitors come from as far away as Japan, Germany, The Netherlands, Chech Republic, and possibly Korea to compete in these games. The Japanese teams are amazing to watch!
The Cynosport Games are October 31st through November 4th.
We had planned to make it to Kentucky to compete at the USDDN National that we earned an invite to, but I did not go out and acquire a sponsor so I don't think we'll be making that trip this year. I believe the USDDN Nationals are the following weekend in November.
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