Caper's Trialing Diary

October 2001

On October 20 and 22, Caper and I attended our first NADAC trial. The trial was held by my club, ActUP in Wrentham, MA. Caper picked up Q's in Jumpers and Gamblers on Saturday, and Q'd in all three of his runs on Sunday (2 standard, one Jumpers). This completed our Novice Jumpers Certificate and 1 1/2 legs toward our NADAC Novice Agility Certificate!

September 2001

After concentrating on hunt tests, Caper and I spent Labor Day weekend doing agility at the ARFF Agility Club show in Bedford, MA. Caper turned in several great runs throughout the weekend, earning 2 firsts, 2 seconds, and a 3rd place in his games classes (but no Qs in standard). I was especially thrilled with his snooker run - we earned 1st place with a risky 5-7-7 strategy!

September 16 & 17th were spent in beautiful Morril, Maine at the Penobscot Hunting Retriever Club tests held at Ironwood Farm. Caper did great both days, earning two more JH passes and completing his JH title!

August 2001

On August 4th, 2001 Caper and I attended our very first hunt test in West Thompson, CT put on by the Colonial Field Trial Club. Three out of four marks were awesome, but I must say he seriously made me sweat it on his live flyer land mark! The important thing is that he passed, so he is now 1/4 JH.

On August 18 & 19th, Caper earned two more passes toward his Junior Hunter (JH) title at the Yankee Golden Retriever Club test in West Thompson, CT. He turned in four excellent marks both days. Way to go Caper!

June 2001

On June 1, 2001 Caper and I showed at the Yankee Golden Retriever AKC show in Easton, MA. That morning he debuted in Open Standard, finishing 8 seconds under time despite my off-course handling error. His final score? 95 and 1st place! Later in the afternoon he smoked the Novice Jumpers with Weaves run, finishing a 40-second course in 26 seconds and again, bringing home the blue. He was 12 full seconds ahead of the 2nd place dog!

May 2001

On May 26, 2001 Caper and I showed at the Shrewsbury Dog Training Club AKC show in Bedford, MA. That morning he blew the doors off all his classmates, finishing clean and 32 seconds under time to earn 1st place and his Novice Agility (NA) title! Not too shabby for a Labbie! Watch out BCs -- onward and upward to Open we go! Here's hoping we finish that NAJ soon. ;)

April 2001

On April 28, 2001 Caper and I showed at the Tracking Club of New England trial in Topfield, MA. That morning he set a blistering pace in Novice Standard, finishing clean and 25 seconds under time to earn 2nd place and his second Novice Agility (NA) leg. Later we ran in Novice Jumpers with Weaves. Despite visiting the judge, he finished a fraction of a second under course time, earning his first Novice JWW (NAJ) leg with another clean round and 4th place! Way to go Caper!

On April 21, 2001 Caper made his debut in agility at the Scottie Terrier trial in Bedford, MA. If it weren't for a dropped bar, he would have Q'd and placed 2nd on a tough Novice Jumpers with Weaves course that morning. Later in the day he aced the Novice Standard course, running clean and 20 seconds under time to earn third place and his first Novice Agility (NA) leg. Not bad for his first time out!

September 2000

On September 15, 2000 Caper earned his Canine Good Citizen certificate (CGC) at a test sponsored by It's a Dog's Life in Bolton, MA. Of course, he did it in typical goofy Labrador style -- taking time out to give the evaluator a proper goosing, and giving sloppy kisses throughout the grooming portion of the test! I am very proud of my little guy. Hopefully this is just a stepping stone to our CD in the not so distant future.

July 2000

On July 23 Caper earned his Working Certificate (WC) with flying colors at the LRC-Greater Boston test in Hopkinton, NH. This photo was taken after the test -- doesn't he look proud of that bird?

Capes did some of his best marking yet that day, and he handled every bird to hand. That's my boy! What truly impressed me was one of his live flyers was a crippled mallard -- his very first -- and he handled it to me like a *pro* despite the *@#$ duck flapping and covering his eyes most of the swim back!

Many thanks to my LRC-GB training partners and to his breeder, Peggy Lands for this wonderfully birdy boy! On to Junior??!?! We shall see....

Watch for Caper on the Agility course in the spring of 2001! In the meantime, take a look at some of my favorite pictures of Nightwind's Leap of Faith, WC