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Tequila has a color ad in the Winter issue of the Sheltie Pacesetter. His
ad is on page 32 of the magazine. You can view the ad here:
http://sheltiepacesetter.net/Eilene/Winter_Pacesetter_2012/. |
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Zelda earned her MACH5 in Morgantown, WV on her last run of the day!! Going
into that run, I didn't think there was any way we could earn enough points
on that run to finish her MACH today. She put the pedal to the metal and
earned the points she needed and one to spare!!
As Zelda and I were continuing our victory celebration outside of the ring,
someone reminded me that I still needed to run Tequila in Excellent Jumpers
too. Tequila and I made a mad dash for the ring, and he had an incredible
Jumpers run too. He qualified and earned his first 15 MACH points!! He placed
third in the class too---not bad for his first qualifying run in Excellent
B. It was really neat for Tequila to earn his first MACH points on the same
day/run that his dam finished her MACH5. |
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Tequila is definitely on a roll!! He finished his Excellent Jumpers title
(AXJ) at the Tamarack Agility Trial on November 25th with a first place finish.
That was a great way to end our holiday weekend! I'm very excited that he
can start earning MACH points now on his future JWW runs. |
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Last weekend, Tequila "rocked it" in the conformation ring. This weekend
(November 17th & 18th), he "rocked it" in the agility ring and finished
his Open Standard title. Now, he's in Excellent A for both Jumpers and Standard,
so we won't have any more ring conflicts at two ring trials. Color me happy! |
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Tequila was Winners Dog for a three-point specialty major under Carolyn Ing
at the CNYSSC Specialty in Syracuse, NY on November 10th. Tequila's Grandma
Julie (Iverson) showed him to this exciting win. The following day, Julie
and Tequila won a four-point specialty major in Syracuse under Kim Schive!!
Tequila now has 12 points/both majors, and we're hopeful that he'll become
our second homebred CH VCX sometime next year! |
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Gabe (CastleGate's Angel in Disguise) finished his breed championship in
Cumberland, MD under Judge Sonny Ambrosio. Gabe is owned and loved by Anne
and Bill Trosky and was shown to all of his points by Katie Grohowalski.
We're delighted that Anne has achieved her long held dream of owning/finishing
a conformation champion, and we're grateful that she and Bill provided Gabe
with the opportunity to fulfill his potential in the show ring.
Gabe is a litter brother to Bliss, and he's the first CastleGate Champion
that isn't blue! <G> Gabe is the second puppy from our Rainy x Daily
litter to finish. A third puppy (Braylann) from that litter is actively pursing
his MACH.
Zelda and Geraldo celebrated their half brother's championship by QQ'ing
in Edinboro!!
Gabe at 3.5 years of age
Photo by Julie Iverson |
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Tequila and his Grandma Julie (Iverson) took WD for two points in Aliquippa
on 10-06-12 under Kimberly Meredith-Cavanna. I was so excited to be able
to see that win in person. I missed their previous win in Butler due to being
at an agility show with Geraldo and Zelda that day.
The following day, we were in Macungie, PA for the Interstate Sheltie
Specialties. At the afternoon show, Tequila and Julie took a four point major
reserve under breeder judge Jean Simmonds. I was so proud of Tequila for
taking a specialty major reserve in such tough competition.
Julie and Tequila have really been on a roll! They've been in the ring together
just five times, and they've walked away with two wins (for four points),
an all breed major reserve, and a specialty major reserve. Not bad!!
<G> |
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September 23rd was an incredible day for CastleGate Shelties!!
After taking some time off to grow up, Tequila (CastleGate's White Lightning
NA OAJ) went back into the breed ring on 9-22 and 9-23 with his Grandma Julie
(Iverson) and was RWD the first day and WD for two points on the second day
at the Butler County Kennel Club shows in Prospect, PA. I haven't been this
excited about a dog, since Geraldo was a little pup.
Shortly after I received Julie's text about Tequila's win, Sue Botsford and
Tux (CastleGate's Formal Affair) finished their MACH at the same agility
trial I was attending. Tux is from Geraldo's first litter, and he is also
Geraldo's first performance champion. It has been such an exciting journey
for Sue and Tux, and I've been blessed and honored to have shared the journey
with them.
Then, my day got even better!! Within a half hour of Tux finishing his MACH,
I got a text from Anne Trosky giving me some fabulous news about Gabe
(CastleGate's Angel in Disguise). Gabe was WD on Saturday and Sunday at the
Chesapeake VA Dog Fanciers Association shows in Chesapeake, VA. Gabe now
has 12 points/one specialty major and just needs a major to finish his
championship!
Today was filled with lots of happy tears and joy!! |
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We had such a nice agility weekend at the BCKC Agility Trial on Neville Island!!
Tequila finished his OAJ title on 9-16-12 with a glorious run. He had the
fastest course time of any Open dog in any height class with an entry of
30+ dogs in Open JWW. Zelda QQ'ed all three days with one of her highest
point totals ever for a three day trial.
Our extended CastleGate family also had a fabulous weekend at that trial.
Tatum (Zelda's son who is owned by Anne Ujczo) got his first QQ this weekend,
and Tuxedo (Geraldo's son who is owned by Sue Botsford) got his 19th QQ on
the last day of the trial. We hope to be doing a MACH victory dance with
Tux and Sue soon!! |
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After taking a few weeks off to fine tune some of our agility skills, Tequila
and I were back in the ring at the WCOTC Agility Trial on Labor Day Weekend.
We had so much fun!! Tequila earned his second OAJ leg (with a second placement)
and his first Open Standard leg (with a first placement) at that trial. |
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We had a marvelous time at the YABTC agility trial in Niles, OH on August
18th and 19th. Tequila finished both of his Novice agility titles on Saturday,
and earned his first Open Jumpers leg on Sunday with a smoking hot run! He
took first place on all three of his qualifying runs that weekend. Zelda
was not to be outdone by her son, and she QQ'ed both days! Much to his chagrin,
Geraldo stayed home that weekend, so that Tequila could have some extra time
with mom.
Here's a link to Tequila's Open JWW run on Sunday. It was so much fun to
run that course with him!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzl3UGyW4pc&feature=plcp |
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At the CABTC agility trial in North Olmsted, OH, Zelda earned her 15th T2B
qualifying leg and finished her Time 2 Beat title. On the same day, she placed
3rd (in a class of 55 dogs) in the 16" Excellent B JWW class. Zelda Lou had
a good day!! <G> |
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Zelda finished her MACH4 at the Tamarack Kennel Club's outdoor agility trial
in Lake Conneaut, PA. As icing on the cake, Zelda Q'ed on five of her seven
runs that weekend and placed on every run on which she Q'ed. Finishing a
MACH at that trial was no small feat either. During the three days we were
at that trial, we had ten bouts of torrential rain, thunder, lightning, and
two tornado warnings! |
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Tequila had a blast at his second agility trial. He earned two Novice Jumpers
legs and one Novice Standard leg at the Golden Retriever Agility Trial in
Cheswick, PA in July. Two of his qualifying legs were first placements and
the other one was a second placement. He's not entered again until mid-August,
but I'm already looking forward to running him again. He likes himself a
lot, and that makes him tons of fun to run!! <G> |
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After finishing her Am GCH, Bliss was still in nice coat, so she headed to
Canada to pursue her Canadian Championship with Rachel Pratt. Bliss became
a Canadian CH---just one week after she and Rachel entered the ring together
for the first time! The day after Bliss finished her championship, she was
shown for the first time as a Canadian special, and she won BOB and a Group
4 to end her Canadian sojourn on a high note! We are very grateful to Rachel
for presenting Bliss so beautifully in the ring. |
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Six weeks after finishing Bliss' breed championship, Bliss and Judy Stachowski
started the pursuit of Bliss' Grand Championship. They put it to bed in just
five weeks. Bliss became the first GCH at CastleGate Shelties. Judy and Bliss
earned 2 BOB's and three majors in a seven day period of time to finish Bliss'
Grand Championship in "grand" style. <G> |
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Tequila (CastleGate's White Lightning CGC) made his agility debut at the
TRSSCGP Agility Trial in Cheswick, PA. He did a really nice job!! He took
first place in a large 16" Novice B Standard Class with a run that was 25
seconds under course time. You can see a video of his debut standard run
here:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uZG3qEVMOA&feature=share |
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Geraldo and Zelda rocked at the Gordon Setter Trial in Washingtonville, OH
despite the oppressive heat! They QQ'ed both days and between the two of
them, they earned 122 MACH points in the process. Points wise, that was an
all time record for us for a two day agility trial. Weekends like that don't
come along very often, so we're planning to savor it for quite awhile!!
Bliss had a good weekend too. She picked up two more Select points and a
competitive win toward her GCH on June 10th. She now has 13 points and two
competitive wins toward her GCH. |
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Geraldo earned his MACH4 on June 3rd at the Cuyahoga Valley Golden Retriever
Club's agility trial in North Olmsted, OH. He's now officially known as MACH4
Monkey Boy!! <G>
Zelda was not going to be outdone by her brother. She QQ'ed on both Saturday
and Sunday, and she's rapidly closing in on her MACH4 too!
A couple of hours after Geraldo and I finished his MACH4, we got more good
news!! Bliss earned three points on June 2nd and 3rd toward her Grand
Championship. She now has 11 GCH points in three weekends of showing. Bliss
and her handler (Judy Stachowski) are on a roll! |
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We had the opportunity to do a lot of fun and exciting things on Memorial
Day Weekend. Bliss and Judy picked up another six points toward her Grand
Championship, and Geraldo and Zelda had a blast in the agility ring too.
Geraldo just needs 38 additional MACH points for his MACH4, and we're hoping
to finish that in early June! Zelda Q'ed on five of her six runs at the GTOTC
Trial and put a nice dent in the points that she needs for her MACH4 too. |
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In May 2012, we completed the DNA testing for CEA/CH on all of the dogs currently
in our breeding program. The test results came back Normal/Clear for all
of the dogs that we tested. Additionally, Tequila is clear by parentage,
because both his sire and dam tested Normal/Clear. |
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At the WCOTC trial on May 19th and 20th, Geraldo finished his Time 2 Beat
(T2B) title and also earned the last MACH points he needed to qualify for
the 2013 AKC Agility Nationals. He ran beautifully all weekend.
Zelda was not to be outdone. She qualified on four of her five runs at the
WCOTC Trial and placed in Standard on both Saturday and Sunday.
That same weekend, CastleGate's Formal Affair MX MXJ MXF (a puppy from Geraldo's
first litter) earned his CPE Agility Trial Championship (C-ATCH). Tuxedo
is owned and loved by Sue Botsford, and we are so proud of them and happy
for them. |
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Bliss earned her first Grand Championship points in Marietta, OH. She and
Judy are off to a great start!! |
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CastleGate's White Lightning CGC ("Tequila") now has his own page on our
web site. You can view his page here. |
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Bliss finished her breed championship on April 7, 2012 by winning a three
point major under Linda Robey. She is our first bitch champion, and we are
"blissfully" happy! <G> Bliss is the second champion for her dam (Daily),
and we're hoping that her bi-black litter brother, Gabe, will finish this
year too.
Judy Stachowski showed Bliss to all of her points, and we are very grateful
to her for always presenting Bliss so beautifully in the ring. |
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Zelda was on fire at the Butler Agility Trial in Edinboro on March 9-11.
She qualified on five of her seven runs, won the 16" Excellent B Standard
Class on Saturday, and earned the last points she needed to qualify for the
2013 AKC Agility National! Tulsa here we come! <G> Geraldo had a nice
weekend too. He also qualified on five of his seven runs and earned his 12th
T2B leg. Three more qualifying legs to go for his T2B title!! |
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Gabe (CastleGate's Angel in Disguise) placed third in the Open Black Class
at the 2012 National in Kissimmee, Florida. Gabe is owned and loved by Anne
and Bill Trosky, and he was beautifully presented in the ring by Katie
Grohowalski. It's been quite a week for Gabe and his puppies. Two puppies
from his first litter (bred by Barb Westerman and Carol Metz) placed in the
6-9 AOAC class at the National too. I am so happy for everyone involved!!
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Congratulations to Nadine Iroff (Triumph Shelties) on the arrival of a litter
sired by Geraldo. Triumph Bedazzled (BeBe) whelped three puppies on 2/12/12.
There is a blue merle boy, a bi-black girl, and a tri girl in the litter.
We're looking forward to watching these puppies grow up! |
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Zelda finished her MACH3 at the Olean Trial in Edinboro, PA--one year and
two weeks after she earned her first MACH there. She came into that trial
needing 11 points, and she got exactly 11 points on her first run of the
weekend. Geraldo and Zelda got special chewies to celebrate the occasion,
and I had a Krispy Kreme donut and some brownies. Everybody was happy!!
<G> |
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I just found out that both Zelda and Geraldo are in the Top 20 for the most
number of QQ's for shelties for calendar year 2011. Zelda was #13 with 45
QQ's, and Geraldo is tied with several other shelties for 20th place with
38 QQ's. Geraldo missed a month of trialing last summer while he was in Canada
to pursue his Canadian Championship, and I'm delighted that he was able to
stay in the Top 20 despite missing those trials. Steak and ice cream for
everybody!! :) |
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On January 20-22, Zelda was 7 for 7 at the APOTC agility trial in Edinboro,
PA, and she's now just 11 points away from her MACH3!! As icing on the cake,
Zelda won the 16" JWW class on the first day of the trial, and her son, Tatum,
finished his OAJ at the APOTC trial too. We can't wait to see what the rest
of 2012 holds in store for us!! |
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The New Year started off with a bang for us at the Erie Kennel Club's agility
trial in Edinboro, PA on January 6th-8th. Zelda qualified on all six of her
runs, and Geraldo qualified on five of his six runs. Zelda just needs 86
additional MACH points for her MACH3! |
