On August 14th in Muncie, IN, CastleGate's Daily News MX,
MXJ, CGC, CL2-R, CL2-S was Winners Dog under breeder judge
Sue Christie. The following day, he was Winners Dog
again under F. Susan Godek. Judy Stachowski showed Geraldo
to both of those wins, and we're delighted with how well she
and Geraldo are clicking in the ring.
At the Greater Pittsburgh
Golden Retriever Club's agility trial in Cheswick, PA on July
19th, Shamont's Paden Blu CD, RN finished his Novice Agility
Jumpers title with another first placement. Ellis is a Daily
son, and I was delighted to be on the course with him for all
three of his Novice Jumpers qualifying legs.
On July 11th and 12th at
the CABTC agility trial in North Olmsted, Ohio, Elsa
earned her second and third MX legs and picked up five
MACH points along the way. At the same trial, Geraldo
earned two additional Excellent Jumpers legs and eight
MACH points. If we could have just combined those four
runs, we'd have had two QQ's. <G>
We want to thank Elsa's
handler, Elaine Mayowski, for running Elsa so beautifully
this weekend!
On June 26th at the Warren
County Kennel Club's show in Lebanon, OH, CastleGate's Daily
News MX, MXJ, CGC, CL2-S, CL2-R was WD/BOS under Judge Tom
Hale. Two days later at the Dayton Kennel Club's show in
Lima, Ohio, Geraldo was WD/BOS again under Judge Carl
Liepmann. Geraldo was handled to these wins by Judy
Stachowski, and we're very grateful to Judy for presenting
him so beautifully. Geraldo is coming home for
the remainder of the summer to grow some new clothes and do
agility with me. We're looking forward to having him back
in the conformation ring in September!
At the TRSSCGP agility trial
in Cheswick, PA on June 14th and 15th, I had the privilege of
running a Daily son (Shamont's Paden Blu) in Novice Jumpers.
Ellis is from Daily's first litter (Kent x Daily). Ellis
qualified and got first place in the 16" Novice B class on
both Saturday and Sunday. Those were his first agility legs,
and his Grandma Lynn was thrilled to be the one to put those
qualifying legs on him. Ellis ran incredibly fast, especially
in view of the heat and humidity in the building that
weekend. He was 18 seconds under course time on Saturday and
19 seconds under course time on Sunday. Ellis is trained
and owned by Debbie Miller-Gurchak (Hollybush Shelties).
Bliss, our show hopeful from the Rainy x Daily litter, is
five months old, and she now has her own web page. Please
stop by and take a look at it!
CastleGate's Seventh Heaven ("Bliss")
At the YABTC/GSCA agility
trials in Washingtonville, Ohio on June 6th and 7th, Geraldo
did his mama proud by earning his 11th and 12th QQ's. It
was incredibly hot at the show site, and Geraldo gave me his
all on both days despite the heat and despite having to get
up at 3:30 a.m. each day. We have five weeks off before our
next agility trial, and I'm already looking forward to the
next trial!! <G>
On May 30th at the Clarion
Agility Trial in Cheswick, PA, Geraldo earned his 10th QQ
and seven MACH points. It's exciting to be half way to the
number of QQ's that we need for his MACH!!
Geraldo and I
decided to spend Memorial Day at the Golden Triangle agility
trial in Cheswick, PA, and boy did we have fun!! Geraldo
celebrated the holiday in style by earning his ninth QQ and
seven MACH points.
On May 18th, Geraldo finished his second CPE title at an
agility trial in Washingtonville, Ohio sponsored by the Four
Seasons K9 Athlete Center. He now gets to put a CL2-R at
the end of his name along with an MX, MXJ, and CL2-S. He
ran great for me today and got second place on both of his
qualifying runs!
The club that sponsored this trial gave out peanut butter
bones for Q's instead of toys, and Geraldo heartily approved
of that change of pace. <G>
We had a great Mother's Day
weekend at CastleGate!
On May 10th at the WCOTC
agility trial in Delmont, PA, Daily was entered in agility
for the first time in almost two years. This was an outdoor
trial, and the weather and course conditions were less than
ideal---lots of rain and mud. Daily ran beautifully for me
and finished her Novice JWW title. As icing on the cake,
she got first place in the 12" class too!! Daily is almost
eight years old, and she's now happily retired to her donut
bed. <G>
Geraldo really rose to the
occasion as well. He Q'ed on three of his four runs on
Saturday and Sunday and picked up nine MACH points and two
fourth placements in the process. We're very excited about
the fact that he now has eight QQ's.
Finishing Daily's Jumpers
title and picking up another QQ for Geraldo were awesome
Mother's Day gifts for me!
On April 25th at the
Cleveland Shetland Sheepdog Club's agility trial in North
Olmsted, Ohio, Geraldo finished his Masters Standard (MX)
title. Friday's trial was dedicated to the memory of Jean
Clodwick, so finishing our title on that day was even more
meaningful to us.
Completing our MX title
would have been more than enough excitement for me for one
weekend, but Geraldo had something else in mind. He decided
to kick things up a notch or two by qualifying on five of
his six runs in North Olmsted which gave him his sixth and
seventh QQ's of the year and some MACH points too.
I'm incredibly proud of my
baby boy, and I love doing agility with him.
Geraldo QQ'ed on March 15th and 16th at the
YABTC agility trial in Washingtonville, Ohio. We've
never had a perfect weekend in the AKC agility ring prior to
this one, and I'm in total awe of my baby boy. We're now
just one qualifying leg away from his MX title and 25% of
the way to the QQ's that we need for our MACH. I'm so
excited that I could just pop. Geraldo truly out did himself
this weekend. That trial will be our last one for almost a
month, so it's really nice to be heading into the break on
such a high note.
In addition to our back-to-back QQ's, we also accumulated
enough MACH points this weekend to break the 100 MACH point
mark. That's a milestone that I was really hoping to
reach prior to taking our break from the agility ring. Color me happy!!
Elsa and her handler had fun
too!! On Saturday, Elsa picked up her eighth MXJ leg and
three more MACH points. She's closing in on her next agility
title!
On March 8th at the Butler
Dog Obedience Club's agility trial in Edinboro, PA, Geraldo
and I earned our third QQ and six MACH points. As part of
that QQ, we also picked up our seventh MX leg. It was a
very challenging weekend from a weather perspective. We had
almost two feet of snow from Friday to Sunday!
After our specialty show in
February, I asked Mike Fine to take some new head shots of
Geraldo. I am delighted with the photos he took. You can see
my favorite new photo of Geraldo at the top of his individual
page.
At the Splash and Dash CPE
Agility Trial in Washingtonville, OH on February 23rd, Elsa
competed in Level Two for the first time, and she qualified
and placed second on both of her runs that day. Elaine
Mayowski was with Elsa on the course for both of those
runs. As usual, she did a great job from start to finish
with Elsa!
Geraldo and Elsa had a great time at the Border Collie
Agility Trial on February 16th and 17th in Edinboro, PA .
Elsa qualified in Jumpers both days and earned her sixth and
seventh MXJ legs. She also picked up 10 MACH points in the
process. We're so proud of Elsa, and we're very grateful to
Elaine Mayowski for the fabulous job she does with Elsa in
the ring.
Geraldo and I had an awesome weekend too!! On
Sunday, we picked up our second QQ and nine MACH
points!! As part of that QQ, Geraldo earned his sixth MX
leg with a fourth place finish. After we moved into the
Excellent B class, I didn't ever expect to place again, so
that was a nice surprise. I've never been prouder of my
baby boy than I was this weekend. He gave me his all!!
At the Tamarack agility
trial in Edinboro, PA on February 9th and 10th, Geraldo
earned his fifth MX leg. He's now half way to his MX
title!! <G> He also qualified in Jumpers and earned five
additional MACH points on that run. After having taken
three weeks off, it was really nice to be back in the
agility ring with him.
The Rainy x Daily puppies
arrived as expected on January 28th!!
We got one of every possible
color combination from this breeding:
-blue merle girl
-bi-blue girl
-bi-black boy
-blue merle boy
-tri boy
We're very excited about this
litter, and we'll be posting photos to the Litters page on
a regular basis.
On January 19th and 20th at
the Admiral Perry Agility Trial in Edinboro, PA, Elsa qualified
both days in Jumpers and earned her fourth and
fifth MXJ legs and five MACH points. Geraldo also
qualified in Jumpers both days and added another eight
MACH points to his point total. It was a very cold
and snowy weekend, but we had fun anyway. Our thanks
go out to Elaine Mayowski for handling Elsa to her
exciting Q's!!
Shamont Most Unusual Day
(Daily) has been bred to CH. PaRay's Make A Splash (Rainy), and
we're expecting those puppies to arrive around January
28th!! We have the possibility of bi's, tri's and blue
merles in this litter. Please check our litters page
at the end of January for more updates and photos of the
newborn puppies. <G>
We had a fabulous time at
our first agility trial of the New Year!! At the Erie
Kennel Club's agility trial on January 4th in Edinboro, PA,
Geraldo got his first Double Q and nine MACH points to go
along with it!! Two days later, it was Elsa's turn to
shine. She got her first Double Q, her first MX
leg, and her first MACH point that Sunday. As always,
Elsa was beautifully handled in the ring by Elaine Mayowski!!
Elsa loves to run with Elaine.
Our Sunday got even better.
Nicky, one of the tri males from Elsa's first litter,
qualified and placed in Novice Standard that day. It
was his first agility leg, and we thought it was very cool
that he earned it on the same day and at the same show where
his dam got her first Double Q. Nicky is loved and
trained by Lou and Janet Norman of Erie, PA.
On
December 29th, Elsa, Geraldo, Chet, and I competed at the
CPE Agility Trial in Washingtonville, Ohio. We had a
perfect day---literally and figuratively. Elsa, Chet,
and Geraldo, qualified AND placed on every run!!
Collectively,
they had seven first place finishes, two second place
finishes, and two fourth place finishes. As an added
bonus, Elsa finished two titles at that trial, and Chet
finished a title too. I had the pleasure of being on
the course myself with Chet and Geraldo, and Elaine Mayowski
did a lovely job of handling Elsa. It was a great way
to ring out the old year!!
After being out of the
standard agility ring for six weeks, Geraldo walked
back into the ring at the Cleveland Shetland Sheepdog Trial
on October 14th and earned his third MX leg. He picked
up eight MACH points on that run too. I think he was
very happy to be back in the standard ring, because he
smiled throughout the run.
On September 14th, Geraldo and
I finished his Master Jumpers title at the Beaver County
Agility Trial on Neville Island. We've worked so hard
for this title, and I'm just about to burst with excitement.
I'm so proud of my baby boy.
It was one year ago this
weekend that we earned our first Novice Jumpers leg at the
same show site. So, it was really cool to be able to
finish our MXJ one year later at the same show/show site.
We had been stuck at nine MXJ legs for the last three shows,
and I was starting to wonder if we'd ever get that final MXJ
leg.
We're dancing on the ceiling
at CastleGate!!
After having to take a month
off from agility classes and trials due to being in season,
Elsa returned to the agility ring this weekend and finished
her Excellent Standard (AX) title with a second place
finish on Sunday at the Cleveland Shetland
Sheepdog Club's agility trial. After she ran, she was
prancing around the arena with her prize/toy looking at the
other dogs with the "I rock, you don't" look that
she reserves for occasions like that! <G>
Elsa has earned six agility
titles since her agility debut on April 27th, and we're so
proud of her! We can't thank Elaine Mayowski enough
for the wonderful job she's done training Elsa and handling
her in the ring. They are truly an awesome
team!!
August 26th marked the one
year anniversary of my first agility trial with Geraldo.
To commemorate that, we went back to the same show site---an
incredibly hot soccer arena in Morgantown, WV.
Geraldo had a blast despite the heat, and I think he was
pleased that his daddy came along to watch him run too!
Geraldo celebrated his
anniversary in style by earning his second MX leg that day!
<G>
At the Youngstown All Breed
Training Club's agility trial in Washingtonville, Ohio on
August 18th & 19th, Geraldo earned his ninth MXJ leg and
his first MX leg. We had a lot of fun, and I'm
delighted that he only needs one more qualifying leg to get
his MXJ! We've come a long way in our first year
of trialing!!
While Geraldo and I were at
the Rod Oishi Grooming Seminar, Elaine Mayowski and Elsa
went to the CABTC agility trial in North Olmsted, Ohio on
August 10-12. I'm pleased to report that Elsa picked up
her second AX leg (with a second place finish) and her second
MXJ leg at that trial. As always, we're so proud of what
the two of them have accomplished together. Thank you,
Elaine!
On August 5th, Elsa earned her
first MXJ leg in Westminster, MD at the agility trial
sponsored by the Norwegian Elkhound Club of the Potomac
Valley. As always, Elsa's good friend and trainer, Elaine
Mayowski, was on the course with her for that qualifying
run. Elaine brings out the best in Elsa, and we're
very grateful to her!
On July 21st at the Golden
Retriever Agility Trial in Cheswick, PA, Geraldo finished
his Excellent Standard (AX) title with a second place
finish, and we are delighted that he now has both of his
Excellent agility titles. As a bonus, he also earned
his seventh MXJ leg and picked up seven additional MACH
points to go with it. The show photographer took
several pictures of Geraldo on the agility course on
Saturday, and he had such a big smile on his face as he ran.
When we crossed the finish line after those two runs,
my smile was equally big!!
On July 13-15, Geraldo,
Elsa, and I attended the Cleveland Shetland Sheepdog
Association's agility trial in North Olmsted, Ohio.
We had a nice weekend!
Elsa earned her first
Excellent Standard (AX) leg, and she earned two Excellent
Jumpers legs to finish her Excellent Jumpers (AXJ) title.
She received second place on all three of those
qualifying runs. She's been to five agility show
weekends and now has five agility titles and one leg toward
a sixth one. I'm just blown away by the success she
and Elaine Mayowski have had on the agility course.
They are amazing together, and I love watching them run.
Geraldo and I picked up his
second Excellent Standard (AX) leg with a first place
finish this weekend too. One more qualifying leg to
go, and he'll have his Excellent Standard title!!
Elsa had a fabulous weekend
at the Three Rivers Shetland Sheepdog Club's agility
trial on June 16th and 17th in Cheswick, PA. She earned
two Open Standard legs at the trial and that finished her
OA title. She had perfect scores and first place
finishes on both of those qualifying runs. Elsa
also earned her first Excellent Jumpers leg with a second
place finish on Sunday. Her success on
the agility course has both amazed and delighted me. In
only four weekends of trialing, she's finished four titles
(novice standard, novice jumpers, open standard and open
jumpers) and picked up her first qualifying leg toward a fifth
title. As always, we are incredibly grateful to
Elaine Mayowski for training Elsa and handling her to
these exciting wins.
Geraldo and I had a very nice weekend
too. He earned his fifth and sixth Masters Jumpers
legs on Saturday and Sunday and picked up nine more
MACH points in the process. Only four more qualifying
legs to go, and he'll have his Masters Jumpers title.
I have to pinch myself when I think about the prospect of
that. <G>
The
CastleGate kids had another wonderful agility weekend at the
Clarion Agility Trial in Cheswick, PA on June 1-3.
Elsa (Can Ch Kelbren Come Hither, NA, OAJ, CGC) finished her
OAJ title and earned her first OA leg at that show. As
an added bonus, Elsa received first place on all of her qualifying
runs. As always, our heartfelt thanks go out to Elaine
Mayowski for training and running Elsa in agility.
They are an amazing team.
Geraldo
(CastleGate's Daily News, OA, AXJ, CGC) and I had a
pretty good time too! Geraldo earned his third
and fourth MXJ legs at that show and picked up eight
additional MACH points too.
We had an
awesome time at the Golden Triangle Agility Trial on
Memorial Day Weekend.
On Sunday,
Elsa (Can Ch Kelbren Come Hither, NA, NAJ, CGC) picked
up her second Novice Standard leg with a perfect score
and a first place finish, and she earned her first Open
Jumpers leg with another perfect score and a
fourth place finish.
On Monday, she
was eager to run again, and she finished her Novice Standard
title with a second place finish and picked up her
second Open Jumpers leg with a third place finish. In
only two weekends of trialing, Elsa has finished two
agility titles and is 2/3 of the way to her third title.
Tom and I can't
thank Elaine Mayowski enough for the beautiful job she's
doing with Elsa in the ring. They're a wonderful
team!!
Geraldo (CastleGate's
Daily News, OA, AXJ, CGC) and I had fun too! On
Monday, he earned his second MXJ leg, and as icing on
the cake, we earned our first four MACH points on that run
too---only 746 more points to go!!
On May 14th, the Chet x
Daily litter was born! This litter is a repeat of the
breeding that produced Geraldo (CastleGate's Daily News, OA,
AXJ, CGC) and Lydia (CastleGate's Answered Prayer). We
have three non-white factored tri girls and one non-white
factored bi-black girl in the litter. The pedigree for
the litter can be seen on our Nursery
page.
On May 13th, Geraldo was
WD under William Usherwood at the Ravenna Show in Tallmadge,
Ohio for his first two points. What an awesome
Mother's Day present that was! Those were my first
homebred points and boy did they feel good! Geraldo
was handled to this win by Linda Urbanek, and we are very
grateful to Linda for presenting Geraldo so beautifully!
Elsa was entered in her first agility trial on April
27-29 in Cleveland, Ohio. She qualified all three days
in Novice Jumpers and finished her Novice Agility
Jumpers title on Sunday. She also qualified on Friday
in Novice Standard. As icing on the cake, Elsa earned
three first placements and one second placement on those
qualifying runs. Not a bad agility debut for our baby
girl!! <G> Elsa was trained and handled to these
exciting wins by Elaine Mayowski, and we're so grateful
to her for everything she's done for Elsa Girl.
Geraldo had a great weekend too. He earned two Open
Standard legs at the Cleveland Trial, and that finished
his OA title!! He had perfect scores and first place
finishes on both of those runs! I moved him up to
Excellent Standard the next day, and not only did he
qualify, but he got first place again!! I was so
excited that I gave him every drop of bait that I had
left in the cooler!! On Friday, Geraldo also earned his
first Masters Jumpers leg. He ran beautifully for me
all weekend, and I was so proud of him.
On April 18th, Chet, Geraldo and
Elsa successfully completed their Canine Good Citizen tests at
the Xcel Training Center in Bethel Park, PA. We're very pleased
that they did so well!
We had a blast at the CPE agility trial in Washingtonville, OH on March 24th!
Elsa (Can Ch Kelbren Come Hither) made her competitive
agility debut at that trial, and I was so proud of her. She
qualified and placed on two of her four runs that day. Elsa
is being trained and handled by Elaine Mayowski, and we're
very excited about what the future holds for the two of
them.
Geraldo (CastleGate's Daily News NA, AXJ), had an even
better day at the CPE trial. He qualified and placed on all
four of his runs! Geraldo is a joy to run, and I love being
on the agility course with him.
Geraldo celebrated the birth of
his first puppies by completing his Excellent Jumpers (AXJ)
title on March 10th at the Butler Agility Trial in Edinboro, PA.
As an added bonus, he got first place too! Geraldo
came within a hair's breadth of qualifying for his first Masters
Jumpers leg on Sunday. If his mom had been where she was supposed
to be when he came out of the tunnel, he wouldn't have missed the
next to the last jump (kill me now) and would have easily
qualified for his first MXJ
leg. I promised him that I'll do better next time! <G>
On March 9th, Geraldo's first litter was born!! The dam of the
litter is Shamont Strutting On Bi (Jillian), a lovely bi-black
bitch generously leased to us for this litter by Linda Sanders.
This litter was co-bred with Judy Quirk (Deja Blue Shelties)
and consists of two bi-black females, one bi-blue female, and two
bi-black males. We'll be eagerly watching these puppies
mature! See our puppies page
for more information on this
litter.
Geraldo took a four point major reserve under Lloyd Graser Jr. at the Central
Ohio Sheltie Specialty on February 24th. The following day, he
took another four point major reserve under Lisa Graser. We are
so proud of him, and we're very grateful to Linda Urbanek for
the beautiful way in which she presented him in the ring.
Geraldo is knocking on the door, and we are hopeful that his
first points are just around the corner!!
On February 10th at the Tamarack Lake Agility Trial in Edinboro, PA, Geraldo earned his
first Open Standard leg with a first place finish. Geraldo and
I just started competing in standard agility at the beginning
of January, so we're delighted that he's already moved into the
Open Standard Class. His first litter is due in early March,
and we're hoping to finish at least one more agility title
before those puppies arrive!
Geraldo and I had a great weekend
at the Admiral Perry Agility Trial in Edinboro, PA. Geraldo earned
two Novice Standard legs (both with first place finishes) on
January 19th and 20th, and those qualifying runs finished his
NA title. He was two years old on January 20th, so I think the
NA title was his birthday present to me!! Geraldo also earned
his second Excellent Jumpers leg (with a second place finish)
that Saturday.
My baby boy is now formally known as CastleGate's Daily News,
NA, OAJ. Someday soon, I hope we can change that OAJ to an AXJ!!
Geraldo (CastleGate's Daily
News OAJ) and I finally got brave enough to run a Novice Standard
agility course, and I'm delighted to report that he earned his
first NA leg at the Erie Kennel Club's Agility Trial in Edinboro,
PA on January 7th. As icing on the cake, he also garnered a first
placement for that run!
On December 9th at the Clarion
Agility Trial in Edinboro, Geraldo finished his OAJ title with
a first placement! Just for fun, I moved him up to the Excellent
Jumpers class the next day, and not only did he qualify, but
he earned first place again. To say that I was thrilled is an
understatement. I'm so proud of him!!
At the Tamarack Lake Kennel
Club's agility trial in Edinboro, PA on November 26th, CastleGate's
Daily News NAJ ("Geraldo") earned his second OAJ leg
with a first place finish. As always, I was delighted to be running
the course with my happy bi-blue boy!!
On November 18th, Kelbren Come
Hither ("Elsa") was WB at the Ottawa Kennel Club Show,
and that win finished her Canadian Championship! Elsa's breeder,
Carol Craswell, put the first eight points on her in September
and October, and Sharon Ayers put those delightful final points
on her at the Ottawa Kennel Club Show. We are very appreciative
of the beautiful way in which Carol and Sharon presented Elsa
in the ring.
Elsa's sire is BISS Am Ch Shamont
Lasting Impression, and her dam is Can Ch Kelbren Tresta Tatianna.
Elsa is the fifth Canadian Champion for her sire and the fourth
Canadian Champion for her dam.
On November 12th at the Admiral
Perry Agility Trial in Edinboro, PA, CastleGate's Daily News
NAJ ("Geraldo") earned his first OAJ leg with a second
place finish. Geraldo is a joy to run with on the agility course,
and I'm having a blast with him!
On October 27th, Elsa (Kelbren Come Hither) was WB at the Island
Dog Show in Charlottetown, PE for two points. The following day,
she was WB/BW for three more points. Elsa was handled to these
exciting wins by her breeder, Carol Craswell. Elsa needs two
more points to finish her Canadian Championship, and we have
high hopes that she'll complete her title before coming back
to the U.S. at the end of November.
On October 21st, at the Erie
Kennel Club's Agility trial in Edinboro, PA, CastleGate's Daily
News (Geraldo) earned his second Novice JWW leg with a perfect
score and a second place finish. The next day, Geraldo finished
his Novice JWW title with another perfect score and a first place
finish. It was such a thrill for me to be on the course with
Geraldo for these wins! We are very grateful to Elaine Mayowski
for the many hours she spent training Geraldo and me. We couldn't
have done it without her patient and positive instruction.
Geraldo is the second Chet son to earn an NAJ title this year,
and several others are waiting in the wings for their turn!
On October 7th at the TRSSCGP
Agility Trial in Washingtonville, Ohio, Daily (Shamont Most Unusual
Day) earned her second Novice JWW leg, and I was delighted to
be on the course with her for that qualifying run. As icing on
the cake, Daily also earned first place in the 12" Novice
Jumpers class. Our heartfelt thanks go out to Elaine Mayowski
for training both Daily and myself.
On September 16th, Geraldo
(CastleGate's Daily News) earned his first Novice JWW leg at
the Beaver County Agility Trial. He qualified with a perfect
score and earned first place in the 16" jumpers class. That
was the first time that I have ever put a performance leg on
one of my dogs myself!! To say I was thrilled is an understatement.
After our run, I hugged and kissed Geraldo until he just couldn't
stand it any more! <G> We are very grateful to Elaine Mayowski
for all of the time and effort she put into preparing us for
competition.
Elsa (Kelbren Come Hither)
is staying with her breeder on Prince Edward Island, Canada while
she's pursuing her Canadian Championship. At her first Canadian
show on September 9, 2006, Elsa was WB and BOS over two bitch
specials! She was shown to this exciting win by her breeder,
Carol Craswell. We're delighted that Elsa's Canadian show career
is off to such a great start.
Shamont Most Unusual Day (Daily)
went to her first agility trial in Cheswick, PA on July 22nd
and came away with her first JWW leg and a third place finish
to boot! Not bad for a bitch who's going to be six years old
in September. <G> Elaine Mayowski did a beautiful job of
handling Daily in the ring, and we are very excited that she's
training and running Daily for us
On July 9, 2006, Chet completed
his Excellent Jumpers with Weaves title (with a first place finish)
at the Blue Ridge Agility Trial in Winchester, VA ! Going forward,
he will be known as A/C Ch Kelbren Blue Flame CD, RN, NAJ, AJP,
and he is now officially retired from the agility ring. Elaine
Mayowski and Chet have had an incredible partnership in the agility
ring, and we can't thank Elaine enough for training and running
Chet in agility for us!
Next, Chet and I are going to concentrate on getting a herding
title in order to finish the requirements for his VCX. That may
be our most challenging adventure yet!! <G>
On June 4th, Chet earned his
second excellent jumpers preferred leg at the Clarion Canine
Obedience Club's agility trial in Cheswick, PA. As icing on the
cake, he had a first place finish too! Our heartfelt thanks to
Chet's agility handler, Elaine Mayowski, for another great run
and for her unwavering belief in him.
Chet needs one more qualifying leg to finish his excellent jumpers
title, and then we're going to take a break from agility to concentrate
on herding in the hopes of putting a VCX at the end of his name
sometime in the next 12 months.
Elaine Mayowski and Chet certainly
started off 2006 on a high note for us! At the Erie Kennel Club's
Agility Trial on January 7th, Chet completed his OJP title with
a first place finish. We moved Chet up to the excellent jumpers
preferred class the next day, and he dazzled and delighted us
again by earning his first AJP leg with another first place finish.
In the near future, we're going to start pursuing a herding title
for Chet in the hopes that he'll be our first sheltie to earn
a VCX.
On December 10, 2005, our second
litter arrived! Elsa (Kelbren Come Hither) presented us with
five lovely puppies in the wee hours of the morning. She had
three tri boys and two blue merle girls. Elsa's litter was sired
by Ch Patented Emprise Forevermore ("Everett"), a tri
son of Ch Macdega Evergreen. All of the puppies are active and
vigorous, and as an added bonus, they all appear to be non-white
factored. This is Elsa's first litter, and she's doing a great
job with the puppies.
On December 10th and 11th, Chet competed in the Open Jumpers
Preferred agility class for the first time, and we're delighted
to report that he qualified both days with perfect scores and
first place finishes. Our heartfelt thanks go out to Elaine Mayowski
for handling Chet to these exciting wins. Elaine and Chet have
earned two agility titles (NAJ & NJP) in the last six weeks,
and they are one qualifying leg away from a third title!
On Thanksgiving weekend, Elaine
Mayowski and Chet were burning up the agility rings in Edinboro,
PA. Chet earned his Novice Jumpers Preferred (NJP) title in three
straight shows with three first place finishes. Two of his three
qualifying legs were earned with perfect scores!! Chet and Elaine
will be pursuing his Open Jumpers title in 2006, and we're eager
to see them in the agility ring again! We are very grateful to
Elaine for the wonderful job she's doing with Chet.
On November 12, 2005, Chet (A/C Ch Kelbren Blue Flame) finished
his Novice Agility Jumpers title at the Admiral Perry Agility
Trial in Edinboro, PA. As icing on the cake, he placed second
in the 16" novice jumpers class. We are so excited that
he now has an agility title to go along with his CD and Rally
Novice titles. We can't thank Elaine Mayowski enough for the
marvelous job she's done training Chet and handling him in the
agility ring. They make a great team!!
On October 22nd and 23rd, Chet competed in his first agility
trial. We're delighted to report that he qualified AND placed
both days in the 16" Novice Jumpers class. He earned second
place on Saturday and third place on Sunday at the TRSSCGP's
agility trial in Edinboro, PA.
Elaine Mayowski handled Chet in the agility ring on both days.
She did a fabulous job with him, and we are very grateful to
her! Chet and Elaine will be pursuing his final NAJ leg in November,
and we're eagerly anticipating their next appearance in the ring.
Daily (Shamont Most Unusual
Day) was not going to be outdone by her son's RWD this weekend.
On September 25th, Daily was WB in Davenport, Iowa. September
25th was also Daily's fifth birthday, so that made her win even
more special. We are grateful to Amy Zoss Massey (Kell Shelties)
for handling Daily to this win. Daily now has five points/one
major, and we're very excited to have her back in the ring again!!
We're smiling at CastleGate
again this weekend!
On September 24th, CastleGate's Daily News was RWD under breeder
judge Nan Bodine at the Butler, PA show. I know that most people
don't get too excited about reserves, but putting a reserve myself
on a puppy that I bred was pretty special to me. Geraldo is eight
months old, and the Butler show was only the fourth time that
we've been in the ring together.
We're so proud of Geraldo!!
Chet (A/C Ch Kelbren Blue Flame,
CD, RN) has been out of the conformation ring for over two years,
and we decided to enter him at the Clarksburg West Virginia Kennel
Club's show on September 17th just for fun. We thought it would
be exciting to have Chet and his son (CastleGate's Daily News)
in the ring at the same show. Much to our delight, Geraldo won
his class, and Chet won BOB over two other specials. Just to
add icing to the cake, Chet made the cut in the group ring as
well.
Chet was handled to his BOB by Debbie Miller-Gurchak. It was
the first time that the two of them had been in the conformation
ring together, and they looked great! Our breed judge at the
Clarksburg Show was James Neal Barrett, and the group judge was
Judith Goodin.
We're so proud of our two blue boys!!
On June 11, 2005, Chet earned
his final CD leg at the WCOTC Obedience Trial in Delmont, PA
with a very respectable score of 190.5! We're thrilled to have
two obedience titles at the end of his name now.
As always, our heartfelt thanks go out to his performance handler,
Debbie Miller-Gurchak! She brings out the best in Chet.
On May 1, 2005, Chet earned
his second CD leg under Judge James Grimm at the Butler Dog Training
Association's Obedience Trial. We want to express our thanks
to his handler, Debbie Miller-Gurchak, for another exciting win.
Chet will be pursuing his final CD leg in June.
On Friday, April 8, 2005, "Team
Chet" left for a Rally Obedience Trial in North Jackson,
Ohio with high hopes. Chet had a blast in the Rally ring and
earned his third and final Novice Rally leg at the Youngstown
All Breed Training Club that evening. He's now sporting an "RN"
after his name, and we hope that this is the first of many performance
titles for Chet. As always, he was handled beautifully in the
ring by our friend and trainer, Debbie Miller-Gurchak.
After the National, we'll be concentrating on the pursuit of
his last two CD legs!
On April 8, 2005, we changed
our kennel name from Balmoral Shelties of PA to CastleGate Shelties.
The puppies from our first litter (born on 1-20-05) will be registered
under the CastleGate prefix.
The month of April got off
to a roaring start for Chet! On April 1, 2005, he earned his
first CD leg at the TRSSCGP Specialty, and on April 2nd and 3rd,
he earned Rally Novice legs at the WPKA shows. We extend our
thanks and gratitude to Debbie Miller-Gurchak for handling Chet
in the ring for all three of those obedience legs. We hope to
have Chet's CD and RN titles soon.
On January 20, 2005, our first
litter was born! Am/Can Ch. Kelbren Blue Flame ("Chet")
is the sire of the litter, and Shamont Most Unusual Day (major
pointed) is the dam. Daily presented us with a blue merle girl,
a bi-blue boy, a tri girl, a cryptic blue boy, and a tri boy.
We are delighted with these puppies and eager to watch them mature.
See more pictures of them here.
In conjunction with the AKC registration of this litter, we'll
be changing our kennel name from Balmoral Shelties to CastleGate
Shelties.
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