Aiden was invited to participate in the German Shepherd Dog Club of America’s Fourth Annual Invitational Agility Top 20 Preferred. Aiden is #10 of the Top 20. On Thursday October 11th we left Harwich at 4:30am to begin our trip to Purina Farms in Missouri for the GSDCA National Dog Show and Trials.
We made a few pit stops along the way and late afternoon we stopped at the Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA where the dogs got a chance to run and play on the shore of Lake Erie. It was so rough the lake looked like the ocean!
After our walk we felt refreshed and continued on to Columbus, OH where we spent the night. All the boys sharing pizza in the hotel!
On Friday we got another early start and headed to Indiana for a visit with our IPO trainer, Mario, at his new home.
Our next stop was in Terre Haute where we had a visit with O’Connor’s brother O’Casey (Mick). The brothers, who look like twins, were thrilled to see each other and had a great time playing together.
On Saturday O’Connor was entered in the Mound City Obedience Training Club’s Obedience and Rally Trials in Caseyville, Illinois. They were holding two trials in one day and Connor was in two Beginner Novice B classes and two Rally Novice B classes. This was Connor’s second trial and there were three rings going on at one time making for lots of distractions.
Connor’s first class of the day was Rally Novice and he qualified with a score of 91 (out of 100) and 4th place.
The second class was Beginner Novice Obedience. Connor qualified with a score of 198 (out of 200) and 1st place.
The third class was Rally again and again Connor qualified in 4th place, this time with a score of 95 for his Rally Novice (RN) Title!
The final class of the day was Beginner Novice and he qualified with a score of 195 and 1st place.
On Sunday we went to Purina Farms to set up our crates and chairs ready the agility trial. We took the dogs for a long walk around the beautiful Purina Farms property.
On Monday Aiden was entered in the first day of the GSDCA (GSD only) Agility Trial. Aiden was in all three classes, Masters FAST Preferred, Masters Standard Preferred and Masters JWW Preferred. He qualified in all the classes in 1st place for his first ever Triple Q !
The second day of the GSDCA Agility Trial Aiden had another great day and earned another Double Q with two 1st places. He had a good run in Time to Beat but one bar came down. Aiden was awarded High in Trial Preferred.
During the trial there was a presentation of the awards of the Top 20 Agility Invitationals. Everyone ran a Time to Beat type course just for fun with music blasting and people cheering. This was a wonderful experience and honor that I can not express adequately in words.
Overall Aiden earned five 1st places, a triple Q, a Double Q, was High in Trial Preferred and earned Masters Bronze Agility Preferred Title (MXPB)
V, U-CH, PAM, Alta-Tollhaus Aiden IPO-2
CDX, BN, RE, MX, MXJ, MXF, MXPB, MJP2, MFP, TD, SCN, SIN, SEN, TKI, CA, DN, FDC, HIC, TC, TDI, CGC
Andrea came to Purina Farms to support us and cheer us on. She took some great action shots of Aiden.
In between Aiden’s agility classes we took the dogs for walks and to play.
Andrea, Alta-Tollhaus Schoen Zeta, Alta-Tollhaus Aiden, Lynda and Alta-Tollhaus O’Connor
Connor and Zeta
On Wednesday O’Connor was entered in Beginner Novice Obedience at the GSDCA National. He qualified with a score of 185.5 for his Beginner Novice Title (BN).
VP Alta-Tollhaus O’Connor BN, RN, CGC
In the afternoon Aiden got one run on the Lure Coursing Field for fun. He had a qualifying run and earned a leg towards his Coursing Ability Advanced Title.
Connor got to see some sheep and he wanted to do his Herding Instinct Test but he is still too young!
On Thursday morning we left Pacific, MO for our 1300 mile drive home. We made a few quick stops and when we got to Columbus, OH we went to the Sharon Woods Metro Park and had a nice long walk with the boys. We continued on the road a bit further before hunkering down for the night.
On Friday morning we hit road and made it safely home.
What an incredible experience the whole trip was.
Wow! What an experience! I am so happy and proud of Team Aiden! …. and that last photo….. ❤️