A few agility annoucnements and interesting stuff!

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A bunch of agility stuff!

Mechlenburg Foundation Handling Seminar

Just found this on the CleanRun Yahoo Group this morning and wanted to share, especially for our friends on the other side of the pond and US.

Linda Mecklenburg's Awesome Paws Foundation Handling Seminar that's being held at Clean Run this Monday will be available though live-streaming via the Internet on Monday March 16, 2009, from Noon-5PM ET

The purpose of this seminar is to provide an overview of Linda Mecklenburg's handling system and provide everyone with a basic understanding of how to make it work. There will be a 5+ hour lecture/demonstration that covers the theory and basic skills the dog must have for the system to be successful. All levels of experience are welcome and are encouraged.

The cost is $175.00 and is limited to the first 300 online participants. You can sign up for the event up until one hour before the start (which is 11AM ET). It is recommended you have a high-speed Internet connection. To sign up, click here, payment will be via PayPal (which also takes credit cards).

Cynosport 2009

Well, it's official, the 2009 Cynosport Games will again be held at WestWorld in Scottsdale, Arizona - the dates are November 11-15, 2009. Link with more info.

National/International Competitions

I updated the links on my side bar (scroll down) for FCI, IFSC, European Open, Midwest Championships, Cynosport, etc., so you'll have ready access to all those '09 competition sites that are available to date. Also updated my Dog Agility Squidoo lens to update all the dates for the same competitions. They are all also listed on my Google Calendar if you'd like to grab them and put them on yours.

Midwest Dog Agility Championships 2009

The dates and website have been announced for the 2009 Midwest Dog Agility Championships. The dates will be October 23-25, 2009, with the event held at Crystal Lake, Illinois. More info here.

A-Frame Box Resources

Over at Lucy's Agility Blog is a great post that contains an extensive list of A-Frame Box resources - from Emily and Melanie's YouTube frame training vids, Rachel Sanders DVD review, Ellen's blog posts about her frame sessions with Rachel, and more. Good stuff!

Silvia's US Seminars

I'm late posting about this, but who knows, maybe there are still spots available. Silvia announced her seminars for the US this year. Here's the list with websites for contact:

11/21-25 NC, Melanie: melanie at agilemindsagility.com
11/27-29 TX, Elizabeth: eedogs at earthlink.net
11/30 - 12/3 CA, Ashley: adeacon at slac.stanford.edu
12/5-9 OH, Beth: terriers_rule at roadrunner.com
12/10-13 NH, MJ: agile.kirk at videotron.ca

Silvia is continuing her updates on training and working with Bi, always worth checking out - vids and more. Go here and click on the news section. Bi is growing so quickly!

And here is her latest video - winter tricks with all four of her pups :)



Other random and interesting dog agility blog stuff

Kathy, over at Agility Adventures, had an interesting blog post the other day about toys, rewarding, placement, etc. Loved her toy (with food) ideas.

Well, I guess my Mum isn't the only one that's fallen during a nice run - even Stacy Peardot-Goudy did it. But she had the guts to post a video unlike my Mum, BOL!!! Ouch!!! Hope you're feeling better Stacy! Be sure and watch the nice runs. Love how she leans forward to cue the dog. Also see her post here, seems SoBe has an ilipsoas muscle pull, dang! I must get an email every week that some pup has this nasty I pull and is looking for resources. Take care out there.

Have to say that watching Crufts agility live on the Internet was really fun. Great competition - especially in the large dog category. Here is David Munnings & Dobby's winning run, he just inched by Marcus Topps & Juice for the win. If you'd like to know more about David, AgilityNet has a great interview with him - seems he' been doing agility for 11 years, since he was 15 years old. Here's his website. And of course we love watching the OBay shelties runs, fantastic!

I love this video - it's of Morganne and Sage - Sage is deaf. Super great agility run.