A Shih Tzu Training Challenge for March

While we wait for the arrival of spring (which can't get here soon enough), I've been trying to figure out ways in which my dogs can "practice" agility at home.  We do have some space in the basement, but it takes some dedication on my part to actually take them down there and work.  It doesn't have to take a large portion of my day, but every little bit helps.  It just takes some motivation ...

That's where my idea started.

What if I challenged myself to practice with my dogs EVERY DAY?  For a MONTH? Could I do it???

Could you???

CHALLENGE:

• Practice with your dog every day for the entire month of March.  (Remember, practice sessions don't have to take a lot of time to be effective!)  Practice whatever you need to work on - agility, obedience, rally obedience, manners ... just practice something!
• Write about the practice session (and/or take a picture) and post to your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  You can also write about your session on the ShowMeTzuMagic Yahoogroup.
• Comment on the daily post on this blog on what you worked on and the link to your blog post or Instagram (if you have one.)

Who's in?!?! 

Let's get our Shih Tzu up and moving!

Donors Rock! (How you can too!)

Thank you to everyone who has donated to the Shih Tzu agility trials.  The updated list, as of today, is as follows:

GENERAL AGILITY TRIAL FUND

Platinum Level ($100.00 and over)

Barb Cunningham, Lorraine DeSalvo, Terry Fencl, Burton & Shellie Goldstein,

Tom & Judy Harding, Linda Harper, Emily Intersoll, Terri Jenkins, Rhea Mays, Michael Shea-Zackin

Gold Level ($50.00 - $99.00)

Jan Sammons, Beth Scorzelli

Silver Level ($25.00 - $49.00)

Mel and Joyce Grimm

Equipment Rental donated by Tom and Judy Harding

If you would like to send a donation, please contact the trial chairperson by email.  (Information is available in the premium list.

ShowMeTzuMagic: "Old School" Social Media

Before Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Shih Tzu performance people got together and discussed training their Shih Tzu for obedience, agility, rally, and more on the ShowMeTzuMagic Yahoogroup.

Almost twelve years later, they still do!

If you are looking for a place to learn about training your Shih Tzu for agility or a number of other performance activities, ShowMeTzuMagic is the place.  The group is "closed" - meaning that membership requires approval from the list owner.  Members can read posts on the Yahoogroup site or receive messages as individual emails or in a daily digest format.

To join, visit the ShowMeTzuMagic page or send an email to:
ShowMeTzuMagic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

2003 Agility Trial - "Get the Party Started"

The 2003 agility trial was held in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.  This two day, outdoor trial was met with its own trials ... pouring rain and freezing cold!

Michele and Claudia work as ring crew in the rain.

Photo by Tien Tran.  This photo was used for the cover of the ASTC's publication, the Shih Tzu Bulletin.

Winners for 2002:

Top 4” Preferred - LizZu Rags to Riches—B. Barron

Top 8” Preferred - Little Rascal’s CaCanny—D. Rathberger

Top 8” Regular - Mijule’s Red Hot Chili Pepper—L. Sponsler

Top 12” Regular - Scorzelli’s Take A Chance On Me—E. Scorzelli

2002 Agility Trial - "Meet Me in St. Louis"

The first ASTC national specialty agility trial was held in the St. Louis area in 2002, at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri.  Twenty-two dogs participated in the one day, outdoor event and three of those dogs earned qualifying scores: Katie Grant-Shalin’s “Zoe” who earned a “double-Q” from the Excellent B Standard and Jumpers with Weaves classes and was the High Scoring 8” Shih Tzu; Linda Harpers “Niki” who earned a “Q” from Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves and was the high Scoring 12” Shih Tzu; and Alberta Gray’s “Hairy” who earned a “Q” from the Open Standard Class. 

The classes that were offered in 2002 were Standard and Jumpers with Weaves (FAST and T2B classes were not yet in existence), and the dogs jumped at either 8” or 12” – because at the time, there was a lower cutoff for the 8” division (had to be under 10” inches tall to jump 8”; today the cutoff is 11”).  There was no Preferred class, so there was not an option to enter a dog a 4” like there is today.

At that time, the thought of a Shih Tzu earning a MACH was unheard of (there weren't any at that time) and the preferred classes didn't even exist yet.  Oh, how times have changed … look how far we've come.  There are many Shih Tzu with MACH titles (several with multiple MACH titles), a couple with PACH titles, and several Shih Tzu who are consistently earning points and “Q”s with those titles in mind.  

(Article adapted from a Shih Tzu bulletin article written by Barb Cunningham in 2010)

Coming soon ... blasts from the past

Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing photos and trivia regarding all of the past Shih Tzu national specialty agility trials ...

2002 - St. Louis (Gray Summit), MO
2003 - Minneapolis (Lake Elmo), MN
2004 - San Francisco (Burlingame), CA
2005 - Oklahoma City, OK
2006 - Frederick, MD
2007 - Vancouver (Battle Ground), WA
2008 - Atlanta (Conyers), GA
2009 - Oklahoma City, OK
2010 - St. Louis (Lake St. Louis), MO
2011 - Atlanta (Hiram), GA

Top Shih Tzu in Agility - Mid Year 2012 Stats

If you thought that a Shih Tzu could run in agility, you were right.  They can do very well, as shown in the below listing of the top five Shih Tzu in American Kennel Club (AKC) agility from January 2012 thru June 2012.  (Year-end statistics should be available soon.)

Congratulations to these very talented Shih Tzu and their very talented handlers:

1. MACH5 Sterling Of Burberry MXC2 MJB3 OF | Terry Fencl | 934 | 30 | 1,234
2. MACH Ananda MXS MJC | Supavee Janlekha & Paiboon Tanapipatkulchai | 638 | 36 | 998
3. MACH2 Monys Sukimitzu MXS MJG NAP NJP NF | Emily Ingersoll | 623 | 18 | 803
4. MACH2 Logan Lake Hope MXS MJG NF | Kimberly Barton | 363 | 7 | 433
5. MACH Tian Ya Yi Min Of Lynch's Landing MXB2 MJG NF | Candace L Lynch | 197 | 14 | 337

Source: American Kennel Club

For those who are not familiar with AKC agility, MACH stands for Master Agility Champion and is the highest title in AKC agility.  The number after the MACH title signifies the number of times the dog has met the requirements for the title.

The three sets of numbers to the right represent the number of points, double Qs (2Qs), and total score.

•  Points = One point is earned for each second the dog's time is under the Standard Course Time (SCT).
• Double Qs = A double Q is earned every time a dog qualifies in both the Master Standard and Master Jumpers with Weaves classes on the same day.
• Score = Score is used to determine top dogs - the formula is Points + (10 x 2Qs)

To see the complete listing for all breeds and listings for previous years, click here.

Come for Agility .. Stay for More Shih Tzu Fun

After the agility trials - there will be several other events to enjoy, including conformation, obedience, and rally obedience. 

Interested in entering some of the other events?  The premium list will be available from Rau Dog Shows.

There will also be a lot of wonderful vendors selling unique Shih Tzu supplies and gifts.

The conformation, obedience, and rally obedience events will take place at the host hotel:
Double Tree by Hilton, 210 Holiday Court, Annapolis, MD 21401 | Phone Number: (410)224-3150 or (800)222-8733

If you want to stay at the host hotel (within driving distance for agility), there is a group rate for the specialty:

Group Name: American Shih Tzu Club
Group Code: AST
Check-in: 28-APR-2013 | Check-out: 05-MAY-2013

Room Rate: April 28-May 5: $109, plus $50 nonrefundable pet deposit for rooms with dogs (please specify you are with ASTC)

Book your room soon before they sell out.


TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:Sunday, April 28:
Registration (4-5 pm, hotel lobby) and Meet and Greet (6-8 pm, hotel restaurant)

Monday, April 29:
ASTC Agility Trial Set-up and Trial
Registration

Tuesday, April 30:
ASTC Agility
Ring, raffle, and grooming setup (5-11 pm), registration, and welcome reception

Wednesday, May 1:
ASTC Rally and Obedience Trials (Ballroom, 8-11 am)
Shih Tzu Fanciers of Greater Baltimore Specialty (Ballroom, 11 am-3 pm)
ASTC Board Meeting (after judging)
Canine Good Citizen Testing (Ballroom, 3-7 pm)

Thursday, May 2:
ASTC Rally and Obedience Trials (Ballroom, 8:30-11 am)
STFGB Specialty (Ballroom, 11 am-2:30 pm)
Breeder Education Seminar

Friday, May 3:
ASTC Sweepstakes (Ballroom)
ASTC Annual General Meeting (ringside, following Sweepstakes) | Judges' Education Seminar

Saturday, May 4:
ASTC Specialty (Ballroom)
ASTC Awards Banquet

Getting Started in Agility with your Shih Tzu

Training your Shih Tzu to run in agility is exciting and fun.  With some patience, creativity and a good sense of humor you can train your Shih Tzu to be able to run like the "big dogs" in the sport of dog agility.

First, make sure that your dog is physically sound - a visit with your vet (better still, a chiropractic vet or a vet that specializes in canine sports) is a good place to start.  Also make sure that your dog is not overweight and is properly groomed (hair between the foot pads trimmed, nails trimmed, and hair out of the eyes - either trimmed or pulled back with bands.)

Next, some obedience training is helpful.  Dogs need to be under control when they run agility - the commands sit, down, stay and come will be invaluable tools.  If you've never taken an obedience class with your dog, look for a local dog training club.  They will most likely be staffed by volunteer club members who have a passion for dog training.

Your local dog training club may also offer agility classes.  If they don't, they will be able to guide to a facility which does.  Be aware that many clubs have requirments for taking agility classes.  Dogs should not start training for agility until their growth plates have closed; many trainers recommend waiting a year or longer before serious agility training, especially with jumping and weaving. 

Don't rush!  Training takes time - enjoy the process.

Want to get connected with other Shih Tzu agility handlers?  See this post: ShowMeTzuMagic.

Photo by Nieder Arts Photography

Agility Trial Photographer Selected

We have contracted with Doug Phillips at What an Impression! Photography to be the official show photographer for the agility trials.

See this link for some examples of his agility photography.

Premium List - 2013 ASTC National Specialty Agility Trials

The premium list can be downloaded at this link:

Premium List - 2013 Agility

Hope to see you in Maryland!!!

Do you Instagram? | National Specialty Premium Update

Instagram is a free app available for iPhone and Android.  It allows users to share photos and "tag" the photos using hashtags. 

I just realized that there are no photos out there with the hashtag #shihtzuagility. 

If you're not on Instagram, start today!  If you are ... don't forget to tag your #shihtzuagility photos. 

NATIONAL SPECIALTY AGILITY TRIAL PREMIUM UPDATE

The premium is complete and ready to send!  If you are a member of the Yahoogroup ShowMeTzuMagic* the premium is in the files section of the site.  It will be added to this blog tonight. 

* If you're not a member of the SMTM Yahoogroup, and love Shih Tzu agility, you should join!