Grace and I are taking some time off from conformation showing until after I have judged at the 2010 Keeshond Club of America 75th Anniversary National Specialty. In the meantime Harry and Hannah are getting some extra time playing in Agility.We attended the Quad Citis Dog Center’s trials in February and Ready Steady Go Agility Games trials this weekend. At the Quad Cities Harry and Vern earned their Novice Jumpers title and at the R-S-G trial Hannah earned her Novice Tunnelers and Outstanding Tunnelers titles and Harry earned his Novice Tunnelers titles. Harry has also earned a leg in Touch N Go and Hannah has earned a leg in Jumpers, Touch N Go, and Hoopers.

Vern and Harry also showed at the Scott County AKC Agility trials in January and came away with two Standard legs.

We are having a great time playing with the “kids” in Agility.

On January 23rd, Jessie delivered by c-section two male puppies. They were 9.6 ounces each. All are doing great. The boys are now six weeks old and growing like weeds. They are two sweet little boys.  Jessie has been a great first time mom.

One of the boys will be staying at Imagine and one will be going to live with Marilyn Cornelius in Des Moines. Marilyn has Sophie (Imagine Oh The Places You’ll Go CD RAE) who is a littermate to Jessie and Harry.

Just before Thanksgiving Jessie spent a few days at the Benz home in Illinois. She was bred to BIS/BISS CH Daimler’s Caviar Dreams HOF. We are hoping for a very nice litter of puppies in late January. Jessie is CH Imagine Just So.

While Grace and I were showing in conformation in Minneapolis in November, Vern and Harry Potter (CH Imagine Harry Potter RN) went to some NADAC Agility trials in the Quad Cities.  They had a great time and came home with some nice ribbons. They earned two legs (qualifying scores) in Jumpers, a leg in Touch N Go and a leg in Hoopers. I am sure there will be more news ccoming from them as they compete at future trials. 

Grace (Imagine Against All Odds) and I went to the Heart of America Keeshond Club specialties October 31 and November 1 in Kansas City. Grace won Reserve Winners on Saturday. We had a great time and enjoyed the shows and visiting with everyone.

Vern and I have been having a great time this year training some of the crew in Agility. We are training for both NADAC and AKC Agility.
We went to the 4RK9’s NADAC Agility trials this past weekend in Davenport. Harry and Hannah were both entered. It was a blast. And, Hannah (aka CH Imagine Sherwood B Funny) earned her first legs in Jumpers and Tunnelers and first place in her division in each. What fun!

The summer sure is passing by quickly. We have been busy these past couple months.

In May Vern and I took Harry, Hannah, Grace and Jessie to the Keeshond National Specialty events in Colorado Springs, CO. We had Harry, Hannah, and Grace entered in events and Jessie just came along for the ride. It was a fun and busy week seeing lots of Keeshonden and visiting with friends old and new. Vern showed Harry (aka CH Imagine Harry Potter RN) in Agility and Rally. Vern and Harry showed well but did not earn any legs in either event. I showed Hannah (aka CH Imagine Sherwood B Funny, RN) in Rally and Obedience. Hannah showed well and earned her first leg in Rally Advanced and got First place. I also showed Grace (Imagine Against All Odds) in conformation (sweepstakes, futurity, regular conformation).   Grace had fun in her conformation classes and showed well. She got Fourth place in a large Futurity class. It was a fun week.

In June I took Grace to shows in Cambridge, MN. Grace placed in her class the first two days. We did not stay the last two days as the heat was just intense and being outdoors it was just very hard on the little dog (as well as myself).

Vern and I have been continuing with Harry and Hannah’s Agility training this summer. Hannah had an injury of the right Iliopsoas in May so was sidelined from Agility practice for a while. She is healed and back on track now though.  They sure love Agility. I am also continuing Hannah’s obedience training as we are hoping to earn a CD yet this year.

When we aren’t busy with the dogs and training classes and showing we have been busy with the kids and grandkids. Ava’s birthday is July 7th and we have a birthday party to attend and lots of fun with family. The little ones are growing up so quickly. Jen and Aaron will be welcoming a new addition into their family in less than a month. We are all looking forward to the new arrival.

My parents are celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary on the 4th of July, another special event.

And when we have nothing else left to do, we are putzing around the house continuing our landscaping and such.

We hope everyone is having a terrific summer with their families – Keesie and otherwise.

This spring is our time for performance activities with the Keesies. Vern and Harry and I and Hannah attended a NADAC Agility trial this past weekend in Davenport. NADAC Agility is fun. NADAC is all about speed so not sure we will ever qualify. While our dogs might make it I think Vern and I are getting too old to run that fast. Who knows.

Vern and Harry had some troubles with their first agility attempts so did not finish any courses. It was a decent first effort though and they know what they need to work more on now. Hannah and I just tried the Tunnelers game on Sunday. Hannah did great. She would have qualified, maybe, if I had not gotten lost in the middle of the course. Oh well, we had a great time and I know she can do it so will try again at future shows.

Agility is a lot of fast paced fun for owners and dogs. Great exercise. The dogs love it.

This past weekend (April 3-5), we competed at the Iowa City Dog Obedience Club’s Obedience/Rally trials in Amana, IA. Vern showed CH Imagine Harry Potter (Harry) in Rally Novice A and I showed CH Imagine Sherwood B Funny (Hannah) in Rally Novice B. We had a great time and these are fun shows to attend.

It was a successful weekend. Vern and Harry earned three legs and an RN title with two first place wins and a second place. Hannah and I earned three legs and an RN title with a fourth place, third place and first place.

This was Vern’s first time showing a dog in Rally/Obedience and he and Harry did very well.

We look forward to more competitions at the upcoming KCA National and beyond.

Grace [Imagine Against All Odds] and I went to Columbia, MO to show early March. Grace won Reserve Winners Bitch on Saturday and Winners Bitch/Best of Opposite Sex for her second major win on Sunday.