Happy Easter from the Stump Kids

The Stump Kids have been busy every morning searching for the Easter Bunny in our back yard. They see lots of bunnies in the yard everyday, but they swear the Easter Bunny was somewhere under the shed.

Fortunately we found the Easter Bunny on our morning walk on Friday...and he wasn't in our back yard.

So...

Happy Easter from the Stump Kids!

Wordless Wednesday: Helping Mom with Yard Work

Videos from the 2014 National Agility Championships

You saw our disappointing Hybrid run, but here are our other three successful runs from our 2014 AKC National Agility Championships experience:

Time2Beat: Finished 9th



Jumpers: Finished 12th



Standard: Finished 12th

TeamDailyCorgi AKC National Agility Championships Round 3

This is a few days late, and for that I apologize! But we have good reason…

Round 3 dawned rainy and gross in Harrisburg. We had high hopes for #TeamDailyCorgi to finish strong in the Hybrid in the morning, with trips to the Challengers and Finals Rounds on the line.

Unfortunately Dally and I came up short. Just like the past few years, we couldn’t capitalize in Hybrid. Instead, something caught her eye and spooked her, causing her to refuse the weaves and then want to end the run early. Our Nationals experience was over.

We waited to watch the other two #TeamDailyCorgi members in the 4-inches division. Maddie had a smoking run—Becky was pushing her to earn a placement, and she did exactly that! A clean, fast run earned her second place and a trip to the Challengers Round. Merinda and Porter had one weave pole problem, but her placement from Standard and fast times got her a spot in Challengers as well.

Jimmy and Taryn battled in the 12-inch division, hoping for a clean round, but a knocked bar going over the double jump ended their first Nationals run. Meanwhile, Roger and Keebler laid it out on the line, after knocking a bar on Saturday, he knew they needed a placement to get into the Challengers Round. With a flash of her signature tail, she finished 4^th in a huge, tough class.

Challengers came and so did the nerves. I was holding my breath for both Porter and Maddie’s runs—I knew whoever won the round would do great in the Finals. Porter took the lead and there was just one more run, from Maddie. Porter and Maddie compete against each other a lot at local trials, so it wasn’t anything new. Unfortunately for Becky, Maddie took a turn just a little too wide, which meant a less than a second difference between her and Porter.

Bringing home three ribbons isn't too bad!

Keebler’s Hybrid run was awesome—so fast! Roger laid it all out on the line, but unfortunately Keebler was way too hyped to hit her down contact on the dogwalk. The team still had a remarkable Nationals experience.

And, finally…Porter. Well, if you haven’t seen the news yet, Merinda and Porter rocked the Finals course and came out on top—NationalChampions! In the 4-inch division the Cardigan Welsh Corgi came out on top! Another Cardigan, Cleo, finished third and a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Piper finished in fourth place.

Another Cardigan, name Marti, earned third place in the 8-inch Regular division! Corgis totally rocked Nationals!

TeamDailyCorgi AKC National Agility Championships Round 2

 Saturday dawned bright and early for yet another day at the AKC National Agility Championships. It was Round 2, but day three for us (Thursday was Time 2 Beat), so you could tell the dogs were already a little tired of showing up at the complex.

Corgi Ying & Yang.
Exhausted #TeamDailyCorgi captains

Saturday was Standard, and the 4 & 8 inchers were in Ring 3. The opening was rather de-motivating---jump to a 180, to the dog walk. It wasn't as twisty-turny as the Jumpers run, but there were quite a few challenges that could cause some dogs to take off courses.

Porter kicked things off with a clean, fast run. Merinda handled him so nicely through the opening and the ending. Then I followed with Dally just one dog later. Again, a clean run. As I expected, the opening was de-motivating for Dally, but she started to kick it up after the weaves. In fact, she handled the 3-jump ending very well.

Unfortunately Maddie knocked the bar on the second jump, but was the fastest of the 95 scores, so hopefully that'll still help her. As far as our 12" counterparts for #TeamDailyCorgi, Keebler knocked the double on a superbly fast run, and Jimmy missed his dog walk contact. :-/

But one bonus from the day: Porter ended up finishing in third place for the Round 2 Standard, and is now sitting in second place overall through the first two rounds!!

Just one more day...it seems like we've been here forever! It was cold and rainy the rest of the day, so we spent the rest of our time watching obedience, shopping, and then handing out at the hotel. Sunday is Round 3: Hybrid. If Dally goes clean (she's currently sitting #9), she's got a good chance for the Challenger's Course. If Porter goes clean. he's a lock for Finals (if not, Challenger's). So, we're pretty excited!

Porter and Merinda with their 3rd place ribbon from Round 2!

Cumulative scores so far! Porter's #2, Dally's #9!

TeamDailyCorgi AKC Nationals Round 1

The Stumps of Fury mobile arrived in Harrisburg, Pa., on Wednesday after about a 9-hour drive. The drive up was uneventful...and rather boring. Definitely not conducive for photo opportunities like last year's trip to Tulsa. Hence the lack of road trip photos...

Thursday's activities included a "warm-up run" in the Time 2 Beat class. This was my first time ever running Time 2 Beat, but it's like a hybrid of Standard and Jumpers. Dally did well and we ended up clean with 9th place. Porter took an extra jump, and our friend Maddie ended up winning the 4" division! Team Daily Corgi started rocking the joint early!!

Friday we competed in the official start of Nationals, with Jumpers. This was a twisty-turny course with lots of wraps and difficult weave entry. This time the 4" representatives of Team Daily Corgi went 3-for-3 clean! Maddie finished 5th, Porter 7th, and Dally 12th. Going clean is the name of the game right now--I'm good with being consistent and clean. I know we aren't the fastest, but if we can be clean, that's the best.

After cheering on some of the Small Dog Posse, we ventured north to Hershey for a few dog photo ops and a tour of the Hershey's Chocolate World! Finally, some fun times for the dogs!

Saturday we'll be competing in Round 2, Standard. Let's hope we can continue the clean streak!!

Stump of Fury Heading to AKC National Agility Championships!

We're hitting the road again!

 

Dally & Porter are going to be road tripping buddies once again! Meet the captains of #TeamDailyCorgi

Merinda and I will be hitting the road extra early Wednesday morning to head east to Pennsylvania for a return trip to the AKC National Agility Championships.

Be sure to follow along as we tweet, Instagram, and blog our adventures. This year we're teaming up with a few select Corgis for #TeamDailyCorgi, brought to you by The Daily Corgi.

Follow along by searching #TeamDailyCorgi on Twitter & Instagram, and also:

Twitter: @TheStumpKids
Instagram: @MLA317
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mla317

And Merinda:

Blog: The Brews Brothers

Twitter: @PorterTheCorgi
Instagram:PorterTheCorgi
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/merinda76

And our friends, Taryn & Jimmy, who will be attending their first AKC Nationals!

Blog: Tail of Two Cardis

I also wanted to share my bio that I wrote for the announcer this year. It's a little non-traditional, but I hope it gets read at some point this week:

This is Dally and Megan's third consecutive trip to Nationals, but every year it's always a happy surprise. For a dog that some said wouldn't be an agility champion, the pair earned their PACH in 2012 and are well on their way to PACH2. Megan knows Dally isn't the fastest, but she knows Dally will try to please her, and that's all that Megan asks for. She's thankful to have such a wonderful sidekick by her side at all times. Dally is her heartdog and has earned many, many miles under her collar. This has truly been a fun ride.

Be sure to tune into the fun!! Here's hoping for some epic adventures and great memories!