The Dogplay Page
Young Belle in Flight Mode over an agility jump
There have always been dogs in my life. When I lived in an area without a Humane Society, even the UPS driver used to drop dogs off for rehab and placement, and naturally we had our own pack as well. Those days were heavily populated with hounds, including Camo (an astonishingly sweet and dorky Leopard Cur), a number of Redbones, and of course Strider the Wonder Hound.
Of late I've been working with Cardigan Welsh Corgis, an extremely personable breed that fits big dog brains and behavior into sturdy little packages. Besides, how can anyone resist those ears? And I've finally got another hound in the family, a Beagle Boy. It was rather like coming home again!
 Here's the Gang!
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Kacey's registered name is Xtacee Carbon Unit CGC, and her current job is to make sure Connery knows his place. Kacey qualified for her Canine Good Citizenship (CGC) certificate in June '03, and is an excellent obedience dog--well, until you get into the show ring, where she is an Evil Creative Genius, pleased to make onlookers laugh and admire her cleverness. At night when everyone's asleep, she practices various Toxically Cute expressions. Don't let her fool you...it's all a plot to get her own way. |
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This is Cheysuli Jean-Luc Picardigan, OJP NAP OJC NAC CGC. He's a special child in ongoing recovery from an early brain injury. Although he still requires special handling, his quality of life has improved beyond expectation--he even qualified for a CGC Certificate! Agility training has changed his life, imbuing him with confidence and an occasional sense of glee. He started agility trials in spring '02 with the modest goal of simply finishing a course, and has since finished both AKC Novice titles and (in winter '05) both his NADAC and AKC Open Jumpers; he is now trialing lightly with a novice friend. Go, Jean-Luc! |
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Cheysuli's Silver Belle, CD RE MXP2 MJP2 EAC EJC CGC (Belle), likes to own things. Here she is owning her bed and her fuchsia dinosaur. She's an agility whiz! She earned her first three Novice titles in two trials each for both NADAC (all first place runs!) and AKC. She's consistently been in the blues throughout her career, including the amazing '03 Fiesta Cluster in Phoenix, when she swept through six classes with six first place runs to earn both her AKC Open Preferred title and her first jumpers title, and she often matches the times of much larger dogs.
In June '05, after a six-month layoff due to a non-agility injury, she came back to limited running to earn her final leg on her AKC Excellent Jumpers--and she did it in style, with a blue ribbon and a High Score in Class (across jump heights). After another year or so of strengthening, she's back to full running schedules, and is racking up Double Qs toward a PAX; she has both her Masters AKC titles and has finished her NADAC titles. In the meantime she finished her AKC Rally Obedience, and Novice Obedience titles--all placing scores--but she's been reinjured at play, and her future is uncertain. Along with Kacey and Jean-Luc, Belle qualified for her CGC Certificate in June '03. |
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Meet Ribbon, shown here at 8 weeks (December '01). Her full name is Ch. Cheysuli's Liquid Silver and she's a gorgeous little girl with true Diva attitude! I have half-ownership of Ribbon as a thank-you for helping with the very difficult whelping, which with this girl means major bragging rights. She's recently earned her championship and already has a number of Best of Breed wins under her collar--not to mention her spring '04 coup of winning the Megan Competition (a nationwide Cardigan event). You can read more about her at www.cheysuli.com.
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(photo courtesy Jane Harris)
In spring of '04, Ch. Cedar Ridge DoubleOSeven CD RE MX MXJ EAC EJC CGC joined the gang. Connery is the quintissential Beagle, adorable and possessed by moments of astonishing singlemindedness. He has a LiveJournal where he chronicles his puzzlements about the human world.
Connery went Best of Winners and Best Puppy at the '04 Southern California Beagle Specialty to earn his first (5 pt) major and finished out his breed championship in October '06 with three more major wins.
In early May '05, he earned his CGC Certificate. In June '05, he went to his first AKC agility trial; in Oct '05 he hit his first NADAC trial. In under a year he titled into excellent classes, including the November '05 sweep of Beagle Nationals with Two-Day High Score in Trial. Now he's working on his AKC Masters at the Excellent level, slowly gathering Double Qs and speed points for a pipe-dream MACH. He has his Rally Excellent title now, and in Fall '07 earned his novice obedience title with a two 1sts and 2nd place.
During 2007, Connery ranked in the top ten Beagles nationally in obedience, rally, and agility.
Here's a drawing of Connery done by friend Heather Dryer
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Monday April 07 2008
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