2011 Bella Vista Times

Bella Vista Times 2011

Well, another year has just flown by and as you can see, there have been more changes at Bella Vista. I guess my lesson for this year is to learn to never say “never”! I was never going to have a Sheltie at my house—well, I guess that is still kind of true since now there are 2! As many of you know, Rob Kripaitis has joined Bella Vista and with him came the 2 Shelties (Molly & Tibby) and of course the border collie, Detour.

As a slight change in tradition, this year there are humans in the annual photo. Special thanks to Terry Rowe, the photographer, who took the holiday and group photo again this year. I am pretty sure that this year’s photo was one of her biggest challenges: not only with 11 dogs but with 2 people!

Once again it is time for the Bella Vista Training & Care Center’s annual update. As always the first order of business is to say a special “THANK YOU!” to everyone whose help and support made 2011 another successful year for Bella Vista! Without Bella Vista’s instructors, students, grooming/boarding customers, puppy owners, site rental groups and friends, we would not be able to continue to do the dog thing! Thanks so much!

In the photo:

Rob, Steph, on the bench are the Westies: Cuss, Claire, Eugene & Joyce; on the floor are the Shelties: Molly & Tibby; Scottish Terrier: Hayden, Westie: Dot, Yorkie: Tiger; Border Collie: Detour and Sealyham Terrier: Lena. Yes—this year there are eleven. I guess the question is—are dogs cheaper by the dozen? Knowing us and our dog addictions, it just might turn out to be a baker’s dozen!

Here’s what we and the dogs have been up to in 2011:

Judging, Judging & a Little More Judging:

In January, Steph was approved as an Excellent Provisional Judge for the American Kennel Club and on September 19, 2011 she became an Approved Agility Judge. Steph also had multiple opportunities to judge agility for the Teacup Dog Agility Association. Rally Obedience continues to be one of Steph’s favorite dog sports and she judged for APDT over 12 times in 2011. In November, Steph judged at the York County Dog Training Club’s Earthdog Trials. In 2011, Steph had the privilege to judge the following states: Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, North Carolina, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia.

Rob has also been busy judging for both AKC and UKI Agility. In 2011, he had over 12 assignments. He has also started the process to become an APDT Rally Obedience judge.

For 2012 assignments have been accepted in Georgia, Illinois, New York, Maryland. Pennsylvania, North Carolina and a few others are pending! Many of these are agility assignments where the clubs have asked both Rob and Steph to judge together at the same trial. This works out nicely for the clubs—they save money on expenses since we travel together.

Now for what the dogs accomplished in 2010:

10 Little Westies:

In January, Katie and Evelyn each gave birth to a litter of Westies. Katie was bred to Hank (Dawn N’ Glencarron Back N’ Time, TD JE RN ) and Evelyn was bred to Andy (CH Dawn’s Up N’ The Ante RE TD JE). On January 25, 2011, Katie gave birth to 7 (yes 7!) puppies 4 boys and 3 girls. Four days later on January 29, 2011, Evelyn gave birth to 3—1 boy and 2 girls.

Of course one of the boys had to stay. Eugene (officially named: Bella Vista’s It’s All About “U”!) is the son of Katie & Hank. Eugene has had some basic training and will be enrolled in weave pole class this winter.

Joyce: The Performance Girlie Westie

Once again it has been a busy year for Joyce & Steph. Joyce continues to compete in APDT Rally and earned the highest title awarded by this organization the ARCH-MX (Rally Master Champion). In addition she earned the following ADPT Rally Titles: RL1X-5, RL1X-6, RL1X-7, RL2X-4, and RL3X-3.

In AKC Agility, she earned the Excellent Jumpers With Weaves Title and 2 legs towards the Excellent Standard Title. In CPE Agility, she earned the CL3-F,CL3-H, CL3-R and CL3-S Titles. In TDAA Agility she earned the Games III Title (TG3).

So in limited showing—Joyce earned 12 high level titles.

Detour: The Border Collie

Detour has adjusted well to life with all the terriers! In Agility, he earned the Excellent FAST Title from the AKC and has 4 double Q’s and 197 points towards his MACH. In NADAC, Detour earned the NAC and TN-N Titles. Detour also began competing in CPE and UKI agility and has multiple Q’s in these agility venues. Since Rob’s work schedule and judging schedule sometimes conflicts with events, occasionally Steph gets to run him (some days it is pretty & other days it looks like a train wreck! Either way, Detour has fun!).

Rob and Detour have also competed in Rally. Detour earned his APDT RL-1 Title with an Award of Excellence for high scores. They have also taken the big step of going off leash in the Rally ring and have earned the first leg towards the RL-2 Title.

Hayden: The Wheaten Scottie that Lives at Bella Vista

Hayden was entered in his first AKC Agility trials in the fall. Although he did not Q, he did improve at each trial. Of course, this really wasn’t that hard to do since his first run consisted on a total of one jump and then visits to the judge and ring crew. Of course he was happy, very happy! Hayden is also working on his obedience skills and will soon be ready to compete in Rally. In November, Hayden traveled with Terrier Handler, Marjorie Good and was shown in the breed ring. Once he fills out, he will be going out with Marjorie again to earn his AKC breed championship.

Hayden passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluation in August at the YCDTC’s Dog Days of Summer.

Rubio: The Wheaten Scottie that is Co-Owned with Susan Walsh

Steph has the privilage of co-owning Rubio with Susan Walsh. Steph is also lucky in the fact that she gets to train and show Rubio in agility. Rubio does like to fly-as seen in this picture—we are working on improving contracts and table performance.

Together, Rubio and Steph earned 13 titles. In AKC they earned the XF, AX, AXJ and MX; in CPE CL3-R, CL3-F, CL3-S, CL3-H, CL4-F, CL4-S; and in 3 titles in TDAA: TG3, TMAG & TSAD.

The Rest of Our Gang:

All of our other dogs are doing well. Tiger, the Yorkie, turned 14 in June. He continues to demand more than his share of attention and treats and he still hasn’t figured out that he is the smallest dog in the house. I guess some things will never change! Molly, the Sheltie, is now totally deaf, which gives us a scare every once in a while since she can be hard to wake out of a deep sleep. Tibby, Lena, Cuss, & Dot are all doing great even if they are a little older and a little more spoiled.

Eugene is the baby. Hard to believe that he will be 1 year old in January. We have hopes that he will be the next Bella Vista AKC Breed Champion. Look for him in the show ring in 2012.

Bella Vista Westies that are owned/co-owned that live with others:

Katie: Katie was the mother of the litter of 7 puppies last January. She is currently enrolled in agility and rally obedience classes. Katie competed in APDT Rally for the first time and earned a 5^th place ribbon. She is just about ready to run agility in trials. She is loved and trained by Wanda Stare—even if she is a little “stinker” (Wanda’s word) at times.

Evelyn: Evelyn is currenly perfecting her tracking skills & has come dangerously close to earning th eTD title. Don’t tell her but she is scheduled to get weave poles from Santa as a present. Evelyn is loved and trained by Jen Nowak.

Bet: Bet was bred and if all goes as planned will give birth to puppies in mid-January. She continues to train in earthdog, tracing and obediene with Melissa Graham. More details and photos on the puppies will be posted on BVTC’s page on Facebook.

Bella Vista Training Center Events & Classes:

Bella Vista continues to expand the number and types of events offered. In 2012, New events will include: USDAA Intro Agility Program Agility Trials, UKI Agiity, 2 x 2 Weave Pole Classes, and Workshops. There will also be more of the following events: Teacup Dog Agility Trials, Companion Dog Sports Program Obedience Trials, APDT Rally Trials, Rally & Agility Run-Thru Sessions, CPE Agility, NADAC Agility and AKC Agility. Please check out the calendar of events on the website.

Our class schedules are also posted. Hope you and you dog can join us.

We are also busy improving our facilities. Pictured here is the new roof being put on at the Wellsville location.

BELLA VISTA TRAINING CENTER IS ON FACEBOOK

Please friend the Bella Vista Training Center on Facebook. Our goal for this year is to add even more information on that site. We will also continue to maintain our website at www.bvtrainingcenter.com

BED & BREAKFAST IS NOW OPEN! Bella Vista is now officially a licensed Bed & Breakfast facility. We are accepting reservations for 2012. Please contact Steph for more information on rates & dates.

Well, that’s it for this year, it sure went fast! Hope this finds you and your dogs healthy and happy!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Bella Vista!