New Title for Me!!

Hi Everyone!

I have great news! I now have my Elite Tunnelers title in NADAC!! The Moms are so happy and I had a great time running tunnels this past weekend. I was super fast on Saturday - running at a blazing 5.86 yards per second - which gave me my 3rd Q. I can put the letters TN-E after my name now which is pretty cool since this is the first high level title I've earned in agility.

I also have to brag that I qualified in 3 of my other 6 runs for the weekend including one in Novice Weavers, Novice Jumpers and another fast run on Sunday in Elite Tunnelers for my 4th Q at that level! That run wasn't as fast but I still ran 5+ yards a second. You can watch me and Mom Steph in the videos below - the Tunnel run for my title and my Weavers run.

The weather was great on Staten Island - a little chilly on Sunday but I like it chilly - makes me run faster. We hung out with our friend, Jackie, and her dogs, Ming and Jiro, plus we watched our friend, Debbie, run her new dog, Mynx, at her first agility trial. Mynx did really good - she likes tunnels, too! She's also another Belgian (Malinois) which is pretty cool.

All in all, we had a great time over the weekend and I'll keep you posted as I go to more agility trials during the Fall and Winter.

Thanks for reading!

Pookie (aka Asticou - Chimeric Beethoven's Fur Elise TN-E O-NJC O-NCC WV-N NAJ NJP NF CL2-F CL1-H CL1-S C-BJA PJ1)

Watch This!

Hi!

Asticou here...again, it's been a while since I posted but I have lots of cool things to tell you. I now have agility titles in 5 different venues since I was able to pick up my first title in USDAA. I have a Performance Jumpers Level 1 (PJ1) title to add the rest of the ones at the end of my name.

Not only did I finish that title but I also picked up the following legs over the last few months:

DOCNA - 2nd Intern Jumpers leg and 1st Gamblers leg
NADAC - 2 Elite Tunnelers legs (woohoo!!) and 2 Novice Hoopers legs
USDAA - New title: PJ1, 1st leg towards PJ2, and 1 leg each in Snooker 1 and Gamblers 1

Unfortunately, I just missed getting a couple of Q's in a recent AKC trial. Oh well, maybe we'll have better luck next time. (Mom Steph also has to remember to get to the trial early enough to hear the briefing and brush up on her rules!)

Agility has kept us pretty busy but I was also able to fit in a trip to visit my homeopathic vet, Dr. Jeff, in CT a couple of weeks ago for an in-person update and a non-anesthetic teeth cleaning. I was pretty good while my teeth were cleaned but I have to go back in December for more. Geez, at least the Moms made sure I didn't have to go under anesthesia to get them done. They're kind of sparkly now and they should look even brighter after my next visit.

I'm still helping the Moms with the business. I like hanging out at the booth when I'm with them at an agility trial. It's fun to visit with the dogs that come in plus it's kind of cool to look cute for their owners and sometimes I get a treat!

Well, that's about it for now....I posted a video of one of our agility runs if you want to watch it. You can see that I have a great time running - see my tail?!? It's whirling around like crazy! Hope you enjoy it!!

Talk to you soon -

Pookie aka Asticou aka Chimeric Beethoven's Fur Elise NAJ NJP NF S-TN-O O-NJC O-NCC WV-N CL2-F CL1-S CL1-H C-BJA PJ1

Playing in CPE and DOCNA

Hello Everyone!
I can't believe it's almost the end of Summer! Time flies when you're having fun doing agility even in hot NJ.

I haven't played at too many trials lately. There's just not that many around during the summertime. It's not that I mind the heat because I don't - show me tunnels and jumps and I'll play no matter what the weather! Mom Steph would rather it be cooler but she's willing to run around in the heat with me.

Anyway, I was at a DOCNA trial in July where I qualified for my first Intern Jumpers leg. The following weekend, I was at another DOCNA trial for Kruisin' Kanines at a sports complex but I didn't do so good there. I didn't get any Q's the day I was entered...oh well, you win some, you lose some! The building was loud and echoey (is that word?) I didn't really like that too much because it makes it hard for me to concentrate. I like going to outdoor trials much more!

Last weekend, I played at CPE and, boy, was I busy!! I had 4 runs each day plus we had to deal with rain/thunderstorms on Saturday morning. The trial was stopped twice for thunderstorms and we hung out in the 'Burban until the storms were finished between runs. It was hot and muggy on Saturday but I showed everyone how it should be done and qualified in all of my runs - Jumpers, Colors (right after the rain running through HUGE puddles - boy was that fun!!!), Fullhouse, Snooker. I'm not sure Mom Steph had as much fun getting really wet during our Colors run as I did but she gave it the ol' Team try and we qualified - cool!

On Sunday, I wasn't as good. Am I supposed to touch the yellow part of the A-Frame when I'm running off of it? Someone should tell me these things...... I missed qualifying in Jackpot because I thought I was supposed to jump off the A-Frame ABOVE the yellow, not run through it. Mom reminds me every time but sometimes I just forget and think that jumping off would be way more fun! Anyway, Mom thought she would try to get me on the small dog walk (3' tall) during the Colors run on Sunday but I wasn't having any of that - you can't fool me. I only like the little dog walk at Golden Rule - I'm not supposed to do them at a trial! I did touch it but then decided that was enough and ran through the tunnel instead. The rest of the day finished better since I did qualify in Jumpers and Wildcard which was cool. I had a great time at the trial and visited with many friends. I said hi to my human friends, Peg, Lori, Margaret and others plus we shared our canopy with a couple of nice Aussies on Saturday.

If you want to see some pictures of me, you can visit the links below to see some of the great action shots Barry Rosen took during my runs:

http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/101100638
http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/101100641
http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/101100644
http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/101186272
http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/101186274
http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/101186279
http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/101186282

That's all for now. I'll be busy with Fall trials soon! I'll keep you posted!
Pookie (aka Asticou)

Where have I been?

Hello All!
Wow, I've been away from my blog for a long time! I can't believe it's been almost a year. I've been busy in the past year, though, playing in agility and helping the Moms with the business.

Agility has been fun and I've earned lots of titles now. I have titles in 4 different venues - AKC, NADAC, CPE and DOCNA. I have legs in USDAA now, too, so I think I'll be getting titles in there soon, too. I have 11 titles and here's the whole list of them:
NAJ NJP NF S-TN-O O-NJC O-NCC WV-N CL2-F CL1-S CL1-H C-BJA
See, I've been busy!

I've also been busy helping the Moms at home with the business. I have to check out all the new products and make sure I'm able to get samples of treats every now and then. Luckily, the Moms give us dogs the expired treats to have which is cool because they are always yummy. We look for a treat every night before bed and Mom Steph laughs when we hang out by the treats to tell her we want one. Kebo, my younger brother Terv, is the biggest pain because he's a food hound. I'm a lady so I'm not as bad as him but the treats are good - I won't pass them up!

Big brother, Boo, the Belgian Sheepdog, is practicing agility now, too, and he's not as good as me but he is trying. I think he just likes to run around the ring with Mom Liz because he doesn't seem to be as serious as I am when he's running a course. Maybe I should give him some tips on how to do it.

Mom Steph is going to give a seminar in August at our agility training school, Golden Rule School for Dogs. The seminar will teach the rules and games of CPE which is cool because all kinds of dogs can play agility in that venue - not just purebred dogs. I think some of my doggy friends might start going to CPE trials which would be cool because then I could visit with them when I see them.

I've been getting homeopathic treatment from Dr. Jeff Feinman. He's a cool vet and I've been feeling much better since he started treating me for the scary noises and other stuff that's wrong with me. I still have a ways to go to get 100% better but I'm doing good so far and it makes the Moms happy that I'm feeling better.

Whew....I think I wrote a novel. I think that's the majority of what I've been up to since I wrote last time. I'll try to come back more frequently and keep you posted on my agility accomplishments. It's kind of quiet over the summer but I will be at a few trials.

Talk to you soon,
Pookie (aka Asticou)

My Latest Agility Accomplishment!

Hello,
It's me again...writing a quick post about the new stuff going on in my life. I was at an agility trial on Staten Island last weekend playing around in NADAC. I love NADAC agility because there are so many games for me to play and it's fast!! I'm fast and love those tunnels and jumps. Every time I see a whole course of just tunnels, I almost can't contain myself.

I played around in a number of classes last weekend but only picked up a single qualifying run. It was my first Q in Chances! I almost had a bunch of other Q's but just missed them by a couple of off-courses. ;) I still had fun and I think Mom Steph did, too.

Well, must run...just wanted to post a quick update. I'll post again soon.

Happy Labor Day!
Pookie (aka Asticou)

Who is Pookie and what is a Belgian Tervuren?

Hi! My name is Asticou (AS-ti-koo) and I'm a Belgian Tervuren. The name "Asticou" comes from a Penobscot Indian chief who was summering at Northeast Harbor (on Mount Desert Island, Maine) around the time Champlain began his explorations. It is believed to mean "boiling kettle." (History of Asticou Inn) I figured I would start out with its meaning since so many people wonder what it means after they hear it.

In addition to Asticou, I am also formally called Chimeric Beethoven's Fur Elise (registered in AKC and UKC).

My "pet" name *hehe* is Pookie - hence, the name of my blog.

This is my first blog and, consequently, my first post so please bear with me as I begin to tell you about my daily adventures living in central NJ and hanging out with my family. They're an interesting bunch and it should be fun to tell you about the fun stuff I get to do such as agility, helping my moms run their online pet supply business and just being a real cool dog.

So, never heard of a Belgian Tervuren before? Well, let me tell you, we're danged smart (many times we're smarter than our humans!) and beautiful, too! You can visit here to read more about the breed. A word to the wise - once you've had one, you won't get another breed! We're addictive!

Guess that's all I have for tonight...a lot of typing for my first post. Hope you enjoy it and I'll be back soon!
Pookie