Vader's World Tackles The CA State Championship in Dixon, LOL!

Last weekend, Team Vader hit up Dixon for the two-day Golden State Disc Dog Championship, or The Crusty Classic. We went full of hope, vigor and promises. That, and the club I am a part of, Disc Dogs of the Golden Gate, was hosting the event. So the pressures were double the norm, as we were at a two instead of one-day event, and we were hosting it.

Alas, what would a good disc dog event be without weather, and weather we got.  We drove up on Saturday and found ourselves drenched in some pretty decent rain on the drive in the wee early morning hours.

We helped set up, set up our own camp (An EZ-Up) and tackled the misty, blustery day as best we could.

Vader on his way to a third place finish

On the first day of the event in the intermediate class, we polished off a 3rd place "podium" finish. (We had tied for 2nd, but tiebreaker rules did not favor our game.)

It was a very long day with all the competitors that had shown up. Not only that, but we had to help break down the tournament event just so we could put it all back up the next day!  (Oh, the heaviest rain of the day came while we were breaking down the competition gear. It stopped almost as soon as we finished.)

Sunday was a very different day, indeed.

On Sunday the much needed rain took its leave and we were left with moderate winds that either forced us to throw with the wind but into the sun, or into the wind, but with the sun at our backs.

But fates and a flustered or tired dog had a different plan for us.

The day started off on a high note because the Good Day Sacramento team was doing a piece on the disc dog tournament and Vader found himself getting his five seconds of fame on live TV during the intro piece. It wasn't much, but it was something fun. (See the exciting moment at the bottom of this post)

Why Get Dogs a "Dog Disc"

Yes, I was a nervous wreck. I spent about 15 minutes working with Morgan on she could throw the disc and letting her and Vader play a bit so when she was on camera, she would have a practiced throw and Vader would go get it for her.

WHEW! On that count. But after that my day went a bit south.

Where is it? I just saw it here a second ago!!!

Our first round of Toss and Fetch I threw with the wind and watched Vader lose the disc in the sky and blinding sun, resulting in a pretty poor showing. I was fuming when we came back to our tent.  Poor Vader knew I was upset and tried his best to talk me down. By barking at me over and over and over with that earthquake-whistle shrill bark of his to calm me down.
The migraine did not help.

Vader At the CRUSTY CLASSIC in Dixon

This weekend Team Vader and his sidekick (for now), Lark, are headed to Dixon, CA, for the two-day event, the 14th Annual Crusty Classic - Golden State Disc Dog Championship taking place on October 25 and 26.

People from all over the state, and maybe some neighboring states will be competing, making this a real big event.

It will be nothing but fun times this weekend, even with a little rain predicted for Saturday. But we're OK with the rain, we've played and practiced in it before, so it will be fun and won't bother us.

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The "Crusty" is open to all skill levels for those who want to compete. 

"Trophies are awarded to the top three teams per division each day. At the close of the event the cumulative overall points leader is crowned "Best in the West" and the overall California resident points leader receives the "Golden State Disc Dog Champion" award."

We will NOT be competing in the Open Division where the freestyle performance takes place, but rather the Pro or Intermediate division where they are primarily toss and fetch competitions.

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So if you are in the area of Dixon, CA and want to see some great teams having fun competing in a disc dog competition, come on out! You will not be disappointed because I know that of some of the Freestyle teams coming up, they are amazing to watch

Hall Park,
Corner of S. Seventh St. and E. Chestnut St.,
Dixon, CA.

Vader VISITS The 2014 Dog Agility World Championships in Morgan Hill

The 2014 Dog Agility World Championships are going on in Morgan Hill, CA this week, and wrapping up this Sunday, 10-19-14.  With close to 1,000 dogs from 10 different countries competing to become the Grand Prix of Dog Agility World Champion, competing for more than $10,000 in prize money in the Dog Agility Steeplechase called the USDAA 2014 CynoSport., it is a huge event. I have never seen so many EZ-Ups, campers and what not, all in one place. It's an incredible sight to see.

To be clear, Vader IS NOT COMPETING in this event, we were just visiting the event site because outside of the competition field there were things like Splash Dogs, a great lure course, some barn hunting and a few pet-related vendors. I was sort of surprised how few vendors were at the event.

We decided to partake in the lure course with Vader and Lark and Vader tackled the Splash Dogs pool. 

Well, tackled might be a strong word.

The Lure Course Experience:

The lure course was fun. We've previously tackled straight line and square lure courses, but this one had all kinds of twists, turns and hurdles. Wait... hurdles? Yep, hurdles or mild obstacles.

Of course when we tackled the lure course, the operator did not reset the timer, but instead, left it running for all three runs between Vader and Lark. So I timed the video runs manually and for Vader I came up with 15.5 and 12.7 second runs. I, um, don't have a time for Lark and you'll see why in the third video.

BTW, paying to run the lure course benefited " "Lure-For-the-Cure" presented by the National Canine Cancer Foundation (NCCF)"

Here are Vader's two lure course runs:

Run #1

What's New With Vader's World, October 2014?

Hey gang, there's been a few changes that have taken place here in Vader's World, so I thought I'd give you a quickie update.

New Home

First up... We've changed our base of operations. We used to live in Menlo Park but for various reasons, we've relocated to a new "bat cave," so to speak. Now we are based out of Morgan Hill, CA. It's neat out here because we're surrounded by wild life. But that could have its down side too. Well, that is if you count the giant spiders and rattlesnakes we've seen so far.

Don't worry. We've located the closest 24-hour vet and confirmed they carry anti-venom! If you live in a region with snakes, you should always determine who the closest vet and 24-hour vet is, who makes it a habit to carry anti-venom. Then if something bad happens, you already know where you can go without the stress of trying to figure out when minutes count!

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Lark

We brought a new family member into the fold, and her name is Lark. (The giant German Shepherd is Max, our neighbor's dog)

She's a sweet puppy or my new little sister. One expert says that from looking at her, she has a few features that make her think that Lark is mostly ACD with some Pit Bull in her.

Which would explain her extreme happy butt swing when she wags her tail pretty hard! It's cute to watch! And nice that she has a tail and no one has docked it, like mine!

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Events