Great year of Agility

We had a busy year in Agility and finished with 3 Q's each towards Rudy's MX and MXJ (Masters Agility Titles) and finished his Novice Fast title. Rudy also started working towards a MACH ending up with 1 double Q and 83 points. Next year we will continue to focus on the MX and MXJ and those hard double Q's. We also want to work on the USDAA titles and finish our first relay title with Polo.

Polo continues to enjoy Agility and we had some ups and downs this year. He had great motivation in some of the runs at the end of the year, so we need to work on his confidence and continue to make agility fun. Nothing like watching Polo run when he is happy and motivated and he loves his fans.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year of fast clean runs!

Busy with Agility

Mr. P Minding His Qs

Polo had a good second day at the USDAA trial, Q'ing in both Starters Gamblers and Standard courses. Gamblers requires the dog to do obstacles at a distance from the handler (you can't cross the line on the ground). We practiced a little distance work the weekend before the trial and Polo did well that day but he did it perfectly at the trial and took 1st place.

In Standard, Polo just made it at a second under course time. He was a little slow at the start and on the dog walk, but he picked up speed and did not run off to sniff any spots or check out another dog walking by like he did last year. That's progress in our book!

For Rudy, the obstacle contacts were his nemesis!! Not his best day, but we sure know what to work on.

Great Start to the Agility Year!

Sub-freezing temperatures this morning kept us by the fireplace instead of outside running the Standard course at our first agility trial this year. We remembered that we do agility for fun - and standing around in 30 degree weather is not fun for our Vizslas!

But we went to the USDAA trial for the afternoon for the Jumpers course. Rudy cruised through his first Advanced Jumpers, taking first place with a Q! Polo followed his brother's lead with first place and a Q in Starters Jumpers!!

Both were happy to come home and lie by the fire again tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day!

FROM: Ch. Tivoliz Now Be Mine (aka Rudy)
TO: All the LoVe Bugs (aka 'Q', Arrow, Riley, Kelso)

The Love Bugs 3 years ago!!

A New Year of Agility

2008 was a spectacular year for our agility super-stars!!

We started off with the goal of competing in at least one trial - and finished with multiple titles!!

Ch Tivoliz Now Be Mine OA NA NAJ ... aka Rudy
(plus USDAA Starters Jumper)

Ch Tivoliz CPR CRK Hungarian Gold NA NAJ ... aka Polo

And even had the opportunity to run with Kayla (Polo's sister's sister) while her parent's were on vacation:

We'll see what we can accomplish in 2009. Maybe our goal will be to kick some butt at the Vizsla Nationals this year in Charlotte!!

Snow Day!

We got to stay home from work today and enjoy our first big snow in years here in NC - 6 inches of snow!

The boys played in the snow and chased each other around the yard.

If only Polo would run this fast on the agility field!

More Agility Success!!

Polo earned his NAJ title with his best ever Jumpers run. He Q'd with a 100% - clean and under course time! He also took home a second place ribbon.

Rudy took first place and his first Q in Open Standard (the only dog that Q'd in all of the Open class), making the contact on the A-frame that Gary's been working so hard with him on. But in Jumpers, Rudy decided that the tunnels were the way to go whenever they were in sight. So now there's another focus to his agility training - tunnels!

Rudy loved the open pastures for retrieving his favorite toy.

Polo just wanted to check out the things with wings.

Rudy earns another Agility Title

Rudy Q'd this weekend finishing up his USDAA Starters Jumper (SJ) Title. He ran great in the Standard but missed the contact zone on the A-frame two days in a row. Rudy took second in Jumpers on both days and was three seconds behind a fast Border Collie , so he is one fast Vizsla (17 seconds for the BC and 20 for Rudy on a 35 second course). We will be back to the field tomorrow to work on the pesky A-frame ...

Polo was one sniff (~ 3 seconds) over course time in 3 of the 4 clean runs this weekend. He was distracted by his buddy Austin (super Agility Vizsla) on the other run. Polo likes AKC which has slower courses that allow for a more refined gentlemanly pace.

Novice Agility (NA) Title for Polo & Rudy

Polo double Q'd twice this weekend finishing up his NA title and Rudy finished with a single Q in Standard finishing up his NA title. Polo was a super agility pup in the muddy and wood chip covered agility fields. Rudy also did great, and having a fast Vizsla on a muddy field has it's challenges.

It is great to see how all of that hard work in practice turns out! Trials always provide a new list of focus areas and courses to set up. Time to cook up some more stew meat and chicken for training.

USDAA Day 2

We only ran jumpers this morning and took the afternoon off to cook ribs, chew on bones, eat peach cobbler, and relax.

Rudy finished 1st and took his 2nd Q. Polo ran a relaxed clean run, looked beautiful, but missed the course time by 1.5 seconds. Polo wants USDAA to have a "Real Feel" adjusted course time since it was getting hot at 9:30 this morning.

USDAA Agility fun

Today we had fun AND success at our first USDAA agility trial. Polo got 3rd place in the Standard run with a "Q" (qualified), and Rudy got 2nd place in Jumpers with a "Q"!!
It was a warm day, but we made ourselves a nice shady spot and tried to stay cool any way we could.

A big, long chew

The boys were very pleased with what we brought back from the Durham Kennel Club dog show this weekend. YUM!!

Hungarian Gold again!

Polo and Rudy cheered for both the US and Hungarian Water Polo teams during the Olympics. In the end, the Hungarian's took gold and the US silver.



Polo says "that's my team!"


Ch. Tivoliz CPR CRK Hungarian Gold

What we did on our summer vacation ... Part 4

At Aunt Debbie's we got to frolic in the woods with Mommie Siren, and some of our favorite relatives ... Owen, Baxter, and the newest addition to the Tivoliz clan: Miss Harlow. She's quite a beauty and not shy in the least. Here she is showing the boys who's boss ...
Check back later for some videos of this visit.

What we did on our summer vacation ... Part 3

We were sad to have to get back in the car for the long drive home, but visiting with more Vizsla family made for a terrific trip. Next up, a visit with Polo's sister Hannah!Polo (left), Hannah (center), and Rudy (right)

We went to a wonderful park for off-leash running and swimming. The weather was perfect - we could not have had a better time. Thanks, Melissa and Hannah!!







We tried to talk them into posing for a picture with treats, but those Vizslas are too smart for that! Hopefully, Aunt Melissa got a good one ...
One more stop to go ... a visit to Aunt Debbie's and Mommy Siren! Video to follow ...

What we did on our summer vacation ... Part 2

The Beach!!

We went swimming in the ocean on Cape Cod and loved it. No swimming pictures, but here's what we did when not swimming:

Digging in the sand, retrieving a toy in the back yard, and reconnecting with our human cousins.

What we did on our summer vacation ...

We had a long car ride up north, but got to visit our Vizsla family along the way.
First up - Rudy's sister 'Q':

Rudy (left) and Q (right)

The two of them were so much alike! They had a grand time chasing eachother around the yard and inside.

Thanks to Sue, Q and Rumor for a great visit!!

Hungarian Gold!

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago we were anticipating bringing home our first Vizsla pup and struggling to find the right name for him. We searched Hungarian websites for names and word translations, but nothing came together until we were watching the Olympics and heard that the water polo team was Hungary's national sport! And they took the gold medal in Athens. So that's how our 'Polo' got his name: Ch. Tivoliz Cpr Crk Hungarian Gold.

Polo sends "Congrats" to his native countrymen for winning their third straight gold medal in water polo at the Olympics!! And to the U.S. for getting the silver!
Polo trying out his water polo skills at the lake this weekend.

It's Summertime!

Which means it's swimtime!

We're in the summer routine now that it's in the 90s most days. So Saturday mornings we go swimming at the lake.

Rudy races out to retrieve a thrown stick, and then shares a chew with Polo.

With all the practice swimming, we might have to try surfing:

http://loewssurfdog.blogspot.com/