World Team in Italy: Day Six
September 25: Montechairi, Italy
Part 2
Small Dog Team Jumpers
The Small dog Team competition ended with the running of the team jumper's course. The course posed little problem for our team of Glenda Timmerman and Bailey, Barbara Bicksler and Sydney and Erin Schaefer. The course was fast with some challenging handling options. The first to run was Glenda and Bailey. Their steady progress through the course earned them and clean run in a time of 36.79. The second team to run was Barb and Sydney. Their charge through the course left little doubt of their abilities. Barb and Sydney finished with a clean run in 33.93. The final participant was Erin Schaefer and Jag. They came to the start line determined. Their blazing run was faultless in a time of 32.39. The American team finished in 5th place for the jumpers competition.
In the end, the Small Team Competition, which the total of both Standard and Jumpers, the Gold Medal was won by Russia. The Czech Republic claimed the Silver and the Bronze went to Spain. The AKC World Team placed 9th overall.
Click on image for larger view and caption.
Medium Dog Team Jumpers
The conclusion of the day's events was the medium dog team jumpers. The course was very similar and posed little problem for our team of Barb Davis and Shimmer, Jennifer Crank and Guess and Jean Lavalley and Taz. The first to run was Barb Davis and Shimmer. Their steady progress through the course earned them and clean run in a time of 32.51. The second team to run was Jennifer Crank and Guess. Their charge through the course earned them a time of 31.16, with a dropped bar that added 5 faults to the team total. The final participant was Jean Lavalley and Taz. Their stellar performance was inspiring. Their run was clean with a time of 31.25. For all of their combined efforts the AKC Medium Team won 4th place over the 2 days of competition.
At the end of the Medium Team competition the Gold Medal was won by Norway. Austria claimed the Silver and the Bronze went to Great Britain.
Large Dog Team Standard
The morning competition started with the large dog team standard. The American team consisted of Jen Pinder and Static, Linda Mecklenburg and Awesome and Gerry Brown and Sterling. The course had some difficult sections. There were some handling options; however, the course was open and flowing. The first American team to run was Jen Pinder and Static. Jen had an amazing run but was faulted for missing the up contact on the dog walk. Linda Mecklenburg and Awesome were next to run. Linda was steady through the first half of the course but was faulted for a wrong course. The final team member to run was Gerry Brown and Sterling. Their run was impressive but they were faulted for a refusal at the weave poles. At the end of this round the AKC team was in 21st place.
Large Dog Team Jumpers
The start of the afternoon competition was the large dog team jumpers. The course was very wide open and allowed the dogs and handlers to really open up. The team of Jen Pinder and Static were the first to run. Jen and Static were impressive and unfortunately had a refusal near the end of the course. Linda Mecklenburg and Awesome were second to run and Linda guided Awesome to a flawless performance in 32.95 seconds. Gerry Brown and Sterling were equally as strong with a flawless performance at 31.72.
In the end, the Large Team competition the Gold Medal was won by South Africa. They were the only country to go clean in all 6 of their team runs over the past 2 days. Russia claimed the Silver and the Bronze went to the host country, Italy.