Laurie Zurborg – Founder, Romi Hirayama – Tustin Facility Manager, Nicole Wakida – Tustin Trainer, & Tammy Wilson, RSM Trainer all headed to Prunedale, CA to compete in the USDAA Agility 2012 Western Regional Championship 08/31/12-09/04/12.

If you aren’t familiar with USDAA, you can find out more information here. The Regional events are a lot of fun! They are also important as you can earn Byes into different rounds. This USDAA Agility 2012 regional event was held by The Bay Team. They hosted an amazing show! Everything ran smoothly and in a timely manner. They really did an AWESOME job!

1st Place Win for Performance Speed Jumping

Laurie Zurborg & Gumbo had a rare situation in Performance Speed Jumping Finals….Gumbo tied for 1st place!

When there is a tie, they do what is called a “run-off”. Both dogs get to run the same course again and whichever dog gets the faster time, gets 1st place. In this case, Gumbo gave it his all and WON Performance Speed Jumping Finals!!!

Watch Gumbo’s Blazing fast run with Laurie below!

3rd Place in Grand Prix Finals

That’s not all for Laurie….Laurie & her young Border Collie Gem also made a mark at the Regional! 3-year-old baby girl Gem showed her heart and placed 3rd in Grand Prix Finals in the 22″ Class.

The 22″ Class is a VERY competitive height and little Gemmie gave it her all! The weekend before, Laurie & Gem also earned the ADCH (Agility Dog Champion) Title in USDAA!

Watch Gem’s amazing run with Laurie below!

2nd Place in Performance Grand Prix Local Qualifier

I was quite surprised with my little girl Wink. (2 1/2-year-old Norrbottenspets). She placed 2nd in the Performance Grand Prix Local Qualifier!

I was shocked and SO happy! We rarely ever make placements, even if she runs clean. So this was a big deal for us! I was happy that she ran clean, but then overjoyed when I saw she got 2nd!

Watch Wink’s run with Romi below!

Ruby Places in 2 Finals!

Nicole Wakida had an amazing weekend with her 4 year old Cavalier, Ruby. They placed 2nd in Performance Speed Jumping Finals AND Performance Grand Prix Finals! WOW! Ruby really gave it her all and it showed! Watch Ruby’s runs with Nicole below!

Ruby’s Performance Speed Jumping

Ruby’s Performance Grand Prix

USDAA Agility 2012 Team Events

One of the really fun things about USDAA is their tournament classes. I love doing the TEAM events.

If your dog is running in Championship, there are 3 dogs to each team. If your dog is running in Performance, there are 2 dogs to each team. Each dog runs the 5 standard and non-standard classes.

These classes include: Standard, Jumpers, Gamblers, Snooker & Pairs. You accumulate points as a team and place based on which team has the highest points. You can choose your teammates and even make up a team name!

At this Regional, Me & Twister the Mini Eskimo were teamed up with Nicole & Cobalt the Mini Aussie and Tammy & her young BC, Nick. Our team name was “Naughty, Naughtier, & Naughtiest!” My favorite part of TEAM is doing the relay course. This run is also worth the most points and all dogs run the same course but different parts of it! Usually, they run it last and everyone is watching and cheering!

Watch below for Cobalt, Twister & Nicks Relay Run!

Huge Congrats to everyone!!!

Check out our USDAA 2011 Nationals Wrap-up.