Windy Ridge Farms

31/03/2023

Team USA!!! Ryan and Denali and Sarah and Hazel have once again been chosen to represent the USA at the Junior Open Agility World Championship!

Fundraising time!!! We’ve been busy here brainstorming about fundraisers for the travel to England for the Junior Open Agility World Championships. We are very pleased that both kids made the team again this year! The travel expenses- flight, transportation, hotel…- is self funded, so fundraising is a big deal for most of the juniors on Team USA. Fortunately, the team has the most amazing and enthusiastic team manager, Debby DuBay, who is a fundraiser extraordinaire. She does a superb job fundraising for the team as a whole, and encouraging individuals with ideas.
This year we are again selling wall tiles. They come with either a hook for hanging on a wall, or a stand. They are 4x4. We can custom make them from your own picture- pets, kids, grandkids, landscape, etc- or we have a few that the kids designed. If custom, we just need your digital image. They are $10 each or 5 for $40.
New this year are hand made fleece dog tugs. They can be braided or a crown sinnet knot, $10-$15. Here’s a pic of a few Sarah made. We will have patriotic ones, too- red, white and blue😀 Team USA. We are ready to get busy making orders for you! Thank you for your support!
We are grateful for Amanda Brandenburg ‘s willingness to put together another agility run thru fundraiser at her great facility this summer. We are so blessed to have her as our coach. Her support, enthusiasm, and cheerfulness are contagious!

26/12/2022

Merry Christmas everyone! I realize I have not posted on this page for quite sometime. I had some trouble with the page only allowing one pic, or one video, and not letting me share posts from my own Facebook, and I haven’t taken the time to figure out why😀. The dogs are doing great, you can send me a friend request- Ana Ford- if you’d like. That’s where I’ve been posting.

06/04/2022

INTRODUCING 16 year old Ryan Ford from Kentucky and his Miniature American Shepherd: Denali. HUGE Congratulations to this team for being selected to be on the 2022 AKC Junior Agility Team USA competing in the Junior Open Agility World Championship!

Ryan states: “I have been competing in agility since I was 11. I started with my Border Collie, Flint. I heard about the Juniors Team (then EOJ now JOAWC) at the junior luncheon at the invitationals in 2017. I was excited and very interested. I did not applying with Flint because he would have had to jump in the large dog class at 24 inches. (His regular jump height is 16 inches) This year a new opportunity arose when I started to run Denali. I am super excited that I got to apply this year and was excepted and will be running Denali in the Small Dog Class.“

I asked Ryan about his Miniature American Shepherd: “Denali has a lot of energy and enthusiasm. She loves to train! She is very versatile and enjoys many sports. She came to us when she was a year and a half and when we compete in Finland she will be four years old. She does agility, scent work, fast cat, rally, conformation, and is starting herding. She is my mom’s dog but we are all happy that she works well for me, too.” Ryan has been very successfully competing with Denali in AKC, UKI & CPE Agility Trials. Congratulations Ryan & Denali! As a note: Ryan is one of two juniors (siblings) who are on the AKC Junior Agikity Team USA who will be competing in the Junior Open Agility World Championship (JOAWC) in Finland with Miniature American Shepherds. To answer the question: Are they Toy Aussies or Mini Americans? The answer is: Both! Thank you to the Miniature American Shepherd Club USA for your support!

Ryan likes to take aerial videos with his drone and his landscape photography is uniquely beautiful. Check out his personal FB Page where he will be posting his fundraisers. Ryan is very thankful for all of the support the juniors are given from all of you in the agility community! “Thank you!” If you would like to support Ryan please donate via the Team PayPal.me/AKCEOJ18 or visit Ryan’s FB Page! (He is a fabulous drone operator & photographer - just saying!) ❤️🇺🇸

08/11/2021

We went to OH a couple of weekends ago for an AKC agility trail. Nice venue, plenty of space outside the ring, and a big bike/walk trial just across the road. The girls received a lot of first places. Hazel finished her Excellent Jumpers title and Denali finished her Open Jumpers ( she also qualified in her first Excellent Standard) I must say I was a bit worried about getting to the excellent/masters class as the courses are harder and you must have a clean run to qualify - it is challenging. Here are a couple of their runs.

It is not letting me post more than one video, so I’ll add another in the comments.

17/10/2021

We spent last Saturday at the boys scout camp in Shepherdsville for an AKC scentwork trial( they search an area for a scent that is hidden). We met up with a friend and her toy Aussie and we all had a great time. We had fun exploring, walking around the lake, and participating in the trial. The girls did TEN searches, but there was plenty of time to walk and hang out in between and they were wanting to search more. There were a lot of dogs in novice, the girls did great with many placings. Sarah brought her camera, here are some of the pics she took. The last pic is with our friend’s dog.

09/08/2021

We went to an AKC agility trial on Friday and Saturday with Hazel and Denali. It was a good venue and we enjoyed the courses.The girls were fabulous! Denali finished her Novice Standard and got her first q in Open.Hazel finished her Open Jumper and won T2B! They both went 6/7 between the two days. Here is Denali’s Time 2 Beat. It is not letting me add more than one video

19/07/2021

We’ll, I’m a month late posting, but here are pics from the last ASDR show we went to in mid June. They offered rally and conformation. The girls did great! Denali won first place ( with each judge) in the champion toy Aussie female class and went on to best female and best of opposite. In her first rally run, she was a bit distracted at first then focused and looked good. Her second run was beautiful. Perfect( with a perfect score!) She was High In Trial.
Hazel and Sarah won the 12 and under Junior showmanship class. It was a large class, the judge asked a lot of questions that Sarah remembered from 4H. (Mary Rossano , the skillathon classes the club enjoyed so much!)They also had two great rally runs and won the Junior High In Trial. She did not enter conformation - last time Hazel got bored and tired from being in the ring back to back to back three times in a row between conformation and showmanship.

14/06/2021

Sarah and Hazel practicing the weave poles - first with Sarah stationary, then turning the other way, (both being very difficult, though there is a target) and running with her. You can see her really turning on the speed in the last one. Go, Mighty Mouse!

29/05/2021

Thursday was our last day at Purina Farms. Denali and I tried Updog for the first time and it was fun! The people in charge were VERY helpful and supportive and we all had a good time. Denali wasn’t really interested in the frisbee- I had just started playing with it recently with her and in that environment she wasn’t interested in fetching. That’s all right, she got points for the obstacles and we had fun despite the awkwardness of trying something new. The lines on the ground (which mark different zones in the game) were made with flour and she thought that was interesting and tasty!!! It was also fun to cheer other teams on. I would have liked to watch more, but we had to go in the building for rally. Our rally run wasn’t our best, though we had a qualifying score. We had a few bobbles, but she was happy and enjoyed being in the ring, which is important to me.
We left much later than planned due to severe storms, so we hung out and Sarah participated in the Junior handling seminar. We had a great time there and hope to return. Purina Farms is quite the venue.

27/05/2021

Yesterday- our third day competing at the breed National Specialty. It was fast cat and scentwork day. Fastcat is new for us and it was crowded when we went- the waiting in line with each girl was a test of patience ( for the humans) A lot of the dogs in line were going nuts in anticipation, barking wildly, times that by many dogs and it was loud!!! The girls didn’t seem phased by it and tuned it out. They enjoyed the run.
Scentwork went very well. They did three searches- containers, exterior, and buried. Buried is our weakest, we need to practice more of that- they tend to view it as an area search instead of just checking the containers. But, after a brief diversion, Denali found the buried hide, Hazel ran out of time. In containers, they both found it very fast(6 and 7 seconds!!) and also in exterior. It was a large all breed trial ( nearly 50 dogs in their level, Novice) but in exterior they got a first and second, in containers a third and fourth, and a second for Denali in buried. And all combined, Denali ended up with High In Trail!!!
We wrapped up the night playing Uno with a family from Utah - Hazel was playing, too! It’s our first time here. It’s been fun seeing some friends and meeting new ones. Today is our last day here- rally and updog.

26/05/2021

Yesterday’s agility at the MAS Nationals at Purina Farms. We had some great runs and some not so great ones- Denali scared me in one when she hurt herself during one of her enthusiastic jumping up on me episodes. I carried her out, she was fine within a minute, like nothing happened, but it scared me. Hazel and Sarah ended up winning 3 first places and High In Trial Junior - with a HUGE ribbon. Here’s their standard run.

25/05/2021

We are at the beautiful Purina Farms outside of St Louis, Mo, participating in the MAS( Miniature American Shepherd) national specialty. Yes, our two girls are Toy Aussies, not minis, but, in a nut shell, in AKC, both toy and mini Aussies are called Mini Americans.
The facilities are excellent!! The event center is large, the footing is good, the grounds and outside facilities are great. There are a few off leash fenced area where the girls like to run.
We started yesterday with all breed agility. Denali had two great runs- a clean and 1st place in Novice Std(first time in AKC, so first leg) and in jumpers she had a good run except she was pumped and decided why jump regular when you can fly?!? She took the jumps huge, taking off early and sailing. One bar came down. Her jumping style was good in Std, though.
Hazel had a very discombobulated first run, starting off with the start line. In jumpers she ran great, though Sarah took her to a wrong jump. Sarah dealt with the disappointment of both runs like a trooper, celebrating with Hazel and being emotionally fine- a big thing for an adult, more so for an 11 year old.😀
We had a movie night with other juniors and met a great family. We are going to have a game night tonight. We are enjoying being here.
Today we have the MAS breed only agility, with 5 runs. We are going to be tired! Tomorrow is scentwork and fast at, the next is rally and updog.

22/05/2021

Xena’s vehicle search at the ASDR first of the year show in March. She did great, her previous search had way over the top enthusiasm, and we messed up. She LOVES scentwork- food is actually allowed, so she gets rewarded immediately. There are four hides in this search. Xena will be 11 years old next month.

22/05/2021

I realized I did not posts the results from the ASDR show in March- the first of the year show and end of the year banquet. The girls did great. In a nut shell:
Xena - 2020 Top Dog of the year
She was in the top 3 for rally, scentwork, agility, and conformation.
At the first of the year show, she was Top Rally and won Veteran Best In Show in conformation.

Hazel - 2020 Junior Top Dog of the year
She was also in the Top 5 for the year list for all events.
At the show, she was Junior Top Dog, and Junior Top agility, scentwork, and rally. She also did great in conformation with a first in the champions class.

Denali- She also made the 2020 Top list for rally, agility, and scentwork. At the show she won Top Dog( best score of all events combined) and Top Scentwork.

We will be leaving tomorrow for Purina Farms in MO for the AKC MASCUSA National Specialty with the two Littles. We are doing agility, scentwork, fastcat, updog, and rally. Here are pics of the girls during rally - I love the focus they are showing!

05/04/2021

Happy Easter! Here is Hazel, Sarah taught her to find Easter eggs. ( It has a treat, not candy) I tried to post it yesterday, but it didn’t upload.

30/03/2021

Seabiscuit had a big day yesterday. We flew with him to CA to his new home. We had been getting him used to the carrier and taking him on little outtings. He did so well! He said hi to people at the airport, then slept the whole flight. I was so relieved and grateful! He is settling in well in his new home and we are enjoying the beauty around here. We have a wonderful hostess and Biscuit is already bonding to her. We enjoyed the farm and the beach today.

24/03/2021

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24/03/2021

The puppies and the ball pit for the first time. I did not leave them unsupervised in case they could pop a ball and then possibly swallow one. Sir Barton enjoyed going in the pit, the rest enjoyed playing with the balls out of the pit. They went to the vet today for a check up and shots, everyone got a clean bill of health. All puppies are spoken for except Winning Colors,the red Merle female.

16/03/2021

We are back from the show! We got back very, very tired. Everyone did great! We will post results when I get the chance to sit down. For now, I’ll say Xena won the 2020 Top Dog award( scores from conformation, rally, agility and scentwork for all year) and Hazel the Junior Top Dog. At the show this weekend(first of the year) they offered all classes- conformation, 2 agility, 2 rally, and 5 scentwork. Denali was Top Dog and Hazel Junior( Handler 12 and under) Top Dog!! I’ll post more later. Here’s a video of the babies a few minutes ago.

12/03/2021

We are in MO at the ASDR end of the year banquet/first of the year show. We started yesterday with a long day( we finished at 8 pm) of rally and agility- two runs per dog. The girls did fantastic - so full of enthusiasm and joy in the ring! They EACH ended up with two first places in rally( they are at different levels), Xena and Denali with one first place in agility, and Hazel with two first places in agility! Hazel and Sarah’s last agility run was fabulous - they showed all of us! I unfortunately did not get the whole run on video,but here’s the last bit, one of Xena’s run and Denali’s rally.

09/03/2021

The babies had fun with visitors today. We were happy to have friend over to socialize the puppies.

08/03/2021

We have been enjoying the warmer weather and sunshine these past few days. I took the first three pics with my phone and Sarah took the rest with her camera- she’s a much better photographer!
The puppies have had a busy week exploring and enjoying playing outside. They are finally being more interested in food- they preferred Denali’s milk over a lot of super food I offered. Click on this list for a video of them this week. https://youtu.be/uEr2-uBJHN4

03/03/2021

Congratulations to Peter and Willie on passing the Canine Good Citizen test. Willie( he was known as Captain Rogers here) is just 4 months old and is 14 year old Peter’s first dog. Good job both of you! 👏👏
I was very impressed with Peter when I first talked to him on the phone about a puppy shortly after Willie was born.

28/02/2021

Sarah took some pictures....

23/02/2021

My kids are now too big to fit in the sled with me,but Denali is game. She would either run right behind the sled or go in it with me. I’m testing to see if it will post a short video, since I have been unable to post longer ones.

23/02/2021

The snow is melting rapidly in this warm weather. Here are a few pics from the last few days. I am again having trouble posting a video, so here is a you tube link of a video of the pups yesterday. https://youtu.be/vJAztknaPqo

17/02/2021

Sarah and Denali playing around to The Witch Doctor song today while I took a shower.
Ooh ee ooh ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang...