BRAVO'S PAGE
Movement photo by Carole
Corbin, others above by Diane
Lewis
NADAC
Versatility Medal, U-Ag1 Klaar Right On The Money, RAE, PT, AX, AXJ,
OF, NAP, NJP, NFP, NADAC S-TN-E, HP-N, Elite Versatility & 1000
Lifetime Points, ASCA RS-E, GS-E, JS-E, USDAA AAD, GM, ASA, AR, Grand
Prix Qualifier x5, DAM Qualifier, Steeplechase Qualifier, APDT RL1,
UBSDA SCT, TT, CGC, TDI, Mobility Assistance Dog
Born
3-17-99
OFA BT-3893G45M-PI, BT-EL1274M45-PI,
BT-PA13/45/M/PI, CERF BT-2231/10-137 (with unilateral
anterior cortex punctate cataracts of undetermined significance since
77 mos)
OFA Thyroid BT-TH41/94M-PI, OFA Cardiac
BT-CA38/136M/C-VPI
OFA BAER (hearing) BT-BR4/115M-VPI
von Willebrand's 42% and 64% by Cornell ELISA testing
seizure free at 144 months
I had wanted a nice grey male for years, and he was worth
waiting
for! A big THANK YOU to his breeders,
Klaar
Belgians for allowing me to have this outstanding dog. He has
been all I could want in a competition performance and working dog, in
fact
he's "right on the money". He was working on his MX, MXJ, MACH,
and
FAST titles in AKC when he pulled a groin muscle and had inflammation
in the knee on the same side. He returned to full competition
status after 9 months of rehab, but because I didn't want to chance him
getting hurt again (after all, he was ten years old!) he was
switched to the Preferred division in AKC, earning all 3 Novice
Preferred titles (standard, JWW, and FAST) with multiple 1st places,
and has an Open Preferred FAST Q. In
USDAA he was working on his Masters and ADCH title and had a DAM
Q
and 4 Grand
Prix Qs in
USDAA, including a Grand Prix 1st Place that earned him a "bye" into
the final
round of a Regional Grand Prix competition (won at the age of 8
years!), but due to his injury he no longer competes in USDAA due to my
not wanting him to jump 22 inches. He also placed
1st in his first official 60-Weave-Pole Challenge, with a time of
16.59 seconds for 60 weave poles. He bettered that time by doing his
second official 60-Weave Pole Challenge in a time of 16.53 seconds, but
placed 2nd, missing 1st by 0.13 seconds. In March 2006, at the age of
7, he proved that he gets better with age, finishing the 60 weave poles
in 16.09 seconds
and coming in 2nd, missing 1st by 0.05 seconds. At 5 days short
of his 12th birthday he finished his NADAC Medal and Versatility Medal
(the skilled division equivalents of the NATCH and Versatility NATCH)
with a 1st place, and also has 2 Qs toward his Open Hoopers title.
Shown on a VERY limited basis in conformation, Bravo won the
Puppy
Tervuren class at the 1999 Shenandoah BSDA (UKC) Specialty, won his
Youth
Sweeps Class (10 puppies of all varieties) at the 1999 UBSDA National
Specialty
show, and was pulled out in 5th place in a 10 dog Puppy Tervuren class
at the UBSDA Specialty. He was the second-youngest male of any variety
in the shows. He now has 56 UKC points. In AKC competition, he placed
in
his Sweeps class at the 2000 ABTC National Specialty. He also went Best
Of Breed from the 6-9 Month Puppy class for his first AKC point at the
Fayetteville KC show. At the 2002 UKC Belgian Shepherd National
Specialty,
Bravo placed 1st in Level 3 Working Sweeps, passed the Simple Character
Test (SCT - he did not tug with the tester long enough to earn the Full
Character Test), and earned two Ag1 and one Ag2 agility legs (he
finished his Ag1 a month later).
At the age of 8 we started rally training
(yes, it's taken that long to convince him that obedience heeling is
not done at 6 yards per second, the way agility is!!). He finished his
AKC Rally Novice title in his first 3 tries, with a 2nd place and a tie
for 4th place, with most points lost by his HANDLER, and earned his
Rally Advanced legs in his first 3 tries, with scores of
98 (2nd place), 99 (tie for 1st place but slower time so
ended up in 3rd place, but with judge's comments of "cute and fun to
watch"), and 97 (4th place). His AKC Rally Excellent title was also
earned in 3 straight trials with 2 First Places and a Second Place and
scores of 95, 97, and 93. He finished his RAE with multiple
placements including 2 perfect scores
of 100, and no NQs. He made his debut in APDT Rally by earning
his RL1 title in his first 3
attempts, all with placements, and then moved up in the afternoon to
earn his first RL2 leg with a 2nd place (beaten only by a point by
Dillon). At the age of nearly 12 he entered the regular obedience
ring and currently has his first AKC Beginner Novice Q and is in
training for his AKC and UKC CD's.
He is also working as my primary mobility assistance
dog. He is my most "dog-friendly" dog, and goes with me to all the
rescue home checks to help evaluate any resident dogs. He is
trustworthy with dogs of all sexes and sizes. Click
here to see Bravo puppy-sitting a litter of Clumber Spaniels
Bravo will never be bred, as he has developed a late-onset
fear of thunderstorms. Some may look down on him because of this
shortcoming. Not me, he is my heart dog, the love of my life, my
soulmate. I never thought any dog could fill Nordic's place in my
heart. Bravo has filled it in his own unique way, enriching my life
more than I could ever imagine, pushing my agility handling skills
further than I thought they could go (or ever needed them to go with
Dillon), and taking me with him on a wild agility ride that is not over
by any means - and in some ways is just starting, since we are getting
better and better as a team as time goes by. Hopefully we will have
many more years of teamwork and many many runs together left to
come.
Click here to see
videos of Bravo online
Click numbers to see photos of Bravo doing agility 1
2
3
4
5
Click
here to see Bravo having fun at a doggy playground
Click
here to see photos of Bravo herding
Click
here to see Bravo's show photos
Click
here to see Bravo's littermates
Sire: s.r. Can.BISS Ch Klaar Perfect Grys Geest - "Ghost"
Dam: s.r. Can.Ch Twinny van de Hoge Laer, HIC, O-BAR - "Twinny"
Both Ghost and Twinny are rated "recommended for breeding" in
France
- this litter is only the third in North America to have two s.r.
parents.
Ghost is the first North American bred Terv, and the second North
American
bred Belgian, to have earned the s.r. (the Malinois bitch "Klaar
Elda" was the first, congrats to Chris and Derm, who bred her too!).
Ghost
was also the BISS winner at the 1998 Canadian National Specialty, and
has
already produced a regional specialty winner and an AKC all-breed Best
In Show winner.
Click
here to find out more about the Klaar Belgians
Left: Ghost's sire
"Perfect" - Am/CanCh Perfect of
the
Two, Am.CD, HIC, C/O/P-BAR (Can.Gr.Placer)
Right: Ghost's dam "Wanda" - Ombre de la Quievre,
C-BAR
Left: Twinny's sire "Glam" - s.r. Glam du Sart des Bois, CAC, CACIB
Right: Twinny's dam "Kleo" - Kleo van de Hoge Laer, CAC, CACIB
Photos of relatives courtesy of Dermott Young,
Carole
Corbin, and Chris Aliapoulios
Click here
to
return to the Sky High home page
Laurie Graichen
Sky High Belgian Shepherd Dogs, Catawba, SC USA
This page last updated March 16, 2011
