Team Jumpin' to the Rescue

This past weekend we attended the NADD North Central Regional Championships in Amana, IA. Ella had invitations for distance (DJ) and air retrieve (AR), and Manny had invitations for DJ, AR, and hydrodash (HD). Here's the highlight reel:

💗 Ella 💗
🥇 Placed 1st in her division in DJ
🏅 Placed 4th in her division in AR
🌙 Got to do AR in the pitch black, with only headlights from a few vehicles/trucks to illuminate the rig/pool. That was a first for us (and hopefully a last).
🌟 Earned an invite to National Championships in AR (the top 3 in each division get invites, but #2 already had one and invites roll down)
🌟 Earned an invite to National Championships in DJ
🌟 Earned invitations in DJ and AR to Regional Championships in 2026

💚 Manny 💚
🏅 Placed 4th in his division in AR
🥇 Placed 1st in his division for the HARD Charger award (for dogs that compete in all 3 disciplines; their overall score is some combo of their top scores in each disclipline)
‼️ Got a new personal best in HD, bumping himself into the division above his (and finishing ahead of some dogs in that division!)
❗️ Matched his personal best in AR
✅ Had fun doing DJ
🌟 He already had an invite to National Championships in HD (from finishing 1st in his division at Nationals last year)
🌟❓We are hopeful he'll get an invite to National Championships in AR for being top 10% across all regional championships, but we won't know about that until next week

So we’ll be off to Springfield, MO in October. Special thanks to Susan for picking up our ribbons/medals for us.

NADD Nationals Recap (more to come). We had a great week and came home with some ribbons!

💚MANNY
1st Place HydroDash Novice Open
7th Place Air Retrieve Junior Open
2nd Place H.A.R.D. Charger Topaz Open

💗ELLA
4th Place Air Retrieve Junior Veterans

In addition to his ribbons, Manny received a Blue-9 KLIMB and a $50 gift certificate to Farm Hounds treats for his 1st place win, thanks to the generous sponsors.

I really need to get updates up faster, but… Friday of last weekend Ella, Manny, and I headed out to Southtown K9 for the last time to compete in the IDS Championships; Manny had an invite in Velocity and both had an invite in Eclipse. I’m happy to report that Ella placed 2nd in her division in Eclipse across all facilities/competitors (as she did last year)! We have big ribbon coming our way. 😀

With all of that said, the event was bittersweet. The owners of Southtown K9 are starting a new chapter of their lives, which means Southtown K9 as we know it is no more. STK9 has always been our happy place, most especially Ella’s. We consider it our dock diving home. It’s where Manny learned to jump off the big boy dock earlier this year. It will always have a very special place in our hearts, and we will miss all the great times we had there. We wish Shannon and Chris all the very best in their future endeavors - thanks for the memories. ❤️