Hi Dan!

I wanted to update you on the results for the World Championships.  On Thursday of last week, I competed in the Disc-Dog-A-Thon World Championships with Steele.  We competed in 3 of the 4 main events.

One event was called Spot Landing.  In this event, you must accurately throw the disc and have the dog catch and land in specific zones for a cumulation of points.  Against 42 competitors, Steele and I placed 4th. 

The second event was Freestyle.  This is a 2 minute round of choreographed flips/vaults/catches set to a background of music using 5 discs.  There were 57 competitors in that event (it is quite popular) from all over the World.  Steele and I took the 3rd place Champion spot, gaining our place on the Podium for 2012.

The third event we competed in was called Time Trial.  This is a strategic event in which the handler must throw a disc 20 yards, while remaining in bounds, twice, and the dog must catch and return the disc to the handler.  This event is timed, and the fastest time wins.  Steele zipped up and down the field to perfection in a time of 16.2 seconds!  We took the coveted First place spot in this event and are now crowned the 2012 Time Trial World Champions! 

All of his success was without limping, favoring or giving up!

Friday was a rest day for us and our pups to prepare for Saturday's competition.  On that day, Courtney (14 yrs) competed in the Open Youth Division with her dog Cir-El.  This division consists of two rounds of Freestyle (explained earlier), and one round of Distance/Accuracy.  The D/A event takes place on a diamond shaped field, marked off in 10 yard increments up to a total of 50 yards.  The first 10 yards are worth zero points, then the further away zones each are worth 1 point, 2 points, 3 points, with the 50 yard zone being worth 5 points.  The dog receives an extra half point for catching the disc with all four paws off the ground.  You have 1 minute to throw as many throws as you can, in bounds, have the dog catch and accumulate points.  Courtney and Cir-El competed against Youth ranging in age from 6 years to 16 years from all over the World.  They competed solid rounds during the entire event and took First Place - resulting in the title 2012 Youth Open World Champions!

On Sunday, Peter competed in the microdog division, which is a division for dogs 16" or under, 25 lbs or under.  Ziva is a 10", 18 lb Pembroke Welsh Corgi, competing against 31 of the best small dogs from all over the world.  Their division competition is designed identical to the Youth Division.  2 rounds of freestyle, one round of Distance.  They were solid and on fire and commanded a 4th place win, with just 1/2 point away from resting on the Podium.

Overall, our dogs and family represented well throughout the entire week/weekend of World Competition.  We are very proud of our dogs and our family for finishing in top spots.  I truly believe I could not have had this much success without VG750 supporting Steele's tendons and ligaments.  His biceps tendonitis is a thing of the past, even after tough competition such as he faced this week.  Thank you, Dan, Nutra-9, and VG750!

Carolynn Williams

Steele in action

Kat Fahle of Good Dog Sports Photography