Training Troop Trial

I am feeling pretty mixed up right now. So I apologize for the erratic writing. I will try to keep things in order.

It was a great weekend. The trial itself was very well run, and the people are awesome. There are some really nice agility people in our area. It's nice to go to a trial where almost everyone is nice to each other.

The dogs did very well. I had some great runs with both of them, and a one or two not so nice runs.

Boone earned only one Q this weekend- in Advanced Snooker- which just so happens to be the Q he needed for his Advanced Games title. This also moves him up to Masters Snooker. His other runs (except one) were SO GOOD. He really did a great job this weekend and worked hard. We ran team for the first time in almost a year, and he did great- running his half clean. It was a great run. His contacts are really solid- I need to work on my timing of my "target" cue so that he is not slowing dogs. His speed was great- faster than ever before. And his weaves were very good (and fast) up until the very last run. The bobbles we had were mostly my fault. Although, he did have one very naughty run. The Sunday standard was pretty disasterous. He was very wild and not listening. He rarely has ever done that so I wasn't sure how to get him back. We ended up getting buzzed off. :o) I got lots of great feedback about him- some people hadn't seen him in a few months and were surprised a the difference. I haven't forgotten where he started, but I don't always think about it. He really is a pretty amazing dog. He was happy, confident, and having fun all weekend.

Wicca ran really well on Saturday. She was one of a few (7 or 8) dogs to get the gamble earning her 11th Gamble Q. Her other runs on Saturday were pretty good- we had some really good moments in the standards, but the jumpers was a train wreck. I can't even remember really what happened now, I remember there had been no knocked bars all day until that run...just an off course or two. The other Q she got was in Steeplechase. She had a smoking fast run- the third fastest overall. She did have a knocked bar, but the fault just gets added to the time so we still qualified.

She also won the Judges Choice Award for a Masters dog. Both of the judges were not local so had never seen her before. They were pretty amazed at her speed, and drive for such a short dog. I am proud to have won that. She won it twice before when she was a starters dog at that trial, so it's pretty neat to have won it again in masters. One of the judges commented that she didn't go over the ground, she went through it. And she really did have to. The arena is filled with dirt/sand/wood shavings. Although it was cushy for us to run on it was hard for some of the smaller dogs. The divots at the weave poles made it so she almost had to jump to weave.

I am very proud of Wicca this weekend- she didn't knock any bars all day Saturday until the last run, and only one or two on Sunday. Her A-frame is going pretty good- she knows that she will be released now but is still running full tilt down the frame- which is exactly what I want. We also had some pretty good handling moments. Of course there are things we need to work on. Her startlines. Man, oh man. I really need to make sure that I am sticking to my criteria with this dog. Her dogwalk/teeter contacts. She came right off the dogwalk on Sunday- I picked her up and left the course after that. And the teeter. The teeter is completely my fault. Again- criteria. I need to make sure she sticks her teeter until I release.

Mostly it was a good weekend. I am pretty tired- as are the dogs. I am looking forward to a full week of NO CLASSES. It will be a good break.