5 Points

I found out yesterday that it was only five points that prevented us from qualifying.

Ugh.

Five points.

That's a knocked bar. Something as simple as an extra two seconds for that gamble buzzer, or holding her head for one second longer past the off course.

As with all disapointments there is the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" syndrome. And this is no exception. But dwelling on it isn't going to change anything.

I went back and watched all my runs. And ya know. We had lots of great moments- it was easy to focus on the crap, but really I think that mostly I did a pretty great job with her.

Wicca is not an easy dog to handle. She is fast, so that requires me to not only move fast, but to think fast. I have problems with both of those. :) She is also missing so much of the foundation that is important. She will flick away, or accelerate past me, and often launch over bars with no thought as to what my handling is telling her. She is not predictable- sometimes pulling off equipment, not able to send out, or the direct opposite and a raised arm can send her thirty feet away.

As a handler my job should be to communicate with my dog as consistently as possible. I often fail at this. :) My timing is off, and I am late. Always late. I also tend to over compensate for the bar knocking. Choosing to be late over attempting to turn her over the bar. I have been much better about this but at a regional event I was trying to be a bit more careful. That kinda backfired. :)

Realise that these things are not excuses. I am going to train to be better. There is absolutely no reason for us to not have qualified.

I have been giving a lot of thought to what we need to change, and where we can push ourselves more. I really need to just work on my handling, and her understanding. We need to find the balance of working close and working away.

The last few days I've worked hard at not dwelling on this, and have been trying hard not to fall into a slump. Hearing that it was only five points pissed me off more than anything. Better to be mad than sad I guess.

Anyway, I am ready to move on. I am sure I will be sad once in a while between now and nationals. I briefly debated going to volunteer but have decided not to torture myself. So yeah. I'm as over it as I'm going to be. Thanks to all my friends for their words of encouragment and understanding. It means a lot to me and has helped to talk about it.