I feel rather petty wanting to post about my weekend in light of the nightmare the Japanese people are living through. I was away from the TV/News for pretty much the whole weekend and now having seen more reports of the disaster, I am left saddened and speechless. My thoughts are with them as they struggle through this unfathomable crisis.
**********
It's been quite a while since I last had an agility weekend to report. But the new season has begun, and it has started off with a blast! I am very pleased to say we had a very successful trial!
There was only one bump in the road and that was our very first run of the weekend. It was Excellent B Jumpers where a very poorly placed front cross by me pulled Jimmy off a jump. The rest of the run was OK, but you have to run 100% clean in Excellent B in order to qualify.
Here's the run:
Next came our Excellent A Standard run and YES! Jimmy DID THE TABLE! Hooray! We had really been working on this issue in class and it must have paid off. He gave me a speedy run completing the course in 45.49 seconds (having 68 seconds to do it) and earning 1st place!
Here's the run:
On Sunday, Jimmy gave me a nice clean Excellent B Jumpers run. We had 45 seconds to get it done and Jimmy did it in 31.22 seconds. This was fast enough to actually get us 2nd place! In the Excellent B class, this is an amazing accomplishment! As a result, we earned the point multiplier bonus which gave us extra MACH points. What would have been 13 MACH points based on our number of seconds under the course time, ended up as 19 points. AKC is doing away with the multiplier come July 1st, so this may be the one and only time we earn this bonus. And if you ever wondered what the difference a fraction of a second can make, the 3rd place dog completed the course in 31.29 seconds and the 4th place in 31.99. It was that close!
Here's the run:
And finally the last run of the weekend, Excellent A Standard again. Jimmy was up for the challenge of that pesky table yet again. Yipee! He ran a nice clean course, taking 47.15 seconds, having 71 seconds to get it done. This was speedy enough to get him 1st place once again! There are no MACH points earned in Excellent A but if there were, it would have been 23!
Here's the run:
So all in all, it was an exceptional agility weekend. I hope going forward, we have our table issue licked. It is probably something that will need continued re-enforcement in class with super high value treats, but at least my confidence has been boosted. Better confidence usually translates into better runs. Now, when we blow a run, there will be no one to blame but the handler, me!
Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 5 (out of 10 needed for his MXJ) Halfway to his Masters Jumpers title!
Excellent B STD legs: 0 (out of 10 needed for his MX)
Double Q's: 0 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH)
MACH Points: 71 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH)
OMG...this is wonderful! I LOVE agility and want to do it someday, if I can keep up! Thanks for sharing, this is inspirational!
ReplyDeleteBlack lightning! Very nice job. Those weaves, I am SOO envious.
ReplyDeleteI can't say enough good things for training with Susan Garrett's 2 X 2 weave pole method. Jimmy learned to weave 12 poles in less than 2 weeks with only a few minutes of training per day.
ReplyDeletePoor Wilson was my agility training guinea pig, and learned to weave by me luring him with a cookie. It was slow and painful, and resulted in slow weaves that were the first thing to go wrong in a stressful trial setting.
WOW! I had no idea that Cardis could do it that fast! Well, Rufus couldn't. That is awesome - good job Jimmy and congratulations to you! I know it's a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed the videos! He has such good form! Jimmy is a star! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHe's running really well, Taryn! Quick, and with very nice control.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if I play the video for Ziggy a few times he'll be inspired...
Taryn, I keep thinking about the "disclaimer" at the top of this post. Isn't it strange and in some ways difficult to go on with life when we know of the terrible, terrible suffering some people are enduring? Early last year, when Darby was sick I remember feeling so conflicted about the money I was spending on her treatment when, in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, babies were going without even basic medical care. I remember feeling guilty for worrying about my dog, knowing there were mothers worrying (and grieving for) their children. But, I guess it is similar to when a loved one dies: we can't and shouldn't want to for long, crawl into the grave with them, so we just have to go on with the life we have. And enjoy it.
ReplyDelete