The Weekend Report - A Blue Ribbon!

This weekend was a two day agility trial given by the Carroll Kennel Club. It was held in Westminster, Md.
Just like the last trial I went to there, they had the convenient running order of Masters/Excellent JWW then Masters/Excellent Standard. This way I didn't have to wait through the Novice and Open classes. And it was small to tall each day, making it go even faster since I run a "small" dog. Of course, to get there well in advance of the 8 AM start time, to have plenty of settle in time, I left home at about 5:30 AM both days. Arrrgghhhh!

First, there were no Double-Qs to be had yet again this weekend. For some reason, both Jumpers runs had a weird bobble where Jimmy went around a jump he should have gone over. That's unusual for him. It could be his view of the jump was cluttered by background scenery such as other jumps, white walls, etc., and he just missed it. On Sunday, my body language was a bit iffy and I think I pulled him off of the jump. Whatever it was, we kept all of the bars up but just didn't quite succeed. As they say, "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades".

Our Standard runs, on the other hand, went well! Saturday's STD looked to be tricky in a subtle and not-so-subtle way, but it ran great! Jimmy Q'ed and came in in 5th place! Sunday's STD was again quite fun and fairly easy as long as we kept the bars up! Jimmy did a great job! When I went to look at the score sheet posted on the wall, I couldn't find Jimmy's name. I was like, well, where is he?! I thought we Q'ed! That's because it never occurred to me to look at the placements. And there was Jimmy's name in the top spot! Woohoo! A first place is a very rare occurance! It takes just the right mix of the usual speedier dogs not entered, and the usual speedier dogs disqualifying themselves! There were two faster dogs, but luckily for me, they didn't Q this time.

So, if we aren't going to get a double-Q, then Q'ing in STD is preferred as it brings more points. Since points are the big thing I need to get to the AKC Nationals next March, I am glad my Q's came in the Standard runs! We netted another 41 points. There's still a long way to go to qualify, but this helped!

Here's Sunday's Blue Ribbon Standard run.....




Course maps for those interested (anyone?).......

 And just a small note about Jimmy's A/C fear. He was still not happy about going in the building. But this time he was willing to try the warm-up jump. That hasn't happened since he had his scare. So another step forward in our quest to have Jim fully happy again. I'm still using the smelly raw tripe before the run and it's still working its magic.

Finally, this was the last agility trial to be held at this location. I guess the owner wants to get away from "going to the dogs".  They had replaced the flooring in the upper building with something too slippery, which reduced the location to being a one-ring trial. Now, they are getting ready to do the same in the lower building. Thus ends an era.....I am not sure how they think they will fill all those weekends w/o the dogs.....
The trials have all relocated to a new sports center, one much closer to home for me. Score! One thing I will miss however, is the beautiful drive through Maryland farmland getting to the site. Here's the view from yesterday morning.....