The Weekend Report: Pennsylvania Here We Come!

It was another weekend on the agility circuit looking for those elusive last points.This trial was held in Reva, Va by the same club as this weekend report from last month. We headed into the weekend needing 27 points to qualify for the AKC Agility National Championship.

Saturday was a sunny, pretty day somewhere in the 50's. Very pleasant weather for a day of agility in a horse barn.

First up was Jumpers (JWW). I checked myself in, watched a few of the big dogs running to see the course flow, and went to take the boys for a walk. Well, I somehow misjudged how much time I had before my walk-through. I am lollygagging around the field when one of my agility friends goes past me on the way to her car. She's like, "Why aren't you up there walking the course?" and I am like, "WHAT?!". I now had to run the dogs down to my car, throw them in unceremoniously, and run UPHILL as fast as I can to catch a moment on the course. I got 2 passes in before the timer blew and we were to clear the course. I made one more fast circuit and had to leave. Fortunately it wasn't too complicated, so watching a few more teams run it was enough to have it memorized.

Jimmy did a good job keeping the bars up and we had our first Q for the weekend and 10 points.

Here's our JWW run:



I did NOT miss my chance at walking the Standard course! LOL! It was a nice flowing course and despite some sloppy handling on my part after the weaves, Jimmy gave me another Q! Woohoo! So not only did we earn another 18 points but this was Double-Q #17 toward our MACH.

And now, if you do the math.....I needed 27 points and we just earned a combined 28! We've got our full 500 points to get us to the Nationals! I am sure I left out a huge shy of relief!

Here's our Standard run:



This trial was offering the optional Time 2 Beat class and we Q'd in this run as well! It gave us just enough points to reach the 100 that title requires. We still need more legs to reach the required 15 but we'll get there someday.  No video of this run but hey, we had a Triple-Q day! Not too shabby!

Saturday night into Sunday a huge cold front blew into the area and the winds stayed all day Sunday. When I got up at 5:30AM to get ready, the thermostat said 23 degrees. That is very unseasonably cold for my area in November! Fortunately it was a full sunny day, so crating from the car was actually quite cozy with the windows closed. I sat in my car whenever I needed to warm up a bit. I also wore long underwear and several other layers! The club hosting the trial had two propane heat blowers in the barn to help break the chill. They were noisy and I was worried Jimmy would be scared. He was a tad put off by the noise at first but within a few minutes he seemed to let it go. Whew, thank goodness, as we don't need any new fear issues.

Again Jumpers was first. It was another flowing course that wasn't too tricky. Jimmy is a very good boy and rarely takes an off-course obstacle (the wrong end of a tunnel is about his only vice) so keeping those bars up is our goal. Jimmy did his job and we has another Q and could pad our Nationals point with 12 more.

Here's the JWW run:



And without a blow by blow description, here is our Standard run. Turn down your speakers as there is a long 45 second lead in of me waiting to go into the ring and Jimmy sassing for more treats. Jimmy gave me another Q and a 4th place finish! Holy Moly! So now we have Double-Q #18! Just two more to go!




Again we had a Time 2 Beat run and again Jimmy Q'd for another day of a Triple-Q! And again, there's no video. LOL!

So what an amazing and successful weekend! It was extra special because Jimmy's breeder, Anne, drove up to watch. I was so happy we were able to give her such nice runs to watch! It was also great as she brought homemade soup to warm us up! Yum! Thanks, Anne!

Here's our stats:

Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:

Masters JWW legs: 43  Now he's working on his MXJ5!
Masters STD legs: 28 We earned our MX2 and are working on MX3 now.
Double Q's: 18 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 90 Percent! The snowball is headed downhill!)
MACH Points:  Over 1000 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... We've got our points and then some!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 13 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 107 points (out of 100 needed) 
                               On 5/19/13, Jimmy actually WON the 12 inch T2B class! 

AKC Nationals 2014:
Double-Q's: 10 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 530 (out of 500 needed)....WE MADE IT!!!!
Masters Legs: 34 (out of 20 needed)