The Weekend Report: Back on Track!

This weekend report holds so much news it is hitting the stands a couple days  several days late! This trial was held by the Capital Dog Training Club.

The best news of the weekend is that Jimmy seemed like his normal speedy self and after a full weekend of agility didn't seem sore or gimpy. No bars went down this weekend so he seems to be jumping just fine! Yay!

The first news segment is that this weekend Jimmy and I tried the new Premiere class AKC recently started offering. It is much more challenging than the normal Masters level classes, with faster speeds expected, harder weave entries, back-side jumps, just generally all around more challenging for both the dog and the handler. I tried both the Standard and the Jumpers versions and of course I video'd the one I did not  qualify in, go figure. It was definitely handler errors that did us in and you can really see the moment when I got disgusted with myself. LOL! It was still very fun and I truly wasn't worried about qualifying. This particular game leads to yet another big title but the requirements are steep enough I don't planning on earning it. We will just dabble....

Here are the maps so you can see the challenges.....

Our Standard run went south after the weave poles. I lagged back too far and couldn't get in a side change soon enough, so I then couldn't get Jimmy to the backside of jump # 8, which then messed up #9. This was the one tough area and we didn't make it through. Oh, well, the rest was great.  Here's the video....it's noisy so turn down your speakers first!




Our next run was Standard. This run was similar to the Premiere version with a few differences. Jimmy stuck to his dogwalk contact like a good boy and we went on to finish successfully! First place and 29 more points toward our tiny 2017 AKC Nationals pot.

Jumpers came next and although it really wasn't too difficult, I didn't support one of the last jumps well enough and Jimmy skipped it. I was annoyed with myself! When I got out of the ring, I learned Jimmy had actually popped out of the weaves too early, so I was off the hook! LOL!

Maps:

And finally came the Premiere Jumpers run. It had some tricky spots and those had Jimmy barking at me in frustration. He couldn't believe I knew where I was going! But he was a good by and jerked his way through the odd twists and turns. I got lazy and didn't ask anyone to video us. Of course that guarantees a Q. Oops! Jimmy was the only dog in his height class so we got the blue ribbon by default. There were not a lot of Q's across all the heights, so Jim did a very good job!

After Premiere JWW was over, the club offered a very special class for the "veterans". Our older dogs were given a chance to go back in the ring and play. Although it was open to dogs 7 and older, I think everyone who entered had a dog in their teens or very close. There wasn't a dry eye in the place as the old partners took one more turn around the ring, albeit a short run. I think the oldest dog was 15 and there was even a Pembroke Corgi in a cart (the bars were removed from the jumps). That one really had everyone choked up! Of course, I entered Wilson! Despite his recent practice, he was so excited he ran right past the first three jumps. He had a blast and really thought it was the real thing. He wanted a treat at the end!

I have video!

He got a very pretty ribbon for his efforts......

I made him model it when he got home.....He wasn't thrilled. LOL!

Sunday had a couple of challenging Standard and Jumpers courses (I did not sign up for the Premiere ones on Sunday, too much money for all those entry fees!)

Maps:

Standard was first, and for us the biggest challenge was the dogwalk through #3-#6. I needed  Jimmy to stick his dogwalk contact, not take #4 before #3 and get going toward #6 correctly.

I've got video! (Thanks Chris!)  Jimmy did a nice fast job and earned a 2nd place ribbon.

Jumpers was an interesting run, circling around the weaves and coming back to them near the end. My moves got a bit off cue on #8 to #9 and Jimmy saved my butt! Yay! He kept moving and didn't back jump #9. We made it through the rest successfully and there we had it! Double-Q # 19!!!! Every trial from here on will be  an attempt at Jimmy's big PACH title. This is similar to his MACH but achieved at one jump height lower. So now I'll have ring nerves even worse than usual!

So we had success on four out of six runs, 3 blue ribbons, one red ribbon and a beautiful Veteran's ribbon for Wilson. Plus lots of good friends to visit with. All in all, a pretty great weekend!

And, yes, this huge post ate up any chances of a Wordless Wednesday post. There's just never enough time it seems.

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 34...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 31...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 19 !!!
PACH Points: 1492

AKC Nationals 2017: Perry, GA
Double-Q's: 2 (out of 7 needed)
Points: 131 (out of 550 needed)