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)
Showing posts with label AKC Nationals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AKC Nationals. Show all posts
Monday, November 25, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Weekend Report - A Triple Q!
This past weekend was a three day agility trial relatively close to home. It was given by the Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club at an indoor soccer field in Frederick, Md. This is as close to home as it gets for me, about 45 minutes depending on traffic, which is why I opted for all three days. Overall, I'd say it was a very successful weekend. This trial offered the game called Time 2 Beat and we Q'd all three days! This title requires earning 15 legs and 100 points. So now we have 10 legs and 82 points. It's not a high priority, so this title will come when it does. Also, the points earned in T2B don't count toward my AKC Nationals tally.
On Friday, Jimmy and I actually had no success in Standard or Jumpers. In both runs he managed to take out the top bar of the big triple jump. In Jumpers it was only the 2nd obstacle, so I cheered the rest of the run to get Jimmy going faster. Sadly, in the Standard run, the triple was the very last jump. As we cleared the finish line I was thinking, "Yea!", and then heard the awful tick of toenail on PVC and the bar went down. It had been a great run and very fast. Too bad we lost that Q as it would have earned us a lot of points.
Saturday was our best day. Jimmy Q'd in all three runs! So the Jumpers and Standard run Qs earned us Double-Q#16 toward our MACH title and 28 points to chip away at our Nationals count.
Here is Saturday's Standard run:
On Sunday, the Standard run had a challenge that took a Q away from many dogs! After the dogwalk was a tunnel, but the dogs needed to take the entrance that was further back, not the one staring at them from the bottom of the dogwalk. They had already gone through the tunnel once in the close entrance and faced with that choice a second time, the vast majority took the wrong end. Jimmy was no exception but it was really my fault. I didn't handle it as I should have and Jimmy flew off into the wrong end, even with me screaming NO!. Everything else was well done and speedy.
Jumpers wasn't too bad and we were successful. Of course you don't earn as many points in Jumpers as the course times are lower so it's hard to get in that much under time. (You get one point for every full second you come in under the judge's set time.) And, of course we got our T2B Q as well. So out of nine runs this weekend, we were successful six times.
AKC Nationals 2014:
Double-Q's: 8 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 452 (out of 500 needed....48 to go! We can do it! Verified w/ AKC on 09/19/2013)
Masters Legs: 28 (out of 20 needed)
Once again, I am tying this into the Monday Mischief blog hop. And here is why this week:
At the trial a vendor was selling Elk jerky. Jimmy really wanted some so I bought 6 sticks. I was going to use them for this week's training treats. Once home, I was cleaning up all my junk, and took my training bag upstairs to put away. I left it on the bed and went on to do other things. I heard Wilson go upstairs but thought nothing of it. He hangs out by himself often, just looking out the window. I go up a few minutes later, and shredded all over the bed is the wrapper paper for the jerky. Wilson had eaten all 6 sticks ($5 bucks worth) and poor Jim got none. LOL! Hopefully this doesn't mean diarrhea later!
Oh, and as to last weekend's mischief...My shoes I left behind at the farm. The woman who owned the place was attending this trial, and kindly brought my shoes along! How great is that?!
On Friday, Jimmy and I actually had no success in Standard or Jumpers. In both runs he managed to take out the top bar of the big triple jump. In Jumpers it was only the 2nd obstacle, so I cheered the rest of the run to get Jimmy going faster. Sadly, in the Standard run, the triple was the very last jump. As we cleared the finish line I was thinking, "Yea!", and then heard the awful tick of toenail on PVC and the bar went down. It had been a great run and very fast. Too bad we lost that Q as it would have earned us a lot of points.
Saturday was our best day. Jimmy Q'd in all three runs! So the Jumpers and Standard run Qs earned us Double-Q#16 toward our MACH title and 28 points to chip away at our Nationals count.
Here is Saturday's Standard run:
On Sunday, the Standard run had a challenge that took a Q away from many dogs! After the dogwalk was a tunnel, but the dogs needed to take the entrance that was further back, not the one staring at them from the bottom of the dogwalk. They had already gone through the tunnel once in the close entrance and faced with that choice a second time, the vast majority took the wrong end. Jimmy was no exception but it was really my fault. I didn't handle it as I should have and Jimmy flew off into the wrong end, even with me screaming NO!. Everything else was well done and speedy.
Jumpers wasn't too bad and we were successful. Of course you don't earn as many points in Jumpers as the course times are lower so it's hard to get in that much under time. (You get one point for every full second you come in under the judge's set time.) And, of course we got our T2B Q as well. So out of nine runs this weekend, we were successful six times.
AKC Nationals 2014:
Double-Q's: 8 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 452 (out of 500 needed....48 to go! We can do it! Verified w/ AKC on 09/19/2013)
Masters Legs: 28 (out of 20 needed)
Once again, I am tying this into the Monday Mischief blog hop. And here is why this week:
At the trial a vendor was selling Elk jerky. Jimmy really wanted some so I bought 6 sticks. I was going to use them for this week's training treats. Once home, I was cleaning up all my junk, and took my training bag upstairs to put away. I left it on the bed and went on to do other things. I heard Wilson go upstairs but thought nothing of it. He hangs out by himself often, just looking out the window. I go up a few minutes later, and shredded all over the bed is the wrapper paper for the jerky. Wilson had eaten all 6 sticks ($5 bucks worth) and poor Jim got none. LOL! Hopefully this doesn't mean diarrhea later!
Oh, and as to last weekend's mischief...My shoes I left behind at the farm. The woman who owned the place was attending this trial, and kindly brought my shoes along! How great is that?!
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