The Weekend Report: Still Trying!

Logging another one of our attempts at getting a double-Q....alas no luck once again! Sigh! I am beginning to think trialing just one day out of the weekend isn't enough for us to find our mojo! So often our weekend trials would end with success in 3 out of 4 runs. So now, with only one day and two runs, we aren't getting enough tries for a double-Q. I'll put this theory to the test at the end of the month when I do both days of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi trial.

Here are the maps:

The day started with Standard (map on the left) and the first obstacle was the tire. Tires are magnetized and break apart if the dog whacks it too hard. That is then considered a fault. Well, right off the bat, Jimmy broke the tire. When I put him in his stay, I had a niggling feeling I had set him just a bit too close, but didn't adjust him. Obviously I should have trusted my instinct! Then, oddly, the judge didn't call it. But I was thrown for a loop by the tire and made my own course mistake so we were very definitely NQ'd! If the rest of our run had been clean, I still would have told the judge about the tire. I never like to take a Q I didn't truly earn.

The Jumpers run had a few odd angles but otherwise went well and fast. Jimmy qualified and earned the blue ribbon! Still a speedy boy at 10!

I have gotten incredibly lazy about videos and for that I do apologize. These weekend reports aren't much without that! I'll share a few pretty flowers from my garden just to add a bit of color to this post....

Tracking Jimmy's PACH 2 progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Sunday 5/1/2016

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 58...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15 MJPS Title
Masters STD legs: 52...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 04/30/17 MXPS Title
Double Q's: 15(out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1600 plus more! I have lost count!

The Weekend Report: A Double-Q Drought!

I have been getting lazy about my weekend reports! I actually had a trial last weekend and I never wrote it up! We didn't qualify and I didn't get video so I just let it slide by. Bad me!

So this weekend we had another trial given by the local Golden Retriever club. I only signed up for one day. I still didn't get video. Bad me again! But since we did get one Q, I want to write it up for the record keeping.

Here are the maps:

First up was Standard, the map on the right. The trickiest spot, or so I thought, was the #8 table to the #9 jump. You had to be sure you worked it well enough that your dog took the proper side. We had already cleared our dogwalk contact, and now made it past the table, so I thought we had a good chance for a Q, We made it all the way to #15 and then Jimmy knocked a panel of the #16 jump. A panel jump is one that the dogs can't see through, the bars hold a PVC panel so it looks like jumping a little wall. It's not a jump dogs usually knock because they give a bit of extra effort to clear the "wall", but it could be the big Aframe as the next obstacle played with Jimmy's eyes. You just never know for sure what brings a jump down.

Next up, the Jumpers run, and the left map. Nothing too tricky. It flowed nicely and ran fast. Jimmy finished in a tad over 32 seconds, quick enough for the blue ribbon! Good Boy!

Now, pretty much my only agility goal right now is to finish up Jimmy's PACH2 championship title. We have way more than enough points so we just need five more double-Qs. And we just can't seem pull one off! It's always something! We have no time frame to finish this title, but sooner than later is better for an aging corgi.


On a humorous note.... Jimmy's favorite canine masseuse was at the trial and lucky for us a spot opened up in her schedule. It was right after we were done for the day so perfect timing! Jimmy was so cute. He hopped up on Kim's table and immediately lay down on his side so she could get busy rubbing his back. We didn't even ask him to, he just assumed the postion! LOL!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH 2 progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Sunday 5/1/2016

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 57...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15 MJPS Title
Masters STD legs: 52...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 04/30/17 MXPS Title
Double Q's: 15(out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1600 plus more! I have lost count!

The Weekend Report: Getting Back to Regular Life

So now that I have both of my "big events" behind me, I am back to just the usual run-of-the-mill agility trials. It sort of seems anticlimactic now. You invest so much time, effort, and emotion into the National shows, that going to a normal trial (and especially on a quieter Friday!) seems strange.

This weekend (as I said Friday. It was a three day trial.) was a trial given by the Shenandoah Valley Kennel Club and held in Winchester, Va. It was a cold and cloudy day so absolutely perfect for indoor agility!

It started with Jumpers on a fairly tricky course. We were going along well, and getting close to the end. Unfortunately Jimmy crashed the triple jump. Not exactly sure why, maybe the busy background behind the jump made him unsure of what he was jumping. It looked like he didn't jump quite high enough to clear it or he launched a bit too soon. But down the bars went and no Q for us.

Here are the map and video.....

The day moved along quickly and before I knew it was time for Standard. The triple was in pretty much the exact same place but this time Jimmy knew what he was doing and cleared it just fine. We had a nice run everywhere else as well and earned the blue ribbon! Yay for Jimmy! Of course, right now we are counting down the double-Qs to our PACH2 title, so this won't count toward that. But then I don't want to get there too quickly because I don't really have any more goals after that!

Here is the map and sorry, but no video.....

Tracking Jimmy's PACH 2 progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Sunday 5/1/2016

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 56...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15 MJPS Title
Masters STD legs: 51...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 04/30/17 MXPS Title
Double Q's: 15(out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1582 plus many more! I have lost count!

The Weekend Report: A New Nickname

Well, I haven't posted a weekend report in a very long time! Our last trial was back on the last weekend in July. After that, Jimmy tweaked something in his left front leg that took a very long time to heal. Fortunately the very hot months of August and September helped keep him calm and resting as it was just too hot to want to be outside! During that time, I also had tweaked my back and that took a full two weeks to stop giving me spasms. I guess we were both down for the count!

This past weekend was the trial out in the mountains near Culpeper, Virginia that I love so much! The location is just so perfect. Oddly, the leaves have barely started to turn yet, so there was very little color. The weather was absolutely gorgeous both days so fall colors or not, it was a great place to be! And I never once got my camera out! I had it with me but just never got around to using it. Bad me!

Now, not only had we not been trialing, Jimmy had not been practicing or going to lessons either. So he was very enthusiastic to be back doing agility. So enthusiastic that he couldn't be bothered with doing the dogwalk contact either day!  (The dogwalk contact is the yellow safety zone on the down slope at the bottom. Dogs must put at least one foot on the yellow or they are disqualified. This is to ensure they are safely leaving the obstacle and not launching from too high up.) Jimmy just hopped right over the yellow. Sigh. No double-Qs for us! His jumpers runs were perfect and both earned the 1st place ribbon and 30 points combined.

It was very fun to be back doing agility so Qs or no Qs I had a wonderful weekend!

Now, on to explain what my title means......

When you are at an agility trial, there is a running order list by the ring, and a gate steward calls out who is next to go in, plus the next two dogs as well. This is to keep things flowing quickly. Usually the line gets five or six deep as people queue up. Now Jimmy loves this game and he gets very impatient for his turn! As we are waiting, he starts to vocalize quite loudly. BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK....I imagine he is screaming "my turn!" over and over. Of course not everyone appreciates his big mouth and probably feel I should train that behavior out of him. But under his tough exterior, Jimmy is actually a soft boy. Yelling at him to be quiet right before a run would be sure to dampen his spirit, so I just let him be himself for those few minutes and apologize. Anyway, now that I have set the scene...the gate steward is calling out the names of the dogs who should be ready to go, and when she gets to Jimmy, she calls out Jimmy the Mouth! Is Jimmy the Mouth ready go?! She says, you know, his Italian mob name....

She got quite a few giggles for that one, and it pretty much stuck for the rest of the weekend.It's a pretty fitting nickname as Jimmy is never at a shortage for words, either at a trial or at home!


There's another trial this coming weekend at a new location just 15 minutes from my house. Gotta love that!

And since I hate to have no photos at all on a blog post, here is one from a trial earlier this year. Can you see Jimmy's enthusiasm for the sport? (Click to biggify!)

Photo credit: Terri Keiffer of Key4Prints

And here is the very last photo I'll ever have of Jimmy going through the chute. This obstacle (also known as the collapsed tunnel) has been removed by almost all of the various agility venues on safety concerns. As skill and training methods have improved, so has a dog's speed and injuries have been reported too often with this obstacle.

Photo credit: Terri Keiffer of Key4Prints

And finally, here is Jimmy, attentively waiting for me to release him from his start line stay.

Photo credit: Yes, you guessed it....Terri Keiffer!

AKC Nationals 2017: Perry, GA
Double-Q's: 11 (out of 7 needed)
Points: 676 (out of 550 needed) We qualified on 07/09/2016 !!!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH 2 progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Sunday 5/1/2016

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 48...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 41...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 8(out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1242

The Weekend Report - The Season Finale......Maybe

This was another weekend out in the country for agility. The warm fall temps of late had morphed into more seasonal chilly temps! Saturday was about 28 degrees when I arrived at the farm. Sunday was warmer, maybe low 40s but with a biting wind. Fortunately I had dressed for the chill and it wasn't too bad.

Not a lot to tell. Both days went about the same. An awesome Jumpers run started each day, and just one handler-induced error in each Standard run cost us a Q, and also a double-Q. So we are ending our season still needing 3 more double-Qs to finish our PACH title. On a positive note, our Jumpers runs were both first places,  and Jimmy did his dogwalk contact correctly both days!

I was very lazy and did not snap even one photo all weekend long! Egads, I've become a bad blogger!

Now, I titled this the Season Finale....with a Maybe.  There are a few days left to sign up for a trial at this same (cold!) location in December. I could do a Friday and try out the new AKC class called Premier. Very tempting! So maybe I'll have just one more Weekend Report yet!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 31...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 28...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 17
PACH Points: 1331


November ends the qualifying period for the 2016 AKC National Championship. Jimmy and I did well over what was needed to get in. I'm not sure I'll make the long trip to Tulsa, but at least we have the option!

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 10 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 813 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 37 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: Wish I'd caught it on Camera!

This weekend was our last summer season agility trial. It was given by the Carrol Kennel Club in the usual indoor soccer building. The courses were particularly challenging this time and luckily we had success three out of four times.

On Saturday, it started with the jumpers run. This was probably the easiest of the courses, but it did have some subtle spots that it was very hard to get where you needed to be to set a nice line. Jimmy was a speedy guy (as he always is!) and we got it done! It netted us the blue ribbon as well. It was the only run I got on video and here it is:




The standard run came next. The #5 jump to the #6 tunnel was going to be a challenge. As they cleared the jump, they were looking straight into the wrong end of the tunnel. I clapped, I screamed Jimmy's name, but he had locked on to the wrong end and nothing was going to stop him. Sigh. As it turned out, he had also blown his dogwalk contact just before the #5 jump, so the tunnel error really didn't matter. We had already NQ'd. I thought I had seen a flying leap out of the corner of my eye, but I wasn't sure until I saw my score sheet at the end. No double Q for us!

The maps:

Sunday was just as tricky. It again started with jumpers and if you made it through #1 through #6 successfully, you had a good shot at Q'ing. I tried my friend's suggestion on how to handle  3 to 4 to 5 (Thanks, Gretchen!) and it worked beautifully! This time we got the correct end of the tunnel and the rest ran clean! We got another blue ribbon for our good efforts.

Our Sunday standard run was the one I truly wish I had video'd. I had the most amazing call-off of a wrong obstacle and then successfully got the weave pole entry from a very odd angle as a result of the call-off. If you look at the map (the one on the right down below), we were running A-frame (#7) to jump (#8), to jump (#9) and then the weaves at #10. However, Jimmy was positive the course should run #8, to #9, to#18, a jump to the right of the weaves. I screamed NO!!!! and he stopped in his tracks (almost in take-off mode to clear the jump), made a sharp left and then a hard right into the CORRECT weave pole entry. Amazing save! Eleven through 16 was a challenge for many but we made it through to the end! YAY! This was double-Q #13 toward our big PACH title. Plus we earned lots of points toward our AKC Nationals tally. For this run we did not get the blue ribbon.....we earned 2nd place this time as Jimmy was beat by a girl! A little Pemmie girl who is every bit as fast as Jimmy and does a smoking fast dogwalk!

Here are Sunday's maps so you can see what all those numbers mean....

Currently I keep all these pretty ribbons, but when the day comes to downsize all the junk in my house, I guess they will have to go. I'll have to settle for photographic proof of Jimmy's accomplishments.

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 23...MJP Title 01/25/15
Masters STD legs: 23...MXP Title!10/24/14
Double Q's: 13
PACH Points: 1055

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 6 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 537 (out of 600 needed)....
Masters Legs: 24 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: TWO Degrees in Winchester!

Last Thursday was another huge snowstorm followed by an arctic blast of cold air. Everything pretty much shut down around my area for the day. Fortunately Friday was a sunny, albeit cold, day. This helped melt the roads ahead of the weekend agility trial. Saturday was also sunny but dawned (because, yes, I had to be up before dawn to get to the trial!) at about 8 degrees at my house. BRRRR!!!! I needed to head west over the mountains to be in Winchester by 7ish. By the time I got there, the temperature had dropped to 2 degrees! Egads that is cold, especially for March! Not the weather for a leisurely dog walk before going indoors but Jimmy needed to poop. Heaven forbid he ever did it in the ring. That disqualifies you for sure! So we wandered around the snow covered area until finally he could find one tiny square of grass to set a foot on and pooped. Hallelujah!

We've had snow on the ground and walking trails for at least the past couple of weeks. It's made for treacherous dog walks or none at all depending on the day. Jimmy and I have also had agility practice cancelled thanks to the weather as well. All of this meant Jimmy was under-exercised and a tad wilder than usual going into the trial. It really showed up in our first run of the day, which was Jumpers. It was quite a tricky course and we couldn't make it through. It was one of those runs I would love to have a "do-over" for so I could try out a different plan. Oh, well, if it was always easy, and we always Q'd, where would be the challenge in that?

Here's the map. It was numbers 4/5/6 to the #7 tunnel that took us out!

A bit later on came our Standard run. It was really quite easy and Jimmy was also calmed down by then. He did a great job and earned us a nice blue ribbon for first place, and 29 points. Good boy!

The map:

So none of the coveted "double-Qs" that we need, but still a good start to the season. And I am back once again to my blogging break. I just didn't want to miss getting my agility write-up out here while it was fresh!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 10...MJP Title 01/25/15
Masters STD legs: 14...MXP Title!10/24/14
Double Q's: 7
PACH Points: 564

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 0 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 46 (out of 600 needed)....
Masters Legs: 2 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report - An Official 75%!...And 82%!

This weekend was the very first AKC Agility trial given by a club called RACE (Reva Agility Club Enthusiasts). It was held at a horse farm near Culpeper, Va. The ring was an indoor dirt floor. The footing was wonderful and the building well lit. You never know with a horse barn what you will get. The building was on the small side so the courses were tight.

Jimmy and I had a very successful weekend. Saturday the courses were tricky but quite fun. Jimmy's breeder Anne drove up to watch and she also ran the video camera for me. She caught both runs but for some reason YouTube can't process the Jumpers run. I tried several times to no avail, so I only have one half of my Double-Q (yay!) to show you. Yes, indeed, we pulled off double-Q # 15 so now we are a full 75% of the way to our MACH! Five more double-Q's to go!






UPDATE! YouTube finally processed our Jumpers course so here it is:




Sunday was an incredibly gorgeous fall day! Clear blue skies, cool, crisp air and mountain views to die for! My new header was taken on the farm. Breathtaking, no? I have a few more photos to share later.

We came very close to a double-Q on Sunday as well. In our Jumpers run, we were nearly home free, when Jimmy lost his footing somehow, and crashed the second to last jump. He surprised even himself. The poor boy had quite a bewildered look. Standard went well, giving us 18 more points toward our AKC Nationals tally, a 3rd place finish and a new title as well, the Master Agility Bronze (MXB), which you earn when you have completed 25 Masters Standard runs successfully. No videos on Sunday though. This weekend gave us a total of 45 points. Two more weekends like this and we could have our Nat'ls' points!

AKC Nationals 2014: 
Double-Q's: 7 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 412 (out of 500 needed....88 to go! 82% of the needed points!
Masters Legs: 25 (out of 20 needed)

So, I've hooked this up to the Monday Mischief blog hop...Where does that come in? Well, I wore my LLBean muckers (shoes) to the trial since I figured between early morning dew, potential mud, horse poop, etc. I wouldn't want to wear my sneakers except for the actual runs. Unfortunately, I switched to my sneakers and forgot all about putting the muckers back in my bag/car. So my favorite dog walking shoes are sitting about 80 miles from home right now. Oops!

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.....

The Weekend Report - Making a Bit of Progress...and a Birthday Remembered....

This weekend was the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of the Potomac's agility trial held in Frederick, Md. This is the closest trial site to my house, only a 45 minute drive. Woohoo! I didn't even leave home until 8AM and the trial was running small dogs to tall!

When we last joined Jimmy's journey to his MACH, he was having fear issues due to the A/C roaring to life over his head and freaking him out! He's now taken that fear to yet another building. He planted his feet and did not want to enter! I didn't give him a choice however so in we went. I had left him in the car for as close to his run as possible and I brought his raw tripe that helped so much last time. While he was still quite apprehensive, he managed to be more interested in the tripe than worrying about the scary building. Standard was our first run of the day. We took off and had a good run going. We made it through the tricky parts and were in the home stretch......only to have Jimmy take out the very last jump. Sigh.

Here's that run......





Next, of course comes our Jumpers run...We are about three out from heading into the ring, when the skies overhead open up a loud deluge of heavy rain (see add'l note below :-) ) on the metal roof. This scares the crap out of Jimmy! Where a moment before he was only nervous, now he was petrified! I seriously considered scratching our run, but decided to give it a try. It was a very tricky course with a speedy dog and despite the rain noise, Jimmy ran well and qualified! What a good boy!

Here's that run.....




Of course we need those all important double-Q's but I'll take a single Q!

Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday. Jimmy was scared and didn't want to go in the building. He faced his fears by eating lots of tripe. I can say he was less apprehensive on Sunday as he was offering nose touches and paw shakes to get the tripe at a faster rate. He even managed a bossy bark or two when he wanted more tripe. In Standard, instead of taking out the last jump, he took out the very first jump. That was really my fault as I changed our start from the usual sit/stay to a stand/stay and he crashed the double jump. But, hey, if you are going to take out a jump, the first one is great because then you can try things you would otherwise not risk! I cheered Jimmy along throughout the rest of his run, egging him to go fast. The Jumpers run was fun with a couple of tricky spots. I almost lost Jimmy to an off-course jump, but managed to redirect him at the last second! So once again, a Q but no double-Q. We really need the big points we earn from qualifying in Standard because two successful Jumpers runs netted us just 25 points. That's not much of a step forward toward the 500 points we need for the AKC Nationals....

Here are the course maps for the two videos above.....

Click to enlarge

Now up above, I mentioned heavy rain. Well, the funny thing was, I had been crating out of my car for the morning, before it got too hot. All my windows were fully open! LOL! I'm third in line to run, my car is nowhere near the building, and the skies just cracked open! Even after my run was over, it was pouring so hard I didn't want to run that far, getting drenched in the process. I had my shade panels over the whole car/windows, so I was hoping that most of the rain would be deflected. At least the sunroof was closed! When it finally stops raining maybe a half hour later, I go check on my car.....And it is SOAKING wet! There are puddles on the floor, in all the window switches, even on the ledge in front of my speedometer! The dog beds are wet as is a towel and blanket. Fortunately, this isn't the kind of thing that pisses me off. It just made me laugh. It's only water and it will dry out....But when I drove to the trial Sunday morning, I got out, and even after sitting on a towel, my butt and back were quite damp!

And finally, before ending this post, I want to send birthday wishes across the Rainbow Bridge to my old friend Dylan, who was born on this day in 1986. Gone ten years but very definitely not forgotten!
You can click here  and here  to read about my buddy.

Amazing how a little dog can change the course of your life!

Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Masters JWW legs: 35  Now he's working on his MXJ4!
Masters STD legs: 20 We earned our MX2 and are working on MX3 now.
Double Q's: 14 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 70 Percent! The snowball is headed downhill!)
MACH Points: 846 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... We've got our points and then some!)

AKC Nationals 2014:
Double-Q's: 6 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 285 (out of 500 needed)
Masters Legs: 18 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report - The Dirty Dozen! - Plus a word on my recent Giveaway!

Before I launch into reporting on a great weekend of agility, I want to mention that the winner of my giveaway for Jackie's book has never contacted me. I am going to give it through today and if I still haven't heard anything, I'll select a new winner tomorrow, so check back just in case.......

This weekend was three days of agility held by the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Greater Baltimore. It was held in a very nice indoor soccer center in Frederick, Maryland. Not only was it relatively close to home, but Friday and Saturday, the running order was Tall to Small, so it meant I didn't even have to get up at the crack of dawn to be there. And on Sunday, when you are ready to have some time at home, it was Small to Tall and we were headed home by 2PM.

Friday, Jimmy and I pulled off a Double-Q. The courses weren't easy so I was very pleased with our success. Jimmy was even speedy enough on the Standard course to pull in a 3rd place finish, beating out about 40 other 12 inchers. There was a weird incident where one of the judges had what I will call a temper tantrum over ring conflicts. A very strange outburst indeed, and it was quite the talk of the weekend.

Saturday was a no Q day. In the Standard run, I walked out and put Jimmy in his usual Sit/Stay so I could lead out past the first jump. As I was doing it, I thought to myself I didn't like how he was sitting. He was a bit crooked and at a bit of an angle. I didn't want to manhandle him in to a better position as his mood seemed odd, so I let it go. Well, wouldn't you know he crashed the first jump! And of course he ran the rest of it beautifully! So that was totally my fault for not acting on the instinct that was screaming in my head! The Jumpers course a bit later was a tough one. We cruised through the hard stuff, but in the home stretch, Jimmy took out a triple jump. So close.

Sunday, the Standard run got off to a rocky start and I have to give Jimmy credit for saving my bad handling plan. There was a very tough sequence in the middle and we cruised through that and made it to the end cleanly. Our time was a bit long due to my messy start, but, hey, it was a Q! The Jumpers course was either a rear cross extravaganza or a  twirling front cross ballet. I opted for the ballet as it means straighter approaches over the jumps and less chance of taking out a bar. Either way, this course made you RUN! Doing so many front crosses added time to the run but with a double Q on the line, I didn't care. We made it out cleanly! Yay! Two double-Qs for the weekend, WOOHOO! We now have a full one dozen QQs!

Some weekends I just don't feel like bugging anyone with my video camera so no visuals for this trial. However, I will leave you with another very bad pun.......

After three days of agility, I can certainly say......

We were all very TIREd!!!

Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 29  Now he's working on his MXJ3!
Excellent B STD legs: 18. We earned our MX and are working on MX2 now.
Double Q's: 12 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 60 Percent! We're more than halfway there!)
MACH Points: 733 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... 97 Percent!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 6 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 48 points (out of 100 needed) 


AKC Nationals 2014:
Double-Q's: 4 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 172 (out of 500 needed)
Masters Legs: 10 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report - The Season Opener

Well, our first weekend of agility is behind us. As always, I go into it with high hopes, dreaming of getting more of the needed Double-Q's* for our championship. Things started out well enough with a Q (and even 5th place) in Standard Saturday morning. But, alas, it was not meant to be. We had no more Qs (qualifying runs) the rest of the weekend. Jimmy and I share the blame fairly evenly. He popped a weave pole too soon in Saturday's Jumpers run, a very unusual mistake for him. Then Sunday's Standard run had a tricky ending which I botched magnificently! I planted a late front-cross, lost my balance and sense of where I was and that was that. Jimmy didn't know what I wanted and rightly so. With Jumpers, I came out of the ring thinking we had Q'd because I hadn't seen/heard the bar Jimmy knocked down. I get out of the ring, and my friend who was running the video camera for me (Thanks Chris!) says too bad about the pole and I was like WHAT?!.....Big Sigh.

* For those of you who are not agility folks, Double-Qs (or QQs) are when you qualify (make zero mistakes) in both of your runs (Standard and Jumpers) in the same day. You need to accomplish this 20 times in order to earn your Master Agility Championship. Some people make this requirement look like a breeze. I am not one of those people! You also need to accumulate 750 speed points but fortunately they happen in any run in which you qualify, it doesn't have to be a Double-Q. We are well on our way to having enough of those because Jimmy is a speedy little guy!

So, for your entertainment, here are my runs:

Saturday's  Masters Standard run, clean and speedy, giving us 26 more speed points.....




Saturday's Masters Jumpers with the weave pole pop....(Thanks go to Sandy for videoing this one!)



Sunday's Masters Standard with the clutzy handler at the end....

And finally, Sunday's Masters Jumpers with just one bar down...The end was incredibly fun, tunnel to the chute to another tunnel, super fast!

I have a tendency to get pretty bummed out when we aren't very successful, and that is a flaw in my personality. In truth, I should be very happy (and I am!) that both days Jimmy gave me a beautiful table and both days a lovely dogwalk contact. Those have hurt us in the past and this weekend he was perfect. Also, he had a nice 30 minute professional massage when we were done on Sunday. He was found to be in pretty good shape, just a couple of sore spots that were worked out. His iliopsoas that he pulled last summer seemed to be fine. That is really the best news of the whole weekend!

Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 24  Now he's working on his MXJ3!
Excellent B STD legs: 14. We earned our MX and are working on MX2 now.
Double Q's: 8 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 40 Percent!)
MACH Points: 587 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... 78 Percent!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 6 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 48 points (out of 100 needed) 

The Weekend Report - Oh, The Irony!

This weekend was our last agility trial of the year. It was held by the Capital City Cocker Club. They are a very fun bunch and put on a great trial. It was held at an equestrian center so the footing was great. Last year the place was a bit dark and too dusty, but the club had them water it down better this time. The place also made sure all the ceiling lights were working properly. It was quite improved this year!

On Saturday, I have to say Karma was having her fun with me. As you know from previous agility posts, Jimmy doesn't like the table. But it seems to be improving. If I can fit in a front-cross, he seems to pop right on. Well, Saturday's course really didn't need a front-cross, but I tried to throw one in any way. It was so poorly planted, I blocked Jimmy's approach to the table and nearly made him miss the table. He just about broke the back refusal plane and hesitated about getting on. A stricter judge would have called me with a refusal, but this sweet judge let it slide, and we ran the rest clean for a Q!

A bit later, it was time for Jumpers. It wasn't too difficult and of course I had my fingers crossed for another Q. I led out and released Jimmy. He made it one jump before a Doberman in the Standard ring SLAMMED the teeter so hard, it sounded like a shotgun blast. I didn't even know what the noise, it was that loud. It even echoed. Well, Jimmy is quite scared of fireworks and gunfire, and he just plain froze. He kept waiting for more of the same. He of course got called with a refusal for stopping. With much coaxing, I was able to get him moving again. We ran clean but over time......I guess Karma decided the first judge was just a bit too nice and decided to prevent a Double Q :-(

The club offered the optional Time 2 Beat, so we had signed up for that. It was in the same ring as the Jumpers had been, and I was happy to see Jimmy had let go of his fear. We ran cleanly and earned another leg and 7 more points.

Sunday started with Standard again. It was chute to the table this time and absolutely no way to fit in a front-cross. I just had to go with it. Jimmy slowed noticeably before getting on, and it looked like he was getting ready to sass me. But he did hop on, I praised him, and off we went to another Q! Yay!

Jumpers was a tricky course and all was going well until a double jump about 3/4s through the course. Jimmy nicked the top bar and down it came.....Heavy Sigh...

After such a long struggle with Qing in Standard, it is so ironic that now we are having difficulties getting a Jumpers Q! But I am very thankful that we have made such great progress on the table. This was the 6th Standard Q in a row! That means success on the table as well as success on the dogwalk contact.

Jimmy had a professional massage before going home. Anne said he definitely had some tightness in his iliopsoas muscles and spent a lot of time trying to work it out. She said it was time for Jimmy to take a break. Good thing the season is over for us! I guess Wilson will be filling in for class again for a bit! And speaking of Wilson, he got to run a Jumpers course on Saturday. He was quite happy to play and even did his weaves! Alas, he took one bar so we did not Q, but it was fun none the less!

Here's Saturday's Standard run with my messy table handling front and center:




Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 24  Now he's working on his MXJ3!
Excellent B STD legs: 13. We earned our MX and are working on MX2 now.
Double Q's: 8 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 40 Percent!)
MACH Points: 561 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... 75 Percent!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 6 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 48 points (out of 100 needed) 

The Weekend Report - A Table for the 4th Time in a Row!

Yesterday was another fun day of agility. This trial was an outdoor trial held at a farm over on Eastern Shore, Maryland. I was worried the place would be a muddy mess after the passing of Hurricane Sandy, but it was really quite dry. The forecast was for a chilly, but sunny day. Well, the weatherman was right about the chilly, but there was very little sun. It came out for the last run of the day.

The first run was Standard. It was a tight course (the judge runs Corgis!) but not too difficult. It was Aframe to the Table, which seems to be working for Jimmy recently. I front-crossed in between and he hopped right on! Good boy! We ran the rest cleanly and it was a Q! We weren't quite fast enough to place in the ribbons, coming in 5th.

Next, Jumpers. Again, not too tough. A big circle that eventually led to a triple in a corner. Unfortunately Jimmy took this jump out, knocking the top bar. Being an outdoor trial, the ground is not level everywhere, and this jump caused the dogs to jump slightly uphill. It was just enough that a lot of dogs didn't get over cleanly. There was lots of grumbling :-) This was our only mistake but as such no Q and no Double-Q for the day. While I was a bit disappointed, I was stilled thrilled at getting the table yet again in my first run. Success on the table is much more important in the long run!

This trial offered the optional course called Time to Beat (T2B). It was a nice flowing course (as they should be, but some judges seem to forget that) and Jimmy cruised around cleanly and quickly. Now with T2B only the fastest dog get a placement ribbon, and our butt was kicked by a very speedy King Charles Cavalier. Jimmy was the next speediest so he did get 9 points toward his title and of course another leg.

I forgot my video camera so I am afraid there's no agility clips to share. This trial was about an hour and a half ride from home. To get there, I needed to cross the huge Chesapeake Bay Bridge . Well, as it usually is with agility trials, you are driving at the crack of dawn in order to arrive in plenty of time to settle in. Fortunately the clocks going back an hour eased the pain of getting up so early.  I got to the bridge just as the sun was beginning to color the sky. I didn't catch quite the picture I wanted but it gives a hint of how pretty it was to cross the bridge so early. Another reward for arising early!

And at mid-span, I liked the abstract quality of the support structure.....

I've got more pictures from the farm, but I will save them for later. I've got to conserve my blog fodder, don't cha know :-)


Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 24  Now he's working on his MXJ3!
Excellent B STD legs: 11 We earned our MX and are working on MX2 now.
Double Q's: 8 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 40 Percent!)
MACH Points: 520 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... 69 Percent!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 5 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 41 points (out of 100 needed) 

The Weekend Report - We're Baaaaaccck!

Well, this past weekend was Jimmy's return to agility trialing after his mild iliopsoas strain in early July. And he came back with a vengeance! Unbelievably, we double-Q'ed both days! Holy Moly! On Saturday, he was speedy enough that both runs were in the ribbons, both 3rds. Sunday, although his actual Yards per Second were a tiny bit faster, lots of other dogs were faster too, so no ribbons. But to be honest, just the green Q ribbon is plenty fine for me! And Jimmy raked in a whopping 70 speed points as well!

Here are Saturday's runs:

Jumpers w/ Weaves:



Standard



And Sunday's:

Jumpers w/ Weaves:



Standard:







And, because Wilson filled in for Jimmy at agility class over the summer, I figured he deserved some fun, too. I signed him up for just a Jumpers run. Although he had been running clean in class, his old trial stress surfaced immediately and he got rather goofy and sassed me. He definitely had some fun, too, and that's what it was all about.


Here he is:




Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 23 (out of 10 needed for his MXJ) Now he's working on his MXJ3!
Excellent B STD legs: 9 (out of 10 needed for his MX) Almost to our MX!
Double Q's: 7 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 35 Percent!)
MACH Points: 466 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... 62 Percent!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 4 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 32 points (out of 100 needed) 

The Weekend Report - Table Success!

This weekend Jimmy and I had our first agility trial since the Cardigan Nat'l Specialty back in April. It was held by the Mattaponi Kennel Club. I am pleased to report we were much more successful this time!

Of course, getting Jimmy on the table is always my biggest concern. I have been working with him on targeting the table. He's been hopping on and poking his nose at a bottle cap resting in the middle. I tell him to "Go touch" to get him looking for the bottle cap. I don't know if this is truly what helped but he did his table on Saturday without any hesitation. And as luck would have it, all the bars stayed up and his contacts were good. He was pretty speedy too, so we ended up with 4th place. Jumpers was a challenging course with some interesting turns on either end of the weaves. Again the bars stayed up and we had a clean run! We weren't in the ribbons, but still a very respectable 8th place.

Sunday, in Standard, Jimmy again gave me a beautiful table. No hesitation whatsoever, just popped right on. I was amazed, pleased, relieved, you name it. But, alas, he came flying down the dogwalk, completely ignored my command for his 2on2off at the bottom, and sailed right over the contact zone. Sigh. I couldn't get too upset though as the table was a big victory. Jumpers was a really fun, fast course and of course with no double-Q on the line, I was calmer. Jimmy flew through it cleanly and came in 6th.

I didn't realize until writing this post that Jimmy's 2 JWW legs this weekend means he completed his second MXJ requirent of 10 legs! I don't really think there is truly an MXJ2 title, but he has now earned a total of 20 Excellent B JWW legs.

Here are Saturday's runs.......






Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 20 (out of 10 needed for his MXJ) Now he's working on his MXJ3!
Excellent B STD legs: 7 (out of 10 needed for his MX) Better than halfway to our MX!
Double Q's: 5 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 25 Percent!)
MACH Points: 386 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... 51 Percent!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 4 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 32 points (out of 100 needed) 

Accentuate the Positive!

Today I am feeling rather petty. I just learned a fellow agility competitor's young dog has been diagnosed with cancer. They are dealing with the sadness, stress, and medical treatments that accompany this. What a difficult time for them. And to think I was bashing Jimmy for his table performance in yesterday's post. Shame on me! It's only a game and I should rejoice in every opportunity I get to play it. You never know when it will be your last time.

Having said that, I am going to share our good JWW runs from the weekend. Jimmy did a great job in Jumpers and I should be proud of his efforts.