The Weekend Report

Another fun weekend of agility! One of these days I must get back to using the video camera so I can prove it!

Saturday was a very successful day, racking up Double-Q #16 toward the 20 we need for our PACH title. Jimmy earned a 2nd place in Standard, getting his butt handed to him by his arch-rival and girl dog, Twist. I thought we were moving fast, but she beat our time by almost 4 seconds! That's an eternity in agility!

In Jumpers, we had a nice speedy run, earning 23 points and first place.  It was one of those runs that just feel right!

Saturday's maps:

Sunday, the Standard run was going well until the tire. During our walk-thru, I told myself the tire needed more support than it looked like. I guess I psyched myself out because sure enough, that's where we went wrong! After that, as someone else said, the rest was a train wreck. We were both so discombobulated, lots more mistakes happened. It was really pretty funny!

The Jumpers course went better. With no double-Q on the line, I was more relaxed and didn't over-think it. I ran it just for fun, trying things that I wouldn't normally do. I rear-crossed everything! Not one front-cross as is my usual instinct and it ran wonderfully! A Sheltie we don't see too often was running in our class, and if he qualifies, he WINS! And so he did. There's no out running a drivey dog 15 pounds lighter than a Cardigan!


Sunday's map:

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 27...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 26...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 16
PACH Points: 1208

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 9 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 690 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 31 (out of 20 needed)

In other agility news, Jimmy held onto his ranking as the #2 fastest 8 inch Preferred* Cardigan for the 3rd quarter. Go, Jimmy, Go!

*Preferred refers to the class Jimmy runs in. There is the Regular class where he would jump a 12 inch jump which is the height he earned his MACH at, and then the Preferred class allows the dogs to jump one jump height lower than they measure into. This is the class he will earn his PACH in. 8 and 12 inches doesn't sound very high, I know, but when you only measure 12 inches at the withers, it's not so low to the dog!

And another photo from my hike in the Shenandoah National Park:

The Weekend Report: A Double-Q at Long Last!

Jimmy and I attended both days of the Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club. It was a very hot and muggy weekend so it was great to have something fun to do indoors. Luckily, the A/C at the sportsplex did a good job keeping up with the heat. Both days ran Small to Tall so we even had much of the afternoon free.

Here are Saturday's maps:

The Standard course was a bit tricky with the tunnel work and a speedy dog, and 14 to 15 was interesting, but all in all it ran much better than it felt in the walk-thru. Jimmy, being the good speedy boy that he is qualified in 1st place and brought in 27 points on this run! While we don't need any more points for his PACH title, we dearly need them to qualify for AKC Nationals next year.

This was the only run I  video'd:



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It has been quite a while since a Standard Q and a chance for a double-Q. Jumpers is a bit easier to qualify in so we are much more likely to Q there than Standard. But now that I had a double-Q on the line, I was more nervous than usual. (You would think after 10 years of playing this game, I would have my nerves under control!) On this course, a lot of dogs pulled out of the weaves too soon as their handlers turned to 14 a stride too soon, or the dog spied the back of the #1 jump with its electric eye timers attached and thought that was the end jump and rushed off to finish the course (and get that end of run treat!). I made sure to stick close to Jimmy to prevent that error and we made it out clean! Again my speedy boy brought home the blue ribbon and 25 points! So, finally we had broken our double-Q drought! It was double-Q #10 toward our PACH so we are officially half-way! It also counted as double-Q #3 toward the 5 needed to qualify for AKC Nationals. All in all a very good day! It is days like this that keep you coming back!

Here are Sundays maps:

Sunday started with Standard also. It was another course with tricky tunnel manoeuvres making the 6 thru 9 obstacles the biggest challenge. It is very hard for me to beat Jimmy to the end of a fairly straight tunnel so I really had to pour on the steam!  The rest went well and we had another 1st place Q in Standard! This one gave us 30 points! Holy Moly!

And then our final run of the weekend, Jumpers with a double-Q on the line again. Alas, thanks to poor handler decisions, I managed to disqualify us right from the very start. The #1 to #2 jump was our downfall. I lead out and Jimmy did not read my cue to turn and jump and never took the 2nd jump. I so wanted to kick myself!

But all I should do is focus on the positive which is three beautiful blue ribbons proving that Jimmmy and I can pull it off more times than not! We moved ourselves a bit closer to our goals, well, my goals anyway. Jimmy just cares about his big treat at the end of each run!

Not having to wait around for a ribbon, we hurried home with enough time for a nice swim session. Both boys were very pleased about that...until the bath afterwards of course!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 18...MJP Title 01/25/15
Masters STD legs: 18...MXP Title!10/24/14
Double Q's: 10
PACH Points: 836

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 3 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 318 (out of 600 needed)....
Masters Legs: 14 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: Odd Mistakes

Jimmy and I had another weekend of agility. This one was given by the Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club. Unfortunately, I must report that we were largely unsuccessful. It only takes one mistake to be disqualified, and that's what we had. They were weird ones as well.

On Saturday we started with Standard. The course wasn't too difficult, just a couple of places where you needed to pay attention. We were off to a great start, made it through the 7, 8, and 9 turns and Jimmy ran right past the teeter. Ordinarily I talk as little as possible to Jimmy. I don't tell him to jump or go in a tunnel, etc. unless it is not at all obvious. He is expected to seek and take the next obstacle, so I never said teeter. I don't know whether its location made it somewhat less visible to his doggy vision, or if I was out of position to a degree that made him doubt it was next. Who knows, but he ran past and we were disqualified. He finished the rest of the course nicely.

The Jumpers run had one real challenge, a backside jump at #4. Almost all of us handled it just fine. The judge did point it out in her pre-class briefing that AKC is really encouraging judges to put in those kinds of challenges more often. AKC wants all of us to get used to tougher stuff as they get ready to roll out their new Premier class which will have a much more international (read that as harder) flair. So listen up agility peeps, if you don't have a good backside jump command now is the time to train one! I've good a pretty good "around back" and I definitely practiced it several times on the warm-up jump! You can see it in the video:




Jimmy did a beautiful, speedy job with this course and was rewarded with 1st place and 21 speed points. That's a good points tally in Jumpers!


Sunday again started with Standard, and an old issue reared its ugly head. Jimmy did not get on the table on his first approach. That is considered a refusal and we were disqualified. Not sure what was going on, but I hope and pray that won't be repeated!

Here's a look at it:



The Jumpers run wasn't too difficult and was actually set up for a nice speedy course. The weave poles were at #5, and for whatever reason, Jimmy popped out a pole too soon. It may have been that I started my turn too soon, or that he was distracted by a nearby off-course jump (it was much closer than the maps made it look!), but whatever it was, Jimmy will be working on completing ALL 12 poles independently of where I am. He did not get to complete the course. I walked him off the course, also known as the walk of shame. Getting to continue would have rewarded his pre-mature weaving exit.

So all in all, a rather disappointing weekend. I do try to remind myself it is just a game and to not take things so seriously, but occasionally I let it get to me. I need to work on keeping a better attitude! Shame on me, Jimmy deserves better!

Maps:

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 14...MJP Title 01/25/15
Masters STD legs: 16...MXP Title!10/24/14
Double Q's: 9
PACH Points: 699

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 2 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 181 (out of 600 needed)....
Masters Legs: 8 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report - Thank doG!

This weekend we attended an agility trial given by the Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club. They always throw a good party!

So, of course, based on my last couple of weekend reports, you know Jimmy had a bad scare due to A/C noises sounding like thunder. He remembered the building and was even more scared the next time we went. This weekend, the trial was held at a different location. Getting out of the car, Jimmy was fine. He walked around, did his business, and seemed OK. He even wanted to head inside. Since the morning was fairly pleasant and I was parked in the shade of a building, I planned to crate from the car for the morning. A/C noise or not, the car is much less stressful. I went about my routine, getting checked in, watching some of the 8 inchers run so I could get a feel for the course, and finally doing my walk-thru for the Standard run. Jimmy and I were about midway down the 12s, so that meant at least 30 minutes to wait. I tried to time it so Jimmy wouldn't have to spend too much time waiting....and thinking! He came in the building just fine, but when we headed toward the ring gate, he started to balk. Nope, don't want to go near that! So, interestingly, he took the fear association to another building, and it isn't just the noise he's scared of. It seems he blames the queuing area as well. As luck would have it, I had thawed out raw tripe (gross!) for their breakfast. There isn't much more high value than that! So I thought, nasty smell be damned, I'm going to bring some of that along just in case....I was so glad I did! I broke off tiny little bites and fed them to Jimmy pretty much non-stop while we waited our turn. While he was still very nervous, he loves tripe, and kept focused entirely on getting another, and another, and another bite. It certainly isn't the most person friendly treat as my hands were nasty, and a few of the nearby dogs were very interested in what I had, but it did the trick. Jimmy didn't have a chance to think about the ring. He ate the last bite I had and into the ring we went. And he ran great! It wasn't a terribly difficult course and Jimmy kept the bars up. Yay! We got a Q and 21 points!  It was also my 20th MX leg so technically we now have our MX2 title although I don't think AKC tracks that.

Now started the long wait for Jumpers. The day was heating up, the sun was moving around the building and we lost our shade. I had no choice but to set up my crates indoors. This location has two buildings with soccer fields, and the crating was set up in the upper building, in the ring area. Jimmy wasn't thrilled about that, but he didn't have a choice. I settled them in and went off to do my leash-runner job for the 20 inchers. When I came back later, Jimmy was sound asleep in his crate. I guess he let go enough to relax into a nap. When Jumpers time came, he once again did not want to hang out by the ring gate. As long as we stayed a good distance back, he was fine enough to even demand some tripe in a loud voice. When it got down to the last 3 or 4 dogs, we had to queue up, so I became the human Pez dispenser of raw tripe, bite after bite. It did the trick again and we made it into the ring without him too freaked out. He ran another clean course! We had a Double-Q. Yay! This was #14!

Now, I won't bore you with another blow by blow of how Sunday went. I brought more tripe and did need it. The Standard course was quite tricky and unfortunately I pushed Jimmy just a little too far past his triple jump in an effort to keep the bars up, and that sent him over an off-course jump. I screamed for him to stop but momentum and my bad body language sent him over. Sigh. But he ran nicely and that's all that counts! I considered just heading home after that and skipping the long wait for Jumpers since a Double-Q wasn't going to happen. But I decided to stay and I was glad I did! Jumpers was a fun course that was basically a counter clockwise inward spiral. Jimmy ran it fast and clean, and we got 17 points!  That's a lot of points toward my AKC Nationals tally!

And finally, if you are still here reading this long drawn out report (I do these write-ups mainly so I can look back one day. If I didn't, all the trials would just blur into one hazy memory. I want to be able to re-live this journey to our MACH), let me show you something I bought at the trial. Some trials get lots of vendors, some get none. This particular location always gets a few, and this time it attracted three jewelry vendors! Now if you remember my long ago post about bling, you know I have a weakness for dog-themed jewelry. So when I saw this little pendant, I knew I was in trouble!

It makes me go SQUEE!

It's about the size of a quarter and I just love how the cord runs through the heart! I justified it (yes, I feel quilty!) by the fact that the club holding the trial actually pays us to do the ring work. You work two classes, they pay you $5. So over the weekend, I earned $10, which I of course applied to the cost of this pendant ;-) Yea, I'm never going to be able to retire at the rate I buy jewelry, but what the heck, I'll have some great bling as an old bag lady! (Here's the website for this vendor just in case you are interested..... This pendant is right on the home page, front and center: http://www.pawsitivelyaccessorized.com/ Lots of other nice stuff as well! I have no affiliation, I just like her products.)

Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Masters JWW legs: 33  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: 821 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... We've got our points and then some!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 7 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 58 points (out of 100 needed) 
                               On 5/19/13, Jimmy actually WON the 12 inch T2B class! 


AKC Nationals 2014:
Double-Q's: 6 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 260 (out of 500 needed)
Masters Legs: 16 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report - Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Well, yesterday was the Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club agility trial held in Westminster, MD. This trial was run small to tall so it made for a nice short day. Gotta love that! Unfortunately, that's all there was to love...well, other than Jimmy, in a general sense! We had no success in either run, so it was a big double-NQ!

Standard was first. I knew where I would find trouble on the course and sure enough, I did! It was the dogwalk, to a jump, to the far end of a tunnel. Clustered into that same area was the table, as well. I was so concerned about, a) Jimmy hauling down the dogwalk toward the off-course end of the tunnel and/or blowing his contact and b) in trying to work the end of the dogwalk, that I might actually get an off-course table, that I ended up getting a refusal at the jump he was supposed to take because my handling sucked!  Jimmy was a bit annoyed at me for all the confusion, so he did not want to get on the table. After a couple of tries, he did get on, I praised him profusely, and we ran the rest of the course cleanly.

Jumpers was not too long a wait. It was not a very difficult course. Unfortunately, Jimmy took out the top bar of the triple. I am pretty sure it was my fault as I think I told him to go to the tunnel while he was still in the air over the jump. Saying anything over a jump is a very good way to get a bar as it calls Jimmy's attention to me and his feet drop just enough....Since I am on the quest for Double-Q's, not qualifying in STD means not qualifying in JWW really isn't too upsetting other than missing out on a few speed points.

Here's the STD run.....I did not get video of JWWs.




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) 

The Weekend Report - Aaarrrrgh!

I treated myself to a long weekend and signed up for just Friday of a three-day trial.

The first run of the day was JWW, and it was a nice course, not too tricky. Jimmy gave me a beautiful run, speedy and enthusiastic. Unfortunately the last jump was a triple, and he nicked the top bar just hard enough to make it drop. So close, so close, but as they say...Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades!

The only thing I notice in the video was that my last stride was a tad wonky, so maybe that's what messed up Jimmy. Here's the run:



Next came Time 2 Beat, one of the AKC "games". The fastest dog gets the ribbon and 10 points, and everyone else gets points based on how close their time came to the winner. I am not too concerned about titling in T2B, so of course we Q'ed and with a speedy run earned 7 points. To earn a title you must total 100 points and have earned 15 legs, so we will be a while earning this one. We've got 2 legs and 15 points!

And last but not least, Excellent Standard. It was another nice course and, bless his little heart, Jimmy gave me a nice table performance! Our trouble came with a tunnel to the Aframe. Jimmy shot through so fast, I got in his way as he came out. As a result I blocked his view, and he wasn't sure if he should take the Aframe. He balked a little, enough for a refusal but the judge was kind and didn't call it. Next was 4 jumps to the finish. The jump right after the Aframe was straight  ahead. I turned to the next jump just a bit too soon and pulled Jimmy off the correct jump.  The judge gave me the Aframe and I mishandled the next jump. The Agility gods evened the score ;-)

Here's the run:



I really am starting to get a complex about being able to qualify! Ring nerves sure are taking a toll!