The Weekend Report: More Puppy Play!

Jimmy and I were back at the farm again for another agility trial. It was a gorgeous day to be out in the country! Alas, our luck is still AWOL. Jimmy took a bar in each run. Of course we still had fun!

Like last time, there were other puppies in attendance besides just Cedar. This time Cedar got to play with a five month old Border Collie. She was quite a bit bigger/taller but they still played together well. It was a warmer day than the previous weekend so they tired out a bit more quickly, but I still got plenty of photos! I could watch puppies play all day!

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: Lions and Tigers and BEARS, Oh My!

This weekend, Jimmy and I were back at the farm out in Reva, Virginia. The weather forecast was for "occassional"  rain on Saturday, but mostly just overcast. Well, occasional turned into "steady" rain. There were lots of muddy dogs and cars by the end of the day!

At the start of each class, there is a judge's briefing. They go over the safety rules each time, ask if anyone sees any course design that might be too risky to the dogs, etc. This is also the time when the dog club that is hosting the trial has a chance to give announcements. This weekend they wanted us to know of a few "Don'ts".....Such as..."If the animal isn't yours, don't feed it!" There are horses and a couple of pet pigs close by, and it seems the pigs were sick from all the snacks they received at the last trial. Oops!

Here are those cute little piggies....pretty hard to resist.....When you stop by the stall to say Hi, they run over squealing and wagging their little piggy tails just like a dog. Freaking adorable! This variety only gets to about 50 pounds, so a really good pet size.

Lula and Dixie

My hand is added for scale.

The next Don't was "Don't walk your dogs along the treeline next to the barn, or on the hills behind the barn" and this was because a family of black bears had moved in....A momma and two cubs plus her yearling from the previous year. Unfortunately I didn't see this, but the yearling was spotted moseying through the field where we all park our cars (but not too close, at the back of the field) and then tried to cross one of the horse paddocks. He was quickly run out of town by the resident horses! LOL!

Fortunately, the rain (and the bears!) did not effect our success level! The judges designed some very fun and flowing courses that were really fairly easy.

Here are Saturday's maps:

Jimmy qualified in both runs, pulling off Double-Q #17 toward our PACH title.

This club gives very pretty ribbons!

Sunday was a much cooler and beautifully sunny day. You could see many of the dogs were feeling extra "up" for the event, loving cool temps as they do.

Jumpers was our first run of the day. It was a lot of fun and Jimmy did a great job, earning first place! For the Standard run, it was a dogwalk to the tunnel, which I knew from past experience would be our make or break moment. Unfortunately, it was a break, totally my fault due to a bad handling decision causing Jimmy to blow his dogwalk contact (the yellow zone at the bottom of the down plank).  The rest was fast and furious and, of course, clean! Oh, well, no double-q for Sunday. We need three more to get our title and are down to just two more trial days this year so the PACH will be waiting for the spring trials.

Sunday's maps:

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 29...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: 1299

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 10 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 781 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 35 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: Wow, What a Weekend!

Jimmy and I were back to having fun competing in agility this past weekend. It was at the beautiful farm out in Reva, Virgina and the weather could not have been any more perfect! Beautiful fall days with lots of sunshine and the trees just beginning to put on their end of year show. Just being in the country for two days with such wonderful conditions was great, but add to that a perfect agility weekend and it doesn't get any better.

It is rare for Jimmy and me to qualify in all of our runs. We just aren't that consistent. But if it is going to happen, it often happens at this location. Jimmy really seems to shine on the dirt flooring. He tends to be a bit slower, but the bars stay up better. I bet being a bit slower also helps to keep other mistakes away as well. What ever be the case, Jimmy and I went 4 for 4 runs this weekend and they were all first place finishes! Woohoo! What a great little guy Jim is!

But that wasn't the end of our accomplishments for the weekend.....

So these were a double-Q each day.....#14 and #15 toward our PACH....just 5 more to go.....

They also earned us two new titles....Jimmy's Masters Jumpers Bronze Preferred and his Masters Standard Bronze Preferred (25 Qs to earn each one.....)

And with the points we earned from these runs, Jimmy is now fully qualified for the 2016 AKC National Agility Championship next March! It's being held in Tulsa, OK, so a very long way off. I don't know for sure that we will go, but now we have the option!

So as my post title says.....Wow, What a Weekend! (that could have been a Wordless Wednesday title!) I didn't get anyone to video us, so I'm afraid you will just have to watch an old video and pretend ;-)

Here are the maps from both days for you agility fanatics out there. Saturday's courses were quite mild and very doable. Sunday's Jumpers course (map on the left, bottom image) ate up and spit out all but four of the 20 and 24 inch dogs. The weave entry got some of them, and if the handler fell too far behind, off-course obstacles got the rest of them! It got better for the smaller dogs as their strides don't carry them so far and it's easier to catch things before a mistake is made.

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 25...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 25...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 15
PACH Points: 1144

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 8 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 626 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 28 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: Nice Weather at Last!

This past weekend was an agility trial at my favorite location, the farm in Reva, Va. Saturday dawned wet and rainy which didn't bode well for a trial in a large barn. But as I made the long drive to the southwest, the rains tapered and then pretty much ended by the time I arrived. It remained a cloudy day but with a pleasant temperature. Walking around the grounds was very doable and I didn't even need the mud shoes I had brought. Sunday was a clear blue sky day, rather windy, but just gorgeous! After the nasty February/early March weather, it was a delight to be out in the mountainous countryside. Nothing has started to green up yet, but the sunlight was so uplifting and warm!

The judge for this trial is a Cardigan Corgi person who has been very successful with her Cardi. She's been to the big Invitational event several times. This was the first time I had run at a trial she was judging and I think it made me a bit more nervous. I wanted my Cardi boy to shine for her. And I think he did! We were successful in three out of four of our runs, with a first and a second place on Saturday (so, yes, a much needed double-Q!) and then on Sunday a first place on a tricky Jumpers run. Unfortunately, Jimmy's handler (moi!) botched the last run and pushed him to an off-course jump. Totally my fault and I felt so bad for robbing Jimmy of another double-Q!

Here is the tricky course from Sunday morning. It was the only video I got so I am glad it was a good one!





Maps:

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 12...MJP Title 01/25/15
Masters STD legs: 15...MXP Title!10/24/14
Double Q's: 8
PACH Points: 639

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 1 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 111 (out of 600 needed)....
Masters Legs: 5 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: Beautiful Weather + Beautiful Setting + Agility = Perfect Weekend!

Jimmy and I had our first agility trial since August this weekend. It was out in Reva, Va at a farm. We were there last year so I was really excited to go back on a weekend that was promising gorgeous fall weather. When they talk about how it's all about location, location, location, they are definitely talking about this farm. When I wasn't having fun playing agility in the big barn, I was up on the hills taking pictures like this.....

or maybe this.....

My heart just sings when I can get into the great outdoors on a lovely fall day. It was truly spectacular!

And the agility was pretty darn good, too! I didn't get any video this time so I'll just do a brief recount of the runs.

Saturday started with Jumpers. There was plenty of opportunity to go for speed plus a couple of challenging side changes. We made it through cleanly and Jimmy netted the 1st place spot.

When Standard came along a couple of hours later, I must have left my brain back at the car when I got Jimmy out to run. At agility trials, things are kept moving at a brisk pace in order to get all the teams through in a timely manner. This means going into the start line while the team before you is finishing the last couple of obstacles and leashing up to leave the ring. That way you are all ready to go when the timer gives you the go. Well, I guess, being brainless, I was going on auto-pilot. I got to the line, unleashed Jimmy, walked out, released him, all BEFORE I was given the go ahead! D'OH! This meant I got about two obstacles along before the judge called a halt to our run! He graciously allowed me to start over, but Jimmy was so indignant that I had stopped him short on the course that he could no longer focus. He made some of the most bizarre errors, ones he's never made before and hopefully never does again! So this blown run was 100% on me! I think that qualifies for Monday Mischief, although I've got an even bigger one to tell later.....

Saturday's maps.....For those of you agility nerds out there, look at the Standard map for the line from the #12 table through to the #16 tunnel. It was an amazingly tough line and many, many runs went south in that corner.

Sunday started with Jumpers as well. This was a fun and fast romp that wasn't too difficult. Jimmy buzzed through it successfully and again earned 1st place.

Standard was a fun course. It was long with lots of twisting here and there. I managed to wait for the official "GO" this time, which pleased Jimmy. He cleared all the obvious traps and we were home clean! He again earned the 1st place spot. Such a very good boy!

Sunday's maps....

The weekend netted us a double-Q and another 61 points toward our PACH. Here's where we stand....

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 7
Masters STD legs: 9
Double Q's: 5
PACH Points: 367

Now, on to the BIG mischief for this post. I'll warn you now, it's not pleasant (read that as meaning it is gross!), but it it also has a funny side as well....OK, here goes.....

This trial was a good hour and a half drive from my house. I wanted to get there with plenty of time to settle in, walk the dogs, eat some breakfast, etc. That meant I wanted to get there a little bit before 8AM. Doing the math, you can see where this means I needed to leave home before 6:30AM, and well before sunrise. Part of the journey put me on a major highway. The full three lane type with barriers between the east/west sides as well as large shoulders, double exit lanes, etc. Just a full on highway. And one with enough traffic even at this early hour that I could not use my high beams to see further down the road. So, unfortunately, just before my exit, at a spot where an overpass was casting very deep shadows, someone hit a deer. At highway speeds, by the time I saw the carnage, it was too late for me to dodge the body. The left side of my car made a sickening lurch up and over the deer, thumping it along hard before moving on. Fortunately for me, I never even had a chance to panic and swerve which probably would had caused the car to go out of control. It was a wholly unpleasant sensation to have run over such a large carcass. I'm just glad I wasn't the one that made the initial strike as that is much more dangerous! I am sure who ever did it was caught totally off guard. This highway was just not a spot one would ever expect to encounter a deer. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn't wreck, and continued on, albeit a bit shaken up and very grossed out. But the story doesn't end here, and this is where it takes a turn for the more amusing side. I get to the trial and park in the field with the other cars. Lots of us are arriving around the same time. I get the boys out of the car for their walk, and instead of striking out to sniff out horse poop, they are GLUED to my car. They have their noses poked up into my wheel wells, Jimmy tries to lick the front fender, Wilson tries to wedge himself under my car. MMMMM-mmm! Dead deer was splattered here, there and everywhere on the under-carriage of the car. It must have smelled delectable to the boys if their behavior was any indication. I literally had to DRAG them away from my car! If this wasn't amusing enough, throughout the morning, I had people coming up to me and telling me how they could not get their dogs past my car, that they were being pulled over to it, leashes jerked out of hands, coffees being spilled by over-eager dogs trying to get to my car. Needless to say, the very FIRST thing I did when I got home was to wash my car! I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. I have the unfortunate feeling there are still remnants far underneath the belly of the car as both boys were still very interested in sniffing it this morning. This is some serious mischief, if you ask me!

And one final bout of mischief....this morning finally dawned cold enough I needed my winter coat and gloves for the morning dog walk. Sigh......Winter is Coming!

To finish it all off, a couple more pictures.....

The Weekend Report: Yes! You Read That Right!!!!

First, I must rant! I just spent an hour writing up this post, previewing along the way, and was almost done...so close. I fumbled fingered it somehow, and all my text was gone! Vanished! Not saved as a draft, just gone. ARRGGGHHHH!!!!!! Now I don't have the patience to rewrite it as I had it. Sigh!

Here's an abbreviated version:

This past weekend, Jimmy and I actually tried our hand (and my knee) at an agility trial. I needed to know where I was in my recovery. I truly didn't want the big AKC National Agility Championship at the end of this month to be our first try since early December.

Currently, Jimmy and I are sitting at Double-Q #19. We need twenty to complete our championship title called a MACH. We already have all the points we need so it's just getting that last double-Q. Ordinarily, my nerves would have been on overdrive, worrying about getting two successful runs. But, having no idea if I could really even run, let alone run fast enough to show Jimmy where to go, and also worried that it could potentially be very painful, I had no nerves at all about earning Double-Q #20! I just wanted to see if I could do agility at this point in my recovery. And I found out, yes, I can! Woohoo!

No doubt about it, I have a significant limp. I don't have full speed capability yet. But I learned I have enough to get through a course without frustrating Jimmy. And it really doesn't hurt, just feels odd or maybe twingey.Even after two days of agility, my leg was not sore this morning. This is really happy news. I still have another 10 days I can use to improve my stride now that I trust my leg more.

As to how the weekend went, course wise, let's just say we came very close to earning our championship. Each day, just one downed bar stood in our way. When you consider that my lurching stride was a big distraction for Jimmy, he did a great job. Saturday just one JWW bar, Sunday in Standard, the top bar of the triple. Other than that we had nice runs where I managed to get to where I needed to be.

In addition to our Jumpers and Standard runs, this trial also offered Time2Beat. In an effort to spare my knee too much work, my friend Gretchen handled Jimmy for those runs both days. Many dogs won't run for anyone but their owner. However, with just a tiny bit of angst and a brief look back at me, Jimmy flew around the courses with Gretchen like they had done it 100 times before. Gretchen runs her own Pembroke Corgis, so Jimmy's speed and style of running were pretty familiar and she did a wonderful job, Q'ing both days! She even finished our Time2Beat (T2B) title for us. Thank you, Gretchen!

Jimmy's registered name is now:

Fine Creek's Sharp Dressed Man RN HT MX3 MXJ4 MJB MXB OF T2B

How's that for alphabet soup?

The weekend leaves me feeling very hopeful that I can go to the big event feeling, if not ready, maybe secure in the knowledge I'll be able to get around the ring. The truth of the matter is, even before my knee, we were never going to the podium. The accomplishment for us was in the qualifying. And for me, the experience of competing at a big National event. So barring anymore unexpected surprises, we'll be there! It may not be our A game, but we will be there!

Here's are a few videos.....

Saturday Standard:





Sunday JWW






Sunday Standard:





Sunday Time2Beat:

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)

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!