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: Better Late than Never!

Here it is Friday, and I I have yet to post about an agility trial we went to this past weekend. Looking at my stats, I know these are the least popular of my blog posts, but really I do them for my record keeping. As Jimmy's career winds down, I don't want to leave an incomplete story.

This one was out at the beloved farm in Reva, Va. Here on the East Coast, at least in Virginia, we have had an incredibly warm and snow-less winter. Late February and early March have been in the 60's! So what happens when I have an agility trial in an unheated barn? The coldest air of the year moves in! LOL! Both mornings started in the low 20's and made it only as far as the 40's. But it was still sunny and gorgeous. The dogs all loved it and the humans just had to wear long underwear.

I'm not going to do a blow by blow description of what went on. Suffice it to say, Jimmy had a very good weekend, earning the blue ribbon in three out of four runs. In our only NQ (non-qualifying) run Jimmy knocked a bar after a tunnel. That is usually an indication that I got too far ahead and his stride was out of whack trying to catch up.

The judge this weekend was one I don't remember showing to before. His courses where pleasantly challenging and very good practice for our upcoming trip the the Championship.

Here are three of the maps, one went missing.....

And I have one video......




So I have one more trial this weekend before the NAC. I chose just one day, Sunday. And guess what?! It is supposed to snow that day! Enough to mess with the roads! LOL!

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

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 55...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15 MJPS Title
Masters STD legs: 48...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 14(out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1538

The Weekend Report - Three Out of Four Ain't Bad

Before I launch into my main post, here's a reminder about my Jones Natural Chews giveaway. Leave a comment on that post (not today's!) to have a chance to win some truly delicious treats for your dog. I'm pulling the winner sometime tomorrow so don't miss out!

OK....moving on to today....

My title came to mind from this Meat Loaf song. It has nothing to do with my post except for a similar title, but it will give you a good earworm for the day. That's always good mischief!

This weekend was the agility trial given by the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of the Potomac. It was a lot of fun. Great judges who designed fun, flowing courses, corgi friends I hadn't seen in a while, and even a blue merle Cardigan puppy. SQUEE!!!

Jimmy and I had quite a bit of success. Three Q's and 71 more points. Both of us are loving running in the 8 inch class! Jimmy is happy because he makes less mistakes, and I am happy because I can now run the course for a more efficient line and not a line that helps keep the bars up.

Jimmy earned first place in both of his Standard runs. Here is Saturday's, the only one that was videoed (thanks Melissa!)....




We also qualified in Jumpers on Saturday, giving us double-Q #3 toward our PACH. It was a speedy run, but we could not beat a Sheltie that was a full 4 seconds faster. So, it was good for a 2nd place ribbon. Sunday's Jumpers run had a bar down, which was 100% my fault! I changed my handling plan in mid-run, for no real reason, and badly botched a rear cross. Jimmy had no idea what I was trying to tell him to do and crashed the bar. Sorry Jim, that one is all on me!

Sunday's maps for you agility addicts out there.....

I was definitely the mischief maker this week! We would have had a clean sweep if I had just stuck to my original plan! Oh, well, I'll try harder next time!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 3
Masters STD legs: 5
Double Q's: 3
PACH Points: 194

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.....