We've been in a period of soggy, wet weather. We definitely needed rain, but now it is a bit of overkill. Jimmy and Wilson don't enjoy walking in the rain despite their Welsh origins, and neither do I. Plus, the backyard is now a mud pit and off limits, so there is no energy being burnt on keeping the yard squirrel-free.
I looked at the the boys sitting on the bed sulking and sighing, and thought, poor bored boys, bored boys.....which triggered this song (click and listen, it will open in a new window) in my mind......
Now that you have the tune in your head, here are my lyrics to this music........
Bored Boys, Bored Boys!
Whatcha gonna do
When you're bored and blue
Bored Boys, Bored Boys!
Whatcha gonna do
When no one plays with you
Bored Boys, Bored Boys!
Whatcha gonna do
Maybe if you're lucky
Someone will feed you two
Bored Boys, Bored Boys!
Whatcha gonna do?!
Whatcha gonna do?!
Nothing......Sigh
Our whole weekend looks wet and dreary. I think we will be singing this song all weekend!
So this past Saturday was another agility trial at one of my favorite locations. I've posted about it several times, even in my very first blog post ever! The only caveat is that it is an outdoor trial, no barn, no indoor soccer field, just out in the elements. The weather forecast wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful.....passing showers. That didn't sound so bad. When I got up Saturday morning, it was dry and cloudy. Great! I packed up and headed out. Now this trial is the furthest one I drive to, just about 100 miles from home. It involves driving on the Capital Beltway (always a treat!), then heading east to Annapolis and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Well, it stayed dry and rain free until I got all the way to Annapolis, a solid hour into the drive. Just drizzle at first, and as I crossed the bay, heavier rain. Uh-Oh! Arriving at the farm where the trial was, it was POURING! The wind was heavy and the rain was almost sideways! Crap! I park, and go check out what's going on. Agility trials are rain or shine, as everything has been planned and paid for well in advance. Everyone was huddled under a couple of small tents and a few brave souls were running their dogs in this hard rain. I decided I would wait it out, hoping the rain would pass or at least ease to some drizzle. But after about an hour, it was still pouring! The ground was getting muddy, everyone was soaked to the skin and it was cold! I waffled for a bit, trying to decide if I wanted to run in the rain, or just scratch Jimmy's name off the running order. In the end, I decided since we weren't chasing a big title, or trying to qualify for the Nat'l Championship as we were last year at this time, that I would err on the side of caution. There was no point risking either Jimmy or me slipping in the sloppy, wet footing. Agility is about fun, and this just didn't feel like fun. So I scratched us, and headed back to the car. The poor boys had never even set foot outside the car! No point getting them wet and muddy. Off we went, driving that same 100 mile drive back home. Back across the bay, heading west this time. And once we got just west of Annapolis....the rain....stopped! It just wasn't meant to be this time. It's funny, too, because it was really a three day trial, but being so far from home, I only signed up for Saturday. Friday was a cool but sunny day, and Sunday was a sunny albeit VERY windy day. I managed to sign up for the one day that was a total wash out! And while it was very disappointing to miss out on my agility adrenaline fix, it was even more disappointing to miss out on this beautiful farm at the peak of the fall season. No walk in the leaves, no stroll down by the water, and no photographs! Mischief indeed!!!!!
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)
My Shadow
By ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
I love the works of Robert Louis Stevenson. This poem is from A Child's Garden of Verses, another of my childhood favorites.
There will be no big or little shadows today, however. We are getting the rains of Tropical Storm Andrea passing over our area throughout the day. On my side of town (north and west) , we can expect about two inches of rain and south and east of the city (DC that is...) might get as much as 4 inches! We won't get any winds it looks like, but it will be a bit soggy, that's for sure!
Jimmy has a private agility lesson after work today. That's a good thing as it will take the edge off of being cooped up all day! Wilson always gets a couple loops around the ring just for good measure, so he'll be entertained as well.
Yesterday was a tough day for the boys, especially Jimmy. We had band after band of loud thunderstorms roll through the area. This sent the guys into hiding down in the basement. It also brought quite a bit of heavy rain. For our morning walk today, I headed toward the lake as I wanted to see if the water level was up. It was! Significantly.....
That grass sticking up well behind Wilson is the normal edge.....
And speaking of something rolling through the area....Jimmy delighted in a bit of rolling himself! I couldn't see anything, but he knew something was there. Thank goodness it didn't smell!
Less delightful for Jimmy, this act resulted in a hose-down when we got home.
I definitely think this qualifies as mischief, don't you?
Today, the day the Mayans believed the world would end, began with clouds and a pink sky. The boys were unusually nervous, sensing something, constantly watching, waiting for something.........
The rains fell heavily over night and our walk was a wet, soggy mess!
Dry land was getting hard to find!
The wild animals were beginning to flee the rising waters!
The winds had begun to ravage the lands!
Could it be that the Mayan prophecy is beginning? Did I buy all those Christmas gifts for no reason?!
Well, this weekend kicked off the fall season of agility trials. I certainly hope the way this trial went won't set the pace for the rest I have scheduled. Unfortunately, Jimmy and I went 0 for 4! Each run had at least one bobble, and that's all it takes to kill the Q!
This trial is one of the few outdoor trials I attend. And we have been having the rainiest weather lately. ( I don't know how all those Pacific North Westerners deal with it!) As this past week started out, the forecast looked promising for a sunny weekend. But by the Friday, it had changed to overcast with showers. Drat!
The whole ride down on Saturday morning, I drove through showers. Midway there, the sun struggled to come out, and I was treated to a lovely rainbow. I took it as a good omen.
Happily, the showers ended just as I was getting close to the trial site. We actually had a fairly pleasant and cool day on Saturday. Not lots of sun, but enough to warm it up a bit, and, best of all, no rain.
Now, being fresh from vacation and lots of rainy weather meant Jimmy had had very little practice. Actually in the span of 3 weeks he had attended just one class, so probably a total of 10 minutes of ring time, if that. And absolutely nothing in my yard which is a hideous mudpit.This translates into Jimmy being a bit wild. Our first run on Saturday was JWW. It was a very tight, and challenging course. Alas, a bar went down. You get one guess what went wrong in our Standard run an hour later........yep....Jimmy wouldn't get on the table on his first try. I think my handling getting to it wasn't great, and, of course, it is Jimmy's least favorite piece of equipment. Who wants to stop when you can have fun running? So Saturday was a washout even though it didn't rain!
Sunday started out cloudy and gray. Not as much rain on the drive down, but heavier clouds even at the trial site. Again, the first class of the day was JWW. It was another tight, tight course. (What's this judge run himself, chihuahuas?) Jimmy did a nice job, but alas he hit a bar early on. Here it is:
And then Standard....It started Tire, panel jump, to a dogwalk/tunnel discrimination, where Jimmy needed to go up the dogwalk. This is never good as Jimmy loves those tunnels! And there was a complicating detail...it had begun to pour down rain just a few dogs before my turn. Turn up your speakers and you'll hear it coming down! Well, of course, a tunnel looks dry and cozy, so Jimmy shot in despite my directions. He even tried to go through a second time! So, we were done from the get-go. Happily, he did do the table later on, and the off-course tunnel was our only mistake.
So, a weekend without any Q's. Sigh......I am going to blame it on this...Saturday, the club held a raffle to raise money for the club. One of the items being raffled was a very nice tote bag. I bought a few tickets and put them all toward winning the bag. And when I got back to the trial on Sunday, sure enough, I had won! Woohoo! But I would happily have traded that bag for just one Double-Q!
PS Special thanks to fellow Cardigan owner Chris T. for filming Sunday's runs.
