So when last we met, before Wilson's Wordless Wednesday and Jimmy's 10th birthday, we were talking about the agility trial held as part of the National Specialty. At the end of the agility trial, eight senior dogs were going to try their hands (paws!) at a modified agility course. An easier course would be set up and as each dog ran, a bio would be read. Well, as they say, the best laid plans of corgis and women (to paraphrase a well known expression!).....The trial was held at an indoor soccer building, which the club had rented until 6PM. But for some unknown reason, the building management rented it out to someone else starting at 5:30! You can see where this is going. We needed that last half hour for the Glory Runs! Things got a bit tense, and the management actually kicked us out! That's right! Despite having the building for another 30 minutes, we were unceremoniously sent packing. Things went from tense to ugly pretty quickly. There were a lot of emotions involved as people had waited all day for their oldsters to play! We had all been looking forward to this part of the day and now it was not going to happen. I would be lying if I said I didn't hear a few FU's thrown about as well as see some one finger salutes. The manager did not back down and we were out in the parking lot in short order!
Of course if you saw this week's Wordless Wednesday, you may be thinking, Wait! I just saw a bunch of photos of Wilson playing at agility! What we did was re-group back at the host hotel, borrow some agility equipment, and set up our course in the ballroom! I have to admit the carpet makes for some very interesting photo shots! Not your everyday soccer turf!
This didn't have quite the feel of a true agility run, but I don't think the dogs minded. Wilson certainly had lots of happy expressions in the photos. I know he felt special because Jimmy was left behind in the room!
Here is a video of his run! I certainly wouldn't miss catching that on camera!
And just as special, maybe even more, the CWCCA had gorgeous ribbons made up. Each one was printed with the dog's name and the Specialty information.
Close-ups....
And finally a group shot of all the participants! Look at the size of the smiles on our faces! This was a very happy group. All's well that ends well!
I still have one more post to do on the Specialty just to wrap up a few loose ends. I don't mean to drag it out, but I want to cover it all. I am hoping to make a Shutterfly book as well, but in case that doesn't happen, my posts will help me remember it all!
This weekend report holds so much news it is hitting the stands a couple days several days late! This trial was held by the Capital Dog Training Club.
The best news of the weekend is that Jimmy seemed like his normal speedy self and after a full weekend of agility didn't seem sore or gimpy. No bars went down this weekend so he seems to be jumping just fine! Yay!
The first news segment is that this weekend Jimmy and I tried the new Premiere class AKC recently started offering. It is much more challenging than the normal Masters level classes, with faster speeds expected, harder weave entries, back-side jumps, just generally all around more challenging for both the dog and the handler. I tried both the Standard and the Jumpers versions and of course I video'd the one I did not qualify in, go figure. It was definitely handler errors that did us in and you can really see the moment when I got disgusted with myself. LOL! It was still very fun and I truly wasn't worried about qualifying. This particular game leads to yet another big title but the requirements are steep enough I don't planning on earning it. We will just dabble....
Here are the maps so you can see the challenges.....
Our Standard run went south after the weave poles. I lagged back too far and couldn't get in a side change soon enough, so I then couldn't get Jimmy to the backside of jump # 8, which then messed up #9. This was the one tough area and we didn't make it through. Oh, well, the rest was great. Here's the video....it's noisy so turn down your speakers first!
Our next run was Standard. This run was similar to the Premiere version with a few differences. Jimmy stuck to his dogwalk contact like a good boy and we went on to finish successfully! First place and 29 more points toward our tiny 2017 AKC Nationals pot.
Jumpers came next and although it really wasn't too difficult, I didn't support one of the last jumps well enough and Jimmy skipped it. I was annoyed with myself! When I got out of the ring, I learned Jimmy had actually popped out of the weaves too early, so I was off the hook! LOL!
Maps:
And finally came the Premiere Jumpers run. It had some tricky spots and those had Jimmy barking at me in frustration. He couldn't believe I knew where I was going! But he was a good by and jerked his way through the odd twists and turns. I got lazy and didn't ask anyone to video us. Of course that guarantees a Q. Oops! Jimmy was the only dog in his height class so we got the blue ribbon by default. There were not a lot of Q's across all the heights, so Jim did a very good job!
After Premiere JWW was over, the club offered a very special class for the "veterans". Our older dogs were given a chance to go back in the ring and play. Although it was open to dogs 7 and older, I think everyone who entered had a dog in their teens or very close. There wasn't a dry eye in the place as the old partners took one more turn around the ring, albeit a short run. I think the oldest dog was 15 and there was even a Pembroke Corgi in a cart (the bars were removed from the jumps). That one really had everyone choked up! Of course, I entered Wilson! Despite his recent practice, he was so excited he ran right past the first three jumps. He had a blast and really thought it was the real thing. He wanted a treat at the end!
I have video!
He got a very pretty ribbon for his efforts......
I made him model it when he got home.....He wasn't thrilled. LOL!
Sunday had a couple of challenging Standard and Jumpers courses (I did not sign up for the Premiere ones on Sunday, too much money for all those entry fees!)
Maps:
Standard was first, and for us the biggest challenge was the dogwalk through #3-#6. I needed Jimmy to stick his dogwalk contact, not take #4 before #3 and get going toward #6 correctly.
I've got video! (Thanks Chris!) Jimmy did a nice fast job and earned a 2nd place ribbon.
Jumpers was an interesting run, circling around the weaves and coming back to them near the end. My moves got a bit off cue on #8 to #9 and Jimmy saved my butt! Yay! He kept moving and didn't back jump #9. We made it through the rest successfully and there we had it! Double-Q # 19!!!! Every trial from here on will be an attempt at Jimmy's big PACH title. This is similar to his MACH but achieved at one jump height lower. So now I'll have ring nerves even worse than usual!
So we had success on four out of six runs, 3 blue ribbons, one red ribbon and a beautiful Veteran's ribbon for Wilson. Plus lots of good friends to visit with. All in all, a pretty great weekend!
And, yes, this huge post ate up any chances of a Wordless Wednesday post. There's just never enough time it seems.
Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress: Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014 Masters JWW legs: 34...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15 Masters STD legs: 31...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15 Double Q's: 19 !!! PACH Points:1492 AKC Nationals 2017: Perry, GA Double-Q's: 2 (out of 7 needed) Points: 131 (out of 550 needed)
