Weekend Complete

The rest of Saturday went well. I fell asleep for a little while before heading back to the trial. Once we got back, we found that they were running at least an hour behind schedule. The wind was whipping and they needed extra ring crew to make the courses usable. They had someone holding the sides of the panel jump up, and another person standing on the chute to keep it from twisting in the wind.

The wind was so bad that I considered scratching. A canopy tent went tumbling in to the ring while a little Sheltie was finishing up his run. Thankfully, no one got hurt, but it was scary. A lot of tents - including my own, which is now mangled and unusable - came down with the wind.

But, yes, we stayed. I figured that it things got really bad when we were due in the ring, I'd just say thank you and walk off. We lucked out, and our course stayed up while we ran in Novice Standard.

It wasn't a bad course. The chute was really the only problem. I was able to get into front cross position after the broad jump - wasn't sure that I'd have time - but it looks like I actually overran it. Never thought THAT would be the problem with me! The rest of the course was pretty straightforward - her teeter was slow but she didn't get startled or fly off, so I was happy. And her dog walk contact was BEAUTIFUL. She didn't hold her A-Frame, but that's an ongoing training issue for us. All in all, it was good for a score of 95 (5 points off for refusal at the chute) and 2nd place. Our second Novice Standard leg!

After that, we went home and relaxed. I slept, either on the couch or in my bed, the majority of the time that I was home.

It started all over again in the morning on Sunday. Woke up at 5:30, did my papers, left my house by 7:15. I discovered upon arriving there that I had lost my temporary height card. I was SO mad. If there's an official measurer at our next trial, it'll be okay. But, if not, Marge will have to be measured by the judge. I have no idea what I did with it - I never lose stuff like that and I really don't want to put Marge through an extra measurement. I looked all over the place, but it must have blown away.

I was definitely stressed and Marge picked up on that, so she was a little bit nervous when we first got there. Thankfully, we both got it together and felt better. Since I did not have my tent, we set up with a friend. Being with someone we know makes us feel better, too. Louie met me there around 8.

Our first run, standard, was around 10. It was still windy, but not as bad as yesterday.

This was SUCH an awesome run. She didn't hold either of her contacts and the wind had knocked down one of the jump bars, but I feel like I made some really nice handling decisions. The front cross after the yellow tunnel worked SO well, and so did the front cross after the weaves to get in to the chute. Then, I sent her out to the tunnel so I could get in position for a landing side front. Three fronts, one course. That's probably a new record for me. I hate fronts!

I had no idea that this would wind up being a clean run. I thought we would have had a refusal for the little bit of spinning before the red tunnel at the end. But, nope! That was our title. Our very first ever agility title. And, we got a 1st place for our efforts.

Once again, we went home after our first run. I was exhausted, and starting to feel a cold/sore throat coming back. Louie and I fell asleep, and I strongly considered not going back. I didn't know if I was pushing myself or Marge too far.

Of course, at the last minute, I decided otherwise. Marge was still flinging toys at Louie and poking us with her nose to get us to do something. She didn't seem fatigued at all, so I toughed it out for one more run. Look at her waiting ringside before her final run - she looks extremely calm and confident. Our dog trainer friend (who knows A LOT about fearful dogs) remarked the same earlier in the morning. Lots of soft eye blinks going on.

And it was a good thing I did tough it out. This Jumpers course was extremely fun, flowy, and fast. Marge looked like she liked it, too. Most people were front crossing to the weaves - but we've practiced backs to the weaves often and I was confident that we could pull it off. Louie cut the video off, but she was all wiggles and wags after this run (and ALL runs - I suspect the handfuls of food that she gets has a lot to do with it!). We Q'd in a 20 second run, 5 seconds ahead of the 2nd place dog. Finally, finally, finally, I got it together for Marge in Jumpers.

KB asked about the specifics of Jumpers. In AKC, the Jumpers with Weaves Class (shorted to JWW or Jumpers) is made up of jumps, weaves, and sometimes tunnels. Other venues have variations of this, sometimes without weaves or without tunnels. The point is that the course is fast, and you don't have the option of slowing down on the contacts or table like you do in Standard. So, I guess you could say that directional handling matters more.

I was REALLY pooped after that. We stuck around to get our ribbon and then high-tailed it out of there.

I was really happy with this weekend. The sounds of the rest of the park were, indeed, masked by the sounds of the trial. We didn't get to walk down to the water like I would have liked, but it was more important that Marge stayed comfortable. She did really well, going up to several people for attention and even playing with some dogs (including a DARLING Border Collie named Panda and our friend's Bernese Mountain Dog - yes, BIG dogs, not little ones!). She was able to relax in her crate and, in the event that something did startle her, she recovered quickly.

No more trials for at least 5 or 6 weeks. I'm adamant about not overdoing it with her. There are a couple of trials in June that I'm thinking about and need to make a decision on very soon (as in, tomorrow!). It's nice to bask in our success of this weekend for now, though!