Goodbye Open

I should be wrapping up my studying for my massive Anatomy and Physiology test tomorrow, but I do not want to read a single thing more about bones or muscles!  And, I promise I have not forgotten about my blog or all of your blogs - I have just been so swamped with things to do.

We had our second day of April agility on Sunday.  Marge did phenomenal!

We started off with Excellent Jumpers with Weaves.  The course was tougher than the one on Friday, but I was confident going in.  I was also the first dog on the line from the 20-inch height class; I moved myself up due to a possible time conflict with our later class, Open Standard.

It started off well enough; Marge holding her start line and jumping beautifully tight over the second jump in response to my lead-out pivot.  As she sailed over the 4th jump, I cued her to weave, but she ran past them.. again. 




She came right back and fired through the weaves, jumped the double and took the correct tunnel entrance (good girl!).  Coming out of the tunnel, I think I neglected to help her set her line for the next few jumps, and, because of that and her tremendous speed, she took a bar.. her first ever to come down in competition.

But, the rest of the course was flawless.  We ended up with just those two faults.  Not bad for our second time in Excellent Jumpers.

The wait for Open Standard was not very long at all.  I walked my course, with Louie hanging on to Marge just outside the ring, and it was not long before we were in the ring again.

But, before it was our turn, we got to see Amy & Layla pick up their first Open leg.  Amy said that maybe we we brought her good luck.. and I told her that I hoped that would do the same for Marge and me!

(Also, Marge did really well with Layla.  They were very comfortable with one another. I think that if they see each other a few more times, Marge will get all wiggly and play bow and stuff.)

Layla in Open Standard

Marge started out a little wide, nearly missing the third jump after extending herself over the double.  Then, she almost missed the dog walk contact; I'm not sure whether she slipped on the down ramp, got distracted, or what.  But, she did manage to keep those two front feet in the yellow.

The middle of the course went very well, with Marge holding her A-Frame and hopping on the table happily (and I praised her profusely for it!).  She got a little discombobulated at the chute AND was up to her teeter antics (exacerbated by the fact that she got WAY ahead of me), but we held on for a clean run.  GOODBYE OPEN STANDARD!




The effort earned us a third place.

Louie and I hung around for a little while after, and Marge (a.k.a Northbound Fly By Night OA OAJ) was content to doze in the sun.  It makes me so happy to see her this relaxed at a trial and it was really a picture perfect day.

And there you have it - our weekend.  We'll be trialing this Saturday, too, at a new site located on a farm out in Long Island.  We'll see how our debut in Excellent Standard treats us!