Sunday, July 25, 2010

Perhaps I am not the FAST dog I thought I was!

Well, maybe yesterday was beginner's luck because today was a different story! Mom's first plan was to start on the jump at the right of the start line and go in and do 9, 10, then the send tunnel, teeter and work our way out. But then she saw the jump on the left side of the start line and thought it would be a challenge to start with an angled lead out like we practiced in class on Tuesday. So it would be that first jump and then 8, 10 and then the send. So she sat me and lead out and all should've been fine, but I decided to veer off at 8 and sniff. So ok, no worries, mom called me and I jumped the big jump 10 at an angle and then mom said "Tunnel" and I said "Nope, I gotta go sniff this piece of dog fur that looks like food!" After I discovered it was not food, I went into the tunnel and did the teeter so no problem with the send bonus, but the clock was ticking the entire time I was sniffing, and we ran out of time to accumulate enough points to qualify with a 6 second time fault!!! (But notice my blazing fast aframe and finish after the buzzer went off and we had to haul you-know-what to get to the end!)







Mom was blaming herself on the lead out and wishing she would've taken an easier start to the course, but I think I would've sniffed on my way to the tunnel no matter what, so I told her it's all my fault! It was fun to try the lead out and ultimately we don't regret doing it.

Sara wanted to know why we waited so long to try FAST - two reasons - one is that FAST is usually run first thing in the morning or last thing in the day and it makes the regular trial days too long for us. The second reason is that around here, runs usually cost $19 a piece and mom can't make herself write the check for 3 X 19 for one day and then double it for a 2 day trial! Since we couldn't run in excellent STD or JWW this weekend, it was the perfect time to try FAST.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky



12 comments:

Sara said...

Thanks for answering my question! Wow, $19 a run. The most I've ever paid is $13. I can see how that would add up.

I thought your run was great! Once Ricky got on the teeter, he ran like a champ! His weaves, tunnel, A-frame, jumps were awesome! And the sniffing didn't last as long as you think it did. Good for you for just moving on at the startline after Ricky went around the jump.

That start would have been really hard for Oreo, with all those people sitting so close to that tunnel. He would have done the same thing as Ricky.

Dawn said...

It's good to try new things, so don't beat yourself (or your Mom) up! Sniffing might have occurred no matter how your Mom started you...right? So really it's the sniffing thing you need to work on. You sure did speed up though!

Diana said...

I thought your run looked really good. I didnt even notice the sniffing. I thought it was going to be really long sniff but it wasnt. Your run looked really good.

Our runs cost $24 for the first run and then $13 for every additional run.

P.S. I dont think your lead out caused him to sniff. Diana

Sara said...

I'm back.

Given how hot some of our trials have been this summer, I would have paid double to run in an air conditioned building like you did today! What luxury!

I agree with Diana, I don't think your lead out led to the sniffing.

Chris and Ricky said...

Thanks you guys! I really don't think it was the lead out either.

The a/c was wonderful! I heard that it got really hot in the crating building in the afternoon on Sat. even with the a/c. The trial went until 7:30 too! People were hot and exhausted - hope it ended earlier today. I was so happy to be done at 10:00!

Unknown said...

I don't think your fast run yesterday was just beginner's luck. Maybe today was just an unlucky day :) We don't know much about agility but apart from the sniffing and tunnel, I think you did very well!

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

Maybe that was a second day of trial thing with the lead out, and heck you never know how things are going to go unless you try it! I agree with everyone else it really didnt look like there was very much sniffying, and it looked more like when Breeze runs around first jumps, just looking for the quickest way to get to mom ;-) Ricky looked like after the tunnel he got happy and was having a good time. GOOD JOB~
Our runs are $21 for the first one and $15 for each additional one.
We dont do FAST because it is the same thing is is run either first or last and with us in open it makes us be there ALL day long, and it is pretty rare they even offer it, so heck hard to write that check when it might be months and months until another FAST class is offered.

Marie said...

I agree, the sniffing wasn't nearly as long as I expected after your description. I thought you did really well. That is weird that your entries are all $19.00. Ours are like Kathy and Diana's usually $23.00 or so for the first class and then $13.00 for the additional runs.

I hope you'll try FAST again, I think you're doing really well. It's a challenge to make up your own course and be able to get the distance portion as well, all in a certain time frame.

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

How about I see up a run in the bakhk yard fur less than that?

Will woo khome?

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Sam said...

Our entries can go as high as $24 or $25 - so we definitely know how much it adds up, and that's why we haven't tried FAST yet, either! I think we'll try it at one of the single-day trials that we're going to do.

I didn't think this run was so bad, either- you have been doing very well at your trials!

Sagira said...

It was so nice to see you this weekend and nice of you to hang out at my place while your mom walked the course. I give your mom credit for not going the easy route and trying to make you the best you can be. Good job Ricky even if it wasn't a Q it was a nice run. :)

Johann The Dog said...

I thought your lead out was fine! One thing I noticed is when sending to the tunnel, once your Mum stopped her forward motion you stopped too. That happened to me a lot in the very beginning, Mum has to remember to 'send' me and keep her motion going till I got out there to the obstacle. For us it was just a process of learning the gamble type stuff. You're doing great!!!

We haven't ever done fast because of the money, besides I get a lot of distance practice with USDAA Gamblers, we love it! Hey Mum did enter me in that trial today, we are so excited, three days of oh so wonderful agility! Can't wait!