My First USDAA Trial

We went to my first-ever USDAA trial today held at a training facility near us. It was a one-ring Starters/P1 and Advanced/P2 trial. We signed up for two of the first classes of the day - Gamblers and Standard. I had to get measured by the judge before I could run and that judge measured me at a whopping 15 1/2" tall! No way (I am officially 14" for AKC) but I was nervous and standing with my back arched. Good thing we weren't worried about a cut-off height or anything. Mom entered me in the Performance level so that I could jump 12" (like preferred in AKC).

First up was P1 Gamblers. Mom asked for advice in understanding the rules on the course map and then made up a plan. 1357 system means that jumps are worth 1 point each, tunnels are 3 points, contacts are 5 points and the weave poles are 7 points. I had to get 18 points (I think) in 30 seconds (I got 20) and then when the buzzer sounded, I had 16 seconds (I think) to complete the gamble (the obstacles on the other side of the dotted line and mom was not allowed to cross the line). She was shocked to see the gamble - jump, chute, jump - but she was more surprised at the result you'll see in the video!


After gamblers we waited less than an hour and a half and did the P1 Standard course. This course had a STC of 70 seconds and should've been a piece of cake for me but I decided to make it interesting by pretending not to know how to do a down on the table and cut the timing very close - LOL!

So I did well and everything - especially with the chutes - but I was not faster like mom was hoping I would be. I felt fine though. Maybe tomorrow will be different. I am just doing P1 Jumpers and Standard on Sunday. Today we were done and home by 11:30AM. Crazy, huh?

Grandpa came with grandma today to his first agility trial! He had fun watching all the dogs and really enjoyed seeing me run in person! It was awesome having them both there! And thanks again to grandma for more good video-ing! :)

Gotta zoom!

Ricky