I Couldn't Have Said It Better!

I can't take credit for this video but I totally relate to this dog! LOL!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

If you post the good, you also have to post the bad (HDTC Trial Saturday)

Not a good day today....

More about it some time maybe.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

HDTC Trial Friday

We had a good day today at the trial! Aunt Laura came to hang out with us and to video our runs! I love grandma but I also love having my aunt with us!

My standard run was good - I did the chute - and I beat the standard course time but I refused a double jump so we didn't Q. Mom thought I ran really well though.

My JWW run went great - I ran pretty fast throughout and mom made a nice save to keep me out of the wrong end of a tunnel and I got a Q! So if it weren't for that dumb double in STD, I would've had my first ever QQ. At least I know I can do it time-wise!

After the trial we went to Cousin Wilson's and we're here now spending the night so we can go to the trial tomorrow!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

BTCA Trial - Sunday

I ran JWW first again today. Mom stretched me before my run and she could tell that my right hind leg was tight because I wouldn't let her move it as much as my other hind leg. But I was moving ok and standing on my back legs and doing tricks so she wasn't too worried. I did a really good job in jumpers and ran clean but I was over time by 4 seconds so no Q.

As soon as we finished JWW, mom had to walk the standard course. She was really happy to see that like yesterday, the chute was towards the end when I am building up momentum because I can see the finish line and smell the chicken! Everything went well until mom forgot to front cross after #17 to block the weaves from my sight - I saw them and went to do them again - but mom was able to redirect me before the judge had a chance to start his dance! I went right into the chute - the fastest chute I have ever done in a trial I think! And then we were done! Guess what? I qualified and I got my AX!!!!!!!!! (This weekend was the first time I have Qed in STD since April!)

Here is today's video courtesy of my personal videographer grandma!

Now I am a total ExcB dog which is awesome but also means that I have to get faster or I will never Q again!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

BTCA Trial - Saturday

JWW was first up for me at the trial today! Mom walked the course more than usual to try to really have a plan and stick to it. We had a weird start because the leash runner disappeared and mom and I walked the leash over to the team that went before us. Then we got into position and off we went. Things were going well until #12 - the triple. I kind of tripped or stutter stepped before it but jumped it. Then as we approached #18 - a double - I don't know - I felt something stiff in my back leg and I refused to do the big jump and then missed #19 too and then just took the off-course for the finish.

When we left the course, people were asking if I was ok or was I hurt or something. You know mom - she was a little panicked. She had seen me trip before #12 but thought she had done something at the end to not indicate the jumps properly. We had Jenn's mom Susan look at me and she thought my right thigh muscle was tight. She showed mom how to do some stretches on me and said that in her opinion, I had a sore muscle but not a serious injury and could go on to do the next run. She said I would tell mom if I was hurt. And as a matter of fact, she said two of her Shelties had the exact same thing!

So mom decided to let me try the standard run. Silly mom forgot that the second obstacle was the DW but recovered in time to direct me to it. She thought she saw me willing myself over jumps (not just taking them easily) but I kept going and had no trouble with running up the aframe. It's impossible to see in the video but I did the chute - I very cautiously entered the barrel but came out pretty fast.

At the end of our run, one of our friends said the judge did not call a refusal! Seriously? Wow! We checked my time and guess what? I qualified!!! Thank goodness for the little bit of extra time you get in Exc. A! We passed the judge in the hallway later and mom thanked him for not calling a refusal on the chute and he said that I never stopped moving! WooHoo! He was a nice man!

Here is the video (thanks to my grandma again)!

Since we've been home, mom has done some stretching with me and I have run up and down the stairs a million times following mom everywhere. So maybe it was just a flukey thing? We'll see. Hopefully I will wake up tomorrow morning all fresh and raring to go!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

COSSA AKC Trial Sunday

Great dog, shame about the handler....

Today I did the chute (no refusal or anything)!! WooHoo for me!!!!!! Lots of my friends cheered for me when I went through and that was so nice! Then when we were almost at the end of our standard run - just two jumps away - mom was running helter skelter and couldn't get me over the last two jumps. Everyone groaned! I would've had a Q if mom could've gotten her act together!

Then in JWW, mom got totally lost at #4 and instead of heading to #5, she went off to #12 and took forever to figure out what had happened - then when she finally showed me we needed to go to #5, she took off running and so did I and we completed the course like a real agility team - mom ran with me like she does at home or in classes. It was really fun and once again, Iwould've had a Q if it weren't for mom!

Mom thinks this was my best trial weekend ever even though we were 0 for 4. I ran with more confidence than ever and so it was a great experience for both of us! We want to try to run our hearts out (like we did for most of the JWW run today) and try not to worry about whether or not we Q. Because running fast is so much fun!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

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

Our first Novice FAST run!

This morning we went to a novice/open only trial held at our club! Thank goodness for air conditioning as it was super hot and humid already at 8:00AM but both buildings were nice and cool. There was one building for crating and waiting and the other building was for running. We ran novice FAST for the very first time ever! The course was fun and mom was secretly very glad to see there was no chute so she didn't have to stress out over asking me to do it. Mom picked a flowy course for me - we started over at the jump on the right side of the start line and then went in those 3 jumps in a row, did a front cross after the jump in front of the aframe, aframe, jump and then tire then the double, jump, tunnel, weaves and panel (the send bonus), teeter, jump and jump! Sorry we didn't write it on the course map before we scanned it into the computer.

Mom did her very first lead out in a trial! She only lead out one jump but wishes she would've tried two jumps. I was really good and just sat there until she called me to go! The only part of the run that I didn't like was as I jumped a jump and came around to take the tire, I heard that box that makes noise counting out your points and I looked and saw a bunch of people there and thought I didn't want to do the tire. No worries - in FAST it doesn't matter! That's right - there was no YMCA dance by the judge for me refusing the tire, we just went on and didn't get those points (but who needs them? LOL!). I came out of the tunnel and mom said "Weave!" so I did and then I took the jump after that and before I knew it, I had done the send and gotten the bonus!

I Qed, got 69 points (I only needed 50), no time faults, and I got first place too! Granted there were only 4 Novice B 12" dogs today but I was the only one to Q! Look at me - I'm a FAST dog! :)

We try again tomorrow!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

This Weekend's Trial

On Friday we headed down to a trial near my cousin Wilson's house (it ended up being only 10 minutes from his house - very cool!). Aunt Laura came and kept us company and also video-ed all my runs for me - thanks Aunt Laura!! Meredith (Laura's daughter so she's my human cousin) came to see me run on Saturday. She gave me good massages while we waited for my turn!

There's really not that much to say about the trial days - it was a good venue and a smallish trial and we were done by 2:00 on Friday and 1:00 on Saturday. I felt pretty relaxed there and did tricks and tugged on my leash a little bit. I was slow in my STD run on Friday and didn't feel like going in the chute and then mom messed up my Q in JWW that day. On Saturday, the STD course started with the chute and I sure didn't feel like going in there then so I skipped it and the rest of my run was pretty good. Mom held it together in the JWW and ran fast around the outside to motivate me and we Q'ed (finally a Q) but just barely made time. Here are the course maps and the videos from each day:

While we were gone, my new 2X2 weave poles came! They seem really nice - heavy bases and well made. Mom set them up and I tried them a couple times. We put them in the grass and didn't stake them and they didn't move one bit. We're really excited to practice with them and to see if I can speed up my weaves away from home now!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Ouch that double hurts!

We went back for another day of the trial today - just me and mom because grandma couldn't go. It has been a long time since we have been to a trial without grandma! I missed her!

Any way, first up, Exc A STD. We weren't particularly worried about any of the course. But I knocked a bar on the double jump (#4) and it really hurt! I was surprised and it threw me and I refused to do some jumps and then refused the chute and then definitely I was not doing the triple or the panel jump (#14 and #16). So big NQ there! Mom was all worried wondering if I were hurt or not and wondering if we should stay and do the JWW run.

But I was physically fine. So next up was Exc.B JWW. Mom barely walked the course and was just concerned with getting me back out there and back up on the horse and in the saddle again as they say. The #3 obstacle was a big old double so mom was concerned if I would do it. We went out there and I jumped every jump (but not with gusto) and mom remembered all of the course despite her lack of preparation, but I didn't feel like jumping #14, so I just walked on by it. Hmmm....can't tell you why. But that blew the Q! Mom says she doesn't even care because she was just happy that I did as well as I did.

.

So that was our second day. Not much to write home about. We were finished by 1:15 but stayed to watch some friends run in the 8" class. When we got in the car to leave, it started raining really hard and then hailing! The hail was super loud hitting the roof of the car and mom had to pull over and stop driving until the hail let up. Fortunately it didn't last long and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

GRCC Agility Trial - Sunday

We headed off to the trial today at 11:00 and got there a little past 11:30 and the 16" dogs were walking the standard course. So we arrived at the exact time mom wanted to. It was a little warmer and a little less rainy today and while it was still super muddy every where, at least mom had less to complain about! LOL!

Mom memorized the course as she watched others run it and everything looked ok for us except the chute was the third obstacle (we think I do better with it when it is later in the run). Mom made a plan for where to throw my slip lead too (since it was another tunnel start). When it was our turn, we took off and got to the chute and I refused to do it again! Mom is now calling it the "SHOOT!" Notice how well I did after she let me go on - fast teeter, fast aframe, and then check out my weaves - I did my fastest-ever-at-a-trial weaves - especially the last few poles because by then I could see the finish line and smell the chicken!! We NQ'ed again (my fault, I know and I take full responsibility) but even with my fooling around at the chute/shoot, I was only 2 seconds over standard course time.

When we finished the STD course, they were still running 20" dogs in the JWW. We waited about an hour and a half and that was ok for mom because she got to learn the course again by watching. People were saying that no one was qualifying and the course was too hard, etc. It did look confusing with that serpentine the first time through, then take only the middle jump there and then go through there a third time and take the outside jumps only. Mom tried really hard to look for the patterns and also the color of the jumps to help guide her. Any way, when it was my turn, I started out slowly (can you see a pattern here?) and poked my way through the weaves and the first jump of the serpentine and then I took off! It is really hard to tell from the video, but I was running my heart out. We did it!!! We Q'ed - our first Exc. B JWW Q - on our very last run of the weekend! We barely made it - my course time was 47.18 and standard course time was 47. Thank goodness they round down! Out of around 20 12" dogs, only 10 qualified.

Well, we're really happy with my speed and confidence this weekend and even though we only came away with one Q, we think we got a lot out of our 4 runs. But what are we going to do about my chute/shoot performance? Jenn thinks I don't like the darkness and the fact that I can't see the way out - but mom isn't sure that's what the problem is. She got out my own chute/shoot and set it up in our living room this morning and I went right through it many times, no problem. There's always something, right?

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

GRCC Agility Trial - Saturday

We went to a trial only 35 minutes from home today. Grandma, mom and I got there at 11:00 (the trial started at 9:00) and waited almost 4 hours for our first run - our first try at Exc. A STD. It was cold, cold, cold in that barn and dirty! And outside was rainy and cold and muddy and swampy and muddy and rainy and cold! Have I mentioned cold? Mom complained all day but grandma and I were real troopers and didn't complain at all. Any way, mom had time to watch tons of people and dogs on this STD course, so she had it memorized before she even walked it. I started out a little pokey and then when I got to the chute, I just blatantly refused to do it. I crept into the barrel and then came back out. So mom gave up and kept running and then I did really well! My dogwalk was fast and I was fast on the last few jumps too. But NQ - my fault this time - I can't blame mom because she did her part!

Then we had about an hour until our Exc. B JWW run. Mom was worried about this because of how badly she screwed up last week's JWW course by not remembering to tell me to do all the jumps. This course started out tunnel to a red wing jump (you can't see all this in the video - the video starts at jump #3). Any way, we went out to get ready and mom threw my slip lead on the ground not too far from the tunnel (she should've thrown it much farther out of the way) and I got all worried and wondered what my leash was doing on the ground over there? I went in the tunnel and worried more and then came out and got a refusal on the jump (#2) because I stopped to make sure things were ok with my leash! After that we got going and mom had to do some unconventional handling to motivate me to MOVE but I was really fast towards the end again - as a matter of fact, I was ahead of mom! But sadly, NQ again and mostly my fault again, although mom blames herself for the position of that silly slip lead! I am proud of mom for remembering the course this time! Maybe tomorrow we can both get our acts together at the same time?

We are not going there until noon tomorrow - the trial starts one hour earlier - but we are going to take a chance and go much later. Hopefully it won't be as cold and we won't have to wait as long!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Puli Club AKC Trial

We went to our first trial since the beginning of January yesterday - only one day since mom had to work on Saturday. Mom is terrible at guesstimating when we will run our first run so we got there way too early. So mom worked the Novice JWW class and I hung out with grandma. Then we got ready for our first try at Exc. B JWW. The course was not difficult and mom had a plan. It did start out slowly for us because tunnel to weaves is not super motivating for me. But I got faster after that. The only problem - MOM! She messed me up. See the course map below - well, mom forgot to do jumps #12 and 13 - she took me straight from #11 to #14 and then to make matters worse, she didn't support #15 so I followed her right past it. It's a shame about my handler because I was doing a GREAT job!! Check out how much speed I had in the jumps at the end of the run! Mom was disappointed in herself but I forgave her right away - it was all good to me!

Our wait for the standard run was not all that long. We needed a Q in this run to get our Open STD title. The first part went well - it was a good start for me, but even with the jump and then the tire, my dogwalk was pretty slow. Then as we went toward the aframe, mom was way over on the side and telling me to go to the aframe, but I was excited and saw that tunnel and ran all the way over there on my own and started into it. Mom called me and I came back and went up the aframe. I was a little leery of that judge doing all that walking around, so my sit on the table was slow. But check out my teeny little hesitation at the chute (probably my fastest chute in a trial) and then a fast teeter! After that, we were home free! We did it! I Q'ed and got second place (fortunately you can have one off-course in Open and still Q - whew!) and so I got my OA!

I had a good time at the trial. I got lots of chicken, I got to hang out with mom and grandma, I got to see lots of people and dogs, and I did some good agility!

Next weekend (or actually now it's already "this weekend") we are doing Saturday and Sunday of a trial in a horse barn - the site of the 2007 AKC Nationals in Sunbury. (At least I think it was the site of the 2007 Nationals). We've never been there before but we're assuming that it is a nice facility. I'll get another chance at Exc. B jumpers - well, mom will get a chance to redeem herself) and I'll get to run my first-ever Exc. STD course! About 3/4 of the snow in my backyard is gone, so mom is promising to set up my dogwalk today and maybe we'll finally start practicing again. Although we're supposed to get rain Wed. through Sun. We're just exchanging snow for mud!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Valentine's Day marks our one-year anniversary of trialing! Yep, one year ago today I made my AKC agility trial debut! I ran in Nov A JWW and Nov A STD and Q'ed and got first place in both!

In the past year I have done 9 standard runs - 3 Nov. STD, and 6 Open STD (2 Q's and 4 NQ's) and 11 JWW runs - 3 Nov.JWW, 5 Open JWW (3 Q's and 2NQ's - bad sand surface), and 3 Exec. A JWW - all resulting in my NA, NAJ, OAJ, and AXJ titles! We took a lot of classes and practiced in the backyard where we focused mainly on getting me to run faster and to enjoy the game. It seems to be working. Our last trial day was January 3 - here's the video:

So we're very excited to get started on our second year of trialing - our first chances are March 7 and then March 13-14. Then we have a couple days in April. Not sure how many trials we'll get to this year - they are not being held at the horse barn where we started trialing any more and so we have to travel farther. And I'm not sure how much money we will have to spend on trials. For now, besides having fun whenever we go, our goals this year are to get my AX and maybe my MXJ (but we are 10 Q's away from that and so a more realistic goal might be to get 5 Q's in Exc. B JWW).

Hope you all have a very special Valentine's Day - I send lots of licks and even a hug or two (not a fan of cuddling but I make an exception on VD Day) to all my blogging buddies!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

CATC Show N Go

Yesterday I went to my first-ever Show N Go! It was held at the training club where I go for practice every Wed. that we have free. We did two runs of an excellent standard course (easier than most excellent courses, though). My first run was clean but slow and I was very sniffy. I did the chute though with very little hesitation and my dogwalk was fairly fast. I did manage to finish under course time - 60.14 sec/ 62 sec. My second run was faster but not clean. It started out well and when I came out of the tunnel, mom noticed that they forgot to lower the table for me. I can easily jump up there (which I did) but mom was a little freaked out about it. (In class last week I did a table that was set two high and I hit my muzzle and my leg on it on the way up but I was ok and still went to the table and still took the chicken, etc). Then I refused the aframe - don't know why but I thought I should go to the tunnel there - and mom - even though she is constantly telling herself to keep going - told me it was wrong, called me back and had me do the aframe!! Lucky for her, it didn't bother me and I stayed happy. Then mom skipped the jump before the teeter. After that I did a very fast for me dogwalk and mom surprised me with a piece of chicken! WooHoo!

So overall, it was a good and fun experience! And unlike a real trial, I did two runs in an hour and was on my way back home! Can't beat that!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky