So, while many competitors might consider a one-Q weekend a "failure," I count it as a full-on success.
On Friday, we were still suffering from "NADAC fallout" LOL. Whenever we run a NADAC trial, if our next trial is a different venue, we almost always have trouble the first day. Cedar LOVES the wide open spaces and distance of NADAC, and likes to go wide as a result. I find that I handle a LOT sloppier in NADAC than in AKC or USDAA as well. So, it took us a run and a half to get back in the groove ;) Our first run, Standard, was great except for some strangeness in the beginning which resulted in a missed weave entry. I cued her for a turn into the weave poles but she blasted past me like she wanted to visit the judge (???). But other than that, it was a fun and smooth run. Our next run, Jumpers, was my fault that we NQ'd. I messed her up and sent her off course in the beginning, but the second half was great and she had perfect weave poles. Doh!
On Saturday, I messed up a good Standard run by blocking her entrance to the weaves like a total boss. Then, she knocked the double after taking off about two strides too early. Oh well, it was still a really nice run on a difficult course! In Jumpers, she missed a weave entry we've (hah, no pun intended) practiced a hundred times at home and at class. Again, oh well.
Sunday started off well with a Q in Jumpers! Yay! She handled really well for me all day, and we would have had a triple Q if not for dropped bars in Standard and T2B. Dang! That Standard run is probably my favorite from the entire weekend. She was awesome and I felt that I handled her well.
Not only did we Q in Jumpers, but we also won first place and the "High in Class" award, which means we had the fastest time out of all the Excellent A dogs running in Jumpers on that day. Yay! That award earned us a gift certificate good for $10 off an entry for one of SDTC's future trials. What a great idea! We will definitely be returning to this trial next year.
Here is a video of our qualifying Jumpers run on Sunday. I really liked how I handled the sequence from the tunnel to the jump after the weave poles. And check out that tunnel call-off!
Here is the video of our Standard run on Sunday. I am SO proud of Cedar for nailing that weave entry! At least 50% of the Excellent dogs, and 75% of the Open dogs (who had that same section in their course) missed it. What a good dog I have!
Speaking of good dogs, Ember was a total rockstar puppy this weekend, as usual. She traveled well (except for refusing to pee Friday night... ugh!) and was great just hanging out ringside. She never got overstimulated or too excited to focus on me. She had a blast showing off all her tricks to people and I was glad to see that she could perform in public!
What a great little puppy.... even though she is kind of a bully stick hoarder ;)
Overall, it was a great weekend at an extremely well-run trial. The location was beautiful, and we had great weather, good judges (including our friend Jan Skurzynski from Boise!) and wonderful courses that were challenging without being impossible or unsafe. We had a blast hanging out with friends and I had the privilege of getting to run in another trial with my best girl dog, who seems to be okay after a lameness scare. I think we got better and smoother with every run, and I never looked at a course map and thought, "wow, there is NO WAY I can do this!" For me and Cedezz, that is success ;) If not for three knocked bars and two missed weave entries this weekend, we would have been 6/7 Q's. We only had one "disaster handling" run, haha. Again, success!
Who says that a weekend has to be all about the Q's?
Love the Ember shot! She is so goofy. :)
ReplyDeleteWas a good trial at a really cool location, I had a lot of fun and the dogs seemed to enjoy it as well.
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