AKC and new Title......NOT!!

The trial this weekend was great! It was a wonderful return to agility for both of us (after almost 3 months), and I am very proud of us both.

I will post videos of a couple of the runs, but they will probably be a few days away.

Friday we ended up getting to the site an hour and a half early because I read the premium wrong. It ended up being ok because I got an amazing little private place for Hobbs' crate and a great parking spot. I was sleep deprived and just not feeling great. Probably just pregnancy mixed with not enough sleep. The trial site has a TON of stairs and the dogs are crated at the top of them, with the agility rings and bathrooms at the bottom. So if you want anything you had to go up and down the stairs.

Our first run was FAST and this was the first time I had entered it. The send was really easy and I planned a great course. Our run ended up being only 19 seconds long, we got the bonus, and had a total of 61 points! It was so much fun! So we started out the weekend with a first place and a Q. Here is the course:

Friday FAST course Q and 1st place

Next up was Standard and I was really nervous thinking it would be our qualifying run for our NAP title. Hobbs thought we were turning one way over a jump and when he realized we were going the other way (mid air) he dropped his back legs and knocked the bar. Then he jumped his A-frame contact.....Ggrrr. Other that those, the run was really together and smooth.

Last of all that day was JWW and the course was the most intimidating I had ever seen in novice. I actually couldn't look at it on the paper all day because it scared me so much. It didn't seem as hard when we walked it and I went onto the course confident that we could do it. Well, I set up my body wrong to call him off the start line and he got locked onto an off course jump.....and took it behind my back. When I got him back on course the rest of the run was AMAZINGLY smooth and together.

I was exhausted by the end of the day, and went to bed at 8:45 as soon as I had Kaylee in bed. I didn't know if I was going to be able to survive the next day. Luckily, I wasn't planning to get to the trial site until almost 10 the next day so I planned to sleep until Kaylee woke up. So I ended up getting almost 12 hours of sleep. The only problem with that was that I spent the whole night dreaming and having nightmares about agility. It was NOT a fun night. I felt SO much better by the next morning though, and was ready to go for another day.

Saturday was great! Jumpers was first for the day, and it wasn't a bad course. The first 3 jumps were the exact same as Friday's course so I decided to try again to call him to me. This time it worked! I made sure to point my body the direction I planned to go, and he did exactly what he was supposed to. The rest of the course flowed really well, and It felt really good. Q #2 for the weekend! Here is the course:

Saturday JWW Q and 2nd place

I hadn't entered FAST that day, but I really wish I would have. It was a fun send, and I think we could have Q'd easily.

Last of all for the day was standard, and it was a pretty interesting/tough course. It ran really smoothly though, and I only felt like I was getting frantic with Hobbs once. I swear he looked up at me like "what that crap are you yelling at me for?!?" He didn't jump his A-frame but I think it was only because I did a front cross after it. We once again had a clean round and got another Q and second place! Here is the course:

Saturday Standard - Q and 2nd place

After this run I was ecstatic! I was so proud that we had gotten our standard novice title. I got a beautiful New Title ribbon, and raced home to show it off to Robert and Kaylee.

Sadly, when I got home and started putting this trial information in to the record keeping software on my computer, I realized that I had miss counted. We still need 1 more standard Q for our title. So I put the pretty ribbon away, and stopped celebrating. I just keep telling myself that we have another two chances next month.

All in all, it was a great first trial back!

Happy Birthday Girly!

My little Calliope girl turned 6 today, and I spent a lot of the day thinking about her. I haven't seen her in a while, but I know she is with people who love her to death. I am hoping to be able to visit her sometime soon, but I am not holding my breath. I am busy, her people are busy, and life happens to get in the way. Anyways, Happy Birthday little girl! You are such a special dog!

Oops, We Did it AGAIN!

This post has been coming since right after Christmas.....actually the day after.

Yeah, so pretty much we are pregnant again! YAY! This was a "first try" pregnancy, and we are a little shocked it happened so quickly. Here is another picture:

I promise there is a second line on the top test....it was a lot clearer in real life, and thats a crummy picture! The bottom one is pretty hard to misunderstand!

Our due date is September 9th, which makes me almost 8 weeks along, and I am super excited about it. We of course are hoping just for a healthy baby, but I would really love a little boy this time! Another girl would be fun too, but I am crossing my fingers for a boy.

I know this time around the hardest thing for me will be the weight gain. I am still WAY above the weight that I want to be at, and now I am going to have to gain more. I am actually AFRAID to weigh myself on Friday because I feel like I have already gained weight. Uber healthy eating here I come!

Looking Past This Trial

Hobbs and I have an AKC trial this weekend, but I am already looking ahead to the next two. That is because they are back to back weekends. I haven't ever done trials back to back, so I am hoping someone on here has some suggestions for making them both go smoothly.

Is there anything I should prepare for having back to back trials coming up?

Miss 18 Months

What a big girl she has become!

Kaylee had her 18 month check up this morning and she is 24lb and 32 1/2" tall. Her little vocabulary is exploding, and becoming more clear. She tries to say things at random, and sometimes it comes out perfect and others it is jibberish, but I know what she was trying to say. She is still signing a ton of things, but the knows now when to try to SAY the word we ask her for rather than just signing it.

Her favorite foods right now are:

Bananas

multigrain wheat thins

cheese

grilled cheese sandwiches (only when daddy makes them)

my 10 grain cereal

olives

crasins

cucumbers

and the cherries out of fruit cocktail

Her favorite movie is Baby Einstein Nursery Numbers....especially the car race in it

Her favorite thing to do is still to go play on playground equipment. I can't wait until summer!

The rest of the hints

For those who wanted to see the rest of the clues, here they are with their explanation.

Mexican Food - because that is all I can think about eating lately.

Nuts - because we are.....

Fall - When this little one is due (September to be exact)

Peanut(s) - The nickname for the thing growing inside me!

Little footprints - I can't wait for these!

2 - because this is the second baby!

I figured by this last one everyone would have figured it out.

4-legged Friends

I have to say, I am THRILLED that Kaylee likes horses as much as she does. She also loves trains, cats, and her puppies, but she also likes the animal that is part of my soul. Robert took these videos today while she was playing with her horses/ponies and watching "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimeron". I just had to post them because they are adorable.

Yes, I am coaching her a little in the video, but that is just because we started filming just as she was getting done putting them to "bed" so she was starting to lose interest.

This is by far her favorite part of this movie. Lol, if you couldn't tell!

Ok SERIOUSLY?!?

1 HINT, THATS ALL?!? 1 hint and someone....2 someones guessed it?

Man, I need to get better at making up hints! Well, since both LauraK and Katlynn got it on the first try I am going to send both of them a little home-made prize. If you guys would comment with your address (I wont publish it) I will get those in the mail. Congrats smartypants!!

Yes, folks I am pregnant again! I am due in September, so things are still really early on in the process. The raspberry hint was because supposedly that is how big this little one is right now.

Guessing Contest!

Alrighty folks! I have some news I would like to share, but I want to make a bit of a contest out of it. Here is how it will work.

I will post a new hint every day (please forgive if I miss a day) and you can comment your guess. I wont publish any of the comments until someone gets it right. That someone will win a little prize from the labby boys here. Got it? Here would be your first hint:

If you happen to already know the news, please give other people at least 3-4 days to guess!

Wicked Wednesday Course

I have been going to a local equestrian arena for agility practice for the past two weeks, and this week's course was pretty awesome. It was LONG (for a novice person) and had some tricky parts. The hardest part of all of it was that the dirt in the arena was very deep and loose. I think it bordered on too deep. Each person who comes to practice gets 2 minutes at a time in the ring with the equipment. At least for me, it seemed that that was barely enough time to complete the course, even forbid you had a mishap and needed to train for a bit! Here is the course:

Obviously you will have to enlarge it to see what was actually going on. The only tricky parts for us turned out to me 3-6 and 9-10. Hobbs doesn't have the wrapping skills needed to make that turn around 4 and back to 3/5. He knocked the #4 bar almost every time until I allowed him more room to make a wider turn after it. Then he would almost go back up the DW before coming with me to 6. 9-10 was a really tough weave entry, and a LONG 12 poles. Hobbs needed at least 2 tries every time to get it right, but he kept at it and we partied every time he got it right.

I was very proud of Hobbs after this practice. He tried really hard even towards the end when he was getting tried.

Monday Practice

Class tonight was really fun, and we practiced jumper's courses which is always helpful for Hobbs and me. We are entered in novice jumpers at the AKC trial next weekend even though technically we are allowed to enter Open now. I am just not ready for Open yet. Honestly, I feel like our getting Hobbs' novice jumper's title just a bit of dumb luck. Most of our jumper runs at trials were super rough, and awkward. I don't want to feel totally overwhelmed by an Open course.

Anyways, our first course of the evening was the opening of an Open course:

The only hard part of this course was the way I tried to handle 6-8. I tried to post turn 6-7 and then rear cross 7-8 from across the weave poles. We have done pretty much that exact move in the back yard so I thought Hobbs and I could handle it. NOPE! Hobbs bailed out of the poles every time until he was super confused. Lol he wasn't getting frustrated so we kept trying it. After a break we tried putting the rear cross between 6 and 7 but there just wasn't enough room. We got through it, but it was just awkward and slow. Last of all I put a front cross between 6 and 7 and it worked perfectly. Front crosses are just better for Hobbs! Too bad that means I have to be SUPER fast to get ahead of him!

The next sequence was the closing of an Excellent course:

This one looked a bit rough, but it actually ran really nicely. We got it on the first try, but tried it again to get the timing on the FC after 4 to be better. I was a bit late, but it turned out that Hobbs just wasn't able to make the turn as tight as I was cuing it. Gives me something to work with him on.....once the snow melts.

We got the sad news today that our instructor is moving....far away.....like across the country :( I am very sad, as she is a good friend and wonderful mentor. She will be greatly missed in the Agility community here.

Back to Blogging and Agility!

Now that I am going back to Agility classes on a regular basis, I am going to tentatively come back to blogging. It was taking up too much of my life, and taking my attention away from Kaylee, and my wife/mom/family duties. I am going to try to keep it in perspective this time, and will probably not be reading everyone's blogs except for once a week.

Anyways! Hobbs and I have been having a great time in classes, and practicing on our own. Hobbs was good enough to weave his 6 poles in the yard in the middle of a FOOT of snow! He is such a good boy.

We did our first set of 12 weave poles, since before Oregon, on Wednesday morning at the place our AKC trial will be held. He did them perfectly on the first try! He was really good at practice and only had some motivation issues because I dropped some treats on accident and stupidly let him help me clean them up. Stupid thing to do! But luckily we have two more practices there before the trial and I am hoping he forgets about the treats.

I am proud and happy to report that Hobbs' teeter is looking wonderful! He is recognizing that it is the teeter even when he blasts onto it as if it were the dogwalk. When that happens he flattens into a down to ride out the movement and hasn't flown off the end in a good while (knock on wood). At our trial this month we will be entering in FAST for the first time ever and we got to practice/learn the game at class on Monday. Boy is it confusing! I am not expecting much from that class at the trial, but it will be a good learning experience for both of us. Now I understand why it takes people so many tries to get their FAST titles!

Hopefully after class next week I will have time to post our course and a little record of what we did. I am trying to be better a record keeping this year.

An update on Patriot! Poor boy doesn't get a lot of face time on here. He is doing well, getting older, but still a happy healthy (except for an ear infection) boy. His allergies were bugging him after he came home from my parents' house, but they cleared up pretty quickly....except the ears. His hind end seems to be getting a bit weak, and that is concerning and sad, but I am not really sure how to help him. I would love to be able to get a balance disc, but honestly, I don't think they make them that big. Anyone have any suggestions of ways to strengthen a really big dog's hind end?

Agility 2010 Summary

I figured I would do a summary of our first year of competitive agility. All I have to say is that, for a first year, it was a great one!

2010

Trials - 5

• ASCA - 2 - February and May
• AKC - 2 - July and October
• NADAC - 1 - October

Q's - 11

• ASCA - 4
• AKC - 4
• NADAC - 3

Titles - 1

• AKC - NJP

Ugh, the biggest thing I have learned from this post is to keep better records! It took me forever to figure out what venues, trials, and classes we had Q's in, and I had mistakenly thought Hobbs had gotten his Novice Agility Preffered (NAP) title in AKC. Instead, we got our Novice Jumpers Preferred (NJP) title!! Thank heavens for AKC's records on their site! I downloaded a free record book software and finally have everything in one place. I have every run recorded from this year, and will be keeping track of our trialling on it. It has a place for training records too, but I am not going to try to go back and record all our training....unless I get bored some time.

I added all the trials I am considering for the first half of next year, but I might have to win the lottery to have the money to enter all of them. Why are trials so darn expensive?!? There are a few I really want to enter though so those will be my first priority. We are officially entered in our next AKC trial though! The end of January. I am trying to get Hobbs and myself back in shape for trialling because we took a break for so long. I can physically see where Hobbs has lost muscle tone, but I think that will come back in time. I wish it was nicer weather outside so we could do more jumping practice, but I guess twice a week is sufficient.

This year will be an interesting one for us, and I am hoping to be able to trial for a good portion of it. Maybe not all year (since things maybe changing around here a little bit), but we shall see.

After a Month Away.........

I am tentatively coming back to blogging. It was good to take a break and get some perspective on the amount of time I was spending either reading blogs or writing posts. It was taking my attention away from Kaylee, Robert, and the other important things in my life.

That being said, this year looks like it is going to be a good one. Probably pretty tough but oh, so good!

Robert and I had a pretty quiet New year's celebration with our two closest friends. We stayed up until 1, played mega phase 10 (new rules and oh so fun!), and ate a ton of junk food. It was great! I looked over my resolutions from last year, and here were the results:

*Get to my goal weight of 135 at some point during the year. EPIC FAIL!!!

*Sit down at the table for Dinner more - I think we did it a handful of times....so FAIL.

*Run a 5k with Robert - FAIL

*Compete in a dog agility trial with Hobbs - We did this!! We actually were in 5 this year

*Get more organized with the house hold chores - Not more organized, but towards the end, they actually became manageable again.

*Stress less, enjoy life more - I think I did a good job at this one

*Be the best mom I can be - I think I did a pretty darn good job!

*Read the rest of the Book of Mormon (I just started though so it is most of it) - FAIL :(

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I have been thinking about the different goals I want for this year. Some of them are ones I make every year, and need to keep making every year, but others are new.

* First and most importantly, I am going to make sure to keep my priorities straight while still blogging. Unfortunately, if that doesn't work the blog will be coming down permanently.

* Be the best mom I can be! - This one is probably going to be a resolution every year.

* Eat healthier food. Serve healthier food to my family. Serve more home made food to my family.

* Compete with Hobbs in as many trials as I can afford this year

* Read/Finish the Book of Mormon

* Have Family Home Evening at least twice a month - ideally every week, but at least every other week

* Find a way to make some extra money to pay for Agility

* Pay off the car loan and become DEBT FREE!!

* Get my weight down to 150 by the end of the year - This one may be a challenge but I will do my best.

There you have it! My goals for this year.