Best Trial Ever!

This happened all the way back in February and I am just now blogging about it! ** For all of my non-agility readers, I am going to do a post about some common agility jargon so you will be able to understand these posts. But I tried to explain as I went.**

Hobbs and I had an amazing trial in February. It was our first AKC trial of the year and our first full trial being in Excellent everything.

It. Was. Awesome!

We only did one day, so 3 runs. We Q'd in every single one! No titles earned, but a perfect trial! Really quick, a Q means that I had a perfect, Qualifying, run in the class I was entered in. No mistakes.

First off, I got to the site only to find that someone had taken the little secluded spot I usually put Hobbs in to keep him calm and away from any loud dogs. Being around a ton of dogs usually stresses him out and throws him off his game. I had to find a spot that would be away from any loud dogs I could find.....not an easy task as a lot of agility dogs bark when they are in their crates and not playing. Many of them bark when people or other dogs walk past which is constantly during a trial. I put a blanket over his crate and crossed my fingers that it wouldn't affect him.

The first class was FAST - This is a class where there isn't a numbered course, but some of the obstacles have different points value. There is also a distance challenge where the handler can't go as close to the obstacles as they may want to, but they still need to get the dog to do the obstacles. To get a Q, you have to get 60 points AND get the distance challenge, all in under 35 seconds. Do you know how SHORT 35 seconds is??

The course map:

Hobbs was a MANIAC on this course!! I am so glad it was FAST first because I could make up my own course. The send was no problem at all....it was one of the easiest I have ever seen on an Excellent course. After this course I was worried that Hobbs and I were not going to have a good day. I shouldn't doubt my little dog. He is amazing!

Next was our Standard class. This is where all of the equipment is used, and there is a set course and a maximum time allowed to complete it. I think this is my favorite class. It is definitely my favorite to watch, and usually my favorite course to run. Hobbs likes it better as well because constant jumping just isn't as motivating for him.

Course Map:

This run was so smooth and together! I was nervous about Hobbs getting his weave pole entry after the tunnel, but there wasn't a problem at all. The only really scary part was that I was behind Hobbs as he ran down the last line towards the triple jump. I was running as fast as I could but didn't keep up with him. When he went over the triple, he started to drop his back legs (something he does when he isn't sure about where he is going next) and then yanked them back up. His legs went down right between the bars, and it was a miracle that he got them back up without dropping at lease one bar. This Q gave us our first points towards a very big title, and I was ecstatic about it!

Last for the day was JWW (Jumpers with weaves). This is a class entirely made up of jumps, weave poles, and sometimes tunnels. It is the class that has been really difficult for us in Excellent. This was our 10th run trying to get a clear round.....I will be honest and say that I was getting discouraged.

The course map:

When I looked at the map, and waked the course, I basically "knew" we weren't going to be able to get around the course clean. Lol, I have such faith in my and my dog's abilities huh? When it was our turn, I don't think I breathed the whole time on course....It seemed like it was slow motion, and after Hobbs got over the last jump I couldn't believe we had actually done it! We got our first ever Excellent JWW Q!! I don't think Hobbs has ever seem me so happy after a run EVER, and he loved it. He kept trying to do his little labby scoots, but couldn't with his leash on. We ran outside and I let him off leash to run and celebrate.

I learned at this trial that my little dog deserves a LOT more credit than I give him! He does this for ME!! Yes, he enjoys it, but he enjoys my happiness with him more than playing the game itself.

Our next trial is in only 3.5 weeks, and I am hoping we are ready. It will be a LONG 3 day trial, and I love the site it is at.

Year in Review

Our second year of competitive agility was AWESOME!! Here is our summary:

2011

Trials - 8

• ASCA - 1 - February
• AKC - 7 - January, February, May, June, July, and September

Q's - 23 (this is DOUBLE from last year!!)

• ASCA - 3
• AKC - 20

Titles - 7

• ASCA - GS-N (novice gamblers)
• AKC - NAP (novice agility preferred), NFP (novice FAST preferred), OJP (open JWW preferred), OAP (open agility preferred), OFP (open FAST preferred), AXP (agility excellent preferred)

I truly LOVED our year of agility! My little dog did me proud on almost every single run. The only ones he had a lot of trouble with were the ones at our Idaho trial. The thing I wish I had tried harder with was practicing and keeping him fit. He may or may not have injured himself during our last trial, and part of that is probably because he wasn't fit enough. I openly admit that, but it is tough to keep a dog fit with a two year old and being pregnant most of the year. I will do better this next year! If he had been fit, we could have had 3 more months of agility this year. Instead, I was trying to keep him sane while he healed.

*Our Agility goals for next year:

*Get out of Excellent A!!! - or at least get an Excellent JWW Q
*Earn a QQ towards Hobbs' PACH
*Earn half of our speed points towards a PACH (that is 375 points)
*Trial more in ASCA
*Attend a seminar
*Attend AKC Nationals! Lol as a spectator anyways
*Get and keep Hobbs fit
*Practice 3x per week (at least)
*Come up with a pre-run routine
*Get a reliable A-frame contact
*Complete the weave pole challenge
*Trust my dog more at trials
*Trial like I practice
*Have FUN!!

AKC x 2

Yes, I know it has almost been TWO months since I updated last! Hopefully that doesn't become a habit, but it might. Life is just busy right now, and we aren't doing any agility lately....more on that to come.

Hobbs and I were able to compete in two more AKC trials last month, our 6th and 7th so far this year, and for the most part they were pretty good. Lets just say that, so far, Excellent is kicking our butts.

The first one was at a beautiful site, a large horse farm with huge grass paddocks and the grass arena they turned into agility rings. The only classes we Q'd in were Open FAST and T2B preferred. We had two other really REALLY nice runs, but the little mistakes I made cost us the runs. Here are the courses and as much as I can remember about them.....forgive me. Its been two months :(

Friday:

Excellent STD - This was such a nice run! We had one refusal at #15, I think, because I didn't support him enough over the jump.

Excellent JWW - Another really nice run that was SO close to being a Q! It was another refusal, but I can't remember where on the course it was.

Open FAST - This course was great. Fast and easy! No problem with the bonus, and we got our 2nd open leg.

Saturday:

Excellent JWW - Bad run. 3 Refusals and 1 wrong course :( Looking at the course, I don't remember why it was so difficult. I think we were just having a bad day. I do have this one on video somewhere, but I can't find it for the life of me! I do remember that his landing coming off #12 it looked like he might have hurt his leg. I stopped to watch him move around for a second before finishing the course.

T2B - Our only good run of the day and it was REALLY good! HERE is the video. It is on a friend's Facebook page so hopefully people can see it.

Excellent STD - Another REALLY bad run. I think I got overconfident with this run because the course was almost identical to T2B. Hobbs missed the weave entry twice and it just got worse from there. I don't even know how many faults we had or what they were, but it was BAD. He also dropped at least 2 bars! Not like him :(

Saturday in general was a tough day for me. It was the 1 month anniversary of losing our little Cadence.....so my mind was elsewhere for parts of the day. I would like to think that contributed to our horrible runs.

Our next trial was just two weeks later, and it was SO much colder! During the two week break I gave Hobbs a lot of rest time because it seemed like he was moving weird. Not limping, but not moving right. After the two weeks it seemed that he was good again, so we went to the trial.

Friday:

Open FAST - This course really interesting. The bonus line was odd, and it was the first time the judge had tried something like it. If you look at the picture, you can see there was a vertical line and a horizontal line. To get the bonus you had to stay below the horizontal line or to the left of the vertical line until after the dog was in the chute, then you had to cross the line, so that you were above the horizontal line and to the right of the vertical line, before you sent the dog into the tunnel. Anyways, our run was amazingly smooth and wonderful until the weave poles. Hobbs missed the entry once, twice, and finally got it on the third try. After the second try I started to think "It has been a really long time. The buzzer should have rung by now!" It turns out I was right. The timer was having issues and didn't work properly for my run. So, after a 1 dog break I got to do it again for points and time. I ran the exact same course and it went really well again, but Hobbs still missed his weave entry 2 times before I skipped it and ran for the end of the course. We Q'd, got our OFP title, and moved up to Excellent for the next day.

Excellent STD - This course was beautiful! Right up until he missed the weave entry....twice.

Excellent JWW - This course was also really beautiful! Hobbs was getting a bit tired though because it was the end of the day, and he dropped two bars. I think I was getting tired too and didn't handle as well as I could have. He really hasn't had a problem with bars in a long time.....well except the last trial. He got his weave entry though which was my only goal for this course.

Saturday:

Excellent STD - This was such a wonderful course, and our run was practically flawless! I almost lost him at #12 because he locked onto the table. This was our 3rd standard leg in Excellent A so Hobbs now has his AXP!! We still haven't gotten his certificate from AKC though, so I may have to check on it.

Excellent JWW - Ugh. This was our 9th run in Excellent, and our 9th NQ. This one was another really close one too. Our mistake happened at #8. He jumped it thinking he was turning right and when I called to him he back jumped it.....I wanted to cry at that point. The rest of the course was wonderful, but my records say we also dropped a bar. If he dropped the bar as he back jumped #8 would that count as a fault? Because we got one wrong course and one fault.

Excellent FAST!! - This bonus was really intimidating! I was really excited about being in Excellent FAST though. I walked my planned opening of this course a ton. I planned to put him on the start line pointed at the double, then turn left and go through the chute, then over the five 1 point jumps that are in a "line" to the bonus. I was one of two people who did that opening, and the other person did it because she saw me walking it that way. It worked out well for both of us! As for the bonus. No one was getting it. The handler couldn't cross the line until after all 4 paws of the dog were on the ground after the A-frame.

Hobbs and I nailed it!! I put my whole body into letting him know he needed to stay on the A-frame while I went around the skewed jump that was on the bonus line. Then I let him creep down until he was in the yellow, then released him. Here is where my plan was off. I immediately tried to push him over to the weave poles and he missed the entry. Then I panicked about the time and ran for the finish, picking up the triple and tire on our way out. Thinking back, I should have taken the extra second to set him up nicely for the poles to get the 10 points. We would have had 1 or 2 time faults, but more overall points. But we still got a Q!! I really wish we would have gotten a video of that run....I was so proud of it! I think we were one of 2 or 3 20" dogs that got the bonus.

The end of a great season!

This past weekend's AKC trial was SO wonderful! Well, wonderful except one tiny moment that was a bit less than wonderful lol.

First thing on Friday morning was FAST......and it was less than ideal. Hobbs was CRAZY despite me taking him to run around outside before the run. The A-frame was in the gamble and as soon as he took of to go up it I knew he was going to jump the contact on the down side. He basically jumped from the second slat on the down side. I pulled him off of the rest of the send bonus to try the frame again, and he jumped it again....but this time it was closer. I decided we were done and thanked the judge and she said we could try the A-frame again. So I did and this time Hobbs went all the way down to the bottom and gave me 2o2o.....something we haven't done in almost a year lol. After he got it I praised him a TON and let him do a tunnel and a couple jumps as we walked off course.

Next up was our first Standard run of the weekend. It was a great course, and I felt like it was very doable. Hobbs had his head screwed on for this run, thank heavens, and we did awesome! I was very proud of our, and wished I had had my camera for someone to video. Hobbs got his A-frame again, but I was babying it a bit to make sure he got it. I really need to figure out what I want to do to get that running contact consistent.

Last up for the day was Jumpers, and it was a tough course. I was very excited to try it, and I was VERY happy with how we did. Our only issue was the weave poles. They were right after a tunnel and triple jump so Hobbs was FLYING. I tried to get him to steady before he started them and he got his entry, but after about 3 poles he couldn't stay it. I sent him again and he did all of them and then we finished the course beautifully. It was a REALLY nice run.

On Saturday we only had two runs, a standard and a jumpers. The club chose to have Time 2 Beat as the game for the day and I didn't sign up. It looked fun though so next time it is offered we will give it a try.

Our jumpers run was great! It was a very fast running course, and being 7 months pregnant, running fast is not the easiest thing in the world. I walked it several times, and somehow still blanked on most of the course. Maybe it was the fact that my pants kept falling off.....I was literally holding them on while I ran. So, I felt like I was running hesitantly, trying to remember the course jump by jump. Hobbs missed a pole and exited early from the weave poles and so we didn't Q, but I was very proud of the rest of the way he ran the course. This is the only run I got on video so here it is:

Standard was another very doable course, but after two mishaps with the weave poles I was nervous. I shouldn't have been. It was an amazing run! He got the weaves wonderfully even though they were right after the tunnel. That gave us another Q and another 1st place. It was a wonderful end to our trialing for the next couple of months.

I am going to make a list of things I would like to work on before we return to trialing. Hopefully, it will include a plan for the A-frame!

Black and White

Sadly, this past trial in Idaho didn't go quite as I would have liked it to. We had some good moments, and some truly awful ones. I have actually been delaying this post because I couldn't bring myself to watch one of the videos. I survived the video, so I guess I can share.

First was Excellent JWW - I got too busy watching people run that I forgot when I needed to pull Hobbs out to warm up. I didn't have near as much time as I wanted to. So he had a lot more energy than I wanted. I went into the ring a little flustered, and as I watch the video a lot of my handling was late, but it didn't feel like it at the time. I mostly felt like I didn't have Hobbs' attention at all.

The course:

Here is the video - This is the one I really didn't want to watch because it seemed SO bad when we ran it. The wind in these videos is a bit loud so you may want to mute it!

Next up was Open Standard - What a difference! We had a couple bobbles (his A-frame contact was SOOO close), but for the most part it was great, and Hobbs did really really well. I wish I had a video of this one! This was our last leg needed for our OAP title, we got 1st, and we moved up to Excellent!

The Course:

Last of all on Friday was Open FAST - This run was bad....it had good moments, but mostly it was just bad. Hobbs was blowing me off big time. He even missed the tunnel entry of the bonus....which was super easy. He instead chose to trot around behind it sniffing. Then he went sniffing around the scribe's table, and at that point I almost walked off the course. The only good part of the whole run was that he got his A-frame contact really well!

The Course:

First on Saturday was JWW - When I walked this course I liked it much better than the one the day before. I felt like it was very doable.....Then I ran it.

The Course:

As soon as I sent him over #11 I realized I had walked it wrong. I had walked it with #11 going in the wrong direction. That threw me off for the rest of the course. He took a bar down somewhere, and went to the tunnel after 14 rather than the weaves. I was kicking myself for the mistake for a LONG time after the run was over. I didn't let Hobbs know I was upset though. I celebrated and played with him for a good while because he was SO good during this run. After I put him away I mentally beat my head against a wall.

Next up was our first ever Excellent Standard run - It went decently well. Hobbs, and almost every other dog in the class, had a weird moment at the table. Hobbs stopped and trotted around for a second before getting on it....which gave us a refusal. The ring crew chair was VERY close to the table, and there was a photographer and a group of spectators all set up right behind the table. I think it was stressing the dogs because many of them had problems with it. After that he got the weave entry which I was really happy about. I forgot my handling plan for after the weaves and he thought I wanted him to go to the teeter......and then got lost behind me.

The course:

The Video:

Last of all was Open FAST - I almost went home early and skipped out on this run. I was SO hot and tired and the day seemed to just drag on and on and on. I am glad I stuck around because it was a good run. I was worried about the end of the A-frame being SO far from the line, but he got all the way down into the contact. After that I was so happy I forgot the rest of my plan. It worked out though and we got 1st and a Q!

The Course:

I hope our next trial isn't a total disaster. It was tough keeping up with him being as pregnant as I was, and I will be another 3 weeks further along. It will be in our usual trial location for this year, so hopefully I will have my normal dog again.

I promise it wont be another month before I post again! I am planning to start on the Weave Pole Challenge tomorrow, so hopefully I can get that edited and posted soon after. I am really new to video editing and I am hoping that wont slow me down too much.

Best Trial EVER!!!

I don't think anything can top this trial. It was amazing!

This was our first 3 day trial, and our first outdoor trial of the year. I was pretty nervous about it because we had been moving all week before, and Hobbs hates to move. I was getting over a cold on Sunday and still feeling pretty crappy on Tuesday. We slept the first night in our new house Wednesday night, and I left bright and early for the trial Thursday morning.

Day 1 - Thursday:

Novice FAST -

This run was pretty crazy. Hobbs was SO excited to be playing agility and to be outside! He was barely under control the whole time, and had several sniffy, scooty, crazy moments. We had several "off courses" from what I walked, and we missed the bonus by a mile and a half. Lol, it was fun though, and I was glad to see that Hobbs wasn't stressing......he just had a little too much energy for his own good. - NQ

Novice Standard -

What an amazing run. The course was pretty easy and we ran clean easily. Hobbs didn't get very far into the yellow on the A-frame, and I was turning away from him when he was coming down it, so I wasn't 100% sure if he had jumped the contact or not. I couldn't see the judge so I didn't see if he called anything either. So when we finished the course, I thought we had gone clean, but I wasn't sure. Hobbs was a little odd after the run, but no where near as bad as he was after the standard courses at the last trial. It was so nice to see that he had gotten his contact once we got our score sheet. - Q & 1st place - That was our 3rd leg for our NAP title!

Open JWW -

This was one of those runs that isn't pretty, but gets the job done. Hobbs was either tired or just mentally done for the day and so he would tune me out every so often on course. We got called for 1 refusal, and thought that meant we didn't Q, but luckily we still did! - Q & 1st place - That was our 3rd leg for our OJP title after only 3 open jww runs!

I was pretty ecstatic after day 1. I was also exhausted and sore. Part of me was really tempted to skip Friday and just go on Saturday, but I decided to stick it out.

Day 2 - Friday:

Open JWW -

Ugh. This run made me glad that I had forgotten to move up to excellent jww for the day. Things were just off. I didn't plan my handling very well so I got in his way a couple times. I don't know if Hobbs was just stiff or sore or what, but he didn't do very well either. He took out the triple because it was on a corner, refused a jump (my fault), and then took out another jump with a super early take off. - NQ

Open Standard -

I was SO excited to be in Open standard that I wasn't nervous at all! It was a fun course that was REALLY similar to the Excellent course. I think they moved 1 jump and re-numbered things a little. We got a refusal on the 2nd jump because I moved too much laterally away from him and he pulled off thinking thats what I wanted. After that it was great and he even got his A-frame contact really well. The only thing that was a little iffy were his weave poles. He doesn't like doing 12, and we haven't worked on them much so he was really slow. I was so happy with his A-frame contact That I thought for a second about stopping, giving him a huge hug and being done.....it was that good. - Q & 2nd place

Day 3 - Saturday: - When I was driving to the trial, all I could think was how glad I was that this was the LAST day of the trial....Lol I was pretty tired. Hobbs seemed better this morning than he did Friday morning.

Open Standard -

(#16 is the Dog Walk)

This course was pretty intimidating to me! It had a pretty tricky area that was very similar to the Excellent course and the excellent people were having a lot of trouble with it. There was also a triple on a corner which is not something Hobbs is good at. I should have had more faith in my dog though because he did AWESOME! Our only little bobbles were that he pulled out of the poles at #10 because I got too much lateral distance, and that the evil chute rolled him. My parents were there with their camera so I have a video of this run!

Novice FAST -

I was pretty determined to get a clean run with this course. It was a super easy bonus, and I figured out how to get a lot of points too! It all went exactly as I walked it, and we got 60 points. I am not sure we got credit for all of our points though....I will have to look at the map and count my points. - Q & 2nd place. This was our 3rd leg for our NFP title, and we are officially out of novice!

Excellent JWW -

I haven't been truly nervous for a run in a while, but I was for this one. JWW intimidates me a lot for some reason, and I was hoping for some more "practice" in the open ring before moving up to Excellent. That being said, we have been doing amazing in Jumpers for a while now, with the exception of a couple runs. The course looked really scary on paper, but it walked ok. There were a couple spots where I didn't know what I should do, but after watching a few people go I decided on a handling plan. It went SO well and I was incredibly proud of Hobbs. He REALLY didn't want to do the weave poles, but he got through them on the first try. Then I pulled him off jump #12 because I dropped my arm 1 second too early and he spun before taking the jump. Other than that, I was an amazing run. We were connected and I was so happy with it. Unfortunately, in Excellent it has to be perfect so it was an NQ. I wish I had a video of this run because it was wonderful!

It was such an amazing trial, and I am so proud of my little Hobbs. He is very tired, and a little stiff and sore, but I think he had a wonderful time too. I have all the course maps to post as well as another video, but those probably come later.

2 in One Day!

I will write more about this trial once it is over, but I need to brag about my little Hobbs. He did wonderfully today at the trial. I wasn't expecting too much from him because we just moved and he is pretty stressed from it. He is handling it better than he has before, but I was still expecting it to affect his performance this weekend. Apparently it didn't!

We earned TWO different titles today!!! We finally got the 3rd Q for our NAP (novice agility preferred), and after only 3 runs in Open JWW we got our OJP (open JWW preferred) title, and will be moving up to Excellent in JWW. For any non agility people who read this, to get a title in a class in AKC you need 3 qualifying scores under two different judges. Hobbs and I have run 100% clean in Open JWW and have earned that title in the minimal amount of time possible.....and I am very proud of that, because JWW intimidates the crap out of me!

As for moving up, I forgot to fill out the move up form for JWW we will be running in Open tomorrow and Excellent on Saturday. We moved up in Standard though, and it will be fun to have something other than the stupid A-frame to worry about on course.

Our Standard run was really great. Hobbs was really connected with me even though I could tell he was stressed (something he does now in the standard ring). I thought he got his A-frame contact, but I wasn't sure, and didn't see if the judge put his hands up or not. So when we finished the run I had no idea if we had gone clean or not. I celebrated for Hobbs anyways, but we had to wait FOREVER to see the scribe sheet and the magical Q that was written on it.

It was a wonderful day and I could not be happier!

2nd AKC Trial of the Year

This past weekend was our third trial of the year and our second AKC trial of the year. It was a learning experience, and I gained some perspective about the importance of Q'ing in runs.

This was a three day trial, but Hobbs and I were only entered for Saturday and Monday.

Saturday started out with FAST, and it was another great run. This send bonus had the A-frame in it and Hobbs' contact performance on that is pretty inconsistent so I was worried about being farther away. He did it perfectly and we Q'd in 1st place with 72 points. At least that is what I think we got. I just got a trial results email saying that in that run we got 2 time penalties, but our time was only 34.something. If I understand the rules for FAST correctly, the maximum time for 20" preferred dogs is 35 seconds. That would mean that we got no time penalties and we get to keep our 72 points. Either way we got 1st place and our second Q in novice FAST.

Next was Standard, and it ended up being a rough run. There were some tough parts, all of which we did great on, but he jumped his A-frame contact and then when I went to rear cross him going up the DW he turned around and came back down. After the run, I thought about it and I don't think I have rear crossed him going up the DW in a very long time, if ever. Hobbs was really upset and stressed after the run. I tried to be happy and praised him, but he was weird. Actually, he got weird on course right after he jumped the contact. I am pretty sure he knows when he does it wrong, but he doesn't understand what he is supposed to do. After the run I took him outside and walked around for a while to let him relax until he seemed to be back to his happy self. His attitude after that Standard run really baffled me.

Next up was our first Open JWW run ever! I was nervous, but knew it was just a learning experience so I didn't let the course stress me out. It turned out to flow really well, and it felt great! Hobbs got in and finished all 12 of the weave poles for the first time in competition, and I was so proud of him. We got a Q and placed 1st in that run, and I was so excited. Hobbs was ecstatic after that run and his attitude was a complete 180 from what it was after standard.

On Monday we started out the day with Standard. It seemed like a pretty easy course and I was confident we could do it as long as Hobbs got his contact on the A-frame. It was the third to last obstacle, and when he got the contact I started to celebrate on the inside. Next was the chute and then the panel jump. Looking back, I think I started to bring my arms up to clap as he went over the last jump and my little boy dropped his back legs and knocked the top off the panel jump. What a heart breaker. I shook my head, and praised Hobbs anyways trying to keep him happy, but he was just as weird after this run as the one on Saturday. I think my little boy is stressing in his standard runs.....and I know I am the cause. I really would like to get our final Q for his NAP title so we can move up to Open, and I think it is making me overly nervous before our runs and Hobbs feels it. And, naturally, when we don't get it I feel disappointed, and even though I have been trying not to show that to Hobbs I know he can feel it. I am not disappointed in him, I know that 99% of problems on the agility course are the handler's fault.

Next up, and last of all for the trial was JWW. This course was pretty intimidating to me, but I did a lot of thinking in between Standard and this run and decided that no matter what I would not get caught up in trying to get our Open titles. I decided that even though there were some tough parts of this course I would use them as an opportunity to try more aggressive handling just like I would in practice. And I did! I gave Hobbs much more space than I usually do out on course at trials, and he did great. He was a little slow in the weave poles, but I could tell he was mostly just tired. We got another Q and a 2nd place behind a lady who just placed 12th at the AKC invitationals. They are GOOD. She has dropped her dog down to preferred and has been in a few of our classes. They beat us by about 3.5 seconds, but her dog is naturally much faster than Hobbs, and has a MACH (or two). Hobbs was once again really happy after this run, even though he was tired and basically done for the day.

What I learned from this trial was that I need to get a handle on my competitiveness to get Q and to our novice title in standard. I am making it no fun for Hobbs and that is inexcusable on my part. I also learned that I need to build myself an A-frame to practice on so I can get Hobbs understanding exactly what he should be doing on the A-frame contacts. I actually am planning to try the Box method once I am too pregnant to run him in trials. That is something I would be able to do no matter how huge and immobile I get. The only thing I worry about is that he might have a hard time with all the repetition.

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!

AKC Trial #2

Hobbs and I recently got back from our second AKC trial, and it was great!

I was worried about Hobbs with him recovering from the UTI and all. It did seem to be bothering him on Saturday, but that was the first day he was off the anti inflammatory so I think he was hurting a little. Am I bad for having him run anyways?

Anyway, our first run was Jumpers and it was a DISASTER! Ok, it wasn't that bad, but for as easy a course as it was I was ashamed that we couldn't handle it. I am noticing a pattern for our trials that I don't like. No matter how easy the first course is, we mess it up. I observed some things this weekend that I am going to try to learn from and correct/work on at our next trial

Here is the video from that run:

The video is pretty crappy, and starts in the middle of the run, but if you couldn't tell he entered the weaves on like the 3rd pole the first try, ran PAST them the second and finally did them properly on the third try. Then I forgot my handling plan and rear crossed a jump which gave him the wrong directions and he missed the middle jump in the pinwheel.... something we obviously need to work on. We got a Q in that class still, but I was really disappointed in both of us on that run.

The thing I LOVED about this run is how fast he was going! He blasted full out across the dogwalk and didn't stop until all four feet were on the ground rather than his 2o2o....hopefully all this testing his contacts in class isn't working against us in trials. I felt a little behind in my handling cues so we got some wide turns on my front and rear crosses. Unfortunately, he jumped his A-frame contact, almost had a fly off on the teeter, but I didn't let it get to me and we finished the run really well. And, he got the weave poles on the first try. We didn't get a Q in that class, but I was proud of the run without it.

One thing I noticed before our standard run was that I was interacting with him more during our warm up. Looking back at the weekend, I can't even remember what we did in our warm up before the Jumpers run that was such a disaster. I decided that at our next trial I am going to focus on our very first warm up so we get the most out of it and see if it makes our first run better. I even bought him a new toy for that purpose.

New toy just for agility trial warm ups

One of the best parts of Friday was what we won in the raffle! I debated entering all day and finally did at the last minute put two tickets in ($2), and we won a jump and wings!

Saturday was great too! Hobbs was feeling much better, and we had a lot of fun.

Hobbs was super fast on his Jumpers run this day, but I slowed WAY down for him to get his weave entry. I need to work on those so they aren't an issue in trials. Other than that, I felt like he handled great, and the bar that he did drop was my fault for being late on my front cross....I think. I can't every tell from the videos if I am early or late. What do you think this one was? We didn't Q because of the bar, but it was a good run anyways.

Standard was our best run yet until the end because I forgot how tight the turn to the weave poles was and got in Hobbs' way for his entry. He got it eventually though, and we got another Q for the run. He got his A-frame contact but just barely......something else to work on. I was a little worried about the teeter, but he did it wonderfully and stuck the landing. It was an especially great run because it was our 3rd standard Q so Hobbs earned his first ever agility title (I believe it is the Novice Agility Preferred or NAP) but I am not !00% sure yet. I had someone else video this run because my camera died, so I don't have it yet. I will post it when I do.

Our spoils for the weekend:

The ribbons

I am so proud of my little man!

What a Weekend it Was!

Our trial this past weekend was GREAT!

We didn't show up at the trial on Friday until around noon because our class was the last one of the day. I really could have shown up at 2 and still had a couple hours to burn, but I had volunteered to work some classes so I was there earlier.

Hobbs was not happy from the moment we walked into the site. He saw the rows and rows of dog crates, and froze. I had to walk him the long way around to the other side where there were less dogs, and then I had to move all his stuff across the place. Luckily we did find a relatively quiet spot or he would have been even worse than he was. I tried to keep him cool with his Kool Koat but it was REALLY hot even inside the arena. Anytime I wasn't working in the ring crew, I had him with me because he was less stressed that way.

Finally it came time for our class! On paper, it looked pretty intimidating, and once I got out there it didn't get much better. I walked it a TON, and finally just told myself that I needed to prepare for us to not get a clean round. Pretty positive wasn't I?

Once we got out there I took a deep breath and went for it. We had a little bit of an iffy FC after 8, but the rest was AMAZING! It was one of those runs where everything flows and you feel connected with your dog. The only thing that was a little odd was that I felt like Hobbs was going slow. I actually told him to "come on" after I think #5 because I felt like He was dragging. Afterwards I figured it must have been the heat. I don't think he was really going slow though because our time was 25:08 sec. More on that later though.

We had a perfect run, a score of 100, our first ever AKC Q, and 1st place! I am running him in preferred so there were only 3 dogs. I think we would have gotten first out of the rest of the 20" dogs too though. I really wish I had video's of both of my runs.

Saturday I was there early because JWW was first for the day. We still didn't run until almost noon, but it was a much better day. Hobbs was happy, relaxed, and it wasn't super hot either. I got to talk to some of my friends from Ogden which I think relaxed me more than I had been the day before.

The course this time seemed much easier on paper and out walking. I think I took it for granted that it was going to be easy.....stupid thing to do.

We waited a long time after I warmed up because we were running next to last. The run wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I supported him just a little too long over #2 which was the double, and then had a late FC after 4. Again, it seemed like he was going slow, so I slowed myself down for the line of jumps so he wouldn't bail off one and then I wasn't in position fast enough for the FC. Then at either 11 or 12 (I honestly can't remember and REALLY wish I had a video) Hobbs went around a jump. It was my fault. I think he thought he was either supposed to come with me, or keep going straight, but I can't remember which, or what I did or didn't do to get that result. The part that I was a tiny bit worried about #14-15 went great and we ended on a good note. We ended up getting another Q and 1st place despite the oops. Our time was 34:48 sec.

All in all it was a great weekend, and now I know that AKC isn't some scary monster of a venue lol. I am really excited for the next one, because if we Q in JWW again we will have our first title (not sure what it is, or if I am counting Q's right) and because next time we will be in standard for the first time!

Hobbs and his ribbons

As for his seeming to go slow. I think it is because my brain is figuring out what I need to do faster than before, so it seems like he is going slower. I don't know if that makes sense. I used to feel like I couldn't even think about my handling fast enough because he was so speedy. Now, all of the sudden I am starting to feel like I am getting to where I need to be (either mentally or physically) way before I used to, but just in time to cue him correctly. Does that make sense? or should I be worried that he seems slower?

First AKC Trial

Hobbs and I are entered in our first ever AKC trial! It will be July 9-11, but we are only competing Friday and Saturday. Also, we are only entered in JWW on both days. I thought about entering Standard or Gamblers as well, but I don't want to get carried away and have Hobbs have a set back with the teeter.

Speaking of the teeter, he has been really good in class the past couple weeks, and we even had it in a small sequence! I still get SUPER nervous whenever I send him over it, but he is starting to look like he recognizes it as the teeter. Next week at class we will have another small course and if it has a teeter, I am going to go for it full force. I will still send him over it before I run, but I wont stop him in the middle of the course to slow him down before the teeter.

Ugh. Can I admit how nervous I am about this trial? I already have butterflies, and have been having nightmares about horrific courses. I have no idea why AKC intimidates me so much, but apparently it does. If anyone has any novice JWW courses that they could email to me, that would help me SOOO much!

My plan of action before the trial is to take at least 2 private lessons that will hopefully help ease my nerves.