A Milestone for LaMesa

This past weekend the Stump Kids ventured south to Franklin, Tenn., for an agility trial with the Nashville Dog Training Club. It was our first trial in more than six weeks (which was perfect timing for LaMesa to be spayed in December), and we hadn't done much training, so I was excited to see how they'd fair.

Dally started us off with a rather slow Excellent Standard run that resulted in a Q and a handful of PACH points. I'm not quite sure what her deal was, but this was her only Q the entire weekend due to slow times. Her Excellent Jumpers run saw her over time by a couple of seconds, and the same with her runs on Sunday. It was very odd because normally coming off of a layoff from agility she's always rearing to go. Plus, I had done our usual warm-ups and massages prior to the run and she seemed ready to go at the start line. This concerns me because of the AKC Nationals coming up and I want her to be at her best in Reno. I don't know if it's because of the dirt flooring (which she normally has no problems with) or what. I wouldn't think it was her conditioning because we've been going for longer walks (on black top and through the grass/brush at the park) and working on a stability ball for core strength (thanks, Merinda! [More on this in a later post, I hope.]). Whatever the reason, I'm hoping she'll be back to her old self at the next trial in February, where we will once again be running in a horse arena on dirt (exactly like in Reno).

LaMesa, on the other hand, was a rock star over the weekend! I was so proud of her! She started her weekend off with a smooth, clean run in Open Jumpers for second place and her second leg. It was also her first ever 100 score since we've been competing! I was a little concerned going into the weekend with her weaves because at home she started popping out at the ninth pole when she was on my right side. All this weekend, though, she was on my right side and never popped out. (And she only missed one entry--coming out of a fast tunnel on Sunday, but it was after she had already knocked a bar in Open Jumpers for an NQ. Oh well.)

Then, hours later (many hours later), she amazed me in Open Standard with another clean run for another second place! This also finished up her Open Standard title to move her up to Excellent A. I didn't enter her in Standard on Sunday because I wasn't sure how the trial would move and I didn't want to make us stay later than needed. She'll make her Excellent A debut in February, where I hope she can finish her Open Jumpers title as well.

And did I mention that two years ago, this was the very first trial we had taken LaMesa to? I had just gotten her from her breeder, Debbie Tapp, the week prior and she made her first road trip with her big sister. Such fond memories...

Speaking of big sisters/brothers, my friend Merinda added a new furry pal to the pile in January. Porter (LaMesa and Dally's best friend) is a big brother now to Stout, a black brindle Cardigan puppy who is full of energy. You can follow her blog on the Brew Brothers and watch Stout grow up into what I'm sure will be a very active and happy boy! (I've got a cute video of LaMesa and Stout playing that I'll try to figure out how to embed directly into the blog, instead of linking to YouTube.)