Agility Trial: Dally Gets Her Final Nationals Points

I'm a little late on wrapping up our last AKC trial we attended (Nov. 9-10), but I'm making up for it now. (Note: I've somehow misplaced all of the course maps from this weekend. Blogger FAIL. Sorry!)

Just a week after competing at Queen City, we were back. It was the third weekend in a row at an agility trial, but I knew that Dally and I could finish up the points needed for AKC Nationals this weekend, as long as I didn't make any unnecessary mistakes.

Saturday's runs were great. In Jumpers I made sure I didn't push too much in the weaves (which I know was my mistake the week prior) and to just run the course with simple cues. Standard was a little tricky with having to call her off the chute off the teeter, but luckily she listened.

(I love Blair Kelley and Dan Faulkner's courses, by the way.)




Sunday I wanted to push her a little more, but I had to remember to be more deliberate with my cues.

Here's the jumpers run:



This was fun with the serpentine, then a push for the big pinwheel. Both LaMesa and Dally handled that very well, so I was proud of both girls.

We didn't get a standard video, but I went in needing just a few more points for Nationals with that run. We came out of it in great shape! At the end of the weekend we had 513 points towards the AKC National Agility Championships!!

Dally's now on a long vacation from agility for a while. I usually do that a couple times a year to help her recharge her body and her love of agility. It's well-deserved--we're now just  5 QQs and 204 points from her PACH2. Who would have thought that we would be going to AKC Nationals three years in a row and be close to our PACH2??

For those pushing for their last points this weekend and next, I wish you good luck and best runs!! I was able to pull from the Merrillville, Ind., trial being held Nov. 29-Dec. 1 (I entered Nov. 29-30 just in case) since I have my points, so hopefully others can get their last points.

Remember: Dally's Not Perfect

Dally's pretty good about keeping me grounded. Just when I'm thinking we're doing so well and maybe things are going perfectly, she reminds me that I can't slack off when I run her.

After a QQ on Saturday at the Queen City Dog Training Club's AKC Trial this past weekend, I was feeling pretty confident about pushing her for more speed--surely we'll Q, right?? Going into the weekend we needed 91 points for AKC Nationals. After earning 33 on Saturday, I felt like we could get even closer on Sunday.

Note to self: Don't ever take anything for granted and always keep on your toes, no matter which dog you're running.

Here were our successful runs on Saturday:

Jumpers:



Standard:


(I have no clue what happened at the chute and the teeter--it's pretty bad when the judge looks at you and goes "Whew!" and shakes her head because your dog barely hit the teeter in the right spot.)

On Sunday, we had miscues at the weave poles in both Jumpers and Standard. In Jumpers she popped out after the tenth pole. I'm not sure what made her do so--Porter had done the same thing in the same spot, so maybe it was a Corgi thing?

Then in Jumpers we totally blew by the weaves--I was pushing so much for speed that when I sent her in the tunnel, I ran by the weaves and signaled "Weave!" but I didn't hold the signal. I assumed she'd take them. I should never assume with Dally.



I've learned my lesson. Going into this weekend (again at Queen City), I'm going to push for speed, but still hold my signals and make sure we're more accurate than fast. We need 58 points now, and it can be doable, if we're both on the same page.

We'll let you know how that goes next week.

LaMesa's First MXJ Leg

Yep, you read that right--LaMesa earned her first Masters Jumpers leg over the weekend at the Queen City Dog Training Club's AKC Agility trial! I was so proud of her!

It's funny because after having a not-so-stellar jumpers run on Saturday, and then a slight bobble in Standard on Saturday, I was saying I wasn't sure LaMesa liked running at the Queen City facility very well. Dally loves that place, as evident if you see where she gets most of her QQs. But really, I think I just have to change my thinking with her--she can handle anything, as long as I prepare her for it.

Here's our qualifying run from Sunday. She earned 3rd place (in a very tough 8" class) and 12 MACH points:



We were soooo close to our first QQ! Unfortunately, we were able to prove that an 8" dog can break the tire, even if it's touching the floor:



After I saw that she broke the tire, I wanted to try to do a lead-out on the table. Unfortunately she listened to the judge say "Go" and not me. I wanted to make her do the table again, but realized that we'd get blown off for "training" and I really wanted to finish the course, so we went on. It wasn't as nice as her Standard run on Saturday, where I was able to get a nice long lead-out off the table:



(Don't ask me what happened on the teeter--I have no clue.)

So no first QQ for LaMesa….yet. But it was a great weekend--she's really excelling at the difficult courses and we're becoming a team that a lot of people are cheering for and watching. The biggest positive: She has been perfect on her weaves in the past two weekends--8-for-8!! I hope we can continue this streak going into the trial this weekend!

Jump form update: We've been working on jump grid sequences following some Susan Salo exercises Merinda sent me. We've done two sets of exercises so far and seeing her really think. I'll do a post soon. 

Dally's weekend is up next!

Agility Trial: Miami Valley Lab Club

This past weekend the Stump Kids competed in the Miami Valley Labrador Retriever Club AKC Agility Trial held at the Queen City Dog Training Club in Sharonville, Ohio. The judge was Candy Nettles.

Fun, flowy, and fast courses! These were fun to run with both girls. 

Back to that QQ Groove

Like I mentioned in the last post, I've been trying to find my groove again when it comes to handling Dally successfully, all while still trying to figure out LaMesa. Things finally came together on the second day of the Queen City AKC trial.

In Jumpers, the course had a hard 90* corner with the triple and the double. Both of those came down on LaMesa's run (not sure if it was our timing, the angle, or what). But the rest of the course she handled beautifully--she was nice and tight on the wrap, and I was happy I was able to get in front crosses (I think I threw a blind before the tunnel, too) with her:



Dally kept the jumps up, but she didn't wrap the jump as tightly as her sister--I think she assumed we were done and just running straight home. (One positive to LaMesa being more focused on me than Dally most times--she doesn't assume much on the course.) But she was moving great! I didn't see her slow down in the pinwheels like she normally does, so she was definitely running happy.




I was beginning to feel like we were so close with LaMesa, and that maybe we'd have a clean run in Standard. If we could only keep those bars up...



We kept the dreaded spread jumps up, but for some reason she got off rhythm in the weaves and came out. Cue the sunken heart. :-( Soooo close. The second the last jump, I think she was just about done. I wanted to make sure she understood she needed to jump every jump, so I was proud of myself for stopping and making her take that jump. Even though she was tired, she kept that triple up. :-)

Oh well, maybe next time...

Dally handled the Standard course well. I wanted to do a blind after the weave poles, but when I felt like I had a QQ on the line, I really wasn't confident in Dally staying in the weaves (since she came out of them the day before) to go ahead. So I threw in a rear cross, which we rarely practice together, and it showed--she got lost because she didn't read my body and went a little wide, but we were still clean.




And that was our first QQ since the weekend we got our PACH, back in November! So one drought has finally ended (QQ #2 towards PACH2, QQ #1 towards Nationals 2014)!

I went home proud of both girls. LaMesa and I are making strides (I even had people comment how much better we're running lately, which feels nice), now if only everything could come together at the same time. Dally is still hanging with me and having fun on the courses. We might get our communications crossed, but I don't think she's holding her grudges as long as she used to.

Our next trial isn't until mid-May, and I cannot wait!

Trying to Find That Q Groove

This past weekend the girls and I loaded up with the Brews Brothers and headed to Sharonville, Ohio, for the Queen City AKC Agility Trial. Trials have been few and far between lately (cutting back due to expenses), so every trial we're excited to get into and go!

I just wanted to have some fun, clean runs with the girls. Saturday started a little rough in Jumpers--LaMesa was clean, except for knocking a few bars, and Dally took an off-course tunnel entrance, followed by me getting discombobulated and lost on the course, trying to throw in a blind cross one jump too soon....oops. Oh well. The Standard saw more knocked bars, on a hard 90* from triple to double, for LaMesa, but she nailed her weaves again!

In Jumpers on Saturday, LaMesa struggled with a 180 when I should have maybe held my position for a split second longer. I thought she was committed to the jump, so I made my front cross and moved and she pulled off the jump. However, she (we) redeemed herself (ourselves) in the Standard with an equally-hard 180 and serpentine that I was so proud of her for:

Jumpers:

Standard:

And, now for your comic review, me and Dally's Jumpers run for Saturday:


 I'll post the wrap-up of Sunday's runs a little later.