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by Jada
FINALLY!
Joni has been saying for MONTHS that she's too busy to let either of us on the computer, but COME ON! This is ridiculous! It's been since last winter since we've been on it and now it's almost winter again! She's got several computers, so what's the problem! Now she's even got a laptop, which she was a bit stingy with at the beginning and is finally starting to let us use. We've even been telling her that we can use her computer when she's sleeping, but noooo, she still won't let us. Where's the trust here!
I don't even know where to begin. SO much has happened! I guess I'll have to summarize alot.
My CPE Trial Updates
Okay, trial-wise I'll definitely have to summarize alot. Since my last posted entry we've done a whopping 22 days of trials! No way can I remember everything we did now! But you know I'd love to try!
Let's see....in CPE we've done alot, but only 2 more titles - my Level 4 Standard (CL4-R) and Level 4 Handler (CL4-H) titles. I'm in Level 5 and working hard for my C-ATCH title hard here! Wait, I still have 2 more legs of my Level 4 Jackpot (groan) to get. Geez, I hate this game! They don't have enough of these at trials, and when they do they keep having "traditional" jackpots and I desperately need some "non-traditional" jackpots! This is the game where I have to finish it up by working far far away from Joni and you all know how much I hate that! I've come so close on some of them, though! I might have gotten some of them if I hadn't objected strenuously at the beginning at Joni coming to a dead stop by this colored tape and insisting that I go on without her. I always forget that it's okay sometimes! I can't remember everything! The last Jackpot we actually got - it was a "non traditional traditional" - which I kinda like. I did have to do a teeter far away from Joni and going away from her AND get that stupid contact - but I did it! When I got off of that I had to go to some off-side weaves. I thought Joni would pass out when I did this!
So the way it's going we'll have runs up to our C-ATCH 3 or 4 levels before I finish this level 5 Jackpot!
Anyway, we've had some good CPE trials. The March trial we had 7 out of 8 Q's (only NQ was Jackpot, naturally). Our April trial was kinda crazy - we only had 5 out of 8 Q's. One NQ was Jackpot (again), but I screwed up on Wildcard and Colors also. Yeah, I know - I never do this sort of stuff. The Wildcard was just me laser-locking into another tunnel while coming out of a tunnel. I LOVE TUNNELS. Joni wanted me to stop after the first tunnel and take some jumps, but I was having SO MUCH FUN flying thru these tunnels that I totally tuned her out. Not a good idea in retrospect! The Colors course also involved a tunnel. There was a tunnel next to the A-frame an both times I was suppose to take the A-frame. I took the A-frame the first time, but the second time I decided to take the tunnel. Again, not a good idea once I had a chance to think about it.
We didn't have another CPE trial then until Labor Day weekend, and that was a 3-day trial. I did great there - had 11 out of 12 Q's. I know y'all are expecting this one....only NQ was...drum roll.....Jackpot. Big surprise. But that Jackpot I was mentioning before (with the teeter) was also at this trial and I got that one!!!!
The end of October was our most recent CPE trial. I was 6 for 8 on this one. In 5 of my 6 Q's we got 1st place in 5 of the 6 Q's and in 3 of them I was the fastest dog of ALL that ran the course! In the other 2 I was the 2nd fastest dog overall! Amazing, in 2 of my runs I was running in the 18+ FEET PER SECOND range!
The two NQ's? Well, we split those. Joni was brain dead on the first day after a long long wait of over 5 hours between our 2nd and 3rd runs. Standard was our 3rd run and her brain just flat-lined for a few seconds. We were heading down a line of jumps towards a tunnel when it happened. All this time I was heading for the right entrance to to this tunnel. At the last minute Joni suddenly tried to call me off of that entrance and into the other one. What was she thinking? I went ahead and went into the right side entrance knowing that I was right! But when I came out of the tunnel Joni was there still insisting that it was the wrong end - so what did she do? She told me to go BACK into the tunnel! For a second I thought maybe she was right and I screwed up - I went back thru the tunnel and we continued on the course. But I was RIGHT! Joni putting me BACK into that tunnel was our off-course! Boy, for once it's nice to not be the reason we NQ'd! I know she felt like an idiot then, but hey, it happens!
The other NQ was my fault. I just love going fast so much that sometimes it's hard to stop! I get on the teeter and I go all the way up to the yellow section and stop and wait for the teeter to move. It goes down as I wait impatiently...and once it hits the ground I'm just DYING to start running again! So sometimes it just seems silly to take one more extra step and get a foot into that ridiculous (yet important!) yellow section. So I forgot - sue me. Guess these CPE judges are less impressed with my athletic abilities than the yellow contact rules. I'll be working on that for the next time!
So that's it for CPE so far for the year. We have 6 days of CPE trials coming up in the next month, so that'll be fun.
My AKC Trial Updates
We did alot of AKC trials also during this "Joni won't let me on the computer" time. I have some issues with AKC and some of their silly rules, but after a few times of testing them out on the rules, I have figured out that they're actually quite serious about them and won't bend any of them just because I think I'm being cute or inventive out there. What I've figured out is they don't particularly like if I drop an occasional bar, or if I decide I've done enough weaves and am ready to move onto the next obstacle. They also don't like me showing off my athletic ability by jumping on the table, and "boinging" off and jumping back on in a blink of an eye. Apparently the judge did NOT blink at that moment and saw it all.
First was the trials in May. The first weekend we were 2 for 5....yep, 2 Q's and 3NQ's out of the weekend. Not good. One NQ was that I didn't see a jump that Joni expected me to see and they got me for a refusal when almost ran past it - then saw it at the last second and then jumped it. One was me popping out of weave pole 10 when Joni glanced up to check out where the next jump was. I swear I thought she was ready to bolt for it - so I left also! Another was a dropped bar that mysteriously fell off when I went over it. Sheesh. Picky picky picky. But I finished my Novice Standard title at this trial.
A couple of weeks later we had a 3-day trial again. This was our first trial at an indoor soccer place with fake grass and boy, is this stuff great! I am SO AMAZINGLY FAST on this stuff! I was faster than Joni anticipated because all of our front crosses were turned into rear crosses since I was flying thru the course! They worked, though. I don't like them, but they worked. But the downside is that I'm too fast for myself! Yes! I was getting to places faster than I thought! I saw an obstacle coming up in a blur then - BAM - I'm there! I couldn't adjust fast enough a few times so they actually called that on me! WTF? Give me a break Did they SEE how fast I was running? I can hardly be expected to come to THAT fast of a stop and make a weave entrance!!! See, this is what I mean about AKC. They're very unforgiving. What a buncha mean people! I'm not sure I like AKC at all! I did get my Open JWW title at this trial, though.
We ended up with 2 Q's out of 6. Not good at all. Joni was beginning to not like AKC as much either, but insists that we keep doing it. Sigh. Guess one of us will have to get their act together!
Next AKC trial was in August. Well, we're up to a 50% Q rate this weekend. 2 Q's out of 4. My first Excellent JWW course and I missed the friggin' weave pole entrance. But it was an exceptionally TOUGH weave pole entrance and alot of dogs missed it also. Still...we all know I'm not like "most" dogs.....
I did get my next Excellent A JWW Q the next day, though! also got my Open Standard run - ran it great! The next day, however, would have been my last Open Standard leg and I ran that great also! But I dropped the bar on the last jump! Joni didn't even know. She was so happy with me and thought we had it! I wasn't sure how to break the news to her - I was so devastated and embarrassed! But halfway back to our seat someone told her and she didn't even believe them! She didn't believe it despite numerous people telling her until she saw it for herself on the video. I felt SO bad then! I don't even know how it happened! I was running so fast and we had run it perfectly! I think someone sneezed or something out there and made it fall!
So two weeks later we were off to another trial that we weren't scheduled to do, but Joni was determined to get me out of Open Standard before our next 3-day trial at the indoor soccer place. She thought having both runs in Excellent would be easier in a 2-ring trial, which made sense to me also! So we went to this next trial and we only ran Standard only. I got my Open Standard title that first day and the next day I got the first leg in Excellent A Standard! Good weekend for us!
Now we're in Excellent in everything and ready for the next trial.....only to end up with 1 Q and 5 NQ's. What a horrible weekend. Joni was to blame for most of this, but I'll take my share also on one or two of them. We did get our 2nd leg in Excellent A JWW's - but that's it. Out of the 5 NQ's I can fully take blame for ONE of them and Joni accepts full blame for 3 of them...the other one I'm not supposed to talk about since it was the judge's bad call that caused it. Nuff said about that. I'd like to bitch about it, but Joni has threatened my computer privileges (such as they are - hmph!) if I get us banned from AKC for voicing our shared opinion of this event.
Okay. My mistake was that I thought it'd be a cool move to jump on the table and bounce off immediately - showing off my awesome athletic abilities - and jump back on instantly. I could hear the crowd gasping and oohing and aahing when I did this....only to learn later that it was really gasps and groans of disappointment and dismay at my instant NQ! *@#$%. Nobody ever told me I couldn't do this! Apparently I was supposed to just "know" this rule. Whatever.
The 3 NQ's Joni was responsible for was just BLOCKING me or distracting me! She did a great front cross in front of the teeter -but misjudged it and was blocking my entrance. I tried to adjust, but going around her screwed up my forward momentum and I was only able to touch the teeter before going off the other side by the first contact. The next time she mis-judged where she was and blocked my weave entrance. I tried to improvise by going into the other side of the weave entrance, thinking that maybe the judge wouldn't notice. Hey - I was desperate! If I stopped it'd be a refusal! I'm TRYING here! Those AKC judges are pretty sharp sometimes, and they saw my slick move and called it. All I could do was try, right? The last one was the most absurd. I came flying off a jump and was just laser-locked into that weave entrance. Joni wasn't blocking it - it was a perfect entrance. Just as I got inches from it, Joni suddenly says "Jada, weave!". WTF did she think I was doing? I stopped to make sure I wasn't doing the wrong thing and was utterly confused for a second - only to find out she wanted me to do the friggin' weaves I was heading into. What an idiot she can be! Oh wait - let's let the judge call that one also. Joni, Joni, Joni. You've GOT to shut your mouth sometimes! You can't take me totally out of obstacle focus and into idiot handler focus!
I tell you what - she has GOT to get the VIDEO up of these runs! She's got them! I think she's just embarrassed about some of this stuff!
Looks like we're all caught up with my trials this year since I've been not allowed on the computer. Next Friday is our Wishbone Wag Team Agility event. Our team is called "Bad to the Bone" and is made up of a few of my best buddies: Charm, a Rat Terrier, and Benny, a big black Lab.
The weekend after that we have a trial on December 3-4-5 - then again on December 31, January 1-2. Hopefully we have some great runs!
We had a really fun Thanksgiving weekend at the CPE Trial! I did 8 runs over the weekend - and got 8 Q's!
I also got a new title - my Level 3 Strategy Games Title (CL3-S when we got our last Level 3 Jackpot Q)
So all I need is one more Level 3 Wildcard leg and we'll be out of Level 3 forever. Everything else we're doing is in Levels 4 and 5.
We camped out in our usual spot in our big blue round crate surrounded by some of our favorite friends. On one side were our Keeshond buddies - Tav and Sky. I really really like Tav...but for some reason he just cringes when he sees me. His owner says he likes his girls to play "hard to get" and I just gush all over him, and that makes him nervous. But in a crate he's okay with me being next to him. On the other side of me was Benny, our big black lab pal. We just love being around him. He likes me a whole lot, but isn't as crazy about Tyssen. I think he'd like Tyssen better if Ty would keep his nose to himself and out of Benny's private parts!
These were our Saturday runs:
Fullhouse, Level 4.
We got 3rd place in this run.
1st place: 43 points in 35.26 seconds (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever)
2nd place: 42 points in 31.19 seconds (Wheaten Terrier - our buddy Tucker!)
3rd place: 42 points in 35.31seconds. (me)
Guess I shouldn't have backed out of that 3-point tunnel when Joni attempted a rear cross behind me. Bummer.
Then we ran two Standards back to back.
Standard, level 4, round 1
We got 3rd place again
1st place: 41.61 seconds (Sheltie)
2nd place: 42.65 seconds (Sheltie)
3rd place: 44.19 seconds (me)
Where are all these fast shelties coming from?
Standard, level 4, round 2
This was a tough one. The 3rd obstacle was to take the A-frame....but on either side of the A-frame was a tunnel entrance! Wow! Good thing I'm generally a contact-sucker sort here! But Joni was worried that TWO big old gaping tunnel holes might be tempting to me. But she ran it like the tunnels weren't even there - and I could tell exactly what she wanted me to do and I did it - I took the A-frame. Out of 33 dogs running in level 4-5-C here, only 11 Q'd. The rest were sucked into the tunnels and an off course. Tough one! Here's what it looked like on the right here:
1st place was 37.60 seconds (Sheltie)
2nd place run was 39.13 seconds (me)
Jumpers, level 5
This was our last run of the day. We got 2nd place in this one, but not by much!
1st place: 26.63 seconds (Sheltie again!)
2nd place: 27.92 seconds (me!)
3rd place: 28.99 seconds (Border Collie)
Our Sunday Runs:
Jackpot, level 3
Fortunately, this was a non-traditional jackpot. Actually, they called it a "non-traditional traditional jackpot" - but all we cared about was that we didn't have that line down on the ground that Joni couldn't cross! We got 3rd place in this one
1st place: 63 points in 48.43 seconds
2nd place: 62 points in 45.65 seconds
3rd place: 59 points in 44.1 seconds (us)
Wildcard, level 3
We got 2nd place in this, by less than a second.
Snooker, level 4
Joni scared me a bit on this one. I know it was a long weekend and she just zoned out for a little bit on the course! We took the red jump, then the tire, then red jump #2 and into the weaves for 7 points. Then the 3rd red jump and back to the 7point weaves. Halfway thru the weaves Joni sorta lost it and blanked out on if this was the first time for doing the weaves or the second. I KNEW it was the 2nd time, but boy, she worried me for a second! I wasn't sure if she was gong to head back for the red jump again or start the closing! But she pulled it out and headed for the closing part of the game. Whew! Close one! Then she did some clunky front cross as I came out of the tunnel later on instead of the nice blind front cross she usually does, and it really threw me then. Where the hell was her mind at? She sent me over a jump, and I sort of balked at the next jump thinking she was really screwing up. But she insisted I go over and I did after giving her a few quick "wake the hell up" barks, then we finished. I really wonder about her sometimes! But we finished, as ugly as it was. Amazingly, it was also our first 1st place finish of the weekend also. Go figure! We also had the overall second highest point count of 46 points. (51 was the highest)
Colors, level 4
This just goes too fast! Literally! We ran this in 15.09 seconds for our second 1st place finish of the weekend.
1st place: 15.09 seconds (ME!)
2nd: 16.20 seconds (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever)
3rd: 19.22 seconds (Sheltie)
4th: 24.36 seconds (Border Collie)
Our time was the fastest of all the level 3-4-5-C's that ran the course.
fastest: me at 15.09
2nd fastest: a dog in level 3 with 15.21 seconds
3rd fastest: our lab buddy Benny at 16.05
I'm looking VERY forward to our New Years Trial! Poor Joni will have 5 runs a day to memorize, so I'll have to keep up with those wake up barks now and then. I'm also looking forward to Ty getting out there and running some! This will be fun to watch! Hopefully he does as well as I know he can if he doesn't act like a big ol' fruitloop out there!
Hey, Jada here again. It's been busy around here......we got a new computer and all that entails with moving stuff over, etc. So Joni hasn't let me get on the new computer for awhile. Yeah yeah....there's an old computer now that works perfectly well for me...but no, she won't let me use that one!
We've had a lots of classes and several agility trials since I last wrote. Our August CPE trial was great - another 3-day trial. Boy, I'm loving those 3-day outings! We did pretty well.....we Q'd in 11 of our 12 runs! The only one was didn't qualify in was......big surprise!.....Jackpot! Yep, Jackpot is becoming our nemesis! What's with these Traditional Jackpots? I just don't like doing stuff that far away from Joni! But she keeps trying to make me! But I really really did try! But this was a hard one! I had to run into a tunnel with Joni way way behind me....then come out and go into weave poles. I don't think so! I came right back to Joni and didn't leave again! But I tried to make up for it by doing everything else really great over the weekend.
Next trial we're in Level 5 Jumpers - and Level 4 for Standard, Full House, Snooker, Colors and we're still in Level 3 for Wildcard and Jackpot.
My official stats are out of my 61 CPE runs, I have 53 Q's! I don't think that's too shabby for 7 weekends!
My 8 NQ's have been three in traditional jackpots, two from our first few Snookers, and two of our wildcards early on. Oh....and that stupid standard that I screwed up badly...but I'd rather not talk about that one!
A few weeks ago we did our first AKC Agility trial! We entered the one-day agility trial for the Chesapeake Bay Retrievers National Specialty. First thing I noticed is that it was not an event we needed to get up in the wee hours of the night to get ready for! We didn't have to be there until almost noon! This is great! Sleeping in - whoo hoo! This was at a different place than I was used to - a club called Queen City Dog Training Club. We visited there a couple of weeks before to do a few run-thru's so I could get used to a different building and equipment. Apparently this could have been some sort of traumatic event for me....but I could really care less! Show me some tunnels and jumps and I'll do it anywhere! Anyway, this place is different for me because they don't have indoor crating. What? You mean I have to stay...outside? Apparently so. I'm told they usually have a tent, but didn't today...so I spent lots of time in the car since it was so crowded inside. That was a bit weird for me!
Once we started, though, it was just another agility trial! First we did FAST - which, unfortunately, is exactly like a Traditional Jackpot except it's only 30 seconds long or so. Great. No pressure here! Joni insists this was a fairly easy section where I had to do it by myself, and I suppose it was....all I had to do was go into a tunnel then over an A-frame - no biggie. Except I blew it. I went over the A-frame and saw that Joni was about 6 feet away and looking like she might bolt suddenly and leave me, so I cut the corner a bit on the bottom contact and ran after her. Why can't I remember that she isn't really going to leave me there? !@#$%.
After that was Standard - which we got first place in and a Q. Cool! Then we did Jumpers with Weaves - another 1st place and a Q. Then that was it. Seriously....that was it! We were done already? Feels like we were just getting started!
So...looks like we're going to keep doing this AKC stuff. I wish we weren't doing FAST again, but Joni has endless faith in me and signed us up for it again. Sigh. Will she ever learn?
Our next AKC trial is in two weeks - a 3-day trial. Looks like it's an afternoon event again since we just started and are in Novice...which may be a good reason to never get into Excellent, right? Shhh....don't tell Joni that!
I hear that Joni is doing this because she wants to take me on a long road trip next spring for a trial. Yep - she wants to take me to the Keeshond National Specialty in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. I haven't a clue what that really means...but it sounds fun! And this is an outdoor trial! Wow - will be very cool to do all this stuff outside in the fresh air.....unless it's raining. That could be bad then! I hate getting rain in my eyes! I can barely walk outside when it rains....everyone laughs at me. I squint my eyes closed really really tight - every time I try opening them I get water in them, so I just squeeze them shut again and walk really really slowly. Now this could make for an interesting run, dontcha think?
November is going to be a busy month for us! We're doing the AKC trial one weekend; Tyssen has 4 UKC shows one weekend, and then a CPE trial another weekend. Then a few short weeks after that there's our 4-day CPE trial! I can't wait!
I'm hoping Joni will get those video's of me up soon! I keep bugging her about this...maybe soon!
Well...guess I'm outa here.....wait...what? Oh, hold on. Ty wants to say a few things!
Hey, Ty here! Yeah, you heard Jada - I have my OWN shows coming up here soon! AND I get to spend 4 days at Judy's (where I was born and where my mom and sister live) being pampered while they're at the AKC trial! She wants to use the time to "work me"...which I think is a good thing. I don't really need the "work" since I'm so damn good, but I'll let her think I do. Makes her feel useful....but that's just our secret, okay?
I keep waiting to be entered into an agility, but so far Joni seems to think I need to wait more. Personally, I think Jada is telling her this. She's afraid I'll show her up maybe? Yeah...that has to be it. What else could it be? Joni thinks I'm getting close, though.....the only thing she keeps working on alot with me is those crazy weave poles. Now what's the purpose of these things? They make no sense. In the real world I can see the purpose needing to jump, or go over a ramp - hell, even going thru a tunnel - but there is absolutely NO reason weaves have a functional reason for existing! But.....I'm beginning to get it. Joni told me she can tell the light bulb has gone off for me...but that I have a dimmer switch. I'm not sure what that really means....but I just nod like I do and that makes her happy. But I guess I can keep working with them.
She also thinks I am way too social. She doesn't want to pay for an entry only to get me out there and let me try to meet every single dog on the other side of the ring. Hey - since when is being nice and polite a crime! Sheesh. So I get a "fake" trial - a show-n-go coming up here. Supposedly it'll be "good practice" for me. We'll see.
Oh yeah....also have to mention our latest toy for agility trials! Very cool! Joni got tired of coming up with 16 D batteries each day for our two battery operated fans, so she went and got a "power pack". She got a DC splitter so she can plug in both fans - and they both run on high for 12+ hours in our crate. They might go longer, but she unplugged them after 12 hours of testing them, so who knows how long they'll last. Each day after the trial she just takes the power pack home and recharges it all night - and it's good to go all day the next day with the fans. Pretty cool! She's turned our little home-away-from home into a nice cool place!
Here's the view from the inside and top!
Power pack: Schumacher Portable Power PP-2200 , 22 amp hour / 400 watt, Built in inverter and 12 volt outlet
It's been a couple of weeks now, but I'm finally able to tell you about our latest Agility Trial. Joni's been hogging the computer non-stop since then, and it's been tough talking her down from the keyboard to give me a chance here!
Our last CPE Trial was a new one for me - a THREE day trial. Whoa! I thought two days was exhausting! But we had so much fun that it just flew by. Joni bought me a spiffy new crate for the trials. I was SO excited when I saw it - it's huge! No more being cramped up in that wire crate with just enough room to lay down!
Check it out:on the right here (just ignore the pug - no idea who this critter is!)This thing is so awesome - I can stretch out in the 50"x50" interior! She puts in a couple of portable fans and I'm in hea-ven! Once there, I found out that I don't get this room by myself - I have to share it with Tyssen! TYSSEN!! What's he doing here? He's never been here before at a Trial! I figured he'd ruin the whole weekend with his non-stop talking and whining. Maybe Joni drugged him or something, but he was great! He didn't ruin anything! He was in there rubbing my shoulders down before we ran, giving me encouragement and some last minute tips. Oh, wait.....you're not believing that? Okay, he was great, though. He was very happy every time I came back from running, but I strongly suspect that was because he got treats when I did. I'm not all together sure what he did to deserve the same reward I got for all my hard work while he just sat on his ass, but maybe he was off doing something worth rewarding while I was gone.
Let me describe a typical Agility Trial weekend. We get up bright and early on Trial mornings - at 4:30. Joni is insane. That alarm goes off and she stumbles off to get dressed and Tyssen and I just lay there on the bed in utter disbelief."Is she SERIOUSLY getting up at this hour". Yes she is. Not only that, she gets us up and we're out walking around the neighborhood in the dark. Geez.....we just went to sleep a few hours ago! She feeds me when we come in. Sure, I'm tired...but I'll EAT any time anywhere! Then she's off to go get ready herself. We usually left around 6:15am, but now we can leave later since Tyssen is coming with us and we don't have to drop him off first. You'd think she'd figure out this time difference and let me sleep in another half hour, wouldn't you? Maybe next time she'll do that. Are you listening, Joni? I want to sleep in till 5am, not 4:30!!!!!
We get to the Trial and Joni makes us sit in the car for a little bit while she takes some stuff in. That's always fun, though. Just Tyssen and me in the car watching other dogs and people arrive. I made up stories about the dogs and what they're doing there....which Tyssen totally believed. He's wide-eyed back there in his crate and has his eyes glued on what he really believes is the Queen of England and her dog (just one of my many elaborations!). I had him totally believing this guy walking by was the Dog Whisperer dude. Ty's always good for a few early morning chuckles. We get inside and Joni sorta forgets about us for a little while as she's off running around and talking and deciding how we're going to run our first run. She sorta goes a little OCD over these things...just obsesses over them. Me - I just go out and run it perfectly the first time having never SEEN the course before! So I think she just needs to relax, chill out and do what I do!
So our first run of the day is ready to go! It's called "Full House", and it's the last leg of Level 3. If I "Q" - Qualify - in this leg, we can move up to Level 4. In Full House we get to make up our own course, but there is stuff we have to do - a Pair (2 round objects like a tunnel or tire), 3-of-a-kind (3 jumps) and a Joker (a contact). That's 14 points and we have to have 23 total points to Q. So we get to make up the rest of the course myself for these extra points before the horn sounds and we have 5 seconds to make it to the Table, which ends the game! We only got second place in this today, but we'd have done better if Joni was as quick as I was!
Our 2nd run of the day was Level 3 "Standard", which is a course that we have to do in a certain order. We got First Place in that one!
Our next two runs of the day were Level 4 "Jumpers" courses - which is all jumps, tunnels and weaves. Lots of fun and speed here! We got Second Place in both of those. So far we're 4 for 4 on Q's for the weekend!
So - end of the first day, and we go home where Tyssen and I both crashed and slept. Not sure why Tyssen had to crash, but he tries to do everything I do - just less successfully! I got a new Title on Friday - our CLF-3 Title.
Saturday morning started out the same, except Joni was a bit nervous about our first run of the day. It was "Jackpot". She said, "no, not just Jackpot - but a Traditional Jackpot!". Whatever. She worries about the silliest things. Jackpot is a little like Full House - we run around and accumulate points under a certain time. Different obstacles have various point amounts, blah, blah, blah. We have something like 30 seconds to do this, then they blow a horn and we have 18 seconds to do the second part of the game, called the "Gamble". The "traditional" part that had Joni quaking in fear was that this Gamble part has to be done in a very specific order...but Joni had to stay behind a line on the floor while I do these obstacles. I'm on my own. By myself. While she's way way way over there. By herself. Waving her arms frantically while I'm confused, shaking my head and saying "you want me to do what?" Now how can I do these things while she's way over there? She's supposed to be right by my side! So until she comes to her senses and comes close to me - I'm just not gonna do these things! What if I fall off? What if she runs off while I'm in the middle of one of them? The possibilities of what can go wrong are endless. So I just choose to look confused and bark at her. I've seen so many Border Collies go in circles and bark crazily at their person that it must work - so it's worth a try. I can't bark too long since some buzzer that hurts my ears goes off and Joni is putting my leash on. ??? Wait....What happened? Don't we get to finish? Apparently this was an "NQ" - a "non qualifying" score. Do I still get a treat?
So...not starting off too terribly well. I'm just devastated, but putting on a brave front. Our next two runs are "Standard" runs, like the day before. Nothing major - we've done these lots of time. I was still quite rattled from that NQ, though, and couldn't keep my mind on the course. I couldn't get that stupid "behind the line" thing out of my head. Halfway thru the course I was running over the dog ramp when I suddenly thought that Joni was leaving me! She was right there next to the ramp, but her shoulder turned just a little bit - but just enough to give me the hint that she was going to leave me high and dry up there! So I bailed! Yes, that's right! Something I NEVER ever in my entire life had ever thought I'd do while way up there on the dog ramp - I jumped right off! I realized I made a serious mistake as soon as I saw the stunned look on Joni's face, though. Oh, !@#$% - now I've done it! Joni bravely continued but I knew something was wrong and couldn't shake the ever growing bad feeling. I was right.....they gave us an NQ for that! WHAT? Nobody ever told me I couldn't jump off an obstacle before! Okay, so I know now and it'll never happen again! Sheesh. So we were 0 for 2 on Saturday and it wasn't looking good......
Our next Standard run came up quickly and I was determined to be perfect this time! And I was! I just flew thru that course! We got First Place and according to our time, we ran thru those 18 obstacles at the speed of 4.6 yards a second! That's 13.8 feet a second! I told you I was flying thru it!
Our last run of the day was Snooker. Joni has had her issues with me in Snooker so this one makes us both a bit nervous. Our first couple attempts at this game were painfully bad, but since then it's been okay, so we really need to relax about this game! I get it now! It's a bit different than any other game, so it took me a few times to figure it out. Snooker has a whole course laid out there - numbered 2 thru 7. But it also had 4 scattered "red jumps" around the course. This game is also in two parts. The first part is to do a red jump, then any other obstacle on the course. Then another red jump (not the same one as before) and another obstacle, then another red jump (again, can only use them once) and another obstacle of your choice....that's the end of the first part. Sounds simple, doesn't it? After that last obstacle you run the numbered course starting with 2. It sounds so simple....but it's not! But I ran it brilliantly! We got First Place with 44 points (I only needed 28) and had a great ending to a day that didn't start out so well! All in all - we're 6 for 8 this weekend in Q's and I got another Title today! With our Snooker Q we finished up our CL2-S Title! Two days - two new titles! Not too shabby.
Last day of the Trial and I feel like it's Day O
ne again! I'm just anxious to get out there and run!
Our first run of the day was Full House again, this time in Level 4. We had 35 seconds to get 25 points and the obstacles seemed VERY far apart. But we flew thru it and managed to get 34 points and a First place finish.
Next up we had Wild Card. Wild Card is another game that requires some thinking out there! It's a numbered course, but there are 3 sets of obstacles out there in the course that are set up right next to each other with the same number, but are an "A" or a "B". For this course you got to pick which of these you wanted, but we had to make sure that out of these three options, we HAD to pick two that were "A's" and one that was a "B". If Joni had it planned out a certain way and I picked the other option, we could fix it at the next option, but that took some fast thinking to do while on the run! Don't tell Joni, but I've taken the wrong obstacle on purpose a few times just to see her scramble and try to fix it further down the course....unsuccessfully both times. So I quit playing that little game so we can finally Q and get out of this Level. I'll spring that little surprise on her another time sometime. We finished it with a Third Place finish, and got the "Q" and finished up our CL2-H Title - and finally finished all the games for our "CL2" Title. Now everything we're doing is in Levels 3 and 4.
Our next run was "Colors". This is basically a BUNCH of obstacles out there at one time - it's literally two different courses out there at the same time, but are numbered (or colored) differently. We pick a course (color) and run that - ignoring the other course and some of the obstacles we'll be running by and not being part of our course. Pretty simple, really. We got First Place in this and finished up the last leg of Colors for Level 3 with this one.
Our last run of the day was Snooker again. I'm actually looking forward to this game now that I get it! We needed 30 points now that we were in Level 3, but that was easy enough. We got 46 points and a First Place out of it! Great way to finish the weekend! Officially we were 10 for 12 in Q's this weekend, and got a few new Titles!
I can't wait till our next 3-day Trial now at the end of August! I'm trying my best to talk Joni into getting me into some AKC trials, and it looks like my begging has finally worked! She knows we have to do it soon as she wants to take me to the Keeshond Nationals the next couple of years for Agility.
Oh, Joni has all of these runs on video, but she hasn't transferred it yet. Maybe someday she'll quit being lazy and get it loaded up online so I can give you a link to them!
by Jada
