Meg and I went to our first trial since early September of last year, when we came to the realization that we really needed to re-train our contacts. It was an incredibly long winter, and I admit there were a few times where I was just about ready to say "screw it". I mean, how many freaking times can you run back and forth along a board?
Finally the last couple of months, she's had very reliable 2 on/2 off contacts in class/practice. This CPE trial was our first time trying them out in public. We've also been working really hard on our startlines; all last year, I'd just let go and run.
Jackpot Level 2 - Not a great start. There was a screw up with the score sheets, so after I got her in position to start, I had to call her out of it while we waited. I don't think I did enough to keep her pumped, and she started to worry. So we re-started with basically no startline, and she wandered around the first obstacle (tire). Her dogwalk contact was PERFECT and she waited for the release. We did the a-frame twice; the first time she did hit the yellow, but didn't maintain any of our criteria. The second time she hit the 2o2o, but didn't wait for my release. Finished 2nd and Q.
Standard Level 1 - Startline was perfect, dog walk contact was perfect, a-frame contact was legal, but again, not my criteria. 1st and Q.
Colors Level 2 - Perfect startline, perfect a-frame contact, but I misdirected her because I was too far behind. She didn't take any incorrect obstacles, but pulling her back on course slowed us down (actually, her not back-jumping as she came back to me was a bit of a victory). 3rd and Q.
Snooker Level 2 - Perfect. We had the highest number of points (49) of ANY of the levels. 1st and Q.
Full House Level 1 - Tons of pressure coming from a barking dog right behind us at the ingate. She was too stressed by it to get into her normal sit position, but I left her in a stand stay which she held (although I didn't push for much distance). Her A-frame contact was perfect and held until I released. She missed her first entry into the weaves, but quickly righted herself and was fast through them. The buzzer sounded halfway over the dogwalk, and as much as I wanted to run for the finish line, I forced myself to wait for the contact, which she did give me. 1st and Q, which finished our level one title!
Standard Level 2 - Ick. One of those "let's just forget that happened" runs. I THINK the issue was that the dog in front of us left the ring halfway through. Because he was running around loose and Meg is Meg (and not good around many dogs), I kept her outside the ring so I could continue shoving food in her face until he was caught. At which point I had the timer and the gate steward ticked at me and telling me to hurry up. I need to learn to just brush it off, but I let myself be hurried. Again, she didn't want to get into her sit, so I left her in a stand-stay. She hit the end of her dogwalk and just sort of wandered off distracted, missed a weave entry, ran towards the judge, then took two tunnels backwards (at that point, I think I was so flustered there wasn't a lot of direction for her to follow). We finally clicked over the third to last obstacle, which was the a-frame. She not only hit her contact perfectly, but held it while I ran ahead several feet and then released her. 2nd, and our only NQ of the weekend.
Wildcard Level 2 - Her good startline was back, and the whole course was really smooth. She didn't hit her 2o2o at the a-frame, although she didn't miss the contact. 2nd and Q (really fast BC beat us by about a second).
Jumpers Level 2 - Really nice course, and a good way to end the weekend. Held her startline beautifully. She normally has a hard time with lateral distance, so I have her an "out" on one jump where I couldn't really get in the pocket towards it. I should have realized she was working away from me better than at home, and the "out" caused her to overshoot a bit, but she corrected herself really well. The last three jumps were a long line, and when I told her "go" coming into it, she ran straight down the whole line! I don't think I'd even hit the second one when she crossed the third. Normally she will get a bit ahead, then spin while I catch up, so I was thrilled with that. 2nd and Q behind that same border collie.
All in all, I was REALLY proud of Meg this weekend. Her contacts were as good as I could have expected for their first time in public, and got better over the course of the weekend rather than worse as I feared. Her startlines, when she wasn't worried about something, were phenomenal. She never broke before released. And everything outside the ring was perfect. She was quiet in her crate while I was volunteering, walked through the crowds onleash without a peep, even when other people allowed their dogs to touch her (it amazes me how oblivious some people can be), and made several new human friends, including one who actually knew about Mountain Curs!
No pictures from the runs, because it was indoors and they didn't allow flashes, but a couple fun shots:
Meg with her ribbons (from the gap over).
Meg and her trialing buddies with all their ribbons - all four dogs are from rescue. The black and white wire-haired, the little WTF (white thing of fluff) and Meg were all pulled from high-kill WV shelters; the big white wire-haired was a local pulled from a neglect situation. As you can see, all four have come a long way! Not least of which was getting four females, two of whom are reactive, one of whom borders on dog aggression, and one who has no stay, all in a picture together!
Meg, enjoying her post-trial dinner of champions!
Finally the last couple of months, she's had very reliable 2 on/2 off contacts in class/practice. This CPE trial was our first time trying them out in public. We've also been working really hard on our startlines; all last year, I'd just let go and run.
Jackpot Level 2 - Not a great start. There was a screw up with the score sheets, so after I got her in position to start, I had to call her out of it while we waited. I don't think I did enough to keep her pumped, and she started to worry. So we re-started with basically no startline, and she wandered around the first obstacle (tire). Her dogwalk contact was PERFECT and she waited for the release. We did the a-frame twice; the first time she did hit the yellow, but didn't maintain any of our criteria. The second time she hit the 2o2o, but didn't wait for my release. Finished 2nd and Q.
Standard Level 1 - Startline was perfect, dog walk contact was perfect, a-frame contact was legal, but again, not my criteria. 1st and Q.
Colors Level 2 - Perfect startline, perfect a-frame contact, but I misdirected her because I was too far behind. She didn't take any incorrect obstacles, but pulling her back on course slowed us down (actually, her not back-jumping as she came back to me was a bit of a victory). 3rd and Q.
Snooker Level 2 - Perfect. We had the highest number of points (49) of ANY of the levels. 1st and Q.
Full House Level 1 - Tons of pressure coming from a barking dog right behind us at the ingate. She was too stressed by it to get into her normal sit position, but I left her in a stand stay which she held (although I didn't push for much distance). Her A-frame contact was perfect and held until I released. She missed her first entry into the weaves, but quickly righted herself and was fast through them. The buzzer sounded halfway over the dogwalk, and as much as I wanted to run for the finish line, I forced myself to wait for the contact, which she did give me. 1st and Q, which finished our level one title!
Standard Level 2 - Ick. One of those "let's just forget that happened" runs. I THINK the issue was that the dog in front of us left the ring halfway through. Because he was running around loose and Meg is Meg (and not good around many dogs), I kept her outside the ring so I could continue shoving food in her face until he was caught. At which point I had the timer and the gate steward ticked at me and telling me to hurry up. I need to learn to just brush it off, but I let myself be hurried. Again, she didn't want to get into her sit, so I left her in a stand-stay. She hit the end of her dogwalk and just sort of wandered off distracted, missed a weave entry, ran towards the judge, then took two tunnels backwards (at that point, I think I was so flustered there wasn't a lot of direction for her to follow). We finally clicked over the third to last obstacle, which was the a-frame. She not only hit her contact perfectly, but held it while I ran ahead several feet and then released her. 2nd, and our only NQ of the weekend.
Wildcard Level 2 - Her good startline was back, and the whole course was really smooth. She didn't hit her 2o2o at the a-frame, although she didn't miss the contact. 2nd and Q (really fast BC beat us by about a second).
Jumpers Level 2 - Really nice course, and a good way to end the weekend. Held her startline beautifully. She normally has a hard time with lateral distance, so I have her an "out" on one jump where I couldn't really get in the pocket towards it. I should have realized she was working away from me better than at home, and the "out" caused her to overshoot a bit, but she corrected herself really well. The last three jumps were a long line, and when I told her "go" coming into it, she ran straight down the whole line! I don't think I'd even hit the second one when she crossed the third. Normally she will get a bit ahead, then spin while I catch up, so I was thrilled with that. 2nd and Q behind that same border collie.
All in all, I was REALLY proud of Meg this weekend. Her contacts were as good as I could have expected for their first time in public, and got better over the course of the weekend rather than worse as I feared. Her startlines, when she wasn't worried about something, were phenomenal. She never broke before released. And everything outside the ring was perfect. She was quiet in her crate while I was volunteering, walked through the crowds onleash without a peep, even when other people allowed their dogs to touch her (it amazes me how oblivious some people can be), and made several new human friends, including one who actually knew about Mountain Curs!
No pictures from the runs, because it was indoors and they didn't allow flashes, but a couple fun shots:
Meg with her ribbons (from the gap over).
Meg and her trialing buddies with all their ribbons - all four dogs are from rescue. The black and white wire-haired, the little WTF (white thing of fluff) and Meg were all pulled from high-kill WV shelters; the big white wire-haired was a local pulled from a neglect situation. As you can see, all four have come a long way! Not least of which was getting four females, two of whom are reactive, one of whom borders on dog aggression, and one who has no stay, all in a picture together!
Meg, enjoying her post-trial dinner of champions!