2008 Ontario Regional Agility Trial

What a great weekend at The 2008 Ontario Regional Agility Trial. I qualified for Nationals again this year!!! Look out New Brunswick here we come!! The weather was great, sunny but cool, too much wind at times but still better than last years heat and humidity.

My Mom said overall she was very happy with how well I ran. The courses were very tough, with a lot of potential for off courses and other faults. She said I really was listening well and trying hard this weekend (which I think I always do). I had 2 clean fantastic runs, 3 good runs but not perfect, and well the last run of the weekend had some big problems in the middle which lost us a lot of points, but oh well!!

A lot of my family were there. My litter mate Spy came to watch, my brothers Fergus, Bogey, Zed and sister Tribble were all running, as well my nieces Tink and Roo were running. My grand niece was there watching too. I heard that my mother Q was there to watch but I didn't see her.

I have added the video of my 2 clean runs, both ended up with a 3rd place! I'm glad that we were able to have my most of my runs on tape. It's nice to be able to see them later on. The first video is the Jumpers 2 course from Sunday. It is hard to see on the video just how tough it was, but boy was Mom happy that we got through it. A lot of people were getting lost on course too. The second video is of the Standard 1 course from the Saturday, which had a really hard opening but then was not too bad.

I have also added a photo of me with Spy, Tink and Kestrel. Aren't we a good looking bunch!! All in all I am tuckered out but it was so much fun!!

Royackers May Trial

On Sunday morning Mom took me to the Royackers May Agility trial. I think I'm finally dry! It was pouring rain the whole time! We only signed up for 2 courses, standard and gamblers. Mom was so happy with how well I ran. She was concerned when we got there because of the rain and slippery conditions (she thinks I'm crazy and would hurt myself) but decided to warm me up. I fell hard and slid across the grass the first time over the warm up jump so I quickly settled down and collected myself up. Mom was surprised that I slowed a bit for both courses and ran careful. She said she was surprised that at 6 years old I finally had a brain working and some sense of self preservation!!!

So I have added the course maps again. We ran the standard first with only one mistake which Mom said was hers. I was supposed to come in and go over the teeter totter and I went to the weaves. It was a perfect line to the weaves and Mom called me too late, but she said I ran very well and she was happy. We still placed first and only one dog in the whole class Q'd.

Next we ran gamblers and again I got a first place! Mom seemed so happy when we were done. I got the mini gambles and a bunch of other points and I got the gamble at the end which was hard but the judge didn't give it to us because she said I missed the up contact on the teeter! I've never done that before! Mom was still so happy with me!

So now the focus is the Ontario Regionals. It starts on Friday in Ilderton, three days away!!! Mom is a bit nervous but I'm just excited to go out and have fun and play the game! Lots of my doggie relatives will be there too! I will let you know how it all goes and if we qualify for the Nationals again this year.

Agility can be a humiliating experiance!!

So this past weekend I got to go to the May, Acton Agility Trial with my Mom. Hmmm, what can I say. I of course I had a great time, but my Mom said she hasn't had such a bad day at a trial in she can't remember! Apparently she says I was too high, which she is used to at trials with me but this time she says I wasn't paying attention in the first 2 of the 4 courses which just isn't like me. She said she knew we were doomed when she came out of the bathroom in her robe and I jumped up and started to tug on the belt ties which I haven't done since I was young. I was just excited because I saw all the stuff at the door to go to the trial! Normally she would run me in the morning or play frisbee for a bit at the trial to take the edge off, but it was pouring rain and she was worried I would hurt myself.

Our first course was Team (I will include the course maps). My partner ran first (white numbers) and had many weave problems and faults. I ran second and had an off course coming off the A-frame taking the wrong jump. Mom took the blame for this one as the jump was close and she knew I was full of P&V and didn't direct me quick enough and was facing that jump.

Our second course was Gamblers. I guess it was true I wasn't really paying much mind to my Mom, and flew off of everything, took bars down and didn't get my weave entry! She was so dumbfounded and surprised by me she said. After my run I didn't even get to tug on my leash! She just quietly leashed me and quietly put me in my crate. I knew that something must be wrong because she ALWAYS plays with me after. She said that 99.9% of the time our errors on course are her fault but this time I had to take the credit for our failure!!! She said she was shocked how I behaved.

So in our third course, which was another gamblers, she used the time to make me do all the contact equipment twice and just worked on control and handling. She was happy with me even though she said I was still high as a kite and just shook her head.

Our fourth and final course was Standard and my Mom said we both had an error to take the blame for. First of all I blew the A-Frame contact, then as you can see by the course map there was a funny little loop de loop at the end around the tunnels and dog walk. We had an off course when I was supposed to go up the dog walk and I went back into the tunnel like the first time. My Mom said this is the trouble with a course like this, I was a bit patterned trained and she needed to micro manage me more because I was going so fast and typically just went where I did the first go round.However she said I ran more like myself, paying attention and trying real hard to get it right and do what was asked of me.

All in all she said no one would know that I had competed at Nationals and how well I can do by watching us this weekend!! She said we better get our act together in the next 2 1/2 weeks as the Ontario Regionals are coming! If we don't run a lot better than this past weekend I won't qualify for Nationals!!

Of course in the big picture, I just like to get out and play with my Mom! We shouldn't take this too seriously as dogsports are good to keep us humble, and we're not solving any world issues here!