Overall, not a very successful weekend, as I only got 1 Q out of 8 runs between the two dogs but at least Enzo got his 10th Excellent B Standard Q for his MX title. Tooney was having weave entry problems all weekend except for her last run where she took the wrong end of a tunnel. I’m going to have to do a little weave refresher training with her. Other than that she was running pretty good.

Enzo’s standard run on Saturday had an off course. I made a poor handing choice. It was table jump teeter in a pinwheel shape with the aframe about 10-15ft from the teeter. I did a front cross between the jump and teeter and Enzo ran behind me and took the aframe. Since I can’t lead out at the table I probably should have pulled to the teeter and front crossed at the end. In JWW, he got the wrong end of the tunnel. I didn’t get his head in time. Sunday’s standard Enzo ran clean and actually stuck his aframe contact! woohoo! Still a little sticky on the dogwalk stopping just short of the ground. Table was good both days. In JWW, he knocked the first bar and also missed the weave entrance, he bounced off the poles somehow but I was pushing him and got a little ahead of the weaves before he got there.

2 days of USDAA next weekend. Hopefully we will have a better Q rate!

Saturday I went to the USDAA trial in Fillmore. I had entered 12 runs for this day! Didn’t really think about how many that was until after I entered. Of course I probably would have done it anyways. Started out the day running Tooney in P3 Gamblers. She came really close to getting it but ran by the teeter. She was right there but didn’t take it. She avoided the teeter once at our last fun match so don’t know if there is something going on there or it was just the distance this time.

Next Enzo ran in Starters Gamblers and Q’d in that. Worked his contacts some. He ran off the first aframe and then stopped on the ground on the second aframe, then on the dogwalk he stopped just short of the ground so I took the time to make him come all the way down and then the buzzer went off. He got the gamble so that was his 3rd starters gamblers Q and he can move up to advanced in that now.

Tooney did really well in the Performace National Standard. I had a couple close calls that we managed to save which made it pretty exciting and she ended up with 3rd place. Then Enzo ran in the Grand Prix which didn’t really go that well. There was a 180 turn away from me after the dogwalk so I front crossed the end of the dogwalk and that pulled enzo in too tight and he ran past the next jump. I didn’t really step in to send him so that was my fault. Then the jump after the tunnel I sent him over and ran to get a front cross in further down the line. That launched him over the jump so far that he actually went out of the ring and back just barely getting the next jump. The the closing line had another one of those run like heck straight lines which went aframe chute and then 3 jumps. Since I can’t really leave him on the aframe yet that put me behind and he ended up pulling in to the offcourse teeter. He did actually stop on the aframe this time though!

Next, Enzo ran in Starters Standard and Q’d. He was a little sticky on the table and the end of the dogwalk again and didn’t stop on his aframe but other than that he did good.

Then Tooney ran in P3 standard and missed the weave entry and also bypassed the teeter again towards the end of the run. She flew by it and took the next jump which was pretty far away.

Next was Performance Speed Jumping for Tooney which she just rocked! I wish I had video of that run. She got first in that and she actually beat a lot of really fast Border collies in that class. Of course the running aframe helps a lot. Too bad that wasn’t in round 2 where we can get money!

Enzo also had a nice fast steeplechase run but he hit the broad jump. I think I started decelerating before he cleared it. He should be able to handle that but we need to train more on it. Unfortunatly the 5 faults put us out of Q range by about 1 second. The first place dog was 3 seconds faster than everyone else and that kind of wrecked the curve!

Next I ran Tooney in P3 snookers. I planned a pretty conservative course since I was tired and didn’t want to run too much, a 7 and two 5’s. She knocked the bar in the number 7 combo in the opening but so ended up with 40 points for a Q. She did the teeter twice in this run so maybe the run bys were just flukes. I don’t think she’s ever had teeter issues since she was ready to start competing.

I also planned a conservative course for Enzo in starters snookers a 3, 7 and 5. He really flew through the whole thing and the only mistake was missing the weave entry in the closing but that is ok in starters. It was starting to get dark at this point.

I ran Tooney is P3 jumpers right after that. She started out really well but went off course towards the end. After that I decided to skip starters jumpers with Enzo because it was going to be really late and completly dark by the time they got to that. They hadn’t even started walking advanced jumpers at that point.

So Tooney is Q’d for USDAA nationals in PSJ and PNS now and just needs a team Q. Enzo still needs 2 Grand Prixs and 1 steeplechase. Enzo just needs one more Starters Standard and one Starters Jumpers before he can move to advanced.

The AKC trial on Sunday felt like a very easy day after all that! Tooney ran in JWW first and ran clean and placed 2nd. Enzo had a really fast JWW run (5.9 yds/s) that was 2 seconds faster than Tooney’s time even jumping 20″ vs 16″. He had one wide turn and unfortunately he also knocked a bar so didn’t Q. His time was good enough for 3rd. He was about 2 seconds slower than 1st place and 1 second slower than the 2nd place dog. Both are super fast BC’s. I hope that one day I can get him up to that level but we’ll see.

In standard Tooney missed her weave entry. I forget that she need just a tad more help than Enzo sometimes. Enzo knocked the second jump in standard. I should’ve led out past the second jump and then that might have helped. We’d been doing so many long lead outs that I wanted to give him a break since I didn’t really need it to keep up in this case. Then when we got to the table, he laid down fairly quickly for him but when she got to the count of 3, he just jumped off the table. Then when I tried to get him to go back on, he started barking at me and wouldn’t stop. I had yell at him hey! stop it! before he would settle and get back on the table. I had to resist laughing because it’s really kind of funny but I don’t want to encourage it for sure!

I ran Enzo in a one day ASCA trial on Sunday. This was after running in a Show and Go on Saturday to really work contacts. The ASCA trial had one round of Gamblers and 3 rounds of Regular AKA Standard in almost every other venue. Enzo is in Open for everything in ASCA. ASCA is not really my priority but I’m doing it since his breeders are big on ASCA. The courses are definitely a big change from AKC and USDAA.

We ran Gamblers first and even though he made up his own course in some parts of the opening we got the Gamble and a Q plus first place. The Gamble was a send to a tunnel and then teeter about 7 ft or so from the line and then a jump straight ahead of the teeter. No problem for Enzo. He also had good contacts in this run since it was the first of the day and we had just done the Show and Go.

Next was Open Regular Round 1. My brain was like one obstacle behind Enzo on this course. I was not very mentally sharp that whole day. The opening was really fast and I really needed to run hard to get the tunnel instead of the aframe but I forgot where we were going for a split second and by the time I recovered Enzo was on the aframe. Then out of the tunnel Enzo didn’t know where he was going because I was behind and he stopped and barked at me. Since he jumped off the aframe I took the opportunity to train in the ring since we already NQ’d. After the aframe I forgot where we were going again for another split second. I took a half step to the right and Enzo read rear cross and shot off to the right after the jump. I can barely even see that I did that in the video but I know I did it and so did Enzo! His dogwalk contact wasn’t great as he stopped short and I had to wait him out but he did eventually come down into 2on/2off.

Open Regular Round 1:

In the second round, I chickened out on the front cross before the aframe tunnel discrimination. I walked a front cross but his speed coming at me scared me so I wimped out and tried pulling instead. Normally he will take the obstacle closest to me without too much effort but since he blew off his aframe contacts at the last USDAA trial we went to we’ve been practicing and rewarding aframes a lot. I messed up the second aframe tunnel discrimination too. I was doing the “HB” or “hide breast” as Nancy Gyes calls it. LOL. I just brought my arm up without acutually turning my shoulders enough for the RFP. He at least stopped on his first aframe but it was a little creepy.

Open Regular Round 2:

Round 3 was a much easier course. I was relieved to see that there were no more discriminations! Enzo did jump off the aframe early and almost flipped into the tunnel on his own. I had to yell “hey!” to keep him from going into the tunnel. That’s why we got the spin after the aframe. He has a tendency to do that sometimes. The Judge got in my way a little bit in that loop after the aframe but I still made it for my front cross after the tunnel. Enzo got first in this round and did it in 5.06 yds/sec and I think this run he was actually a little slower than in the other two regular rounds.

Open Regular Round 3:

Next weekend will be one day of USDAA and one day of AKC. First frisbee competition of the year will be March 21.

Went to one day of a USDAA on Saturday. I was hoping to get some tournament Q’s but that didn’t happen. I don’t think I was quite mentally focused on agility. Tooney missed her weave entrance in P3 standard and didn’t get the gamble in P3 gamblers. She got the first 4 obstacles but didn’t get the last jump. In PNS, her only fault was a missed dogwalk contact. In PSJ she went off course. I took one step too far. Didn’t see the potential off course to the broad jump.

Enzo Q’d in starters gamblers. His second q in that. He ran his dogwalk and aframe contacts even when I had him do the dogwalk twice. He got his first Q in starters standard. His contacts managed to hold together long enough for that. In the Grand Prix, he knocked the first bar and then the rest of the run was kind of a mess. He missed a weave pole when I ran ahead to front cross, missed his aframe contact, and then I couldn’t get him out to the jump after the chute. There was an impossible long run down the entire length of the field and I just could not get there in time. He ended up barking at me and running past the jump. I think that was the first time that I really needed a directional, either right or out. His Steeplechase run was better but he ended leaping over both his aframe contacts and knocked a bar. I’m glad I don’t have any trials coming up for a few weeks so we can do some reminder training.

Went to an AKC trial this weekend. Enzo was jumping 20″ to get him more practice at the higher height. He seems to be gaining more confidence at 20″ since the last trial. It’s kind of nice having my two dogs in different divisions since I get an extra walkthrough between my two! Gives me some time to think about what did or didn’t work.

My first run was Tooney’s JWW. She broke her start and knocked the first bar but the rest of the run was good. Enzo had a few wide turns but he was clean and ended up getting first! Next was standard. Tooney was having a good run but went over an off course jump when she was supposed to turn to the table. When I ran Enzo I made sure to talk to him before the took that jump before the table. Enzo had a nice run in STD and even sat on the table instantly but I pulled him off the jump after the weaves. I was moving away ahead and laterally to get ahead for a front cross later on and he just came right to me and right by the jump. I guess a “go over” would have helped. I just took the jump for granted since it was straight ahead. He did stop nicely on his contacts though.

In Sunday’s JWW, Tooney broke her stay and then I was late on a front cross and she ran behind me to take an off course jump. She’s really difficult to call off of something once she’s locked on. Enzo held his stay but I was still a little late on the same front cross and he knocked the bar so maybe a rear cross would have been better! I’m working on handling more aggressively so it will take me a little while to figure it out. I couldn’t quite get there in time to show deceleration before he took off so he jumped long and straight and then saw me turning which caused to bar to come down.

In standard both dogs did really well. Tooney leapt from the dogwalk a little high but didn’t get called for it and she ended up getting first in 16″. It’s a problem when I don’t keep running straight with her on the dogwalk. Enzo also did really well. He spaced out a little on the table and wouldn’t make eye contact but he sat after a couple seconds. He still managed to get first in 20″ though. His time was a couple seconds behind Tooney’s because of the table. Unlike Saturday, he ran all of his contacts this time.

This was my first trial weekend since the first weekend in December! I went to a USDAA trial on Saturday and an AKC trial on Sunday. At the USDAA trial, Tooney got her first Performance National Standard leg for the year. She went off course in Masters Standard and didn’t Q in gamblers either. She had a missed dogwalk contact in Masters relay and her partner had a refusal but it should have been fast enough to Q. I didn’t actually wait to see the results.

Enzo almost ran clean in Grand Prix but knocked a bar on a difficult turn. He stuck his dogwalk contact though! In Starters Standard Enzo knocked the first bar because I set him up too close. There wasn’t much room but I should have put him all the way back against the fencing. Enzo Q’d and got first in starters gamblers! He stuck both his dogwalk contacts. He still doesn’t stick his aframe in competition but he’s getting the contact consistently. In starters jumpers, he ended up knocking 2 bars. It was a fun speedy course so I decided to push for speed instead of playing it safe. We had fun!

At sunday’s AKC trial, the standard course was a killer. Enzo’s only mistake was that he flipped towards the tunnel at the bottom of the aframe. He didn’t actually go in but he touched it. He hasn’t tried to do that in a while! In JWW, he did well but I slipped on the sand that they used to fill in gopher holes when I was rear crossing and he knocked the bar. Tooney got a Q and 4th place in JWW and had a horrible run in standard. We just weren’t in sync at all.

Oh and I got another private with Elicia on Sunday and worked on handling. Elicia got her MACH with Nika on sunday so that was very awesome to be there for! Not bad for a one eyed dog! She suggested visualization and shadow handling for me to help with switching between dogs. I tried it some in our lesson but it will take some practice to get more comfortable with it. She also helped me with handling more agressively and I think I know how to start looking at courses a little differently. I need to run hard in the places where I can but still decelerate in the right places. I also need to practice getting the timing right on those tough front crosses. I’m very glad that I got to work with her a bunch while she was out here!

Some links to enzo pics from the USDAA trial:

from gamblers:
http://dynamicdogphotos.com/ids/index.cgi?mode=album&startitem=73&album=/Dynamic%20Dog%20Photo%20Gallery/0%20Agility%20Bonita%20USDAA%20Jan%2009/Saturday/Starters%20Gamblers/22%20inch

from jumpers:
http://dynamicdogphotos.com/ids/index.cgi?mode=image&album=/Dynamic%20Dog%20Photo%20Gallery/0%20Agility%20Bonita%20USDAA%20Jan%2009/Saturday/Starters%20Jumpers/22%20inch&image=IMG_3533rpja9.JPG

my fav! lol
http://dynamicdogphotos.com/ids/index.cgi?mode=image&album=/Dynamic%20Dog%20Photo%20Gallery/0%20Agility%20Bonita%20USDAA%20Jan%2009/Saturday/Starters%20Jumpers/22%20inch&image=IMG_3534rpja9.JPG

from standard:
http://dynamicdogphotos.com/ids/index.cgi?mode=album&startitem=109&album=/Dynamic%20Dog%20Photo%20Gallery/0%20Agility%20Bonita%20USDAA%20Jan%2009/Saturday/Starters%20Standard/22%20inch

Last weekend Jeff went to Freestyle Jam Camp with some of the top human disc freestylers. He really enjoyed it and got some new ideas that he is going to include in his routine. For Saturday, they told the dog people to bring their dogs and they critiqued the routines. It was a three day camp but I only went on the day that Enzo got to go. I figured the rest would be too boring for me. Jeff got a lot of positive feedback for his routine and some good suggestions too. All of the instructers really liked the variation in Jeff’s routine. They were really impressed with all of the dogs and how athletic they are!

Oh and Jeff and Enzo’s new routine is looking really awesome!