CPE Nationals-short recap

Oy, three day trials are tiring! Especially considering my normal work week....

Nationals was the biggest trial I've been to, but it didn't feel all that different from other trials at Clark County Fairgrounds, which was nice. I had no expectations of us (NONE), especially considering I was on my own for 10 days while John was out of town and was trying to work, hold down the fort, and then trial. Thank goodness for the parents or I never could have done it.

There were three runs a day, a standard and two of the six games per day. About 4-500 dogs entered, so lots of runs a day. I'll just try to sum up the major points.

Friday: Standard, Fullhouse, Wildcard
Friday Standard: Worst run of the weekend. I wish I could chalk it up to jitters, and some I can, but oy, some badness. Weave pole disaster. Griff acted like he couldn't see them, and then he popped out at the 5th pole multiple times. We didn't complete either set successfully, and they were only 6 poles. He also had an off course due to really poor handling on my part.
Fullhouse: Q and 3rd place. The only run we placed in. Pretty nice. I love Fullhouse.
Wildcard: Weave issues were present but mild. Consistently this ring made Griff dingy all weekend-I'm not sure if it was the open door, the pigeons, or the light changes. We still Qd.

Saturday: Standard, Jackpot, Jumpers
Standard: again weave poles. Why??? We have worked on nothing but, and he's unshakable in practice. I don't get it.
Jackpot: wow, a traditional Jackpot in which we Q? Amazing. He did come into me, but I was able to send him around the tire to the teeter...go Griff! And in the video, I can clearly see why I made him drop a bar....the wonder of video
Jumpers: ring 2-good run except in the last serpentine where he got distracted (pigeons? sparkly vampires? ) and actually had a time fault-first time ever!

Sunday: Standard, Snooker, Colors
Best day of the weekend. He was tired in colors, steady in standard, and did really well in Snooker.

Overall-I'm very glad I bought the video, even though I hate watching myself. I can see when I was late to cue, when my handling was less than stellar, and when I was working obstacles hard. It'll be good to review, even the crap runs.
He Q'd in 7/9, had four really great runs, 3 so-so, 2 bleh.

I'd really like to get this dog his C-ATCH. He's talented enough. Too bad he didn't get a better handler earlier in his career. Hopefully Zig will benefit from our mistakes.

This will probably be our only Nationals-I can't imagine traveling across the country for a trial-we just aren't that competitive. But it was a fun experience, even considering the time and exhaustion.

Car death, fleet feet trial day two.

Today started out with a massive car fail on the freeway on the way to agility trial. Spent 45 minutes waiting for triple A about 15 miles from home, had to call someone to pick up Griff and I, follow the tow truck to the dealer, come back home, and borrow John's car. Finally made it to the trial after Jackpot had been run but just in time to walk the level 4 standard course.

Today was frustrating, just because it was a lot of work with a low yield, and I felt like he had run so much better yesterday. Standard 4 I blew because I sent him inadvertently into the wrong end of the tunnel, and you can't have any off courses to Q. Wildcard was a messy, messy run but he qualified. Colors would have been a q but he ...KNOCKED ANOTHER BAR!!!!

I have many theories on what makes him knock bars. He does it when he's tired. He does it when he's focused on the obstacle ahead of the jump. He does it during tight handling courses if he's not 100% sure where I want him to go. So, with these problems in mind, my potential fixes are...1. build value in the jump ala success with one jump so that he is committed regardless of handling concerns...2. play jump grids to strengthen his ability to correctly stride and evaluate jump position, and 3. work on my tight handling and distance handling so I don't pull him off if I'm not excessively working the jump. I would like more advice from my trainer, because this is three runs at the last two trials where knocked bars have cost me Q's. Meh.

Yesterday he was a supastar, so I'm trying to be proud that A. he rocked it yesterday, including his first level 4 standard run and a snooker course which is my weakest event, B. that we came back after the trauma of the morning and he performed pretty well, and C. that I made myself go at all after dealing with tow trucks and car trauma. But it's hard...I'm sick of level 2 colors and jackpot!

I'd like to get a shot of him with all his ribbons from the last two trials, maybe tomorrow. Right now I need to run a 5K, take a shower, get some dinner, and plan my week.

Fleet Feet CPE trial September

Today's runs:

Fullhouse: Q and 2nd place with same points as first place dog, one second slower

Standard level 4/5/C: Q and 1st place!!! First level 4 run and he rocked. 

Snooker: Q and 1st! Snooker win!

Jumpers: Q I think, one knocked bar but I think that's just a fault and he can still Q. 

No pictures because the photographer wasn't there today, and my camera is misbehaving. But he was a very very good dog. 

Four runs tomorrow.