So last night I got up the courage to watch the videos I did get at the trail. Very depressing and upsetting. I deleted most of them. The two I kept were the one standard run because I want to make sure I have what I need on table stress and a gamblers run. Neither of those runs were perfect either. So I keep trying to figure out why I cant get the hang of playing the agility game. I feel like Im the only one not getting Qs or titles. But today Ive talked to several other sheltie owners who are feeling the same way. Its funny, at the hotel this weekend I ran into this lady. She said, "I saw some of your runs with your sheltie". I thought, OMG she probably thinks Im an idiot. But she didnt. She said , "You had some really nice run". I thought to myself, "really, did she see my runs???" LOL I told her thanks but I wish I could run her better. She told me she use to run a slow sheltie and now she has a new fast dog. She said "its been a painful learning curve, very painful". LOL So maybe I will get the hang of this thing yet. Its certainly not from the lack of trying. Tomorrow Im again driving 3 1/3 hours to practice in a building where the trial will be next week. It maybe a silly thing to do but I cant think of what else to do to help the table issue.
Yesterday I took the dogs to the park for a walk. I didnt take my camera. And every time I dont take it, I regret it. There will be something to take pictures of. I missed the owl a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday Guiness was so excited. I guess he missed us or the walks. He ran around more than Ive seen in a long time. I was disappointed I didnt have my camera to take some action shots. So I used my phone to take video. Here is the video. Its boring and 2 1/2 minutes long. Dont feel like you have to watch it. I just wanted to get him being silly and running on video. I did edit out a lot of it.
This morning we walked again. He didnt act the same way. But I still took lots of pictures.
This picture cracked me up. There was lots of mist so it isnt a clear shot. He looks like he is attacking something but he was just pulling grass and eating it.
This looks weird huh?
Here I was using neutral density graded filters. Other wise she just is washed out.
And no walk at the park is complete without this...
8 comments:
The more people I talk to about Qing at agility, the more I realize that Qs are rare and hard to come by. After 8 years of doing agility and only JUST getting my very first speed points ever, I can attest to this fact. Agility is HARD.
I never was able to get my Border Collie out of Excellent A in AKC. So I took the route so as to get a slower dog, who I trained to be slower, so that I can get some of those freakin' Qs. And even then, we've already had a crappy weekend a month ago where I only got 1 Q out of 8 run.
So anyway, I feel your pain, and after that trial in Idaho I asked myself, do I just suck at agility and I'll never be able to figure it out?
Love Guiness' zoomies. So cute!
I took Chewy to puppy class last night, and I can already tell he's going to be such a different agility partner than Oreo. Not sure how I feel about that. Oreo is so easy to run.
You and Miley are an awesome team, and I'm sure everyone that watches you can see that. The little stuff will come together soon.
looks like guiness was having a complete blast at the river yesterday! that was fun to see!
i always think you are too hard on yourself about agility. i can see your improvement in runs all the time now - you and miley are much more connected than you used to be. i know you wouldn't mind some q's now and then but it's really not about that. and i admire you so much for going to trials and running your dog and working hard! you inspire me every day!
I think you guys are fantastic. I absolutely sympathize with you though. Dogs who are brand new green dogs are getting their NAJ's left and right - dogs who really aren't even ready to be trialing yet - and I'm still stuck in Novice Jumpers. It makes me sick.
Well, I know you're not alone in your doubts and frustrations. I wish I knew what to say to make you feel differently, but if I did...I'd apply it myself.
I have many, many days where I wonder if I'm just beating my head against a wall to even continue training agility with Dare with her jumping. :-(
The lady was probably right, it's a whole different game when you've got a fast dog, and Miley is certainly fast! We only did a couple of beginner classes and I could tell it would be hard!!
Guiness is having a blast!! So nice to see him running like that; this is the dog that didn't want to go on walks?
Chin up kiddo. We have ALL been (or still are) in the no-Q zone. Not a big deal really. In fact I bought a shirt I wear which really annoys those "Q freaks" but brings ME back to why I do this, it has a cartoon guy with his dog up on it's hind legs and they are hugging each other with big smiles - the caption? "Who Q'd, Who Cares". The park where you walk looks like dog nirvana. Thank you for sharing the photos.
HEY I FEEL YOUR PAIN, but ya know if Miley was one of those dogs that barely walked and you walked past each jump and said jump, jump, jump you would probably be Qing like crazy esp in the lower levels. It kills me because I see that so much in the club I train at. You happen to have a dog that is AWESOME and you are AWESOME but hey running her is much more of an art and like a fine wine that has to come together at the right time. Not everyone could do it and you will be lighting up the agility world at some point. I think you can not take it personally or judge your journey. You have made huge strides and should be proud for your perservierance (sp?).
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