Fun At the Lake

UKI trial - 2nd post

I cant remember what happened with Miley. LOL, I guess I should have posted on Monday when I did Java's post. Oops.



So I watched the video to try and remember.  We had some nice runs but none were perfect. Lots of dogs dropped bars the first day. I think the slant of the field took some getting use to. Because the next day, hardly any dogs dropped bars.  I know it looks flat but it was kinda high in the middle and low on both ends. 

She dropped the first bar but it was on the up hill part and I think she wasnt aware of the lift she needed to get over the bar.  Then my front cross was a little off and I presented the back side of #6 so we were off course. Other wise nice run.

Because I think I know everything, LOl, I messed up this run.  Taking Daisy Peels rear cross class, and finding out my rear cross on the flat with my inside  arm isnt correct. That I should be using my outside arm/hand to draw my dog across my body. But I thought, this works for me so whats the big deal. Well, I used a rear cross on the flat from #6 to #7 (Both tunnels because they had no chute), and  I flipped her back into the tunnel she just came out of by using my inside hand. Ack!!  So we were off course. She self released on the dogwalk and jumped the a-frame contact and I marked that.  So she stopped on the teeter.  Silly Miley.

I didnt get this on video because I was taping myself on a tripod and the person in front of me pulled their dog for dropping a bar and I wasnt ready with my ipad. But I do remember that I messed up the beginning. I think she went around 4. I think she might have missed 12 too. Ugh, I have to write this stuff down.

We did really well on this course.  I held her to long going from 16 to 17, trying to keep her out of the tunnel. I should have just said "tire" but finally she said, "screw it, she isnt telling me where to go, Im taking the tunnel".  LOL  Oh so close.

We did well on this course too but got a refusal at the tunnel under the dogwalk.

Wordless Wednesday

Our first UKI trial

I went to a small UKI trial up in North Carolina.  It started at 2pm on Saturday. Usually its hotter then heck this time of year but the weather was great, low 80s, no humidity and NO RAIN. Whoohoo!!!   The people who hosted the trial at their farm were great. There place is wonderful. I can't imagine getting to walk your dogs every day, through the rolling paths, and not have to deal with other peoples dogs or bikes. LoL.

The trial was small, only about 25 people. Cant get better than that.   5 runs in 4 hours , both days.  Man, I like that!!.  Plus if you want your run to be a training run, you just announce it when you step to the line. Love that!! 

Java's first run.

I felt like I was falling behind and had to push into her to get her, to get out and take 7. I guess I pushed to much and she turned left after taking 7, but then came the right way. Then, for some reason, she turned the wrong way after my rc on #10 but it was ok, we were still on course.  She ran fast and we actually Qed on this course even with my mess ups.

My next run with Java was  Novice agility.

I used this as  my training run. I worked dogwalks and teeters. She was awesome.  The field looks flat but it wasnt. It kinda peaked in the middle so you were running up hill both ways. LOL. You dont realized how lazy your legs get running on flat agility courses until you run on one like this.  After 3 running dogwalks with Java my legs were toast. Sad but true, so I moved on to the teeter.  She got on the teeter the first time. Whoohoo!! ( I didnt put this on the video tape Im going to post below).

The next day started at 10am. Some new people came and some left from Saturday so about the same amount of handlers. 
Java's Gamblers run.

Java was great.  The dogwalk and weaves were the highest point obstacles . You could do them twice for points. We did and she hit all her dogwalks. Whoohoo!!  And got the gamble. The square numbers are the harder gamble which then requires less opening points. The round numbers was the easier gamble but then required that you had more opening points to Q.  Java was awesome and Qed.

Next Novice Agility round 1

They didnt have a chute , so that obstacle is a tunnel in the video. Java was awesome. Hit her dogwalk again. Yay!!  But popped out of the 10th weave pole. So no Q but nice run anyway.

 

Novice agility round 2

 

I bit the dust on this one. I was so tired and just wanted to go home.  The opening was the same for the first 3 obstacles as the Senior course I had just finished running with Miley. Miley was the second to last dog. It didnt take long to change the course and then Java was second. I kinda got the coruses confused.  I went to front cross after 3 but that was Miley's course. Oops, so she missed the weave pole entry and then things just started to fall apart. LOl Oh well. 

 

 

I know I look like Im running weird  on that gamblers run. The grass was damp, maybe thats why. LOL.

  My dogs had a good time playing chase throught the mowed paths. Ill post Mileys stuff tomorrow.

Wordless Rain day, uh I mean Wednesday

 

 

(those trees over there are on the island I usually take the dogs to in the summer to go out to the rock)

Mish Mash Monday

Sorry I havent blogged much. Back at work and its just keep raining here. Im so over it. The worst summer ever!! Cant work the dogs. Ack!!  

Just Spider Webs

Why?

Why cant I walk a course and handle it correctly.  Ive been trying to listen and read different things about walking courses and following what people say and I still dont see things. Ugh!!!

I went to a trial this week. I was able to leave work a couple of hours early and head up to NC for the b-match before the trial.  I got there at 5pm.  There were a lot of dogs entered. Two rings running, one for big dogs and one for little dogs.  I think in the little dog ring there were 150 dogs entered. Wow!!    Anyway I got to run twice.  I put Java over the teeter twice in both runs. She had no problems getting on. We did a total of 6 dog walks and she only missed once. Whoohoo!! I think I left there sometime between 7 pm and 8pm. So not to bad.  I was staying at the worst hotel ever.  My friend my the reservations.  She told me the name of the hotel and I usually wouldnt stay there but she said it was ok and she had stayed there before. Ugh, it was horrible.  My room smelled like smoke even though it was non-smoking.  There was a small amount of grass out back, near the dumper with the cats all over it. The grass really needed to be cut. The weeds were above Java's head.  And I drove pass the entrance 3 times because it just looked like a dirt parking lot for trucks. The hotel rents out the parking lot to trucks to spend the night.  I thought maybe I was being silly about staying there but another lady who stayed there because of my friends recommendation, said it was the worst hotel she has ever stayed at. So at least it wasnt just me.

So I got to the trial site at 6:30am.  And stayed until 7pm becuase I didnt want to go back to the  hotel. I finished my last run at 4pm.  So I stayed and helped in the ring and then watched the little dogs run.  When I finally went back to my hotel, this truck was block the entrance into the hotel. It was the only way it. The truck had fallen into a big hole.

I thought maybe I could get around the truck, there are more trucks parked to the left of the picture that you cant see.  Be I figured with my luck I would get stuck in the mud and have to call a tow truck to pull me out.  So I just waited. I took about 30 minutes for them to get the guy out.

Here are my runs from Thursday. I was so excited that Java got on the teeter that I didnt even notice she left before it hit the ground and the judge called it.  Still a very nice run , even if Java was wide in a few spots.



Its funny in the jumper run, I felt like my front crosses were good until I watched the video. Ugh, they were still late. Then I was calling her over the jump before the tunnel but she was just locked on.

The next day was Jww first.  The begining of the course looked tough.  I walked it again and again.  Marking spots where to put my front cross and not go pass the plane of the jump so she didnt take the tunnel. Then making sure to move when she was commited to the jump.  The curved tunnel was the smallest tunnel I have ever seen on a course. The openings were so close together. So I felt like I had to drive into the entrance to get the right one. What I didnt see, even though I saw a couple of dogs struggle with the line, was the line coming out of the tunnel to the next two jumps. As soon as she came out of the tunnel, I knew I was screwed. Ack!!!  I tried to push anyway and made her drop the next two bars.  Why oh why can I not see those things before they happen? 




I felt ok about my runs when Im at the trial. But the next day, when Im home, I just start thinking about it to much and feel bad about my self. Silly, I know. I just want to do better but cant figure out how. Ugh!!! 
I didnt stay for my standard run. My jumpers run was over before 8am and my next run wasnt until 4pm. I just didnt want to wait 8 hours to run my dog, so I went home.
(sorry for spelling errors, spell check wont work today)

Blinds and stuff

Summer , for me, is almost over. It hasnt been very nice.  So much rain and  many cloudy days. Im over it. Walking the dogs at the park just hasnt been the same this summer. I love going here. Its relaxing. But not this summer. Yes, its hasnt been 100 degrees once this summer but who cares if I cant do other things I like.  The mosquitoes at the park have been the worst ever. If you dont have bug spray on, forget it, you will turn around and go home.  Ive seen people do this too. When you stop for your dogs to go to the bathroom or take a picture,  they swam you. The poor dogs, mosquitoes flying all around their face. Ugh!! Irritating!!  Then I havnt been able to walk the dogs through the river once this summer. Because of all the rain, the river has been very high.  Today was the first day all summer that  I could see the logs that sit low in the water.

Then there is Miley. We start out walking just fine. We go across the bridge to get onto the main path and she starts walking behind me. She is worried about something. So for the next mile, she is lagging behind. Her leash keeps crossing behind my legs, first one side then the other. I have to keep switching the leash behind me. Ugh!!  Im not sure what she is worried about.  This isnt even close to the area where she thought those dogs were chasing her.  Today was the first day in weeks she was slightly better. But lots of people must be off work today because everyone was there riding their bikes. Ack!!!!  Java and Guiness were maniacs.  I didnt get pass one bike without them loosing their minds. Irritating.  I just wants to drop the leash and say "have at it".   But I didnt do that. So the two of them have worked themselves up so much that were over heating.   So I took them to the river and made them get in to cool off. They were not happy with me. To bad, I wasnt happy with them either. LOL.
Next week I got back to work. I have to work registration for 2 days.  Then the next week I go back for real. Ack!! How did this happen????
Also next week Im going to in indoor AKC trial. Its going to be packed because everyone likes going there. Well, everyone but Miley. She hates that place.  So I didnt enter her, just Java.  They are also having a b-match where I hope to work Java's dogwalk and teeter.

Ive been still working through the Daisy Peels blind crosses.  Im doing the week 7 stuff.  All of a sudden Java started cutting behind me when  ever she wanted to . Good thing I video tapped it because I knew it was my dogs fault. She was just doing what ever she wanted. LOL, now we all know thats not true. After watching the video I know why she was doing it.   I really wasnt clear what I wanted and  multiple times my arms were back like I was cuing a rear cross.

I also signed up for Daisy Peels rear crosses class. Its shorter with more time between lessons to get the class work done.  But when I signed up, I put the code in  that she told us to. But for some reason it didnt take it. And I was  charged a 1000.00 for the class. LOL. I didnt even know it until she sent me an email and told me my acct had been refunded. I dont know what I did wrong. So I signed up for the class, not because I need more help with rear crosses. But I figured since the blind cross class showed me lots of holes in my training with Java, this class probably would too.

Sad things keeps happening.  My friend's dog is really injured and will probably need surgery.  So she is out of agility for a while. She is the one I always go to AKC shows with and room with at hotels.  She always makes sure my runs get taped even if I dont ask. Just a nice person and good friend. So now I will being going to the show next week without her. Sad.
A lady at work, her 30 year old son died of a sudden heart attack this week. Just so sad. He had a new born baby at home.
Then a friend of my husband, who he rides bikes with, wife is really sick. About 2 years ago she had recurrence of breast cancer with mets to the bone. She had been doing well. They went to Orlando for vacation. They have 2 small kids. She is now in the hospital down there. They are giving her 2 weeks to live. They cant transfer her back home, here, where all their family and friends are. Their poor family.  How horrible.

Wordless Wednesday (late)