Nationals

Last week we went to UKI Nationals.  The weather was great, mostly, warm and sunny!! My kind of weather.  I only had entered Java.  At this point Im still wondering if Java is hurt.

We did have a warm up run this year, that we didnt have last year. So that was nice. It was just a jumpers run. She broke her startline, so that was good and bad. I think she was shocked when I put her back on the startline.  Then I got lost on course.  But thats ok, it was just warm up.
At nationals you walk all 4 courses in the morning and then spend the day running them. It can be hard to remember what your plan was but the time you get there.  Our group ran Biathlon jumping first.

So many weave pole problems this weekend. She never has this many problems. (another worry).
Next was Power and Speed.

I really felt like we would get through this one.  I almost pushed  her off from the teeter but she made it on.  But right at the end, she took  the wrong tunnel entrance. She was going for the correct one and then decided to change course. ???



Now we had 2 rotations off, so I worked both those rotations.  Next up was Masters Heat jumping.

again, we had weave pole problems.  Ugh!!
So I was really tried by this time. I think our last ring didnt start until after 5pm and we had been going since 7am.   I wasnt planning on running this. I went and walked my dogs and did a couple of other things. Then decided to walk by the  ring I was suppose to be in and see how it was going. Well my turned hadnt come up yet, and Java seemed like she wanted to run. So we ran.

Some how we got through it without "Eing", for the first time all day.





Next day was Friday:
 First up for our group was snooker. OMG, I hate snooker. Its not my thing. And for it to be first, didnt  help.

This snooker was harder than last year. We went off course after doing 6b and then 6a in our opening. I wanted her to take the red jump and she went out and took the #4 jump. Ugh. So disappointing.
Next up was Speedstakes. I really wanted this Q so we could go on to the finals in the big ring.

The hardest part on this course was 11-13, at least that is what I thought.  Java missed 4 and 5. I was shocked. She just ran around the jumps. Thats so unlike her. (If you see anything in my handling that caused this, let me know. )



So there go my first 2 runs and the ones I wanted the most.  Then my rotation was off for 2 rounds. This time I only worked one rotation and took the next rotation off. I needed the break and my dogs needed to  have to free time.
  Then next up was round 2 of National agility ( which I made it into).

Going down the line, to the wall jump , I said "right, right, right' and she went right but before the wall. Ugh.  Man, we just couldnt get it together.

The thing I was most worried about was the 14-17 and it didnt seem to be a problem at all.

Saturday I only had 2 runs to do.   The standard run seemed harder then the jumpers run.
I ran standard first. I was so worried about the begining and changed my mind about how I was going to run it multiple times.

And once again, the weave poles got us and I even pushed past the end of the poles, which would leave me behind , trying to hand that next line.  So we "E"ed.



So I got farther through the course than I figured but  the weave poles sure were a downer.

Next up was the jumpers course. Once again, I went back and forth on how to handle the opening.  So many different ways to do the opening and so many  dogs going off course right in the beginning.

She held her startline, which I was shocked. (again worry some).  We got through the opening and now to try to get the backside of that jump after the tunnel. I felt like my best chance was to bring her around the closest wing  but I still didnt make it.  And the weave poles were horrible.




So I was done by 1pm on Saturday. We could still do the Challengers round on Sunday but I was done and ready to go home.  But the wind was crazy, 30mph and huge gust.  Everytime I would think it was getting better, it would start up again. I just felt it was to dangerous to drive the RV. So I waited until the next morning and left a little before 7am.  For some reason I just wanted to get home.

So you may wonder why I would post my runs, since they arent great.  But really I did better than last year. Well, except for in Speedstakes and Snooker. I made the finals in both those last year. Not this year. But I didnt feel like any of the courses were over my head. The last 2 years I remember thinking, "What am I doing here?"  , but I didnt feel that way at all, this time. Also I had Java checked while I was there because she had start line stays except for the first run and she stopped on the teeter and waited to be released (unheard of with her) . She just seemed off to me.  Going by jumps and so many weave pole problems. But they couldnt find anything wrong.   We have one more trial to do and then Ive  pulled all my entries and Im giving her a break.   (So for all the spelling errors, Im to tired to check for them).

What the heck??

(This is my picture not photographer)

This weekend we had a photo shoot with a pet photographer. It was suppose to be at Hunting State Park. I love that place. The dead trees in the water is so cool. But the hurricane wreaked the place and the park is closed until next year.  So I entered a dog trial. But then I got a note that they would do the shoot at a small beach near Hilton Head.  Well thats great but the trial I was going to was in Raleigh.  The complete opposite direction.  But when I looked at the schudule, I was the only person going to the beach shoot.  So I emailed the photographer and she was going to a dog trial in Murells Inlet in SC.  I asked if we could change the location to Huntington Beach State park, its in Murells Inlet.  So we did.  Except we went to Litchfield beach. We parked in a place that for public parking and started to walk the wooded walk way to the beach. But as we were walking I could see the end of the walk way was completely destroyed. There was no way to get onto the beach because the drop off was really high.  So we went back to the car.  Then the photographer asked someone walking if there was another access to the beach. And there was. So things were back on again.  We had a nice shoot and Zoey could sit stay with me 20 feet away.  I guess she just cant stay with me taking the pictures. LOL  I only brought Zoey and Java because the hotel I was staying at only allowed 2 dogs and only Java was entered in the trial.
The only bad thing about the photo shoot was other peoples dogs. It was 7am and there were lots of people on the beach with off leash dogs.  The first dog came up and was growling. The whole time the owner is saying,"my dogs is friendly".  yea right, what is it growling at us?   Anyway, this happened at least 3 different times during the shoot, which was only 30 minutes long. Lucky Zoey never ran off  to any of these off leash dogs.  I cant wait to see the pictures.   I got to see Stephanie while I was down at the beach. She stayed with me at the hotel, it was right by her work and the school she is student teaching at.
After the photo shoot, I took my dogs to Huntington beach state park, so they could burn off steam.

 I wish I had realized this butterfly was in the picture sooner than I did. It was so cute but it took me a few seconds to get my camera up and shooting.  The butterfly is on her ear on the first picture.

 Now its on her tail.

Now its flying away.

I love the beach. Its just good for the soul.

Then Friday it was off to Raleigh.  It took 4 hours to get there. Yikes.  It felt like forever.  The trying to get to the hotel was crazy.  4 lane bumper to bumper traffic and then I was in the wrong lane and no one would let me over. So I had to pass my turn, some how turn around and then sit in the traffic again to get to the hotel.  The hotel was ok. It was clean and stuff. But the traffic every time you try to get there was horrible.  So at night, I couldnt bring myself to go out and dinner because traffic was a nightmare. There was a really nice walking path close to the hotel. The only thing was you had to try to cross a two lane , very busy road, to get to it. But at least I didnt have to sit in traffic to get to a park.

This path goes on forever. All around the city.

On to the agility trial. It was a one ring trial and very small.  I was so excited because Java held her start line.  I got a true lead out.  We actually Qed in premier standard.  But the next run her teeter killed us. Ugh!!  Am I ever going to get that thing fixed????   Any way by the time we did all 4 runs and she held a start line, I started thinking something wasnt right.  It wasnt that I wasnt happy she held her startline but really after 5 years and now all of a sudden she had a solid startline. Yes I constantly work on it but she didnt even try to break.




So between not even trying to break her startline and missing jumps, it got me thinking that something was wrong.  Did she not feel good?  Was she injured?  She didnt drop any bars or look off.   The next day her start line was back to normal, I just get pass the first jump and she pushes or breaks.  But then she couldnt get into any tunnel without spinning  before going in or  going in and coming back out.  What the heck??  One thing my dogs have, is drive to any tunnel. Then can be sent from 50 feet away.


So I have no idea if she isnt feeling well or what.  When we got home, she was very happy and playing.
Today is Wednesday and I havent let her do anything for the last 2 days.  This morning she was playing with the other dogs and running through the back yard. I hope that is a good sign.  We are off the the UKI nationals today. So I guess Ill see if she is ok, or if she is still off and I need to come back home.

Wow, long time since I posted

I keep meaning to post but then I get busy and forget.  Zoey is now 9 months old.  At 8 months she was 16 inches.  I hope she doesnt keep growing but she hasnt gone into heat yet, so who knows.  My other female shelties were mostly done growing at 6 months. From 6- 9 months, they grew about 1/2 inch. Zoey has grown 2 inches in that same time frame. Yikes.

I took the dogs to the beach on the lake. We spent several hours there.  Then when I got home, 1/2 the pictures on my camera had an error message on them. So upsetting.  I googled how to fix it and tried several things that were posted on line but it didnt work.  So then I down loaded a program that recovers pictures from cards.  You get to see if it worked and what the pictures are before you have to buy.  It cost 40.00 to have the program for 2 years.  I was just happy to be able to see the pictures.

Zoey has fun no matter what she is doing.

The water must be down at the lake because Ive never seen this part of the beach before.

 I didnt know Lake Murray had muscles?  Just like New Hampshire's lake.

The leaves are just starting to turn here.

 I havent seen these rocks sticking out of the water before either.  The ones on the point, behind the dogs -yes, but not these.

Anyway, thats enough of the beach pictures.  If I dont post them here, I wont be able to find them again. LOL

Ive been trialing.  One weekend Java and I get 3 out of 4 Qs. Then the next weekend,  1 out of 4. Ugh. So frustrating. !!  Broken start lines and teeter fly offs are killing us.  I took a class on retraining the teeter. Which I think helped but she just gets excited and its go, go , go.   I was trying to get to nationals but its just not going to happened. Unless we are freaking awesome at the next two trials.

Zoey's training is moving along.  I know she likes to run and run fast. Ive seen her run across the yard, to recall into the house. Or chase Java.  But its not transferring to agility.





She looks pretty good here. But yesterday, I did a speed circle, tunnel, jump,jump, tunnel. She looked really slow, to me.    But Ive also been working stays and tight turns to a jump.  Because I want this dog to actually have  a good stay.  I think with Java I spent so much time trying to build drive,  and  I thought I could put the stop on later. NOT!!   Plus, I know its in Zoey, to run fast. Ive seen dogs in her line.  So I just need to be able to get it out of her. .

Miley's career is coming to an end.  She just acts to crazy in the ring.  There are times everything is great and the next day , she just falls apart.  So I will continue to run her but not as much as in the past. I did drop her to 8 inches , which has really helped with her crashing jumps.  It didnt fix her taking off to early but she has a better chance of clearing the jump, when she does.

Im in charge of the agility classes for our club.  So since August Ive been teaching all the foundation classes, beginning agility class and the competition class.  Im hoping to get help soon, so I dont have to have all of this on my shoulders.  I really hope we can get agility going in the club again. Its kind of fallen apart in the past few years.  We need club members to help with the agility trials.  Its to much work for a few people to do. My one friend and I stay at the trial site for 13 hours , every day of the trial. Its just to much. I think that is why I got so sick last time.  I was sick before the trial but was getting better. But after 2 - 13 hour days, I got home and was running a fever.  It took almost 2 weeks for me to get back on my feet completely.  So my goal, is to have 2 people for each position on the committee. Some people come in early and can leave early, and some people can come in later and have to stay to the end.   Well see if it works.