2nd half of the trial

So anyway.  I walked the dogs on Saturday morning at the park for an hour. Then went to the trial site. After getting the course maps and my number, I walked them again. After doing my walk thur, I took Miley out to the field and made her play ball until her tongue was hanging out.

Here was the course. Theme for the weekend, bunch all the contacts together so the judge doesnt have to move very much. Ugh!!  So no going wide again on the contacts to see if that really is the problem. But this time when I went to the practice jump she was calm. She didnt just start taking it and not listening like yesterday. I knew yesterday, by the way she took the practice  jump, it was going to be a crazy run. Today I could feel the difference.  I thought I might have a chance. LOL

I messed up the end . Oh well, it still felt like a pretty good run. No crazy stress around the ring. But she didnt stop on the contacts. Going to the table seems to be getting better but still not on the first try.

I made her play ball a couple of more times before her jumpers run. We were close on this one.

My friend, Robin, even told me to be careful going from  15 to 16. She said, "You know how Miley is, so you better really get her attention over jump 15. She may think she is suppose to take 8 instead of 16".  I just couldnt decided if I should stay on the same side and run the serp ( 16-18) or do a front cross after 16 on the opposite side. So after debating almost until I entered the ring, I forgot all about getting her attention at 15.  She didnt go off course but went around the jump.



It still felt like a good run even though we missed that jump.  It sure would be nice to Q once in a while. O'well, maybe next time. I felt like everyone I knew Qed this weekend. Even people I know that are also struggling, Qed.  But Ill just have to keep working on it.

Man , the AKC  must be getting tough on dogs leaving the ring. I saw more dogs whistled out this weekend the ever before. Usually if your dog runs out, into that chute area, and comes right back, you are ok. Not this weekend. Tweet.
Also the novice courses seemed tough. No running straight with just a couple of change of sides.

 This is a very nice trial site. The only negitive I can think of is , its freezing cold.  If you ever trial there, bring extra clothes.  Im sure the coated dogs, like mine, love it. 

Tomorrow Java gets spayed.

Trial update

We are at an indoor trial this weekend. The good news is Miley didn't break her start line. She didn't move one little bit. WhooHoo. Open Standard and Exc JWW , 12inch , walked at the same time and were running at the same time. So I walked both courses and asked to run 1st in the jumpers ring. She didn't break so we got to run the course correctly. I was so excited. I did a lead out pass jump two and then into the tunnel. I'm not sure how, but we missed jump four. I didn't get video because i thought she was going to break and I would have to leave the ring. Anyway, she missed jump 4 ( I think she came in to tight when I called her name while she was still in the tunnel) and I think went in at the 2nd weave pole. But other than that she was perfect. I ran it just the way I planned. I heard someone yell, "great run". So that made me feel good. She was fast too. When I looked at all 50 , 12inch dogs she was tied for 2nd fastest time. 29.92 Yea!!
Then came standard. My plan was to try and catch her if she did a touch and go on the table. It was teeter to the table. But I just missed her. Ugh!! She took huge laps around the ring. I walked off. She came to the finish line. Im sure she was thinking, "Hey whats wrong?" Silly dog. I tried a couple of times to bring her to my side but she was just over the top. So that's why I walked off. I'm not sure if its the right thing to do but that's what I did. I think she just doesn't understand that she cant do that. But how to I make her understand. Hmmmm.
I had to laugh, I said thank you to the judge as I walked off. She said, " she's a great dog. I bet you in Exc Jumpers. (She laughed )What kennel did you get her out of?" Then she asked me about her again later when I was working the novice class. I guess things aren't as bad as they seem if people still want to know who I got my dog from. Lol

Pictures from the trial

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Here we are waiting before our first open standard run. ( the one I got whistled out of)


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An example of jumping to soon?


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Mr. Toads wild ride.

Isn't that the name of a ride at Disney World? Lol. Since yesterday Miley was so wipe out and so was I, I decided to have a new plan . I haven't told you this but I have fibromyalgia. It makes you feel like you are getting the flu. Most of the time you ache all over. Ive had it over 4 years now. Going to a trial sometimes really makes it flare up. Yesterday I was trying to keep Miley active, walking her and playing ball with her. So by the end of the trail day she refused to walk up the steps. They were steep steps. I guess I made her go up and down them to much. As for me, when I was doing my jumpers walk thur yesterday , Meagan asked me "How's it going?". I quite sure she was talking about my walking the course and my plan. My legs were hurting so bad at this time I wanted to burst out crying and say, "My legs hurt so bad and I feel terrible. I just want to go home". But of course I didn't say that. I just said, " Fine, I'm just trying to decide if I should front cross or rear cross". I didn't think I could run in the walk thur but I decided mind over matter. I forced myself to run one time with my walk thru. Anyway that was yesterday and we had a great jumpers run. My legs were killing me until about 9pm last night. Miley slept until 7pm last night and then was full of herself and wanted to play. At 10pm I just turned out the lights and she settled down, but was ready to go at 5am.



So today's plan was not to walk as much to keep my leg pain down and not to do stairs with Miley. I would carry her down the stairs or walk all the way around to the other side and come in on the ground floor. Our first run was Novice standard. She did great. We "Q"ed and took 2nd place. So now we can move up to open standard. Now Ive accomplished my goals for the weekend. After Miley's run I had her get a message and she was sore in her right hip area. After that I put her in her crate to rest. It was a long rest because I worked the excellent standard 20 inch dogs. I think there were 76 dogs in this class. It was a long class. No to long after that was my jumpers run. We walked the course and it seemed nice. We started out nice but missed the second jump in the pinwheel. Not sure why. Then came around thru the tunnel over a jump , with 180 degree turn into the weaves. She got the entry and popped out after pole 9 or 10. Went into the next pinwheel and took the off course jump straight ahead and that when the wild ride started. She was just so excited, taking jump after jump and not coming back on course. I couldn't get her back on any type of course. I ran to the end of the line and she came to me. WhooHoo. Put her leash on, no problem. I felt like she was running around the ring saying ,"I'm free, I'm free, Look at me!!".

So Miley has too much energy and wasn't tired. My legs don't hurt at all. Maybe tomorrow I will find a happy medium. The Internet here at the hotel is terrible so I'm not posting any video. I cant even check my email.

Miley gets her jumpers Q

Today went really well. I felt much better on the start line. I could remember all three of my words and even some lines to a song. We ran standard first and had some trouble at the chute. But it felt like a great run. Sometimes I hate watching the video because it doesn't look as great as it felt running it. In jumpers she ran great and took first place. People I didn't know were coming up to me saying what a great run it was. Special thanks to Meagan for helping me out.

Sorry, Ive tried for hours to upload the video and its a no go. Maybe tomorrow I can get some where that has a better connection. The picture above is Miley when we got back to the hotel.