Yay, an update on my blog.

Sorry, I havent been blogging. Its not that I dont think about it.  I just cant seem to get around to actually doing it.  The weather here has just sucked this winter.  It rains all the time. And if it isnt raining, its freezing cold. (freezing cold for us. LOL)  Its now March and usually the trees have started blooming, but they havent.  Everything is still dead looking.  So that is adding to the doom and gloom days.  My yard is a mushy mess. It just never seems to dry out.   So I havent been practicing agility and so we cant seem to get it together at the trials.

I went to a trial a couple of weeks ago.  It was freezing cold in the morning, even in the building. My toes were so cold, they hurt. You could see the dogs breath when they were at the line. Yikes, thats cold.  It did warm up as the day moved on. But man, the mornings were cold.

Yes, she made it onto the table.  You can see she is barking at me. Because, she thought we were going a different way and I had to call her back to the table. (bad handler).

Here is another example of maybe she wasnt sure if which way we were going. Im pretty sure the bar stayed up.


The good thing that happened at the trial is we had some nice teeters. Here was FAST. Ive been using FAST to practice teeters in the ring. No chance of doing that here because the teeter was in the send. I thought, great, no chance of getting this because the teeter being at a distance.  Nope, no  problem. She nailed it. She actually stopped in a 2o/2o.   Was I taping?  Nope, I dont usually tape FAST. To bad, it would have been nice to have one nice teeter on tape. LOL.

There were some good things that happened.

I messed up this course big time. But we got that back line 3-7.  That line got a lot of people.




The line was slightly different for Master standard.

We were able to get that line too (13-16), even with me behind.  Most people, when the fell behind, their dog took #5 instead of 15.

Sorry about the green box on the video, just ignore that.

Miley struggled this weekend.  The first run, she dropped so many bars. I know it was  at least 5 but it could be more.  Then I noticed all the lights werent on in the arena.  This has happened before. If all the lights arent on, she cant see well enough inside this arena.  Her next run, all the lights were on and she was fine.


In this excellent standard run, she had such a nice turn on #14.  Most dogs went very wide or took the tunnel. Some people turned their dog to the left, trying to keep their dog from looking at the tunnel.   Miley's turn was perfect. I even heard the judge say, "now thats how its done". Or something to that effect. LOL

Miley struggled all weekend getting into the weave poles. Im not sure what is going on.  Almost every time, she would just run by and then stress and run around the ring.

But then there was this run on Sunday.  Only a dropped bar.

Trialing again

It was up in Morrisville NC.  Ive been there before, a couple of years ago.  I did remember the cool park they have, that is close to the trial site.  Its called Crabtree park. Its a very nice and huge park. Lots of trails and grass and water.

I wish I had gotten there sooner, so I could have spent more time there. I stayed for 1 1/2 hours, until they closed.  It just wasnt long enough.

So we started out Friday with FAST.   Miley was crazy  and flew off the teeter. WTH??  I had to put her on 3 times to get her to stop.  So we didnt  even have time to do the send.  Java didnt get the send.

She took the backside of the second jump. I couldnt have gotten that if I really needed it. LOL  I think I stepped away from the line to soon, so I could push into her. It it caused her to pull into me and then when I pushed her back out, she got the back side. LOL

Friday Just wasnt our day. Both my dogs had trouble. Plus I wasnt feeling to well. My feet and lower legs just ached so bad. I have not idea why. It hurt to walk. So I finally took some medication and then I was so tired, I just wanted to go back to the hotel. My friend convinced me to stay for T2B.  I had only entered Java in that. And she did great and Qed and took 1st place.



It was easy but sometimes you need easy to get yourself together.

Saturday was a new day.  Started with FAST again.  Miley was close but dropped a bar in the send.  Java Qed and had some nice teeters too. (Not the first one but after that).



My friend and I had a hard time taping each other. It seemed like she was in one ring while I was in the other.

Next up was standard. Im not sure why but the Q rate on the course was horrible.

Lots of dogs went wide from 11 and took 15 instead of the a-frame. There was something else but I cant remember what it was.
Miley had lots of trouble. She was just weird all weekend.  Im not sure what it was. She did vomited in her crate once on Friday. Saturday she seemed ok.





Java's run was awesome.  She lost to a really fast sheltie by 1.5 seconds. Ugh!

I really wanted  a double Q.

I had planned to front cross between 6 and 7 but I didnt make it. I hadnt planned to bc after 9 but I just decided to since I had time. But I think this messed me up because I turned my shoulders the wrong way put her into the wrong end of the tunnel. Ugh!! So close!!





It was a tough drive home. Not sure why, I was just so tired.  Not sure why because I had fallen asleep the night before at 9pm and slept all night.  I did get a good book on tape called "Nemesis" by Catherine Coulter.  Ive read her FBI books before. They are pretty good. She also writes romance novels but Ive never read those.

Another Trial

What crazy weather we had.  I tried to get into an indoor trial but got wait listed and my friend forgot to enter. So then we decided to do an outdoor trial.   Last weekend it was 85 degrees.  Saturday is was 35 degrees and raining when I woke up.  All around us people were having snow. My friend , who live just below me but still in Columbia, sent me a picture of her yard covered with snow.   We decided to go anyway. When we got to Charleston, it was cloudy and windy but no rain.  Well, until we were done setting up our stuff.  It never poured but it was raining on and off.

 

This was taken Sunday.

 

Anyway, our runs were ok on Saturday.   Java had weave pole problems. Not sure why.  She had a nice jww run but popped the last pole. Then a nice T2B run and again popped the last pole. I forgot to go back an fix it. Ugh.

 

 

The weather was miserable.  I didn't stay for the B-match. I think only 4 people entered the b-match. Even in the regular trial I was the only 12 inch dog and there were 3- 16 inch dogs. Most people left. The contacts weren't rubberized. I didn't realize this until walking the course and the equipment was wet. Plus on the dogwalk, the down ramp supports, kept coming loose. Sometimes you didn't see it until dogs were running. Ugh.
It was windy and jumps kept falling over.  Dogs were dropping bars all over the place.  Even on Sunday. I didn't see a lot of slipping.  Then on Sunday I notice that the bars seemed short on some of the jumps.  Plus the PVC jumps were sometimes coming loose , which made the bars barely touch the jump cups. I kept seeing people pushing the jumps together. On one of my friends runs, the bar was uneven going across, and her dog dropped that bar. Someone noticed it after her run. They went out there and pushed the side pole down into the 5 way connector. Then the bar was straight across.

Granted  your dog shouldn't be touching the bars but it seemed like it didn't take much for them to fall. One person came out of the ring, her dog had dropped multiple bars. She said to me, this is so weird, my dog never drops bars.   It was crazy.



Im only showing Miley's runs for Saturday.  Sunday was terrible ,with both dogs. The weather was much better. Sunny, no rain.

This trial is at a  huge park. They have a big dog park. I took the dogs in there first thing in the morning so they could run off some energy.  There were a few people in there but they were all near the lake, where there is a big beach area.  I Stayed far away from them. Then all of a sudden I heard a huge dog fight.  I saw multiple  trying to pull big dogs apart. I quickly leashed up my dogs even though we were no where near them. Then, they didn't even leave the park. They all stayed there. Crazy.

So Sunday I had entered FAST. That way I can work on the teeter and weave poles.

 

Both dogs did the weave poles twice in my run. They were perfect. I even left Miley in the weaves and moved off to the #10 jump. Java Qed.  Miley dropped the bar in the send. The sun was coming through the tress , so there was sun and shade right there where that jump was. She jumped weird. 

But then in Standard both dogs couldn't do their weaves.  I corrected Java with a "no" and she then did them perfect. Didn't help for Jumpers, she still popped out.  Miley, I made a mistake and also said "no" , when she popped the poles. Bad me. She stressed and ran around the ring, which hasn't happened in a long time. I felt terrible.  Ugh!

 

 

 

 

I felt pretty bad when I left Sunday. We sucked.  Ugh. And in 2 weeks we go to the UKI nationals.  Man, we aren't ready for that and now I wish I hadn't entered.  Every time I think things are coming together, they fall apart.  Java's teeter is looking so much better and now she it popping poles.  I don't know why she dropped those bars in the last jumpers run.  The one after the weaves, she didn't get any lift off her rear end.  Maybe she slipped but I couldn't see it because her back end is kinda covered by the jump stanchion.

Mickey is still covered with sores.  It is getting better but it still looks bad.

AKC trial

I went to an AKC trial this weekend. I only entered one day to save money.  I drove the 3 hours up on Saturday morning. It was an indoor trial but around the trial site was a mud pit. Its been raining a lot. You couldnt park behind the building because it was so muddy you would get stuck. They had a tractor available if you got stuck.
Anyway after driving 3 hours I was alrady tired. Man I feel old. LOL  First up was Java's opens jww run. But right before I was suppose to run , I was to walk Miley's Excellent standard run. I only walked in 1 1/2 times. I want to concentrate on Java's run.  My goal was not to pull her off jumps.

 

 

I wasnt far enough pass #7 to push to 8. Then she popped the last pole. I couldnt decided if I should make her weave again or keep going so then she missed that jump after the weaves.

Next up Miley's standard run. She took off to early and landed on the #3 jump, then didnt stop on the teeter, than going to the table her head exploded. She didnt even try to get on. She ran around the ring, and I left the ring with her. Im not posting the video. Not that expected her to be perfect but I wasnt expecting this. Ugh.

 

 

Java had an ok run. She jumped on and off the table but got right back on. Inside I was freaking out. But I think it could be a result of last weekend when she held on to the table at all cost. It wasnt rubberized and she burned her pad. So Im sure she was thinking, "Im not doing that crap again".  Then we got the wrong tunnel entrance. I didnt see one dog get it but I didnt watch everyone so Im sure someone must have gotten it. Very nice dogwalk and she got the weaves all on her own. But I wasnt where I wanted to be and you could see I didnt know what to do for a few seconds.

 

 

 

Then Mileys Excellent JWW run.

 

This started out so nice.  Then I was worried about  being to far ahead ( which would cause her to take off early and drop a bar) and slowed down around #10. Then She didnt know where to go and went off course. Ugh, not a good plan on my part.

 

 

Next up T2B.

She dropped a bar and then I blocked the jump after the a-frame so she went around it. (Ugh!) But otherwise very nice run.  When she came down the aframe all this drool was coming out of her mouth. Silly dog.



Last they were offering a new class to try. It was free to enter. I dont know what this new class is all about. They called it Excellent jumpers C.

I put both my dogs in thinking I could work on Java's weave pole problem. I think I just made it worse. Three times she popped the poles and ran into the tunnel. Ugh. Then Miley's run was going good until she ran into the tunnel after the weave too. LOL, I guess some more things to work on.  I left at 6pm and drove the 3 hours home. I was beat when I got home. I didnt even take anything out of the car except for the dogs.

 

I woke up today and felt terrible. I did try to work Java's weaves this even and now she is popping even worse. Oh goodie. LOL

 

I did find out  I won a raffle. They had several things offered to make money for world team something. So I bought a few tickets. I won something with a dog bowel, leash , toys and a few other things in the package. Someone is going to give it to me the next time I see them. So at least I got something out of the weekend.

Miley is a Masters dog

Can you believe it? We finally got our three excellent A jumpers Q's.  It only took us 3 1/2 years.  Maybe we are finally coming together as a team.  And even more exciting Miley got on the table on both her runs this weekend , so we Qed.  We get to be in Masters for standard too!  I just cant believe it. I really didnt think that would ever  happen.   We no longer have to be at the bottom of the running order for the 12 inch dogs.  They put the excellent A dogs at the bottom of the running order.  It was so annoying.  Every once in a while a club wouldnt do that but most of the time they did.
So now we can work on double Q's. OMG, Im still in shock.  Maybe , just maybe some day we will get the 4 double Qs to go to nationals.  (dont worry, I know next weekend will be a whole new ball game and things can go backwards).

It was freezing on Saturday morning. I drove up that morning. When I got inside the building it was freezing and I as well dressed.  I went into the ring for the briefing. I guess the dirt footing was good and the judges made the club redo the dirt. So They had to bring in the big farm equipment  and it left the diesel smell in the building so they had to open the big bay doors to air it out. So all the heat was lost. Holy cow my toes were frozen. Even after my walk thur. I wasnt sure I was going to be able to stay being this cold but soon the sun came out and warmed things up.
Its funny, when you look at a course map, it looks ok. Then you go walk the course and see all the off course traps and think, Hmm not sure I can keep her off of that. LOL That off course jump after the weaves, got a lot of people. Hardly any of the 8 inch dogs Qed. My only thought going into the ring was if she didnt get on the table, I was going to pull her. (the theme for the weekend was me being worried my dog was going to leave the startline when I took her leash off. You will see what I mean if you feel like watching the videos. )

Its funny, when you look at a course map, it looks ok. Then you go walk the course and see all the off course traps and think, Hmm not sure I can keep her off of that. LOL  That  off course jump after the weaves, got a lot of people. Hardly any of the 8 inch dogs Qed.   My only thought going into the ring was if she didnt get on the table, I was going to pull her. (the theme for the weekend was me being worried my dog was going to leave the startline when I took her leash off. You will see what I mean if you feel like watching the videos. )




I couldnt believe it, not only did she get on the table but we Qed. LOL   I was so happy , I didnt care what else happen this weekend.

Java's first time in open jumpers. I wasnt sure what was going to happen with the weaves but I wasnt going to worry about it. I was planning on front crossing after 4 but I just couldnt get there and then my rear cross was late and she missed the jump. Otherwise a very nice run.

 

 

 

 

We were on course and no dropped bars!!!  Two Q's in a row today. Whoohoo!!

 

I messed this up alot. I thought she got the dogwalk contact but the judge called it. Oh well.

 

 

Last up was T2B.

So this course didnt look bad but jumps 7 and 17 were side by side. I wasnt sure how I was going to keep Miley from swinging wide over the #17 jump after 6, then the off course trap after 8.  I wasnt feeling confident and didnt even let my friend tape me because I just didnt think it was going to go well. ( plus what were the chances of us Qing 3 times in one day) Then I figured she would go wide out of that tunnel and miss the jump.  But Heck No!  She was freaking awesome!!!  We Qed and took 1st place!!!  LOL, that will teach me.
3 Q's in one day, holy crap. I usually cant get one Q all weekend. LOL
I really thought about going home after this. How could tomorrow be better and what if is worse and I end on a bad note?   LOL  But I decieded to stay mostly so I could practice with Java. I really wanted her to get her dogwalk contact on Sunday. My hotel was nice. But why or why do people not pick up after their dogs????  I even picked up other peoples dog poop trying to aviod me stepping in it in the dark when I will probably have to walk the dogs. Nope, didnt help, I still stepped in it. Ugh!!!

Sunday was cold in the morning too but the building wasnt cold  inside. So that really helped.

Lots of off courses again after the weaves.  Most people front crossed after 6. I just didnt like that. I felt I would be pushing that line and Miley would think we were going to 16. So I just did an off arm cue and then rear crossed the weaves. Worked great.  I  was thinking that with the table in the middle of the ring, this would freak Miley out. But she got right on. I think I almost fainted. I was shocked to say the least.  LOL, we Qed again. Whoohoo Miley.  The only sad part is, I have no idea why she decided to get on the table this weekend.

I messed this run up too. I dont know why I cant remember the Java isnt Miley. She wont fly off course like Miley. I was so worried that after 10 she was going to take #3, that I pulled her off 10. Ugh. Her weaves were messed up but that's ok. We finished nicely.


Of course Novice standard and excellent jumpers were at the same time. Ugh. I was stressed. I really wanted to concentrate on Java's run. So I went over to the gate and asked if I could move up. ( they were getting ready to walk novice standard and I was at the bottom of the 12's with Miley) So they told me I had to run right now. Well I hadnt put her over the practice jump at all. But I ran.

I didnt get this on tape either. I didnt have time to go tell the person that I had moved up.  I was worried that Miley would take #3 after  #6, so I really ran ahead pass the double #7, well I was to far head and Miley took off early and drop the bars. Ugh. But we stayed on course and she was freaking flying.   Awesome dog!!!

Last up Novice standard.

Almost everyone was gone by now. I couldnt find anyone to tape my run. I asked several people but they said no they couldnt.  Oh well. 
She went right after the dogwalk. I wasnt sure why but someone told me I pushed into her so she thought I wanted her to turn right.  Otherwise great run.  I was so a happy. Then I found out a friend had taped it with her phone. Whoohoo, how great was that!!  I thought she had left for the day. LOL



Not sure we will ever have a weekend like this again but thats ok. It was just awesome!!

2nd day of trial

I wasnt sure I was going to post the video of Miley at the 2nd day of the trial. But after watching it several times there are some really good things happening with Miley and I. So I decided to post it anyway.
First up was ISC standard.  A freaking hard course and I thought to myself, "why am I running this, its over my head".  But I walked it and ran what I walked.  I slipped at 5. Then my cross was late after the dogwalk. I was planning to FC and then rear to the weaves. But I think she thought I was doing a "backee upee" ( where you step back and bring your dog around the jump). So I messed that up.  My front cross after the weaves was  late and I held her to long going to the tunnel.  I really wanted to make sure she did the teeter correctly which then put me behind. Then she didnt stop on the aframe so I marked it.  I know it was kinda a mess but I just kep going. I heard Loretta in my head, "keep going no matter what happens".

In T2B we were have a beautiful fun. She stopped on the first a-frame and it was beautiful. I praised her.  Then the second a-frame and she jumped it. Ugh!!  Then Im not sure if what happen afterwards was my fault but she stressed and ran around the ring. We left.  This part of the video makes me feel bad. Im not mad at Miley, I just want her to understand she cant act like this. But how do I convey this without seeming so disappointed.  At this point Im not surprised at jumping contacts or running around the ring. But we cant complete a course if she dose these things. Ugh. Im not sure what the right thing is.

Last up was jww. We had an awesome run going and she missed the weave pole entry and went in a the 2nd pole. I was just going to keep going but then she popped out like she knew that wasnt right so we restarted. We had a great ending. I should have RC on the flat  after 18 but I just didnt think quick enough.



Last up was Java.  She ran the day before in novice FAST. It wasnt a very good run. I stepped to the line and my heart was pounding in my chest. Ugh, I hate when that happens. So I messed up a lot. The video wont load to youtube. LOL  So this day I ran novice jww.  It was weird. I felt like I just didnt know how to run this dog. I thought , "what am I doing here". I wasnt sure  if I should  just run with her or front cross things or rear cross.  We started to run and I felt like I sent her and could make the front cross, but darn she was there before I could finish the cross. Ugh. So I cut her off a couple of times but otherwise a very nice run. My dog was happy and running.  Someone came up after me and said, "you had the best dog out there". Yay Java!!

Wonderful weekend

We went to a trial this weekend. I wasnt sure I was going to make it. I took a 1/2 on Friday at work but it was freaking crazy. The nurse coming to cover me was late and all these kids just just kept coming. I was so stressed out by the time I finally left I couldnt get  my head together. I finally left  after 3 pm and had to turn around and go back home because I forgot dog food and someone, Miley, was stinking up the car. So I went home and washed Miley and got the dog food.  We finally got on our way. Lots of traffic but we made it safely.  
The hotel we stayed at was full and it was a 6 story hotel. There was a confirmation show going on close by too but not our our site.  So lots and lots of dogs every where. 
I signed Miley up to run ICS and when I saw the course, it looked tough.

Everyone else turned their dog to the inside of 2 , which was faster, but I felt like I need the couple of seconds extra to get down pass the tunnel to make a front cross.


My dog was freaking awesome.  This was my best run with Miley ever.   I felt like I saw every take off and landing. Usually Im just running to hang on.  I know she doesnt look that fast but she was only 2 seconds behind 1st place.   Most of her turns were tight too.

Next up was Excellent jumpers.

I just couldnt figure out how I wanted to run 5-10.   Most people FC after 5 or they post turned 6. I planned to serp 5-6 and then rc 7 and then front after 9.   After watching everyone, I just decided to go with my plan and see what happens. It worked. 50 excellent JWW runs and we finally got a second Q.

Awesome run. But then the timer, scribe and judge all went to the middle of the ring and started talking. I thought , Oh crap. I guess something happened to the timer. It started before  Miley took the first jump. She said I could rerun but I told her I was good.  They said they would take 2 seconds off my time because they think thats how much time went by before we started. Heck , they could have added 2 seconds to my time and I would have been ok with that. LOL

Standard was next.

Nice run but she jumped on and off the table. When she did that I said, "no" much harder then I meant to. I thought I would here "tweet" but I didnt.  I worked on the teeter the last two weeks but I guess I have more work to do.
Sorry I dont have time to finish this. More later.

AKC day #2

So Saturday night was a big football game between University of South Carolina and Clemson University. Its a big rivalry game.  We didnt stay near the trial site, which is near Clemson because the hotels were to much money. We stayed 30 minutes away. At 2:30am people are yelling, singing , honking horns and just being noisy. We cant sleep and my dogs keep barking. So finally my friend calls the front desk and complains.  They call us back a little while later saying the people just came back from a bar. And that if they start being noisy again, call them back and they will have the police come remove them. They were noisy once more and then it was quite. But of course now we are wide awake.  So I never really went back to sleep.  I was feeling miserable and achy.  I kept thinking, Im just going to go home in the morning, except all my stuff was at the trial site.  So I thought Ill just run my first run then go home.   Anyway, I stayed the whole day. LOL.

First up was Time 2 Beat.

You will see that I hand my leash to the leash runner. Ive always wanted to be able to do that, but never trusted Miley. Whoohoo, go me!! I didnt realized that she didnt stop on the a-frame the second time. I didnt watch the video until I got home. I dont like to watch the videos at the trial because if I feel like I had a good run and then watch the tape and it wasnt as good as it was in my  head, then it makes me feel bad. Anyway I did an almost two jump lead out. Normally I wouldnt go that far, she might drop a bar by taking off early to get to me but I needed  it  so she knew not to take the a-frame.  My next goal was to get a tight turn over 11.It wasnt as tight as I wanted it.  It was a really nice run. We took first place by a second.

Next was standard.

'

My goal on this run was to get forward sends on #5 and #8 . Hey look, Im actually getting to set goals for my runs. Ive never been able to do that because of the contacts and table issues. She blows her aframe contact. Ugh. I didnt want to pull her. She hadnt stressed all weekend yet and wouldnt be able to catch her anyway so I let it go. I wanted to make sure she stopped on the dogwalk and make sure she knew not to go into the tunnel. She stopped. AND she got on the table 2 days in a row. WhooHoo Miley. I was so excited!!!  Once again, I need to learn to run. Get the lead out, what the heck is with me????
I really wanted to go home after this run. I had and really bad headache. I think from not getting enough sleep but I stayed.

 

 

I did a two jump lead out because I wanted to make sure she knew she was going to #4 and not have to guess and take #17. My front cross wasnt right and she missed #6.  Then I think I got behind on going to the weaves and tried to over handle it.  I dont see it in the tape but I remember her taking #14 and starting to turn the wrong way. She has distance skills , I should have used them instead of thinking I had to be right there to get her into the weaves. So I messed her up. Then I didnt finish the way I walked it. I was going to lateral send her to 17 and then front cross but I didnt do it.  So not a great run. 



In good news ,I won  one of the prices for the worker raffle. I didnt even know it. I was leaving and someone yelled up to me and told me I won something. That was a nice ending.