Wordless Wednesday

CPA trial day #2

Day 2 started early because Miley is always up early.  We were up by 5am.   I think we were at the trial site by 7am.  You probably know that Miley really wants to chase cars.  Ive been working on this problem constantly. Sometimes she does well and other times not so much.   I was getting stuff out of the car and had Miley out already on leash.  I accidentally dropped the leash.  Cars were coming into the parking lot and Miley was already getting excited and watching  them.  When I dropped the leash, I immediately called her ( probably screamed at her because I was so panicked) and she came .  WhooHoo, that was the highlight of the weekend for me.  It could have easily ended in disaster. I was soooo happy , I just couldnt believe that she came. 
On the the trial stuff.  Today started with snooker.  Ugh, I hate snooker.  Im terrible at it. I was just hoping to get some points.  Some is better than none. Which Ive done before.  I took Miley out twice and ran her under this barn type structure. Threw the ball and Frisbee.  Imagine how fast she would be if I didnt have to burn off that energy before we run.  But if I dont do it, she just is too over the top for me. Anyway we didnt get very far in snooker before the whistle blew. We did get some points but not much. We didnt help our team to much. I think we were 2nd to last place at the end of day one.  So now that  crappy snooker run didnt help at all.

Next  up was steeplechase.  I really needed a good run after those bad runs.  And we did have a good run.  We "Q"d and took 3rd.  We had a little bobble after #4 where she didnt seem to know which way to go, but didnt go off course.  That cost us time. Then I handle from a distance at the end which made her a little wide so time there too.

That felt good.  We werent perfect but we are getting closer.  I didnt sign up for Monday so I didnt run the 2nd day which was for money.

Next up was Grand Prix.

The beginning which was chute to the tunnel, you had to be right there otherwise dogs were taking the dogwalk.  And because I really wanted to make sure she got the tunnel, I couldnt get  pass the tunnel to make a front cross in front of #3. ( or maybe I didnt try hard enough. My  husband said I need to learn to run!) Then I had a bad rear cross to the a-frame and she almost missed it and it was ugly.My dog covered for my bad handling, what a dog!! Then we were done when we dropped the bar on #8.  My handling from #11 to #12 didnt go as planned.  I was behind in stead of in front to use a serpentine and sent her over #7 instead of the teeter.  But she didnt stress and came back to me.  There was an ugly  turn into the tunnel. Im not sure why that happened.  Ive watch the video a few times and cant figure it out.



Last up was team pairs.  We both had great runs and it moved us up in the standings. We were 11th but only the top 9 "Q"ed.  It was a good experience and Im glad I did it.  Slightly stressful and I really felt bad when we didnt do well because it hurts the team points.  Oh well, there be another time to do better.
 Here are some pictures I took after her steeplechase run. It was in front of a NC State stadium which was across the street.

CPA trial day 1

It's been a long day. We got there at 6:30 this morning and left after6:30 at night. They had some international courses that were being run so thats what took so long. Next time I will add more runs so Miley didn't have to wait around so long. ( I started this post Saturday but never finished it)
First we ran PII gamblers. She did well but jumped her a-frame contact, she did stress a tiny bit after the a-frame but she got it together quickly. It's hard to see on the video but the weaves are in the back. I practiced two weave entries and she got the  both. The first one was a rear cross on the flat.

We got the gamble and took 1st.

Next up was team standard.  In team standard you get faults but as long as you dont go off course your still earning points for your team.  Well first off I walk the course wrong.  I was thinking the number one was on the other side of the first jump.  I couldnt ever read #1 right.  Whats up with that?

And then I left out #12-15 in my walk-thur.  Ugh!  I dont know what was wrong with me.  The groups were large so while group A walked team jumpers , team B walked team standard and then we switched rings and walked the other.  Then you ran both.   Anyway they needed help in the ring so I signed up for assit. scribe.  Well, there was no ring crew. They asked me to be ring crew.  And its not like thats a problem but my body is usually screaming with pain when Im at a trial so I was trying to pick a sit down job.  But no problem, I said I would do it.  It was a lot of work.  Running to fix the chute and pick up the bars and be fast too.  The ring captain was very nice and after a while she came out and told me to go do her job as  leash runner and she would do my job.  She told me she wasnt running a dog and she knew I was running in the ring after these dogs ran and wanted me to have energy left.  That was very nice of her.  So while I was being ring crew I realized I had walked the course wrong in both places.  LOL good thing I wasnt first.  I wasnt the only one.  Someone told me a couple of people ran the first jump wrong.
We did stay on course. WhooHoo.  We did have some errors but we still got points. We really have to work on the tunnel under the a-frame and rear crossing that.  Also she took a spill out of the chute.



Next was Team Jumpers.

Man, I really felt like I could run this course.  We were doing well until #12, I sent her and then pulled off to make a front course and she pulled off the jump. I resent her so we were still ok, then she took #14 and went off course over  the backside of #6. She came right back to me and we finished nicely but we got and "E" for our team. Ugh!  (no video)

 Last was Team Gamblers.

In team gamblers you get the most points in the closing gamble.  So all the opening obstacles arent worth that many points.   There were three gambles.  I decided to go for the one with the most points, the white circles. Miley is pretty good about distance and I thought we could do it.   I did tell my partner that if Miley jumped the a-frame contact again I was going to have to mark it and make her do the a-frame again.  And she was ok with it.   We started with the tire to the weaves.  Well when we ran thur the weaves, one of the nails was sticking up 6 inches.  Holly crap!   Now I really needed to change my plan because  I wasnt running her back thur the weaves again which was my plan right before starting the gamble.  Then she jumped on a-frame contact so I said to her "Hey" and made her do it again. She got it the second time.  Of course my whole plan was shot.  Im not even sure what I did.  The buzzer went off.  She took the Circle #1-3 but when she came out of the tunnel she went behind it.  What the heck?? I have no idea why she did this. Then she took an off course jump and we were whistled out.   So we didnt get to many points for our team.   (no video). 

We went back to the hotel and crashed.  Miley went right to sleep and slept all night.  Yea.  I really need to get a white noise machine to block out all the hotel noise.  I thought we might get kicked out Friday night we she kept barking. 

Ill finish out the weekend later today.  It does get better.  No stress circling all weekend!!!!

We Made It

Well after a long drive we finally got here. I wanted to get here before dark but that really didn't happen. We got here around 5:30pm and there was tons of traffic. I finally got off at an exit that I knew had a big park.( I had searched it on line yesterday)I got off and found the park easily . We only got to walk 15 minutes before the park closed but at least she used the restroom. Its a great park but I don't think I will get back there during day light hours to enjoy it or take pictures. After that we went on to the trial site to set up our crate. It was almost deserted so I walked Miley round and round trying to burn off energy. It didnt help. She been over the top here in the room. We walked outside, played ball in the room and I've given her bones. Ugh! I hope there is some where I can run her tomorrow before we get to the trial or it will be a wild ride. On a side note, I slipped on some ice yesterday and hurt my back. It's not horrible just kind of a constant ache. I hope it doesn't get worse.
I'm excited and nervous about tomorrow. I'm trying to remember its suppose to be fun!

No School again!

I kinda cant believe they called school again today.  I guess the roads must be worse in the north part of the district.  I know my sons college, which is north of us, opened at 10am on Wednesday and then today they open at 12noon.  So there must still be problems.  The ice is the problem. As the snow melts, water runs across the roads and freezes into an ice slick.  Here is what the back yard looks like.

 The squirrel did get a nut out.

I did manage to get to the park yesterday.  There were some ice covered parks on the path but mostly is was clear.

 Im pretty sure we will have school tomorrow.  Its an in- service day.  They have already taken the last three in- service days away and made them regular school days.  The only problem with that is,  that in February the nurses were taking a class to renew our CPR. Its an all day class.  How are we going to get that done now? Watch them make us make it up on a Saturday on our own time.  And this is why I hate snow days. 
Tomorrow I leave for a USDAA trial.  I hope I can leave in the afternoon like I had planned.  The in-service stuff might have changed and it could be all day for the nurses. That will really take me over the edge.  I know Im complaining a lot but I wouldnt have entered this trial if I thought I couldnt leave at mid-day.  Well, I'll just hope for the best.
Ive been thinking about Miley's table issue again.  She isnt entered in anything that requires a table but I still think about it.  When you run agility, you run. The only time the handler stops running is at the table. I wonder if that has anything to do with her problem.  I also think she is over the top at trials which is why she is leaving the teeter early and if she doesnt keep on course, she stress circles.  Im not sure how to fix this stuff but its something to think about. The trial in early December was a really small trial which is maybe why she got on the table. Bigger trials, the more over the top she is, or maybe its me.Hmmm?  Maybe Ill go back in Feb. to that same small trial and see if she gets on the table again.

Wordless Wednesday

Poor Miley

She is loosing her mind.  Starting at 6am she has been wanting to go for a walk.  Running to the front door and slamming it. I tried just taking her in the front yard so she could see what the problem is but she didnt "get it". LOL  Ice has coated everything making it hard to walk. Miley will stand on top of the ice but its to slippery to walk.  So at 9:30am I broke down and took her for a walk.  I think she needed to use the bathroom and couldnt figure out where to go. All the spots where covered with snow and then ice on top of that.  All her "spots" where covered and apparently just "not right".   The streets have lots of ice and it makes it difficult to walk but I tried to stay where the tire tracks were. I cant believe how many people are driving through the neighborhood.  They should have just done a 2 hour delay for school. Now we are going to have to make it up. Crap!  I hope they dont take Friday away. Friday is a teacher in-service day. The nurses were  having their in-service this Monday, the snow day, and then only meeting 1/2 day on Friday. The other half of the day I was going to take off to drive to a trial 4 hours away.  Its the only reason I entered.  Its going to be rough if I have to work all day and then drive. Not so much on me, but Miley will loose her mind crated for such a long time without being able to burn off energy.  Anyway, I got off topic.  I first walked Miley up to one end of the neighborhood but that wasnt good enough. When we were passing our street, she pulled to the other side so I wouldnt turn onto our street.  So we walked all the way to the other end of the neighborhood. Luckily someone had driven on the edge of the yard with their car. It made the grass show and Miley finally went to the bathroom.  She must have been holding it since yesterday.  Poor dog.

My son's college has been closed for 2 days.  This morning they didnt serve breakfast.  Wow, they never closed my college and it was in the mountains.  Sometimes you would walk to class and there would be a sign on the door stating that class was canceled. But that was rare.  I think most teachers lived close by.  Now they would just send you an email.  No walking to class, you dont even have to get dressed. LOL  Remember walking to the building to see test grades posted?  You could see how you compared to the rest of the class. Sometimes you would show up and the grades wouldnt be posted so you would come back later.  None of that anymore.  Just look on line.

Guniess says he isnt coming off the deck until I clean up  this crap.  LOL