Summer has been so busy!
In June we did one day of a CPE agility trial that went fairly well – the jumpers course was one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. The next weekend we went to watch some of the CPE nationals (30 min away!), taking 4-H’ers and students to observe. It wasn’t quite as exciting as when we were able to go and watch AKC nationals in 2007. The CPE format makes it hard to build much suspense while watching and it had the feel of a big but local trial. I also left feeling not-so-great after some students make comments about how unengaged, unhappy, and slow many dogs were. That’s not the kind of impression I wan them to have while watching their very first real trial.
Puzzled look from us.
The next week Griffin and I went to the USDAA TitlleMania event. I don’t know that I’ve had more fun at an agility trial. Great weekend for us!
In July we did one day of UKI – four great runs. We did an AKC obedience trial that was one of my worst trial experiences. Griffin did great. Someone made a not-so-nice comment – mistaking my distracted/stressed expression as being dislike to the person and/or her dog. I missed a sign in rally and when I exited I had 4 people come up and thank me/joyfully comment about the missed sign because it gave them a placement in the class. In Novice we got our first ever qualifying score – and somehow a 1st place- with a great score (193 – losing at least 2 points on the Stand for Exam). During the awards there was the awkward moment of the exhibitors in the ring doing the ritualized “congratulations” while some were obviously unhappy they didn’t score better. I didn’t want to politely reply back “Thanks” to a person I saw fairly severely correct her dog in the ring and yet not get too penalized for it. I like training obedience. I like being in the ring at obedience trials.
Tonks and a Friend
We hosted a WCRL rally trial the next weekend. Some judging for me, some great runs with Griffin, and Tonks did her first trial – and last chance in the Puppy class. She does not have good (any?) heeling yet but somehow it came out fairly well. I’m excited for her to grow up and be ready for more!
Last weekend we drove 3 hours to Indianapolis to an AKC agility trial to try and finish our Open Standard title – this would allow us to have a more entertaining time at a trial next weekend. During our Standard run Griffin went off course at the very beginning so I thought we were disqualified – I pushed him on the rest of the course and he ended up coming off the table early. But apparently those errors still allowed us t qualify! In Jumpers we had our first Excellent run which was great. I was very happy with how well he did in a new location. I was really tired so we spent most of the day sleeping int he parking lot.
We hopefully have a few more trial days this month – those are going to be extra exciting and we’ve been practicing a few additional skills to be prepared. This year is going by so quickly and we definitely won’t be reaching all the dog show goals for the year, but I’m happy with the experiences and opportunities we’ve had this year.