Travis had a good trial last weekend in Harriman, TN (sorry Laurie, I sometimes forget to tell you guys when I'm there till I'm there). To save $73, I opted to drive up on Saturday morning instead of Friday night. That means we left at 3:30 AM. Yes, it sounds crazy, but I love having the interstates to myself. The radio stations play almost non-stop music which is nice when your van does not have a CD player. I was not very happy with Foster Abby for walking me up at 2:30 AM..... 30 minutes prior to needing to get up. She has slept quietly through every night until this one. She sounded rather desperate so I thought I better take her out just in case...... give her the benefit of the doubt. Of course, she was fine and didn't really need to go out after all. I put her away and crawled back into bed only to have her start up again. She and I came to an understanding......... an understanding that this alpha bitch doesn't like 2:30 AM wake up calls and she has not done it since.We got to Harriman around 6:30 AM. We had to be there early because the big dogs ran first. Travis ran clean. The course was very doable. It was open and had room for Travis to run. I love courses that let us run some. I was also glad to see that he remembered how to weave in competition (since he didn't at the invitational). He did not place. There were some very competitive border collies there this weekend and when they are clean, they are a few seconds faster. Later that afternoon, the jumper class was a trickier course. As usual, we tackled all of the hard stuff with no problem and then he dropped a bar on the 2nd to last jump. Oh, well.
On Sunday, Travis ran clean in Standard again. The beginning of the course was tough. Several jumps were close together which makes it easier for your dog to take the wrong jump. Travis was heading for an off course jump, but responded to my "Travis"... "HEY, HEY, HEY!!!" The rest of the course ran smooth. Jumpers was a doable course. There was however this long line of jumps that ran through the middle . I rarely ever do a front cross on a straight line simply because there is no way I am going to out run a greyhound on a straight line, but I did this time. I was able to send him wide while I cut the corner and then I ran to where my front cross was. I just barely made it and out of his way, but I was really pleased that I got it in. The other fun part about the course is that after jump 6, I never said another word to Travis. I try not to say much. When I do say something, I want it to mean something. After jump 6, the remaining jumps and tunnels just didn't need any verbal support. While running, I just remembered thinking.... "I'm not saying anything, I don't need to say anything, I wonder if I can finish this course without saying anything." So we did, the last 14 obstacles with no words spoken. Travis did manage to place 4th in both classes on Sunday and earn double Q #31. We need 9 more and he will be the first MACH 2 greyhound.
Katie looked good all weekend. No yelps and she appeared sound. I enjoy going to out of town trials with just my 2 favorite dogs. Its nice to not have to clean house, check email, etc.
