Wednesday, May 25, 2011

So Close

Riley had another excellent three-day agility trial.  Three blue ribbons, but Dang It!... no double qualifiers.  So very close on Friday and Sunday though.  This agility trial was local with only a 20 minute drive each morning. 
In Motion Photos
On Friday, we placed first in our Standard run.  We had a bobble near the teeter when she turned towards the dogwalk instead, but I was able to save it and redirect her.  The Jumpers run was qualifying until Riley took down the very last bar.  Dang that hurts!
On Saturday, Riley placed first again in Standard.  The opening had a very tight and difficult weave pole entrance.  My agility instructor made a big fuss in class last week about sometimes considering the long way around.  I decided to make her proud and go the long way in this instance.  It was definitely slower, but it greatly increased our chances of nailing the entrance to the weave poles.  I definitely plan to practice different ways of handling this opening at home.

Jumpers was just plain poohey!  It was very hot at 90 degrees.  Generally, I hose off my dogs in such temperatures while training or competing, but Riley has turned into a crazy dog when I have done that in the past.  She spins uncontrollably and zooms all over the place.  I opted not to wet her down before this run assuming that resting in front of a fan all day would be enough.  Well, it was not.  I knew I was  in trouble as soon as she started trotting towards me (instead of running). At least she finished good.
On Sunday, we did not qualify in Standard.  We were so close and it was a very good run until I made an error at the very end.  Of course, not qualifying in Standard ensured that we would qualify in Jumpers with a first place.
And here is a typical scene.  Riley resting comfortably.  She recharges so well.  On the left we have Seven who is always hyper alert and straining to see where I am.  I crated them both in the van and Seven reminded me that she is still an idiot. Screaming and yelping like she does.