Riley attended the same three day agility trial and she was perfect! Six clean runs out of six. I believe this is Riley's first perfect trial.... of course, there will be more.... I hope!
Here are her perfect runs. Riley was a little pokey to start on the very last run (I think I should walk her less during the day) and then I stumbled and almost fell around 4:08.... but I didn't! It is funny though.
There were several comments on Seven's post about our qualifying rate being so high. I have to confess at being amazed as well. It has not always been that way, but it sure is nice when it all comes together. At this point, I do not feel that Riley needs to learn anything new. I simply maintain her and enjoy the ride.
The last time I had this kind of success was in 2007 and 2008 with Travis. Travis was a Q machine his last 12 months. He was so smooth and consistent. Push button. Five years after his death he is still the #1 greyhound in AKC agility. Helen Hamilton's Whisper almost caught him. She matched him on Double Qualifiers (44 of them) and is the only other greyhound with two Master Agility Championships. He just has more speed points. My ultimate goal would be for Riley and/or Seven to exceed Travis. It has been a long time and it is time for a new top greyhound. If the girls can stay healthy and sound, there is no reason for them not to pull it off. Riley needs 18 more QQs. She is faster than Travis so she will have the needed speed points by then.
Travis
Here is one of Travis' runs. I call this my "Blissfully Unaware Trial". He turned 10 years old a few days later, was sick by the end of the month, and then died several weeks later. At the time, I was very grateful for every trial. Eight, nine, and ten years old... you know that retirement is around the corner, but he never retired.
You just never know when it will be over. I have nothing to fuss about though. Few large dogs have careers that span to their 10th birthday. I just would have liked to have had a year or two of retirement with him. Good plan for Riley though!
