Mind over matter...what a weekend.

Not sure where to start, but all I know is self-doubt and lack of confidence go a long way, but confidence and believing in yourself go a whole lot farther.

It was an amazing weekend for my dogs and me, and our group did unbelievable also. I'll update the GDG Blog hopefully tonight. stay tuned ...

I had K in 4 runs, and Gyp in 5 - but she ran 6 :) My knee held up, not a lot of pain if any, my knee brace, "Knee Brace 5.0" limits my mobility a bit (you'll see in the video, but I was proud of how I ran and handled), even if it was a little awkward looking at times.

Masters Standard

The first run of the weekend and I was feeling overwhelmed and not confident, could I handle it or not? The dogs ran pretty good, but my head wasn't in the right place and it showed. I've never had to worry about "not being able to get there" I can always get there. Well not on that run, I could have if I planned for it, but I didn't. I took a step back after that run. I said screw it, I can do this, I just need to make a couple adjustments. And well .... the rest of the weekend was awesome. Sure I might not be where I was, but my dogs are running great and I am thankful I can do rear crosses and have good verbal directionals.

Gamblers

Gyp rocked the opening with the most Masters points and nailed the end Gamble. (video below)

K-man had a a great opening, but no end gamble for him.

Challenge

I had my pinch handler Kim walk it with me, and her and Jo encouraged me to do it, they felt like I could do it. So I did. It wasn't the most perfect run, I had to hold the teeter and dogwalk longer to get into place which cost us a bit of time, but the hard stuff we nailed, and as always Gyp made me look like a better handler than I probably am :) (no video of this one)

Jumpers

I didn't enter Jumpers, but asked if I would be able to add in a run. I knew I couldn't run it, my leg had enough for the day. BUT Kim said she would ... and OMG ... the video says it all. nailed it. 2nd fastest masters time. Wow great job Kim.

Steeplechase

Just Gyppie entered, again not sure if I could do it, but figured with a long enough lead out I could. And yep, we did, a little confidence goes a long way. Gyp had the fastest qualifying time. Good girlie. (video below)

Standard 2

Kaleb was awesome, a really good run for him. Focused and feeling fresh, I gave him a really good massage and 2 long warm-ups. It showed in his running, he was alot more limber than Saturday. It was his 47th Masters Standard Q. Here is the video ...

Gyp was great too. She didn't miss a beat, and I was feeling really good running her. She had the second fastest Masters time. (video below)

Snooker AKA the Game that nearly killed me.

I only entered K as I am "not ready to go there yet" with Gyp. Kaleb is a great Snooker dog, if I can find a fast flowy course, his run was great. We finished to number 7 with a few seconds to spare even!!!

I learned so much this weekend, mind over matter really is a powerful thing. We had a great little pizza party Saturday night, drank 2 bottles of wine and had a lot of laughs. What a great group of friends, honestly such a supportive and encouraging group.

To top it off there was an E draw at the end of the weekend. Gyp won it for her "E" in the Standard on the first day ... we won a 40oz of Kahlua (more on that later). So funny, we were rewarded for that run that I actually learned so much from!!

Jo said "she would shit her pants if I Gyp's name was drawn in the Q draw", not sure if she shit her pants or not ... BUT I did win the bottle of Champagne. A nice reward :)

I think I figured out the secret to success in Agility ....it's all about the booze, good friends, and being in the right state of mind I'm pretty sure.

a few of Gyp's runs ...