crazy little thing called love ...

my lil' wood nymph :: 6/52, originally uploaded by sarah ....

It was our first Agility trial of the year this past weekend. I had taken half of December and January off to give the dogs some time to recoup and refresh for the busy trial Season coming up. Just what we needed!! I HEART my dogs, I HEART Agility, I HEART my friends ... life is good.

I've been worried about K - I freak out as he is coming up 10 and I don't want to push him to hard if his body can't do it ... His first run of the weekend he seemed a little stiff in the poles, but otherwise a great run. The rest of the weekend - he was BANG ON ... managed his same times and YPS ... no knocked bars, no popped or uneven looking weave poles. I love this dog. I had so much fun running him this weekend - and all the comments I get on how great is running and looking are sure nice to hear. He got MEGA warm-ups - twice as much as normal, lots of tugging backwards to engage that rear end, massage 2x day, and extra work to his stifles and hamstrings. It seemed to do the trick .... judging by his performance. He brought home Qs in Standard and Gamblers.

And then there is Gyppie ... she was great too! We were honoured to wear Tag's Agility LEash into the ring with us ... the first run was a little hard ... I was thinking of him and we tried are hardest for him this weekend ... Gyppie even channeled a little of his naughtiness I am pretty sure! But thankfully she also channeled his brilliance! She was fast, fun and lovely. She brought home Qs in 2 Standards, Jumpers and Snooker.

Go! Dog! Go! Students ROCKED also!!! Lots of great moments, Q's and some titles to boot!!

I had my first ever "Hangs Head in Shame" moment on course ... Lets just say DO NOT CHANGE YOUR GAMBLE PATH LAST MINUTE without thought. Because what might happen is you do 2 back-to-back end obstacles in a row right off the startline TWEEEEEET!!! OMG it was hilarious ... I literally hung my head, and everyone was laughing - I got razzed about it for the rest of the weekend - it was pretty damn funny!!! I redeemed my self with Kaleb in the Gamble and he was one of the few dogs to get it!!! GOOD BOY!!

More on dog/human relationships this week ... and my observations at the trial ... i've said it before, it can't be faked ... and the true honest relationships between dog and handler are the ones who are most successful on and off the course. more on that later ...