The Hangover

We had an awesome time in Kimberley BC this past weekend. By far one of the most enjoyable Agility Trials. Mountains, Camping, Friends, Wine, Agility ... oooooh ya baby!

First, I have to mention how proud I am of all my friends and students. So many titles, Qs and wonderful runs. Amanda and Wicca FINALLY got the last jumpers Q for their ATCHC! Dave and Pearl earned their ATCHC, Bronze and Silver too. Check out the GDG blog for all the details and photos.

Gyp and K were entered in 6 runs. Gyp was amazing, I am so thrilled to have her running fast with no issues - I can breath when I run her now, without worrying about hurting her. She smoked all of her runs and in 6 classes Qd in all of them, with the fastest times in 5 of the 6 events she was in. K was great too - the first day we had a couple communication issues EXAMPLE: i turn, kaleb finds the line for the next 60' and keeps going ... but hey he was having fun and running fast, and that is the main thing! Sunday we pulled it together and he Qd in all 3 classes and had a great day despite the CRAZY heat.

Here are some video highlights ... I finally feel like I have my Agility mojo back and it feels great. I love this sport, I love the people in it, and most of all I love my dogs. I had so much fun this past weekend ... I like to call it an Agility hangover, I swear it was ACTUALLY from the Agility ... :)

The Joker

This weekend was my first weekend back since my surgery ... and well, I ran great (if I do say so myself), someone even commented on the fact that I was scary being back after 9 weeks ... I'm sure they meant that as a compliment :)

But someone ran even better than me ... Yep the K-man. I entered him in 6 runs and he rocked them all. 6 Qs and he even placed 1st in 3 of his classes!! His energy, speed and focus was great all weekend. He didn't get tired, he wasn't at all stiff - he was running as good as he ever has. He is 9 and sure as hell doesn't act it or look it ... and you have no idea how grateful I am for that. He's one of a kind, that's for sure :)

I've been doing the same conditioning plan (including massage) with him as I have been for Gyp for the last 6 months - and well, it is obviously paying off.

Here are some highlights of my Joker ...

Videos!

A couple of Regionals Videos of Gyppie, to the awesome tunes of Metric ... enjoy :) My video camera died on the weekend - I mean really, it's totally kaput. So luckily between Jo and Amanda I managed to get a few runs taped! Jo lent me her camera to download the vids, it's a painful process, so here are a couple ... It was neat to see the difference in my running and movement with Bar-Knee on, I look pretty normal ... for me anyway :)

I uploaded a couple of Tag's runs for Jo too ...

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 ...

Videos!

Here is a little montage of 4 of Gyp's runs from the weekend. Before the "KNEE incident that silenced a Nation" - or at least silenced an Arena (yes I can laugh about it now).

The first run is Challenge - we had an off course tire on the way to the dogwalk, but she still managed to pull off the fastest time of the event. The other 3 runs are 3 Masters Standards she Q'd in (I think 2 1sts and a 2nd) I was super happy with her efforts - always 110%, and I was happy to see improvement in our contacts so quickly too. You see, she wasn't the problem ... it was me, now I have backed off, and let her do her job, trust my training, and the creeping is less and her speed had increased, go figure. If I didn't have Amanda and others in my group riding my ass about it, I shudder to think how it might look.

Agility ... it has its ups and downs ...

Another Sunday up at 4am to play Agility... on the road at 4:30.

 I am beginning to think I am nuts - Pete thinks I am, as he got up with me and I dropped him off in Calgary at our friend Jeff's and they went fishing for the day (we had way more success than him today :) ). Another two weekends in a row coming up of early morning travelling. Did I mention I put 13,000km on my vehicle a year going to Agility Trials and Training? ouch.

I had Kaleb and Gyp entered in the 4 runs today and Jane in 3. And I've uploaded some runs, and running three dogs makes for long write-ups ....

First up: Masters Standard - Kaleb and Gyp

A really great course and technical, for the most part I was happy with how I handled it, the end however was really FUGLY. It was set up for the dogs to read it as a pinwheel, but we just needed to do the 180 (not the middle jump), this was tough, the dogs needed to see something different from the handler other than supporting the pattern of the pinwheel, so I had to handle it with that in mind. I posted the video but I would have loved to delete the last 4 obstacles from the video, I guess it wasn't that bad, but I could have done better. Gyp was GREAT, and somehow with the fugliness at the end she had the FASTEST Masters time of all the dogs, imagine if I had handled the end better, her time would have been even faster - she ran it in 40 seconds (57 was the SCT). Kaleb too had a great run he placed 1st in his class of 9 dogs!!!!!

Next: Steeplechase: The Three Amigos

A cool course, not the most straight forward Steeplechase, but it ran really well. 

It's always a gamble entering Jane - will there be 2 sets of weaves - or 2 A-frames? Today there was 2 sets of weaves *sigh, not that she is a really bad weaver - she is just slow (due to my great training  8 years ago) :) I knew she would be fast as she broke she start line and took of without me - IT WAS AWESOME! I love when she does that! I LOVE FAST JANER!

Gyp again was super, this dog is just too ... I don't even know the word. We just click and we trust eachother. On this course I trusted she would nail a weave entrance without me, and she trusts I will give her the right direction. Did I ever say how much I love this dog? She is just so Gyppie.

My K-man came up lame on this run, if he balks at a jump and pops the poles twice after I resend him again, there is something WRONG - so we stopped I talked to the judge and we left the course, he was obviously stiff in the back right leg - he was fine in his first run of the day, so I'm not sure what is going on. I gave him a nice massage and lots of cool down. My poor boy ... more on this later

SNOOKER! Again, the Three Amigos participated

I gave Kaleb a good 10 minute warm up - lots of trotting and looking at his movement and flexion. We did 3 7s and the 2, he did good and Qd but after looking at the Video, he was just not 100%, again he is not "lame", but just "off". I pulled him Jumpers at the end of the day and he just got to hang out with me.

Gyp was Gyp .... we attempted the 4 7s again - it was the teeter. We got through the 4 7s - but it wasn't pretty .... then she bit the wrong tunnel entrance on #4 TWEET!  

Jane was super cute and we did 3 7s and the 2 - by the time she was over the teeter the 3rd time, I think she thought I was nuts! But it was a good run and she 1st and Qd!

JUMPERS: Gyp and Jane (kaleb was pulled)

I had a bad handling moment a serp into a push through, I over rotated a bit and Gyp balked at the jump and was called on a refusal, otherwise it was a beautiful run!

Jane had an off course .. so I made the best of it ... and I pinched her bum going into the rest of the tunnels on course, she loves that was she was so happy  and spunky coming off the course! There was a few people chuckling :)

So I have lots to work on with the gang, but most of all I hope Kaleb recovers soon.

Here are some videos, enjoy!

In Agility, there is a first time for everything.

* Warning, contains Agility Content, and this is a long ass post, I have broken it down into sections (Chapters ...) of the FIRSTS ....

1. Jane had to stay home this weekend, I pulled her from the Trial, a first.

She has a had a limp off and on, and was stiff in her back. I didn't feel she was 100%, as she approaches 10, recovery takes longer and longer, so I want to make sure she is 100%. Jane wasn't left out however ... she is the first to investigate the "Dog Bag" when I get home and help herself to one of the prizes the OTHER dogs won ...

2. Gyp gets hurt on course. A first.

Ok, maybe I added that in for dramatic effect, but I figured it would keep you interested in reading more ... Gyp ran good to great this weekend. It would have been all great had my handling been a little more on the ball. In one run Gyp FLEW off the end dogwalk to dive into the weave poles 30 feet ahead, leaving me in the dust in one run, it was pretty funny, and Gyp was oh so proud of herself. I was laughing the whole run which caused me to lose focus, so we made the best of it. I like when EVIL Gyppie appears once in a while - I love this dog.

Gyp needs one more Standard run for her Bronze Award of Merit - we didn't get it this weekend. We had three chances (see above why we didn't get it one run), the second Standard we had an off course - I stood there looking at my pretty dog dive into the wrong tunnel entrance, UGH. 

The third standard run is where she got hurt. On the fourth last obstacle she knocked a bar with her knee, and came off the course holding her leg up, waayyyy up. I thought she was going to die - or she tore her cruciate - you know I always think the best. Did I mention I freak out about these things? I had a couple people go over her and check her flexion etc., and with time she put her leg back down to normal with all weight on it. It was like someone smacked her in the knee (like Tanya Harding did to Nancy Kerrigan), but Gyp got over it with some nice massage and rest.

Luckily I was able to run her for her last two runs - I brought her out of her crate a couple times to see if she was stiff on it after rest, and each time she was OK, and other people thought she was OK to keep going too. I was more than willing to pull her for the rest of the day if I had too, the Q's are not worth my dogs health, thank you very much. 

She brought home 4Qs and 4 - 1st Placements in those runs: Masters Gamblers (90 points), Masters Jumpers (not a stellar run, but I am too hard on myself), Masters Team (the Tri-coloured Beeotches strike again!), and my proudest run was Master Snooker. I've never had a dog fast enough to go for broke - and try for 4 sevens - and try to finish the closing sequence. Another first for us .... 

3. We went for 4 "7"s in Snooker. A first.

 I can't take credit for the planning the opening sequence, Seanna helped me with it, it was nice of her to take the time. What a rush! the "7"s were Weave Poles (Gyps Fav), I am proud to say we got all the way to the 8th Pole in the closing sequence! In Snooker you need 40 Points to Qualify in Masters, we got 52! And a perfect run is 59 Points - we were just 4 poles short - since the time was up in the  8th pole!

4. Kaleb Qs 7 clean runs out of 8! You read that right ...

I don't really need to write more than that HAHA!! He literally got STUCK in the weave poles in one run and ended up popped out in the run he didn't Q in.

He Q'd in Gamblers and got his "Bronze Gamble" Title - for his 10th Master Gamblers Q. And Q'd in Standard 1 & 3, Jumpers, Steeplechase, Team (with our partners Lynda and Cavall), and Snooker!!

He ran great all weekend, and his energy, speed and enthusiasm was the same the first day as it was the second day. For my boy that just turned 7, I was really happy about that. He had some good placements with those 7 Qs,  I was really proud of his one Standard he placed 1st out of 12 dogs in his class.

5. I ran the whole 2nd day in my Chuck Taylor Converse shoes, not my cleats. 

And the best part, I didn't fall on my ass! Sometimes, I like to kick it old school.