Twitch and I went to Ridgefield this weekend for two days of CAT USDAA. We drove up Sat morning bright and early.
First run was Gamblers P2. we had a fun run and we got the gamble. I planned a pretty good course and it flowed well. Q.
Next was Standard P2. Our run was fats and smooth except for the off course tunnel I sent him into. I was so pleased he got his weaves to teeter all in one go I was celebrating too much and don’t get my front cross in to indicate the other tunnel entrance. NQ.
Then we ran Snooker P2. We got two 7’s and a 2 in our opening and made it through all 7 in the closing. He was a little pokey but not too bad. Q.
Last for Saturday was Pairs P1. My Pairs partner was a 16 inch Aussie named Rumble. They ran the first half and Twitch and I ran the second. He was pretty tired and that was showing but he did well. Q.
We camped overnight and I had dinner with some agility friends and one of the judges in Vancouver, WA.
Sunday dawned early and we didn’t run the first two classes so we had some time to let breakfast digest. 🙂
First was Standard P2. Another flowing no mistakes course. So proud of this weekend and my handling and his focus! Q.
Next was Gamblers. Now we had a nice course and we’re doing really well until Twitch decides it was time to start leaping contacts. So he left too early in the dog walk so we didn’t get the required opening points. Then he leaped the aframe above the yellow in the closing and negated our gamble. Little brat. NQ.
Last for the trial was Jumpers P2. This was a fun course. It was fast and flowing with no mistakes. Lovely run and I calculated that he was running about 8.7 mph. I know he can do faster, just gotta figure out how to tap into it. Q.
So overall my goals were:
– weaves first try. Check!
– keep moving and support every obstacle. Check!
– don’t fix any mistakes. Check! (There were none!)
– get his contacts. Oops.
He has been solidly in the yellow until now but he hasn’t been stopping. In class even, I didn’t ask for the stop and he stopped! So we are going to try a different rewarding tactic and see how that goes. Oh and practice on a taller aframe too!
