October 10, 2009

Starter Games both way!

Natasha, Tink, Kessie and I went to the last outdoor K9 Klubhouse trial of the year. This is how it all went down...

Saturday
Master Standard: The run went very smoothly! She seemed to know where she was supposed to go, even without me! We ran it great and got a Q!
Master Gamble: It was a tricky main gamble with a teeter and a set of weaves, but Tink was one of 3 dogs out of 25 or so to get it!
Junior Advanced Gamble: Natasha moved up to Advanced last trial, so this was her first time. For Tink, it was a much more difficult main gamble, she had to come out of a tunnel and run between the other end of the tunnel and a jump to a tire with Natasha on the other side, of the jump. Though she never made it to the tunnel... Natasha said 'Get out!' and she went past the tunnel to the dog walk! Shocking!
Steeplechase: Tink had a great run and walked away with another Q. Running 3 for 3 that day, I knew that the odds were stacked against us for the Jumpers run, that I actually really needed!
Master Jumpers: I set Tink up on the line and started my lead out, I looked over my opposite shoulder to make sure the other dog was on leash, and turned back to Tink and she was standing beside me! Crud!! Starts off with a refusal! But wait it gets so far worse... she actually runs the rest of the course CLEAN!!! Rotten devil finally gives me a clean jumpers... after she creeps up on me in her start line, which she doesn't normally do!
Starter Jumpers: Kessie has a usual 'Kessie' run... Jump, jump, tunnel, jump, herd, jump, tunnel, jump, tunnel, jump, herd, jump, herd, herd, jump.... something along those lines!

Sunday
Starter Jumpers: Natasha and Tink finally keep up all the bars and get Natasha's Junior Starter Games Award of Merit... or whatever they are calling it... Kessie has an amazing run for her, and makes it about three quarters of the way through the course before herding me, what a girlie!!
Master Jumpers: Not so good... already gone from my memory, but we had a couple wrong tunnel entries, I think...
Steeplechase: Took down a bar, but had tons of time left over, so got another Steeplechase Q for the weekend.
Master Standard: Was a great run, but I got too far behind her at the end, and she took down the last bar!
Master Standard: I was so busy building all day, that I didn't get to see the courses until I was building them, so imagine my horror when my nightmares came back to haunt me! It was a replay of the opening from Standard round 1 and the Nationals this year. Here is the Nats course. We occurred 60 faults at Nats, and if you didn't automatically get an E in Masters, we wouldn't have been much better off!!

Over all it was a great weekend, with threats of rain, we didn't get very much and the cool autumn air was bearable. Off to the last outdoor trial of the year tomorrow!

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