Keep your eyes on your fries!

Off to Acton for our last agility trial for awhile. I decided to scan the course maps to spice things up a bit...

Steeplechase was first, despite a couple of knocked bars, and poor handling, Tinky did alright. Tink NAILED the weave entry! The rest of the run was alright, but due to crappy handling, I pulled her off jump 18, and she ran past it, then back jumped.

Our first Master Standard run of the day started off beautifully! Until we got to the weaves. I think she had to much speed, and didn't collect herself in time, she had a refusal, so we tried again... she refused again. Third times a charm... except for this time, because I tried to beat her to the end of the weaves to push her out to 16, she popped out at 10, so I went to bring her back and she went on the frame. She did well on the 17-18-19 combo, which I was slightly nervous about!



Master Standard 2 didn't start off as well. The very first bar came down. So when Tink didn't hold her Frame or Teeter, we redid them. Again on the weaves, Tink couldn't collect herself, and had a refusal. The dogwalk, despite the many tunnels facing her, and the fact that she was headed towards 6, Tink made walk!! The rest of the run went very smooth.

Master Snooker. Snooker had always been the run I dreaded most, having a super fast Border Collie who liked to work away from me, and didn't have a call off. But she has been doing well in Snooker, and probably has her highest q percentage in Snooker! The weaves were angled differently on course, then on the map, hence my drawn in weaves. In case you can't read my map, I did 1-6-1-6-1-7, I kept ending up in the wrong place, but my dog saved my butt, more then once, and though we ran out of time in the weaves, we still ended up with 42 of the 40 points required. (ED: My pencil marks didn't really show up... sorry!)

Master Jumper was quite trappy, including 2 chute traps that I was sure Tinky would take. It was an amazing run, and we were running very well together until I took my eyes off of Tink for half a second after 16 and she went over jump 1. I felt so bad, and I felt like I let my dog down, it was the saddest I felt for my poor dog after an agility run, she did so well, and tried so hard!

Start of the indoor season

This will just be a quick update, not much to blog on. ;)

Off to Royackers for the first indoor trial of the year. It was a frosty morning, so I was glad to be inside, though later the sun was beaming and it was quite nice outside.

Tink's first run was a Team run. Team always sucks as the first run of the day, but Tink rocked and ran her half clean. Tink's partner, Wish, didn't, but in all fairness, she had a much harder half.

Tink had a decent Standard run, though she took an off course jump, but did the rest well!

Steeplechase was going well, though one knocked bar, until the end, when I for half a second forgot where I was going, and before I knew it, Tink was off course.

Gamble was bad... I pre-planned it more then I ever had before. Nothing went according to plan, and Tinky was out of control! Totally doing what she wanted and forgetting her contacts. The main gamble was a bit difficult, with a nasty weave entry, though more dogs got it then I expected. Tink tried and did better then I thought, but didn't get it.

Only one more trial next weekend, then we get a three week break from trials.

End of the 'summer'

Tinky went to her last outdoor trial of the outdoor season. And I must say, it was probably the nicest weather we had all summer! Too bad we had to wait this long for it! We ran Master Standard, Team, Jumpers and Steeplechase. This was just not Tinky's weekend and she wasn't on the ball. She knocked a ton of bars (the same amount in Steeplechase as she did the weekend before with a total of 9 runs!). Her best run was the Standard, where her only fault was an off course tunnel, but otherwise, E's across the board! Oh well! There will always be a next time!

Tink and Kessie start training in a new facility that's used for horses. It'll be very cold, but I'll be doing agility, so it'll be worth it in the end!

K9 Klubhouse Day 2

The last K9 Klubhouse trial :( so sad. Over all I found it a good day, still chilly... and we did get a very very light spit, but hardly anything, not even enough to be called rain. So I'll accept it.

Master Standard: Started beautifully! Got to the point where I was thinking 'We might actually do this! We can run this clean!' Then 16, 17, and 18 hit... though it went more like 17 (backwards), 16 (backwards), 16, 18, 17(down bar), 18, 19, 20! Oh well!

Junior Advanced Standard: Tink and Natasha had a great run, and Natasha ended up with her Junior Handler Award of Merit - Advanced Level. Now she needs a new dog to run in Masters, though we have some options!

Steeplechase 1 & 2: Tink had two good run, but took down a bar in the first run. Still more then 5 seconds under time. The second run was clean. She got her 12th and 13th Steeplechase Q.

Master Jumpers: A very trappy course, one I wasn't too sure we could handle. Tink did well though, NO off courses!! And I didn't get lost!! Though we had one bar down, so close but no cigar!

Tink nailed each and every weave entry this weekend (9 in total) so I am very, very happy with that. She also held *most* of her contacts nicely, so I'd say all and all a very successful weekend for my girlie!

Oct/08 K9 Klubhouse Day 1

Off to the last K9 Klubhouse trial of the season this morning. How sad :(... we didn't even get a summer this year... The weather was a tad chilly, but it wasn't raining (bonus!), not was it super windy!

Master Gamble: There were some high point mini's resulting in a chance to get 52 points in minis alone!! But we didn't get any, and spent too much time trying... resulting in only 24 points in the opening. We did complete the difficult main gamble (1 of only 2 or 3 dogs to get it) but didn't have enough points to get a Q. Good chance to get the sillies out;)

Junior Advanced Standard: Tink and Natasha had a bit of a sloppy run, but was clean, up until the last third, when Tink didn't hold her contact, so Natasha put her back on the teeter (thinking they had blown it already) so they were Eliminated. The rest of the run was clean too, so if she let Tink get away with it, she could have got her title. I'm glad she redid the teeter though!

Master Standard: Tink had a very decent run, but she took a tunnel instead of a teeter, which were side by side, in the opening. She had one down bar, but the rest of the run was great.

Master Team: Tink's partner was Casey, a Mini Poodle mix. Tinky ran her half beautifully! And Casey ran his half clean too! We got our first Master Team Q!

Five runs for Tink tomorrow, 2 Standard (one JH), 2 Steeplechase, and 1 Jumpers, wish us luck!

Keeps going... and going...and going...

Today was the 2008 Energizer Disc Dog Championships. It was a packed fun-filled day of a 2 trial tournament in 1 day! Tink had a decent day...

Trial 1
Novice Single Disc - Lots of misses, only getting 28 points and missing out on her final Q for her title.

Furthest Catch - Tink got another Bronze level catch, only 104' this time, so no personal best, but it's fun knowing I can make it over 30 yards for Advanced.
Games - Both Tink and Kessie played 'Extreme RPT' where we had to throw various toys over the 10 yard line, and the dog who retrieved the most toys in 1 minute wins. Tink did pretty well, but I gave her some bad throws. Kessie started off well, I threw out the ball, she returned it like an old pro, but the next toy I threw out, she decided it would be best if she ran around with it by herself.

Trial 2
Novice Single Disc - Tink had a much better round, earning her Q in my first 4 throws. Earning her Basic Disc Dog (BDD) title. Also with 51 points, that brought her point total to 338, giving her enough points for her Disc Dog Exellent (DDX) title. She also got a 2nd place, getting beat out by her Uncle Zephyr by 1 point!

Freestyle - A spur of the moment decision, I added Tink to Freestyle. I didn't know what I was doing, but we had fun, and earned a score of 72.3.
Furthest Catch - Not quite a Bronze level catch, but close...
Games - The first game was getting hula hoops on pylons (no dogs). I got second (yay), getting beat out but the only one to hoop their pylon, Rickelle! (Though most call her Shona!) The second game was a crossover game, whoever made the most catches in 1 minute wins. Tink came away with the top prize, go Tinky!

K9 Klubhouse Day 2

Day 2's of trials usually are a bad thing... I dunno what it is, but Tink usually it just nuts! Today was alright, nothing too bad to complain about ;)

Master Team: Tink was teamed up with Cajun, a vizla. Both sides of the course were difficult. Tink had a wrong tunnel entry, so we were Eliminated, but both dogs had faults, so I didn't feel too bad.

Master Standard: Quite an ugly run, all three tunnel entries were the wrong ends... did some walk contact training.

Advanced Junior with Natasha: Another very nice run with Natasha, she did everything she was told too... even the off-course frame!

Steeplechase: Tink had a really good run, coming away with another Steeplechase Q.

Master Jumpers: I got totally and completely lost in several places... poor Tinky!

Off to a 2 trial day at D.O.G. Sports Centre next weekend for a fun-filled day of disc... hopefully we get nice weather again.