Just got back from the Purina Challenge. Hot, hot, hot. In the low
90s--and very humid.

Some of you may know that Cala was invited to do the 60 weave race at
the Incredible Dog finals. Never having been to anything like this, I
really had no clue what to expect. Those of us invited from the local
area were called "Wildcards" because we didn't have to go through a
Regional to get into the National. The only other dobe competing in any
event also in the 60-weave; he took Silver in the Northeast Regional.

Friday we had our seeding races. We were not divided by height. We could
try up to 2 times, and the fastest time was our time. Taking the advice
of some other dobe people who have done this, I had never practiced
60 weaves. Last week I'd set up 24 and I did a grand total of 3 reps of
those. Mostly we've worked on entries and exits. One of the tricks is
that there are electronic timer poles at both ends, only about 3 feet
away (to the side) of the first and last poles. So the dog needs to
break the barrier first on both ends and needs to not be confused by, or
try to weave, the timer pole.

There was an amazing Mal there, wait till you see her on TV. She's from
the San Deigo area. She practically weaves on her head! The front legs
go through and the back ones are way off the ground; it's very odd. But
she's blazing fast--in the seeding run she did 60 in 12.2 seconds, which
bests Marcus Topps' world record time--and Juice is a lot smaller (a
small BC) than this dog.

The weave pole challenge both days was at 1:00. Have I mentioned it was
hot? Much to my surprise, Cala did all 60 the first try Friday and had
13.75 seconds for a second place seed.

I came to the "staging area" today complete with bowl, water, and
icy chamois. My goal was to just try to get through all 60. The way they
ran it, head to head, 1st seed competed against 8th seed, 2nd seed
against 7th, etc. So for some of us, that might mean as many as 3 runs.
I didn't even know it was head to head until Friday! I was also in the
last slot to run the quarter finals, which meant we wouldn't get much of
a break between runs at all.

First run, Cala had a great entry and just blazed through. I ran her
offside (her on my right for non-agility folks). My lane was actually
very tight to the left hand wall at the finish line. That meant that
Cala came out of the last weave, wrapped around the timer standard, and
practically flattened the cameraman--it was very narrow spacing! Kudos
to him for staying rock still in the face of 60 pounds of hard driving
Doberman. She won that heat against an aussie. Then the really fast Mal
popped some weaves during her run. I think that the humidity was a lot
for those Western dogs to cope with. In the semis, I raced a very nice
little sheltie. And again, Cala was clean and won.

It was very short time between runs, basically I came off the field then
went back on. They did the consolation run (for Bronze) right away, and
we had to get back out there. The Sheltie won the bronze. Everybody was
hot. My competitor this time was a local with a nice BC called Kamakazi.
Cala's back was almost too hot to touch. She got tangled at the start,
but didn't pop. I think she slipped slightly at another place, but was
able to recover. She was getting tired. But out of my peripheral vision
I could see her moving ahead...I got her through that last pole, and she
got the Gold. And immediately jumped into the pool of ice water right
outside the ring.

I'm really not sure of her final time and I have no clue of any of her
times in the quarter or semi-finals. I know it was faster than
yesterday--13.2? 13.4? I guess I'll find out at some point. We got a
honking heavy piece of crystal and you all will be able to see my dumpy
self on NBC in January. Cala is much prettier than I am! Oh, and at the
end, if it looks like I'm wiping away tears I am--but not those kind of
tears. The tears you get when a great gout of sweat lands directly in
your eyes and stings like hell.

Would I do it again? Maybe. I'm not sure. But it was fun and I was SO
proud of Cala--in the end I think she was going on grit and
determination and drive. She is tired but fine, no heat, lumps,
or bumps. I'll have my acupuncturist look at her next week but I'm
predicting no problems. I think one reason is that the weaves were set
at 22" and the extra inch makes a huge difference.

Sorry this got really long, I'm tired and I need to stop rambling!

Robin Nuttall said in
rec.pets.dogs.activities:

Sorry this got really long, I'm tired and I need to stop
rambling!

You had me on the edge of my seat!

Congratulations - I love to watch good (OK, great) big dogs do
weaves.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Robin Nuttall wrote:
I could see her moving ahead...I got her through that last pole, and she
got the Gold. And immediately jumped into the pool of ice water right
outside the ring.

Yeah! Congratulations, well done Cala. I'll definately look
for it, post if you hear when it is going to be shown!

Mary W.

"Robin Nuttall" wrote in message
news:8mMUe.101734$084.90710@attbi_s22...
Just got back from the Purina Challenge. Hot, hot, hot. In the low
90s--and very humid.
..I got her through that last pole, and she
got the Gold.

WHOOOOOO--HOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!

I think one reason is that the weaves were set
at 22" and the extra inch makes a huge difference.

Is there where they usually are at the trials you go to? I'm finding more
and more trials where the poles are set at 21 inches or less. If definitely
makes a difference to the dogs - even to my little ones!
--
Judy
Spenser - Carbor Talk of the Town, OA, OAJ, NJC, NGC
Sassy - Can CH Carbor Back Talk, NA, NAJ

Judy wrote:
"Robin Nuttall" wrote in message
news:8mMUe.101734$084.90710@attbi_s22...

Just got back from the Purina Challenge. Hot, hot, hot. In the low
90s--and very humid.

.I got her through that last pole, and she

got the Gold.


WHOOOOOO--HOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!


I think one reason is that the weaves were set
at 22" and the extra inch makes a huge difference.


Is there where they usually are at the trials you go to? I'm finding more
and more trials where the poles are set at 21 inches or less. If definitely
makes a difference to the dogs - even to my little ones!

I think most of the poles around here are 21". I know the ones I
practice on are 21". I could immediately tell a difference in just that
single extra inch. In practice on our sets, Cala will often bump her eye
and is more likely to get tangled. The first time we did the 60 at 22"
spacing, she just took off and really flowed. I could tell it was very
comfortable for her. She didn't bump her eye at all until our very last
run yesterday when she got tangled at the start, and even that was very
minor.

I would definitely support a push to make weave poles 22" at a minimum.

Mary W. wrote:



Robin Nuttall wrote:

I could see her moving ahead...I got her through that last pole, and
she got the Gold. And immediately jumped into the pool of ice water
right outside the ring.


Yeah! Congratulations, well done Cala. I'll definately look
for it, post if you hear when it is going to be shown!

Mary W.

It will be on NBC on January 15, but I don't know the times. It'll be a
90 minute show. I'll post a reminder closer to the event.

The Western and Northeastern Regionals will also be televised, sometime
in December. They will be on Bravo.

"Robin Nuttall" wrote in message
news:b2VUe.102360$084.42110@attbi_s22...
I would definitely support a push to make weave poles 22" at a minimum.

We had ours built at 22 inches. Lately at trials, they are all 21 inches
and even 20 1/2". And we are seeing Sassy pop out at the tenth pole
repeatedly, something she never does on wider spaced poles. I think the
difference in the spacing throws her rhythm off. She also has run into the
second pole more than once. (She runs way more like a BC than like a
schnauzer. Spenser is somewhat slower and more methodical so it doesn't
seem to bother him.) DH is making a point of running straight beside her,
being very careful not to pull her off. And it happens on either side,
making a weaker side argument less likely. So we are taking every
opportunity to train on the closer poles. Three more weekends of trial this
year so we'll see what happens.

I have heard rumors (from people who just might know something for real)
that AKC is about to standardize weave poles. To 21 inches. I can see
where that would make a big difference to larger dogs - especially breeds
built like Dobes. But I think I'd actually welcome standardization, however
it comes. Difference in spacing does make a difference to the dogs.
--
Judy
Spenser - Carbor Talk of the Town, OA, OAJ, NJC, NGC
Sassy - Can CH Carbor Back Talk, NA, NAJ

Judy wrote:


I have heard rumors (from people who just might know something for real)
that AKC is about to standardize weave poles. To 21 inches.

They may. But I wish it was 22" not 21". I was actually amazed at the
difference that one extra little inch made.

wow......... way to go Cala and Robin ! ! !

woo hoo Cala Rocks!

kate

"Robin Nuttall" =com wrote in message
news:8mMUe.101734$084.90710@attbi_s22...
Just got back from the Purina Challenge. Hot,
hot, hot. In the low
90s--and very humid.

Some of you may know that Cala was invited to do
the 60 weave race at
the Incredible Dog finals. Never having been to
anything like this, I
really had no clue what to expect. Those of us
invited from the local
area were called "Wildcards" because we didn't
have to go through a
Regional to get into the National. The only
other dobe competing in any
event also in the 60-weave; he took Silver in
the Northeast Regional.

Friday we had our seeding races. We were not
divided by height. We could
try up to 2 times, and the fastest time was our
time. Taking the advice
of some other dobe people who have done this, I
had never practiced
60 weaves. Last week I'd set up 24 and I did a
grand total of 3 reps of
those. Mostly we've worked on entries and exits.
One of the tricks is
that there are electronic timer poles at both
ends, only about 3 feet
away (to the side) of the first and last poles.
So the dog needs to
break the barrier first on both ends and needs
to not be confused by, or
try to weave, the timer pole.

There was an amazing Mal there, wait till you
see her on TV. She's from
the San Deigo area. She practically weaves on
her head! The front legs
go through and the back ones are way off the
ground; it's very odd. But
she's blazing fast--in the seeding run she did
60 in 12.2 seconds, which
bests Marcus Topps' world record time--and Juice
is a lot smaller (a
small BC) than this dog.

The weave pole challenge both days was at 1:00.
Have I mentioned it was
hot? Much to my surprise, Cala did all 60 the
first try Friday and had
13.75 seconds for a second place seed.

I came to the "staging area" today complete with
bowl, water, and
icy chamois. My goal was to just try to get
through all 60. The way they
ran it, head to head, 1st seed competed against
8th seed, 2nd seed
against 7th, etc. So for some of us, that might
mean as many as 3 runs.
I didn't even know it was head to head until
Friday! I was also in the
last slot to run the quarter finals, which meant
we wouldn't get much of
a break between runs at all.

First run, Cala had a great entry and just
blazed through. I ran her
offside (her on my right for non-agility folks).
My lane was actually
very tight to the left hand wall at the finish
line. That meant that
Cala came out of the last weave, wrapped around
the timer standard, and
practically flattened the cameraman--it was very
narrow spacing! Kudos
to him for staying rock still in the face of 60
pounds of hard driving
Doberman. She won that heat against an aussie.
Then the really fast Mal
popped some weaves during her run. I think that
the humidity was a lot
for those Western dogs to cope with. In the
semis, I raced a very nice
little sheltie. And again, Cala was clean and
won.

It was very short time between runs, basically I
came off the field then
went back on. They did the consolation run (for
Bronze) right away, and
we had to get back out there. The Sheltie won
the bronze. Everybody was
hot. My competitor this time was a local with a
nice BC called Kamakazi.
Cala's back was almost too hot to touch. She got
tangled at the start,
but didn't pop. I think she slipped slightly at
another place, but was
able to recover. She was getting tired. But out
of my peripheral vision
I could see her moving ahead...I got her through
that last pole, and she
got the Gold. And immediately jumped into the
pool of ice water right
outside the ring.

I'm really not sure of her final time and I have
no clue of any of her
times in the quarter or semi-finals. I know it
was faster than
yesterday--13.2? 13.4? I guess I'll find out at
some point. We got a
honking heavy piece of crystal and you all will
be able to see my dumpy
self on NBC in January. Cala is much prettier
than I am! Oh, and at the
end, if it looks like I'm wiping away tears I
am--but not those kind of
tears. The tears you get when a great gout of
sweat lands directly in
your eyes and stings like hell.

Would I do it again? Maybe. I'm not sure. But it
was fun and I was SO
proud of Cala--in the end I think she was going
on grit and
determination and drive. She is tired but fine,
no heat, lumps,
or bumps. I'll have my acupuncturist look at her
next week but I'm
predicting no problems. I think one reason is
that the weaves were set
at 22" and the extra inch makes a huge
difference.

Sorry this got really long, I'm tired and I need
to stop rambling!

Robin,
This great! Good for you and Cala. Please let us know when NBC plans
on showing this.
Congratulations.

Beth