Rocky, Friday, my visiting sister, and I had a pretty good out-
of-town agility weekend. If one ignores vehicular mishaps.

It was a fairly standard trial format for thse parts - 2 rings
and 8 classes (4 standard, and one each of gamblers, snooker,
jumpers, and team). Friday was entered in everything and Rocky
in only 4.

Rocky did really well this weekend - it was the first time in a
couple of years that we had runs that were fun *and* enjoyable.
Yes, there's a difference. We always have fun, but "enjoyable"
connotes to me as achieving some sort of milestone in our
handling relationship. I entered Rocky into the two earliest
events each day, and medicated him after the second run - he ran
without stumbling and Saturday's high heat didn't bother him a
bit. *And he didn't knock a single bar all day.* Sunday, we
came close to a Q in Snooker, but a knocked bar on a #6 combo
changed that. It was still a fine fun run. We Qed in a
Standard (his first in 3 years) which moved us up to Masters
Jumpers and Gamblers.

Friday and I clicked this weekend, Qing twice in Standard,
getting a title. But our best run, by far, was a non-Qing
Jumpers round this afternoon. We got a refusal on the #3
tunnel, which I could have avoided if I could get Friday to wait
on the line - he got so far ahead that I confused him when I
aimed him for the tunnel with a trap on each side. Since it was
now a non-Q run, we really opened it up and ran fast and clean
for the remainder. Friday is going to go far with proper
handling, and many people delight in telling me this.

And, ah, the crossover - the never before seen obstacle. It was
part of a Standard round with Friday, and my worst round
ever. Friday actually knocked two jump bars - unheard of (off
courses and missed contacts are *not* unheard of, but jumps?).
My friends told me that I was obviously stressed going into the
run - we all blame it on the Ford Motor Company. Back to
crossover: it has to be a right angled turn in the Starters
level. I sent Friday up it quickly, said "Table" when he got
close to the top, turned my shoulders, and down he went. Easy
peasy. Now that I'm complacent, I'm sure that we'll blow it the
next time we see it.

Just back from a long drive and still wired.

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

Rocky wrote:

Rocky, Friday, my visiting sister, and I had a pretty good out-
of-town agility weekend. If one ignores vehicular mishaps.

Sounds like a nice weekend, congrats on the good runs
with both dogs! I'm glad Rocky did so well, and
suffered no adverse effects.

Mary

"Rocky" wrote in message
news:Xns93BF15E99D7C5australianshepherdca@IP...
Rocky, Friday, my visiting sister, and I had a pretty good out-
of-town agility weekend. If one ignores vehicular mishaps.


Of course, it wasn't your fault.

Just back from a long drive and still wired.

But - it sounds like it was a great weekend! Good work on enjoying the high
points!
--
~~Judy
Owned and entertained by Spenser - the best dog in the world.
http://home.epix.net/~jrussell

Mary W. said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Sounds like a nice weekend, congrats on the good runs
with both dogs!

I forgot one: Friday also Qed in Gamblers. He was quite miffed
that I had forgotten.

I'm glad Rocky did so well, and
suffered no adverse effects.

Yup, that was the best part of the weekend, considering it was
as hot this weekend as it was a month or so ago when he had
problems with the heat.

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

YAY Rocky and Friday. Sounds like a great time.

Gwen

Rocky wrote:

Mary W. said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Sounds like a nice weekend, congrats on the good runs
with both dogs!

I forgot one: Friday also Qed in Gamblers. He was quite miffed
that I had forgotten.

I'm glad Rocky did so well, and
suffered no adverse effects.

Yup, that was the best part of the weekend, considering it was
as hot this weekend as it was a month or so ago when he had
problems with the heat.

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

"Rocky" wrote in message
news:Xns93BF15E99D7C5australianshepherdca@IP...
Sunday, we
came close to a Q in Snooker, but a knocked bar on a #6 combo
changed that. It was still a fine fun run.

That was a good run, Matt. Glad you had fun.

--
Jenn, Anja & Frodo, Hemingway and Leah the eeevil bird
pictures:
http://ca.photos.yahoo.com/bc/pywhac....src=ph&.done=
Take Anja out to email

From: (Rocky)

I forgot one: Friday also Qed in Gamblers. He was quite miffed that I
had forgotten.

You forgot lots of stuff! What's up with the Ford problem, and how did
you handle the crossover?

Congrats on the good stuff. :-) I filled out and sent the first entry
form in *8* months for Winston. It felt good.

Debbie

said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

You forgot lots of stuff!

Something else I forgot: There was a raffle tent set up, with
lots of cool prizes inside. I bought 20 tickets for $10 and put
8 of them on a big red plastic bin chock full of dog toys,
leashes, treats, books, a flexi, gentle leader, bait bag with
clicker, and a bunch of other stuff. Worth $250 in total.

I won it. It was just like Xmas going through all the neat
stuff when I got home.

What's up with the Ford problem,

My Windstar was in the shop with transmission problems and they
couldn't supply me with a free rental vehicle that was big
enough, so the service guy finagled a 2001 Windstar from the
used car lot.

It got us the 300km to the trial site, but Saturday, after the
BBQ, the dashboard lit up the ABS and handbrake light (meaning
"total braking system failure) and powered the car down.
Luckily, we were only a few hundred yards down the road and
managed to drive-stall-drive-stall-drive back and a friend
who was camping at the trial site lent me her SUV to get to
where my sister and I were staying.

The next morning, Ford roadside assistance towed the van away
but it was up to us to find alternative transportation. My
sister spent 2 hours on the phone finding a rental; between runs
I was able to get downtown to pick it up. Ford will cover up to
$500, so that's good.

What's not so good is that the vehicle was a fully loaded 2003
Toyota 4Runner with leather and now I want one!

and how did you handle the crossover?

I sent Friday up the ramp, gave him the "Table" command when he
was almost there, then treated the down ramp just like a
dogwalk. It wasn't as fast as a dogwalk, but it worked out
really well, though the rest of the run wasn't clean.

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

Jenn said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Sunday, we
came close to a Q in Snooker, but a knocked bar on a #6
combo changed that. It was still a fine fun run.

That was a good run, Matt. Glad you had fun.

Were you there, Jenn? Did you see my jumpers run with Friday
on Sunday? Easily the best run of my life even though it wasn't
clean (a refusal at the first tunnel).
--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Rocky wrote:

What's not so good is that the vehicle was a fully loaded 2003
Toyota 4Runner with leather and now I want one!

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

I can't blame you there I would too, especially if my
current vehicle was a Windstar. g

Seriously I want a Toyota Highlander. It is a bit larger
than the 4 runner. But I do like the 4 runners.

Great cars that do keep, going and going and going.

Gwen