A Gift or Two

I was at the Keystone Agility Trial in Mt Clare, PA yesterday on a beautiful, sunny, warm Fall day. The weather was crisp in the AM - around 45 degrees. I bundled up in layers and gloves and got ready for the fun to start. Katie Leisey came along to run Ivy and to put her own dog, Zip, back in the ring after months of time off to recover from an injury due to a structural weakness in his rear.

First run of the day was Gamblers. I love when this class is first so you can work out kinks and remind your dog what is expected for the weekend. Gusto ran great - no bars down at 26 inches - woo hoo! Didn't qualify (Q) because I screwed him up trying to get a tight wrap and caused a refusal. Ivy had a very nice run with Katie and nearly Qd but went off course in the gamble. She ran really nicely for Katie (side note - Katie Qd in Standard with Ivy taking first place in Performance, 16).

Next run was Steeplechase. It was a nice course with some tricky sections. My goals right now are based on tournament classes - I want to really start to nail these courses, fast and clean. Well, we ran it really well but he missed a tough weave entry - actually, he hit the entry but missed the wrap on pole 2 due to a bad approach over the previous jump. The cool part was that I ran my butt off to get up there - I was WAY ahead of the Guppy too which probably actually screwed him up but MAN that was a rush!!!!!!!!!! He dropped a bar due to a front cross on a weird angled jump. His only bar down of the whole day though. So with his missed entry and a bar down, I figure he won't qualify right? His time - with me fixing his poles was 30.XX seconds - the fastest time in our class was a clean 29.XX seconds. So G put down a smoking time and Qd. Gift number one - 26 inch class had a slower average than the 22 inch class so he Qd.

Next run was Standard. I wasn't thrilled with his ST Q because it wasn't clean and he screwed up his weaves. Rosanne said - go lay down a great standard run. So I did :) BUT he actually nearly flew off the teeter - in fact, if I was a Judge, I would have called it. I let him standing on the ground and gave him the "EVIL OH MY" eyeball. Looked at the Judge to see if she called it and then carried on. He ran the rest really well - one wide turn to the poles but ZERO BARS DOWN. So another Q and his second gift of the day. He took 2nd place behind Whip, his litter bro.

Last run was Pairs - wow - he ran it fast and furious and really really well! Another Q. He needs 6 legs for his ADCH - Agility Dog Champion Title. Three of those needed legs are Jumpers - I never run it as it is always the last freakin class of the weekend and I am toast by then and ready to go home.

So many very nice people came up and gave me lovely comments about the Guppy. The nicest comment came from a friend of mine, Tinna Brown. She said - you know, I have to admit that I like Gusto at 26, he jumps it very nicely and he actually looks better at 26 than 22. That's because he has to actually jump 26, he can flatten out and not jump 22 because it is too easy for him. It was very nice to hear this from Tinna - many folks weren't sure Gusto could jump 26 easily due to his structure. We shall see if he can hold up. David Acciani looked at him yesterday and did say his left hipflexor muscle is tight. Nothing horrible but he does need to be stretched. I am already feeling improvement but will have to keep on it.