C2P2

This weekend we did an agility trial in Chapel Hill, NC. While there was room enough for our RV at the trial site they wouldn’t allow us to stay there as large rigs have gotten stuck there before. Been there done that – and don’t want to do it again. So we found an RV park about 15 minutes from the trial site that would take us. This park was very pretty in the fact that it had a lot of trees with changing colors. But trees and satellites don’t mix well so we had a bit of trouble with our internet.

Saturday the weather was absolutely perfect for agility. Warm enough for the people yet still cool enough for most dogs. The setting was pretty as well with fields all around and surrounded by many different colored tree leaves. The field however was on quite a slope. The running uphill was a little tough but running downhill was quite fun.

I don’t know if it’s everywhere or just back here in the east but the courses seem to be getting harder all the time. The Chances course was extremely tough. I pretty much needed binoculars to see the distance obstacles. I’m not kidding either. You had to do a switch to the right but the dog then had to go out left to a jump before then going out another 30 feet to the right and then enter the dogwalk. I can’t explain it well but I’ll tell you it was HARD. And the discrimination portion was really hard as well. In all classes combined (Elite, Open, and Novice) only four dogs Q’d. I’m very proud to say that Sparkie was one of those dogs!

Even the other courses were hard as well. Only four dogs Q’d in Jumpers. And how many times have you seen only two dogs Q in Touch N Go. And only two dogs Q’ing in both Tunnelers and Weavers. The Weavers course was actually really easy – but course times were just too tight. And the other course Q rates were almost as low.

Even so, Sparkie was awesome. She did her best to keep the Q rate high. She ended up going 9/12 which is always good but was especially impressive on these courses. She got first place in every run but one (a 2nd place in Weavers)– including the runs she didn’t Q.


Do you think she took off early enough?

I’m sure Wazzu could have come close to that had she run. Unfortunately, Wazzu once again didn’t want to jump. Every course that had jumps she would walk and barely jump over or just go around the jumps. Needless to say, I didn’t make her even try all the runs with jumps. She did get a few Q’s in the non-jump classes but wasn’t really eager to do a lot of those even. I do very clearly remember looking down at her in the middle of the Weavers class and she glanced at me at the same time and she had the biggest smile on her face. She really was happy to be out there playing with me – her body just couldn’t do it. Even though the body didn’t cooperate she didn’t want to miss her turn.

Slugger got a chance to run one Tunnelers run each day as the ring was securely enclosed. Saturday he ran so fast. It is so fun to watch him try to go fast – his little head bops up and down and his little legs go every which way. It’s just so cute. But there was one tunnel that led to nowhere and the dogs had to do a sharp right to a tunnel they couldn’t see from the previous one. The tunnel that led to nowhere faced the corner of the ring so when the dogs came out they just saw the corner of the field where they kept junk. In addition to the junk there were plastic bags hanging from the fence post. These bags were blowing around in the breeze. Slugger stopped dead in his tracks and stared at all the scary stuff in the corner. He wasn’t going to turn his back on those scary bags blowing in the wind. Those things can come attack puppies you know! Other than that he ran really fast and was only two seconds over time.

Sunday he ran very well again. He even did some 180 degree turns by voice. He was running fast but actually turning to Mike’s voice instead of just taking whatever was straight in front of him. He made time easily! That gave him his Superior Open Tunnelers title. Can you believe that our little Slugger – who never gets to practice and only competes in a run here or there every couple months is now in Elite Tunnelers. It’s only take close to five years but he made it. It will be a real challenge for him to get an Elite Q. But I’m sure he’ll try his best.

Oh, as nice as the weather was Saturday that’s how bad it was on Sunday. It was cold, windy, and rainy. Not just rainy – it poured! The field was muddy and full of puddles. Actually I think it was more a pond. But the day went faster as a lot of people didn’t bother coming. It had poured all night as well so many people didn’t even show up. One funny thing was that the ground was so thick with mud that the teeter would get stuck in the mud and wouldn't go back down. This was during Touch N Go and we had to do the teeter twice. So you'd come back around and the teeter wouldn't be back down. So during every run the judge had to push the teeter back down after the dog went across so that when they came back around (only four obstacles later) the teeter would be correct. Now that shows you how muddy it really was!

But the people that were there either day were super nice. If you want to attend a trial with friendly people this would be it for sure! The trial secretary really befriended us and couldn’t have been nicer. We met some people that I know from the BaggageAgility list I’m on and they were just the nicest as well. Once of them even had a dog named Oscar that is a rescue and looked like an exact duplicate of Wazzu but smaller.

And I’ve never seen so many mixed breed dogs anywhere. What cuties!! It was very hard to find a purebred at this trial. I did find one – I thought it was a mix but when I asked the lady about it she told me it was a Dutch Shepherd. It looks like a very large brindle German Shepherd. Turns out it is a cross between a German Shepherd, a Terv, and something else big (which I’ve forgotten.)

We had one scary incident on Sunday. Mike and Sparkie were awaiting their turn and Sparkie was sitting looking up at Mike. Behind her about five or six feet away was a lady with her very large dog – the Dutch Shepherd. Totally unprovoked this dog just suddenly lunged at Sparkie with lips up and teeth bared – it meant business. Sparkie screamed (okay it doesn’t take a lot to make Sparkie scream but this time she was justified!) and just in the nick of time the lady pulled her dog away. Sparkie was only about ¼ inch from getting badly hurt. The lady didn’t say much and didn’t reprimand the dog – just gave it some treats. Mike said he would have turned this person in but she was the owner of the place so he felt he couldn’t do anything about it. I later noticed a sign in one of the barns that said “Beware of Guard Dogs” and it had two dogs names on it – one of which was the one that lunged at Sparkie.

This club gave out a toy for every ribbon (Q or not.) So we got a lot of toys! Sparkie got a ribbon in all 12 classes, Slugger in both his runs, and Wazzu in a handful of runs so we got really stocked up on toys! Slugger is so happy about that. Actually Wazzu has decided she likes the really big stuffed orange (you know – the fruit) and she carries it all around the RV. She won’t let the other dogs have it as they’ll tear it up and she is trying to take very gentle care of it. Leave it to Wazzu.

Oh, one last notable thing about the weekend. On Saturday a lady was walking around with two really cute little Whippet puppies. Mike seemed to fall in love with them instantly. Unbeknownst to me he went and talked to the lady at length. Turns out she was keeping those two but had two more that were for sale. She got them out and brought them over to Mike. He spend a couple hours walking and playing with one of the pups and talking to the lady. He then wanted to meet the mommy dog (I know there is a special name for that but to me it’s just mommy dog) and also got to meet two dogs from a little she had three years ago.

The lady had bred these for performance not show. And boy did it show! Oh, that’s confusing isn’t it. These dogs were the most muscley dogs I’ve ever seen (besides a pit of course.) Mike wanted to get one! And who am I to turn down a puppy! But I knew there was no way we could bet one without talking to the Whippet expert, Shari. Fortunately I was able to get a hold of Shari and she told me a lot of things to think about. I passed along Shari’s comments and Mike rightly decided that a Whippet puppy really wasn’t for us at this time. We were both disappointed but can’t thank Shari enough for getting us to look at reality. As a funny aside – it wasn’t minutes after our decision that our friend Pat told us about a Border Collie we just had to have! Pat keeps us laughing as she tells us weekly about a BC that would be just perfect for us.

Doggy friends are just the best! Thanks Shari and Pat for helping us get through the weekend.

Debbie
11/11-12/06