Saturday morning we got up and Sparkie was jumping around all excited ready to do something. No sign of any problem with her leg! Wazzu wasn’t so peppy. It was a hot day – record setting for this time of year – just our luck. When we’re in cooler places I love unseasonably hot weather. But when we’re in hot places to begin with we don’t need record setting temps. Wazzu’s feet were still really sore. She walked very carefully on the dirt and when we got to the grass field with lots of dead grass which is prickly she didn’t want to walk on it at all. She tried to play but would just stop when she got to a more “stickery” area. So needless to say we were over time in all our runs….except one – Chances. You don’t have to be too speedy in Chances, which is a good thing since we had to stop and argue for a while. But finally she realized she had to go out as I wasn’t giving up. Phew, made it after a LONG Chances drought!
Somebody suggested to us that we soak Wazzu’s feet that night to help sooth them. So of course we did that. I don’t know if it really helped her any but she was a good girl for the soaking although it did make for a very sad and long face.
Little Slugger tried so hard. This was the first time we’ve ever entered him in three runs a day. He was hot, the place had lots of horse smells (more on that later), and as we wouldn’t find out until later he had tummy problems so he had trouble concentrating on agility. While he really did try hard in every run he had trouble staying focused and went to smell for horsy “stuff” during a couple runs. Then during one run, though we didn’t realize it at the time, he was looking for a place to go potty. Bottom line (no put intended), no Q’s but we were very impressed with his effort.
Sparkie was very focused on agility and totally forgot she had a sore leg yesterday. She ran great even though they had a few mix ups here and there. On every run that she Q’d she easily got 1st place. She ended up with two Regular Q’s and a Weavers Q.
We got done really early (about 2:00) so we decided to stop for ice cream on the way home. We got no arguments about that decision! Mmmm, it’s been a long time since we had ice cream. I had Key Lime Pie ice cream and it was super good! Just ask any of us as I shared it with Mike and all four dogs. Oh don’t worry, Mike had his own too. He got a double scoop of Vanilla Cherry. I hear it was good.
Sunday when we had just gotten to the trial, we noticed that Slugger was licking his foot. We checked on it and found that he had completely torn off half of the pad – the pad kind of up near his ankle – not on his foot. It was really sore (and looks horrible) and he kept hold his foot up. Lying down is really hard as that touches the ground (or pillow in this case) and hurts. But when he walks and runs he acts just fine.
Wouldn’t you know today (Sunday) is MUCH hotter than yesterday even. I found some stuff that is used for dogs pads when they are going to be doing really rough sports. So I put some of that on all her pads hoping it would help. But between the sore pads and the extreme heat, Wazzu wasn’t interested in running. After three obstacles we left the Jumpers course. I finally got her to at least trot in her Regular run and she made time only to find out they called her on the dogwalk. They were really far away and I was between them and the obstacle so I guess they couldn’t see. Oh well, you get some and you lose some. No biggy in the scheme of things. At least Wazzu ran a little. Next run we do a jump and then she gets on the dogwalk and stops. So I decide we are done and I leave. Probably 30 seconds later Wazzu finally makes it off the dog walk and over to me. It’s at that point I decided to pull her from all remaining runs except Chances as that is what we really need and you don’t really have to go too fast. The last run of the day in the heat of the day was Chances. I pulled out all the best goodies (bribes) I could find, watered Wazzu down so well she looked like a drowned rat, and went out for our turn. Surprisingly, Wazzu actually ran – okay trotted some, walked some, but ran in the important distance part and got her Chances Q!!!! So we only got two Q’s all weekend but they were both Chances. Works for me!! But her pads are definitely bothering her and even the judge mentioned that. But he said it’s good you gave her the opportunity to try as sometimes she seemed to forget about the sticky grass and run. We got done early so now she can rest in the RV and nap all afternoon and evening all the way until bedtime!
Slugger was the superstar today, sore paw and all. He went 100%!!! Can you believe it. He Q’d in Jumpers – he wasn’t speedy but he was deliberate and concentrated really hard the whole way around. How fun! Then for the very first time ever, we entered him in Regular since there is now no teeter. And believe it or not the little guy did the whole course – even the dogwalk and weaves – just perfectly. Again – not super speedy but very accurate. Then we tried Touch N Go. We were concerned about letting him do a third run as it was so hot and he’s not used to doing three runs but we finally decided at the last minute to let him try. He surprised us again by easily Q’ing! Wow, who is this little guy that never practices or takes lessons. How cool is that. He’s starting to figure out the game.
Sparkie was full of vinegar and didn’t see any problem with the heat. Unfortunately, they had a few miscommunications but Sparkie was running fast and furious. They had two absolutely beautiful Regular runs. Truly picture perfect perfection. They couldn’t have been any better – which showed as they easily got 1st place in both runs. So while their Q percentage wasn’t nearly what Mike had hoped for they did get four Regular Q’s this weekend which is what they had really been hoping for.
An interesting side note to the trial. They have a permanent agility field at this place. It’s totally fenced could almost fit four rings I’m guessing. Anyway, suffice it to say it is very large. Parking is in a very large dirt area beside the field. It’s normally a horse pasture except on trial weekends. Last year they had completely cleaned up the field and I think they may have even drug it as it was nice and smooth. But his year, the dirt was hard with lots of bumps and ditches – like there had been lots of hard pouring rain on it at some point. However, the biggest drawback was that they hadn’t cleaned the field at all. So there was straw and piles of horse “leftover” all over the field. Of course, Sparkie and Slugger thought this was just the perfect field. Last year we let the dogs loose often in the field and they would run and play. This year, even on leash all they wanted to do was walk around and have “snacks.” Disgusting!! Wazzu of course is much too sophisticated for that kind of activity.
When we got back to the RV we cleaned and wrapped Sluggers leg real well. Funny, now he thinks he can’t walk on that foot. He looks so funny – but of course we can’t laugh at him. Wazzu and Slugger wanted to nap but Sparkie still had lots of energy so they went out for a long walk. There is just no way to slow Sparkie down. She’s always ready to do something…..anything!
In the early evening we actually left the dogs alone to go out to dinner. There is a very popular Mexican restaurant in town that Mike had wanted to try last year while we were here but didn't didn't get the chance. Neither of us really like Mexican food but Mike thought that being down here we might get more authentic Mexcian food. The place was packed (good thing we had reservations). I didn't care for my dinner at all. Mike got some big platter with lots of different courses. The problem was he didn't know what any of them were so while he liked some and didn't like some others he doesn't know what it was he liked/disliked. They kept bringing him stuff and he had no idea what it was or how to eat it. So we had to keep asking questions - they must have thought we were kind of odd. It probably gave them all a good laugh.
Debbie
3/17-18/07
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