Happy Mother's Day

We didn't know it at the time but our morning indicated how our day was going to be. The first walk-thru was supposed to start at 8:00am. So we went over about five minutes before eight to find they had already started running. But fundrasiers are very laid back so we got to walk in the middle of the class and then run immediately. It was a little hectic but both dogs handled it just fine, ran very fast and Q'd.

Shortly thereafter was Chances. Wazzu was first to go. She surprised me by doing it perfectly and thereby giving me a very nice Mother's Day gift. Wow, two Chances in one weekend! Thanks so much Wazzu puppy. Then it was Sparkie's turn. She did the first two challenges correctly but they had quite a bit of trouble at the weaves which then gets you off track and puts you out of position for the last challenge. Unfortunately, they couldn't recover. Bummer.

We had a break now so it was a perfect time to call Mom and wish her a Happy Mother's Day. It was great talking with you Mom. I hope you had a great day even though we weren't there with you. Even more, I hope you know how much I love you....not just today but everyday. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon and celebrating Mother's Day with you in person.

Next came the one Regular run for the day. It was HARD!! Not one large Elite dog Q'd. I think that's a first for any trial we've attended. Mike and Sparkie were absolutely beautiful the entire run until the very last jump! Sparkie's time was the fastest of any dog by far. The whole crowd let out a moan as Sparkie and Mike had trouble at the very end. After two beautiful runs that had trouble right at the end, Mike was pretty frustrated. So we decided that I should run Sparkie the rest of the day. Wazzu figured since the course was hard she just would make up her own course right from the start. We did the first jump correctly - but beyond that I truly don't think we did one thing correctly. In fact, we weren't even close! It was the biggest mess you've ever seen! But Wazzu seemed happy the whole time so all was good. We laughed and joked the whole time.

There were only two runs left and fortunately they were the two easiest classes of the day for Sparkie. I felt pretty confident that we'd do well. The first run was Weavers. I decided to run Wazzu first. Right away I knew I was in trouble as Wazzu just wanted to go to her crate. While we were waiting for our turn Wazzu kept doing stress yawns. She had plenty of time to yawn on course too as we were seven and a half seconds over time. Then it was Barkie Sparkie's turn. We started off amazingly. But there was one place you had to cross behind the dog as they went in to a tunnel. I thought she was going in the correct tunnel so I started my cross. But she immediately reacted with me and pulled off the tunnel and entered the wrong tunnel. So from there I just sent her on a huge long loop of tunnels around the outside so she could have a great time. She really got up a head a steam and if her barking was any indication she was having the time of her life!

That just left Tunnelers. This time I decided to run Sparkie first to hopefully get Wazzu a little jealous so that maybe she would be excited for her turn. Sparkie had a gorgeous run and came in 2nd place! Way to go us! It was fun to get to run Sparkie - especially on Mother's Day. It would have been a perfect Mother's Day had I gotten to run Slugger too. Next year, I hope. Wazzu did the whole stress yawn thing again in the warm up area. I learned a very valuable lesson in this run. Not only can people see dogs in clear tunnels but dogs can see people while they are running through a clear tunnel. This tunnelers course was a little tricky as in the middle of the course were three straight tunnels all parallel to each other. You started off by running a straight line down through a few tunnels and then had to make a sharp turn to the three parallel tunnels - the first of which was a clear tunnel. Immediately after getting the dog into the clear tunnel you had to run away from that tunnel to get on the far side of the second tunnel. So Wazzu entered the clear tunnel and saw me take off in the opposite direction. This made her think she had done the wrong tunnel and she came to a stop in the tunnel. By then I had gotten in my next position so she walked out of the tunnel. It took quite a bit of work to get her going again as this was just too much stress at the end of a weekend where she had worked so hard. But I think we just made time and got a Q to end our weekend.

Wazzu gave me everything she had this weekend and she got to do a lot of visiting and playing with friends so that by the end of the day today she was just worn out. Well, she has plenty of time now to rest and recuperate. But it was so fun to see her so happy and fast this weekend. When it was all over she really did want to go home with "Aunt Pat" though. I guess I'm going to have to make some liver treats so I can be as exciting as Pat!

Just before Pat left for her drive home she brought Quinn and Will out into the field for a nice little play time with Sparkie and Wazzu. They all get along so well and even though Wazzu was tuckered she enjoyed being out there watching the other three play with their sticks. I enjoyed not only watching the dogs but getting a little more time to visit with Pat.

Thanks to all our agility friends and their dogs for making us feel so welcomed back. It really was nice. We look forward to seeing you all again many times this summer.

Happy Mother's Day!

Debbie
5/13/07