No walks on this beach for me this weekend. The sand is soft and the strong winds just make it too difficult to walk.
I was hoping we'd have a better weekend agility-wise than last weekend. But as luck would have it the start would be a real bummer. The first run was Chances - the only thing that Wazzu and I need. It looked like a fairly easy course by Chances standards anyway. Wazzu did what I considered to be the hard parts - all we had left was the very long four jump straight out. Wazzu always goes on at the finish so I thought we had it made in the shade. So before Wazzu did the last jump I let up a little....just enough that instead of heading toward the last jump Wazzu curled back toward me. As she came to me I turned her and sent her over the last jump. Yippeee! We'd made it. But I could tell by Mike's face as soon as I came off the course that something was wrong. He said the judge hadn't given it to us. What! Wazzu hadn't come across the line and I hadn't crossed it either so how could we possibly have not gotten it. Turns out the judge said Wazzu went PAST the last jump before coming back to me and being sent over the jump. That is impossible. After doing the second to last jump she curled immediately toward me....and the jumps were really far apart. I know that over the years things even out. So I know that sometime soon we're due for a huge break. I've never been so sure about anything in my life. But what the judge calls goes so it's all okay. But what a very disappointing way to start the day out.
I guess that Chances course wasn't as easy as I thought as very few dogs Q'd. Poor Sparkie didn't Q on that run either - off course on the second obstacle. Like last week, Wazzu did her first run really fast but then slowed down considerably. Same thing this week. We missed a few Q's due to being over time by as little as .20 and up to 4.30. I don't what the deal is but Wazzu just doesn't run well here.
Sparkie was running well on Saturday in all her runs. In her Jumpers run they had a slight bobble in the beginning (just a little one) but there was a very long straightaway at the end. Mike was really pushing her trying to make up some of the time they lost. Sparkie loves this as she can really go. But somehow she got just off stride and totally crashed into a jump sending the whole thing to the ground in quite spectacular fashion. Fortunately Sparkie didn't fall but she was then super worried that she'd done something wrong. Poor girl she was just trying to make her daddy so happy and just pushed it a bit too much. But she had a very respectable day going 4/6.
We were done by 1:00. Mike took the dogs on individual walks on the beach throughout the afternoon. In the evening many of the exhibitors gathered outside the judges RV and had a potluck barbecue. It was a great group of people and the food was all really good as well.
Our great chef:
And the great company:
Sunday's Chances was pretty much impossible which was backed up by the lack of Q's. Neither Wazzu or Sparkie got it although Sparkie has gotten this one at other trials....Wazzu has never come close on this one. She's very consistent though. No matter how I handle it she does the exact same thing - was is exactly what almost every other dog did too. Guess we need to train this...okay, we all know that isn't going to happen!
Wazzu Q'd in the rest of her runs (only three). During the first run of the day, Mike ran out onto the course to set bars for the height change. He ran back off the course really fast and when he stopped his knee somehow was injured. It was really bothering him. In order to be careful he was trying to save steps while running the courses. This led to some off courses and frustration. Poor Sparkie was getting all worried and looking scared. They ended up going 3/6 today. I sure hope Mike's knee gets better soon.
Sunday we were done by 11:30am! Since the beach here isn't all that great we decided to have a quick lunch and then move on to our next spot which is Winchester Bay which is 10-15 miles north of Coos Bay - for those of you familiar with the Oregon coast.
The view out our window is fabulous. This shot was taken out our front window.
There is a nice sidewalk that goes all the way around the park. It is large and has beautiful views on all sides. I'm pretty sure that every RV has at least one dog as there is a steady stream of dogs walking by.
I guess this is a big fishing and crabbing place as just about every RV we walk by the people are getting their gear ready for morning.
More to come tomorrow as we have more of a chance to check this place out.
Debbie
8/11-12/07
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