Heavy Heart

(Gillette, WY) Day three started very early again. As usual we started with both national anthems and then another dog agility song set to the tune of Clementine. Then it was time to walk the first course. The order for this run is Elite, Pre-Elite, Veterans, Jr. Handlers, Skilled and Super Stakes. All division run the exact same course (this is different from previous years).

This course was much shorter and more compact than in all previous years. Even though there were only 29 obstacles this course had numerous challenges. The number of mulligans used on this very first run was fairly high.

Up first today was Sparkie. She and Mike had a beautiful run. Watching the clock I saw that Sparkie was ahead of previous dogs times in her class. The place was totally silent as they ran. It was the run of a lifetime....until the very last obstacle. The end was a straight line of jump, a-frame, tunnel, long gap, and another tunnel.

Almost every dog stopped after the first tunnel to look back at the handler. Most did a spin, some took an off course jump and a couple others ended up running past the last tunnel.

As Sparkie exited the first tunnel she turned to look at Mike. He tried to send her on and she started to go by the tunnel on the side closest to Mike. He got her to stop and he sent her again and she kept going in her super fast speed and ran by the tunnel on the side afar from Mike. The entire crowd groaned in pain as the entire run up until then had been picture perfect. Sparkie stopped right at the end and crouched down and had her tail between her legs. She knew she'd done something wrong. Poor Sparkie. Since that is a 20 point fault, Mike decided to use his mulligan - as did many other people.

They started their mulligan run just as pretty as the first run. But not too far into the run Sparkie made an off course onto the a-frame. Everyone in the crowd groaned so loud and Mike was far away on the course just standing still. At that point Sparkie was on the very top of the a-frame and she just stopped and looked scared. Mike tried to call her back happily to get her going again but she wouldn't come down. Finally Mike just decided to leave. So instead of 20 faults they ended up being eliminated. That means they have absolutely no chance to make the finals. This will be the first time they haven't made it to the finals.

My heart is so heavy for them. Mike is so disappointed and Sparkie is so scared. So many people have come up to me and asked me how Mike is doing. They all feel so badly for them. It's not the end of the world - but in this atmosphere here it sure feels like it. What a shame. I just can't convey the heaviness in my heart for Mike. And there isn't a thing I can say or do to make him feel better. It's such a helpless feeling when you can't do a thing.

About an hour later it was time for Wazzu to shine. I was having trouble remembering the course as I was going through the queue. Oh, I keep referring to the queue. Between the gate and the start line are five boxed off areas. The first three areas are just empty areas where you and your dog wait. As the dogs ahead of you move up, you then move to the next box. The fourth box has a jump or two in them where you can warm up your dog. This is also where you must relinquish all toys and treats. The last box is the "get nervous" box as you are up next! When the dog on the course gets to a certain point on the course then you proceed to the start line and take your leash off. It is your responsibility to watch the clock. The very second the clock stops you are to take off.

Okay, back to our run. Wazzu was acting happy in the queue - how exciting. We got to the line and Wazzu took off like a shot. When we got to the first set of weaves Wazzu went super slow - just walking. But that's okay since she has such a bad back. But she popped out at pole 11. That's still okay with me and we took off again. She was flying - I'm not sure I've ever seen her go so fast. Then we got back to the weave poles. She was going faster than she's ever gone in the poles - but her feet got a little confused and she missed a pole. Then she finished at top speed. But that's 40 faults. Oh, what to do. After much deliberation I finally decided to take our mulligan.

The big concern was could I get her motivated to run again. Yippee - she was excited. Once again she ran very nicely. We got to the first set of weaves and she walked through them. At about pole nine I noticed that she looked up a the crowd. I immediately put my hand down to guide her as she was about to skip a pole. Phew, we just saved that. The instant she exited the poles she was again was a speed demon. Then we approached the second set of poles. This time she slowed down and once again walked through the poles. The fast dogs probably do poles in about two and a half seconds. From what I was told we took eight to nine seconds in each set. After finishing the poles, she finished the course as fast as she possibly could taking lots of air over the a-frame. The crowd enjoyed that as well.

So we ended up being clean but we had at least seven or eight seconds extra between the two sets of weaves than we do in a normal weekend. (Turns out that if we'd have done the weaves at our normal speed we'd have been in the placements.) But even so, I'm extremely pleased with Wazzu. Doing two runs so close together and having so much speed and happiness in both was definitely a huge thing for us. And how courageous is Wazzu to even try to do the weaves with having a bad back. That's why I didn't push her one bit in the weaves - I let her go at her speed so she has total control over her back.

PNW Regular One Results:

20" (11 dogs in class)
Bart Pierce and Pulse 1st place
Susan Perry and Harley 3rd place
Kari Hammargen and Elf 9th place

20+ (?? incomplete results for this class - will update later)
Andrea Dexter and Ceilidh 3rd place
Michael Bruce and Jule 4th place
Teresa Jewitt and Bogie 9th place
Pat Weinkauf and Quinn 11th place



Vets:
12" (6 dogs in class)
Kim Wiklof and Pinot 1st place
Scotty Imlay and PJ 4th place

16" (12 dogs in class)
Micki Lagrou and Wendell 6th place
Penny Richardson and Shen 9th place

16+ (22 dogs in class)
Susan Perry and Lacey 1st place
Robbins Church and Annie 8th place
Andrea Dexter and Token 11th place
Carolynne Myall and Fortune 12th place
Debbie Mason and Wazzu 13th place

Skilled:
12" vets (six dogs in class)
Karen Hunter and Lindy 6th place

Pre-Elite:
8" (six dogs in class)
Bill Judge and Rosie 2nd place

12" (four dogs in class)
Bill Judge and Teddy 4th place

Super Stakes:
16" (three dogs in class)
Arlene Courtney and Trick 1st place

16+ vets (five dogs in class)
Karen Hunter and Quickie 2nd place

20" (five dogs in class)
Amanda Gross and Hope 4th place


At about 5:30 it was finally time for the second round of Elite Regular. Sparkie and Mike were the last 20+ dog to run. This 30 obstacle course was difficult unless you had a dog that could work ahead of you extremely well or you could run faster than your dog. It was also a difficult course to remember which loop you were in - a number of people finished but forgot one whole loop. Sparkie handled this entire course with no problem at all and came in seventh!

Then around 8:15 Wazzu got her second round run. She was even more excited than she's been the entire time. I knew that meant trouble as this course the dog had to work real well from out front or have a super fast handler. Oops - neither of those apply to us. Wazzu was so amped up that she ran even faster - faster than ever before. And since we never get practice running at this speed (as she's never this excited) I didn't know how to steer her from so far behind. I was running as fast as I could but I just couldn't get up to her. So she kept guessing where to go - but it was usually wrong so I had to call her off after about half the obstacles it seemed. She never went off course but we used up LOTS of extra time. Let me tell you, it was not a pretty run at all. But we had an absolute blast! It was like a train wreck that never quite actually wrecked but scared you every couple seconds as it looked like it would crash. Wazzu was jumping up and down on me at the end. This hasn't happened for seven years. Way too much fun. I'll tell you we are the happiest people here of all the people that aren't in the running to win! I love Wazzu's smile - and it was as big as it could get tonight. (I however had trouble breathing for quite some time - ha ha!)

The event is still going on strong at 9:20 so there are only a couple results posted for Round Two. Here's what is posted so far.

PNW Regular Round Two Results (Elite only)

20" (11 dogs in class)
Susan Perry and Harley 1st place
Bart Pierce and Pulse 3rd place
Kari Hammargren and Elf 8th place

20+ (30 dogs in class?)
Michael Bruce and Jule 4th place
Mike Mason and Sparkie 7th place
Pat Weinkauf and Quinn 11th place
Debbie Pierce and Kobie 15th place
Andrea Dexter and Ceilidh 18th place
Teresa Jewitt and Bogie 26th place

Lots more happened today but I'm just too tuckered to do any more tonight. I'll try to get caught up tomorrow and I have more pictures (as has been requested).

All tuckered out.....
Debbie
9/21/07