We left in the dark this morning and got to the fairgrounds in time to get all set up. This is a great place for an agility trial. The arena is totally covered which was certainly a plus today as it was cold and rainy all day today.
But even nicer was the fact that on both long sides of the arena there were enclosed stall. I'm not sure what kind of stalls they were supposed to be but it worked perfectly for dogs. I'd say each stall was 12' x 12'. It was so nice not to have to set up tents, etc. And they really protected us from all the rain and wind....now if they just had heaters!
In addtition to all this, the fairgrounds are huge. There are a gazillion (okay, maybe only a zillion) very large fields the dogs can run free and play. We didn't do any of that on Saturday though as the weather was miserable.
This club did a lot of very interesting things. The thing that I found to be the most unique was that they offered all seven classes each day. When you entered you got to choose any six runs each day! I love this idea. It was really perfect. Everyone got to do exactly what they wanted - and it didn't seem to take much more time at all. In fact, they had course changes done as fast as anywhere I've ever been so I don't think the day went any longer at all.
They also set up a huge table and decorated it so nicely for Christmas. In addition to the decorations there were massive amounts of homemade breads, cookies, candies, pies, etc. It was very festive....and extremely tasty. Over the top nice for sure!
Interestingly enough, the chief ring steward (who did both rings!) was not a member of the club putting on the trial. But like always, she did a fabulous job. While this club is very generous in paying their workers, Workers got raffle tickets where the winners got high value gift cards. In addition, all workers got a coupon for lunch from the lunch wagon. The lunch wagon had some Mexican name and the large menu painted on the truck was all Mexican food. Hand written on a piece of paper they offered some American fare. The first day I tried the Mexican food since that was their specialty. Not so tasty. Sunday I had the American food and it was great. The best thing both days were the extra large hot chocolates. It was so cold outside that I think I saw almost every person there with a hot chocolate.
But that's not all. Every class you work you are given "Worker Bucks." These bucks are for money off future trials. Mike and I did work a lot (as we always try to do) and we earned over $40 off our next entry! Now there is a club that values workers...I guess that's because they don't have many of their own. They only perk they didn't give was coupons for not taking ribbons. But we felt very well compensated.
For the first time since his surgery we entered Slugger in three runs a day. I don't know if it was the cool wet weather or what it was but Slugger was really revved up each time it was his turn. His first run (Weavers) he was running fast - but too fast for him to figure out how to collect for the weaves. But we were pleased that he was running so fast. He's so cute when he runs fast!
His next run was Touch N Go. He was really working hard - he was running fast, looking for the next obstacle, and watching for Mike's instructions. With only two obstacles to go I thought this was going to be the run of his life. All he had to do was exit the tunnel, make a right turn to the dogwalk, then zoom out the last tunnel. No problem....or so we thought. As he exited the tunnel and started to turn to the dogwalk he noticed a photographer sitting on the ground. Oh cool - Todd is here....so Slugger thought. The look of surprise and excitment about Todd being here is very evident by the look on Slugger's face as he exited the tunnel.
So he ran over and gave the photographer a big kiss and then noticed it wasn't Todd afterall. He then got back on track and finished the course. Not only did he Q, he got 1st place. He continued his great performance in his Regular run getting a 10 point 1st place Q. An excellent day for Slugger.
Sparkie was running as fast as we've seen her run. Her confidence is really strong right now and ever since her chiropractic appointment in Las Cruces she's been running much more freely. While she was running nicely, she had one tiny boo boo in half of her runs. The runs she did Q were beautiful and she placed 1st or 2nd. We're just so pleased how smoothly she is running again.
Wazzu totally loves this type of weather and boy did it show today. She wasn't just running faster than normal, she was running as fast or faster than ALL other dogs in the entire class. Both judges commented to me on how Wazzu was running so fast...and with a big smile. Often times I have to look back or to my side to see Wazzu, but today I was always seeing her tail way ahead of me. So fun. And when she runs like that we have great distance. Wazzu went 5/6 today getting 1st place in every one. We missed our Touch N Go Q today but I didn't care. She was tearing up the course! The second to last obstacle was a dogwalk and she was just too excited and missed the contact. I'll always take an NQ due to excessive speed.
The trial ended about 3:30 - too early to go back to the hotel. Boogie hadn't gotten to do all that much today so we took him to one of the very wet fields at the fairgrounds and did our back and forth game. I go to one end of the field and Mike goes to the other end. Then we call Boogie back and forth. He loves this game and runs just as fast as his little legs can take him. We let Sparkie play too as she still seemed to have some excess energy.
After driving around Tucson to waste some time we got to the hotel around 5pm - earlier than we had hoped. But we were cold, wet and tired. I walked next door and got us take-out dinner from Denny's. I don't think I've been to a Denny's in over 25 years. I can see why people go there - it was inexpensive, good, and you got a lot of food!
The dogs were absolute angels in the hotel. They came in, went to their beds we brought and went sound asleep for the remainder of the evening and all night. We checked out and left very uneventfully. Phew!
We thought the dogs may be a little tired on Sunday but were we ever wrong. The weather was still cold but at least there was no rain. That made it much nicer as we could take the dogs to the fields to let them run during the day when we had breaks.
Wazzu was in a fine mood once again today and ran out ahead of me all day. Once again she went 5/6 with four 1st's and a 2nd. The only run we missed was our Chances run. Shucks! She was trying so hard but she just didn't understand what I was asking her to do in the begining. It's something we've never practiced so I can't blame her at all. So after it was obvious she didn't understand the beginning I took one extra step to help her then got back behind the line. She totally got it then and did the whole rest of the run better than anyone. I had more distance with her than anyone else had. I was past the finish line while she still had four obstacles yet to do - it was so amazing.
Sparkie was running extremely well today. She was showing all her speed and accuracy today going 5/6 with all 1st's. She missed one Regular Q due to a small error between dog and handlers. But it was very minor and the remainder of that run and all the other runs were total beauty. Gosh, they made it look so easy!!
As good as the girls were, it was Slugger's day to shine. He ran a great Regular run and got a 1st place 10 point Q doing his distance test very nicely! He was really trying very hard in his Touch N Go run but there was a discrimation test and he decided that he'd take his favorite obstacle (A-frame) over the correct obstacle which was a tunnel. But we didn't care as he was trying really hard and running really fast.
His last run of the weekend was Weavers. He'd been so happy all weekend and this run seemed no exception....but it had three sets of weaves! He zoomed through the tunnels - so fast you can even see him banking through them a little bit.
Then he'd get to the weaves. He concentrated so hard in each set of weaves that Mike said you could see smoke coming out his ears. When he finished the course cleanly, Mike and I both jumped up and down and hollered. This day had been a long time in coming. After seven years Slugger had finally earned his Novice Versatility Award. It just goes to show that patience and perseverance do pay off! We're so proud of our little special needs boy.
Our friend Billie was so kind to offer to let us come stay in her house while our RV was being fixed. Billie is so nice!! So when the trial ended we drove back up to Phoenix and got all settled in.
What a great weekend despite being without our house!
Debbie
12/8-9/07
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