This weekend however, if you didn't know where you were, you'd think you were in Las Cruces. It is very windy. The temperature is in the mid-70's but with the wind it is a tad chilly today (Saturday).
Today was a full day with six runs. Wazzu and I bowed out of the first run...Hoopers. While they were running Phase Four, which did seem much better than Phase Three, there was still no way to make a flowing course out of it. There was no way I wanted to start out the day demotivating my girl. Mike and Sparkie tried it and while they did it all correctly they were one second over time - in Open. Tough...
Jumpers was next and Sparkie showed her stuff getting first place in a very competitive class of dogs. Wazzu had the fastest time of all dogs in Novice but somehow she knocked a bar. But it was still a great run! Slugger wasn't into running this morning so he was way over time. What a silly guy.
The girls both had great first Regular runs and they each got 1st place. They each had one tiny mistake in the second run - Wazzu missed a dogwalk contact and Sparkie missed an A-frame contact. She was flying...literally!
Chances was hard. And while Wazzu did the first hard part really well she just couldn't quite get the second hard part. But she really did try hard. Sparkie on the other hand made it look quite simple. Show off!
We finished the day (just barely before dark) with Touch N Go. It was a really fun course and both the girls Q'd easily. Sparkie didn't get a placement as the clock didn't start on her run. So she got a No Time but was clearly fast enough for a Q.
The interesting thing about today was they had a new set of weave poles out in the field for everyone to try with their dogs. NADAC has just started allowing 24" (spacing) poles. The regulations before required 21" - 22" spacing. At the end of the day they were going to vote on whether or not to use them in the ring tomorrow.
We had each of our dogs try it. Wazzu did 12 weaves the fastest she's ever done them and it didn't seem to bother her back one bit. Sparkie too was extremely fast and seemed to have a much easier time getting through the weaves. Slugger even did all 12 with relative ease. Needless to say, we voted a big Yes!
This morning (Sunday) started out okay but rapidly turned very windy. Bars were flying off during runs and the timers kept being blown over. Chairs were blowing on to the course along with people's hats, papers of all kind...it was nasty. One dog that I know of got a Q even though it didn't finish the course correctly. The judge ruled that the dog had done the difficult parts of the course but because bars were blowing over, a hat blew into the weaves as the dog was trying to weave, etc. there was just too much distraction.
Tunnelers was first and both girls had fabulous runs. Weavers was just a matter of minutes later. We'd seen this course before and it was tough. Very few dogs did it correctly. Even dogs that are notoriously great Weavers dogs were messing up. Sparkie had trouble too. And even though she was able to re-group she was just over time.
Wazzu and Slugger both Q'd easily. Slugger even beat course time by 10 seconds! So now who are our Weavers dogs?
By the time Regular started, the wind had picked up to super strong strength. Poor Sparkie was running really nicely but seemed to have a tiny problem in each run which kept her from Q'ing. Wazzu on the other hand was back to her consistent self and easily Q'd in both runs.
Finally it was time for Chances! By now the wind was blowing so hard it seemed like trees and cars were blowing across the field. In reality; chairs, hats, jump bars, white boards, and the like were blowing across the field. But the wind wasn't our problem...the course was our problem. This was just way too hard. Only two Elite dogs Q'd. Neither of our dogs were included. Everyone agreed that this was the hardest Elite Chances course they'd ever seen. In fact, everyone wanted a copy of the course so they could work on it during classes.
Slugger came really close to getting the Chances Q but the wind scared him at one jump and took his concentration away. Other than that he did it all correctly.
Wazzu topped off her good day by getting an easy Jumpers Q. Poor Sparkie continued her rough day and after missing the fifth obstacle she and Mike just left.
As we were leaving, they had just emptied the cooler which meant there was a big ice pile. This was a huge bonanza for Boogie as he loves ice. Ice would be a great treat for him if it didn't melt so fast in my pocket!
We couldn't get the little guy to leave. What a jackpot!
We were wishing it was a little warmer so the ice would melt faster and we could get moving. We finally had to pick him up and carry him away as he just wouldn't stop eating. Silly boy.
We were all just glad to get out of the wind and get on our way. Today was our shortest drive ever after a trial. In less than ten minutes we were at our next destination. But all the spots in our favorite area were taken. Fortunately there were spots available in one of the other areas of the park so all is good.
Debbie
3/29-30/08
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