(Moab, UT) The trial here in Moab was a three day fundraiser. The arena is a perfect spot for agility. The footing is great, it is a huge arena which means plenty of crating and extra space, nice bleachers for spectators (there were a fair number of spectators that were great and clapped for every single dog after every run), lots of RV parking right around the arena, and it was cool inside which the dogs all loved!
All three of our dogs ran great this weekend. I think they loved the surface and the temperature in the building. Slugger was entered in nine runs and he Q’d in eight of them! He was running fast too – doing his head bopping in every run. He is so cute when he does that. We got so many comments on cute he was while running. And he was wanting more turns. He was so excited! For a dog that is never trained he is doing so well. To top it off, Slugger earned his 1,000 point award the first day of the trial!
Sparkie was running with great confidence this weekend. And Mike ran with a fun happy attitude all weekend. They were really a great team. Sharon made a comment to everyone about how well they were doing together and about how Sparkie is so much faster now that she isn’t hesitating after obstacles. She is really trusting Mike to give her commands in plenty of time. She had some awesome times on difficult courses this weekend.
Even though the other dogs were great, Wazzu was the star of the weekend. She was running like a puppy! It’s like she subtracted five years from her age this weekend. Her body was moving so free and easy. We haven’t seen her move like this in years! And happy…my goodness, I don’t think she could have smiled any bigger.
Mike had to run her for me quite a few of runs over the weekend. But Wazzu didn’t seem to care – she was just happy to do agility. She was perfect both Friday and Saturday! One of the runs on Friday was Chances and we just needed one more Q. Of course I ran her in that run. It was a very difficult course and I didn’t think we had a chance but of course I was going to give it my shot.
There were a lot of really good dogs here this weekend. Every single one of the Elite dogs has participated in Championships and the majority of them entered Super Stakes. So that shows you there were a lot of good distance dogs in attendance.
I was watching the other dogs try this Chances course and they were all failing miserably. This was not a good sign for us! I’d say Sparkie was about the 15th dog to go (we were going tall to small). She was a thing of grace. She did the course with the perfect line, really fast, and did the perfect course. Huge cheers went up as she was the only dog to be successful. She and Mike really put on a clinic on that run.
Then it was our turn. I was really pleasantly surprised when Wazzu went out to the distance portion without any hesitation. We then came around to the part that caught everyone but Sparkie. The dogs were supposed to come in to do weaves (still out at a distance) but they were all zooming through the tunnel. I did a sharp call off – a little too much as Wazzu came toward me (good as that made her avoid the tunnel) but she came a little too far toward me. I immediately gave her an out weave and to my amazement she quickly turned out and did the weaves and sailed over the last jump. HIP HIP HOORAY! That was our NATCH-10, the final goal of our agility career. Sharon was so very nice – she gave Wazzu the last bites of her hamburger she was eating for lunch. That was so sweet of her…and of course Wazzu thought it was extremely appropriate. Tee hee. Sharon also gave me a really cool Moab NATCH pin.
So only the Mason sisters conquered that Chances course! What a day Friday was indeed. It was Boogie’s very first birthday (which he thought was boring since he never got a turn!), Slugger earned his 1,000th point, Wazzu earned her NATCH-10, and Sparkie put on a clinic in many of her runs. Now that’s a good day!
To end the weekend, they had a run of Hoopers. They decided just to score all the dogs in each level together. Mike ran both Wazzu and Sparkie in Open….he said there were about 30 dogs in Open. I didn’t get to see these runs but Mike said Wazzu was absolutely flawless and Sparkie, while she Q’d, wasn’t as smooth as Wazzu. Who would have thought – Wazzu got 1st place! Sparkie came in 2nd.
I think I’d like to trial with Wazzu in Moab every weekend. In fact, if I was able bodied, I think I would like to move to Moab. It is so beautiful here and there is so much hiking to do. I definitely want to come back!
If you like the outdoors, and love seeing beautiful sights and scenery, I would highly suggest Moab as your next vacation destination.
Debbie
4/25-27/08
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