A Day of Almosts
It didn't snow - we made it to a trial! Then Bright broke. Because, yeah, there is some sort of Trialing Curse on me. Took her out of the car for jumpers and was off in the front, nothing super awful, but it's there. So, yeah, she got one run today. One half a run, really, as I saw her holding her paw up on the table, not necessarily in a 'hurt' way, but I wasn't sure, then we bungled the next part of the course, so we left at that point. So we'll call that Bright ALMOST got to actually trial.
The good news, the rest of the almosts were of a better sort - Haku ALMOST qualified in utility! He was but a split second away, but he released on the judges 'bar' cue on directed jumping. I actually think he thought it was me, but he was pretty much looking for any reason to GO. Haku was high as a kite for the obedience trial today, which doesn't surprise me, he's been in that sort of mood recently. But it's a HAPPY high, and as the last time we showed in Albany it was the only time he showed 'sad', I'll take crazed Haku any day. You've never seen a dog so excited to go do go-outs! Or heard him. Oh, the barking on the finishes - it was ridiculous. And after THOROUGHLY killing the glove on the way back to me for the directed retrieve, when I asked for him to give it to me, instead he SURGED backwards tugging like a fiend. I had to wrestle it away from him.
Still, for all of that, there was so much good. His heeling was happy and not crashing into me. He did go-outs, his second better than the first! He took the right jumps, he pivoted fairly correctly, and he did his scent articles like he actually knew what he was doing. He might have been high, but he was really trying. I am feeling optimistic we'll get that UD someday. Tomorrow would be nice!
And then Navarre, loud baby dog, he had two great runs today in Excellent. The standard course was actually really interesting, I loved the opening and really enjoyed having two dogs so I could try it different ways. I love it when a course makes me wonder what the right handling choice is! And then an interesting puzzle with the teeter as well, I like puzzles. And Navarre did all the hard parts, including nailing his weaves while I moved laterally to get down the dogwalk! And then at the end I took for granted he would take the tire - ran around it. Whoops! Work every obstacle, Navarre is the poster child for that one. Much more focused and with me today compared to his last trial - super happy with the baby dog.
Jumpers was more straight forward, but another great effort from Navarre, more fabulous weaves, was doing great, then I sent and left to get ahead at the end, same thing, didn't support the jump between him and me, ran past it. Doh! So close! Work every obstacle. I will learn, eventually. HAPPY puppy today, he thought this was great fun. Getting him to shut the hell up though, jeesh. Note to self: Bring More Treats.
Long, fun day at the trial, enjoyed the obedience, enjoyed the agility - good times. Kept forgetting it was Friday. One more day tomorrow, we'll see how the boys do. Bright will be taking it easy and get to come sit and cuddle and get treats.
No video today, kept forgetting to bring in my camera. Just imagine Navarre being awesome and Haku being highly entertaining.
The good news, the rest of the almosts were of a better sort - Haku ALMOST qualified in utility! He was but a split second away, but he released on the judges 'bar' cue on directed jumping. I actually think he thought it was me, but he was pretty much looking for any reason to GO. Haku was high as a kite for the obedience trial today, which doesn't surprise me, he's been in that sort of mood recently. But it's a HAPPY high, and as the last time we showed in Albany it was the only time he showed 'sad', I'll take crazed Haku any day. You've never seen a dog so excited to go do go-outs! Or heard him. Oh, the barking on the finishes - it was ridiculous. And after THOROUGHLY killing the glove on the way back to me for the directed retrieve, when I asked for him to give it to me, instead he SURGED backwards tugging like a fiend. I had to wrestle it away from him.
Still, for all of that, there was so much good. His heeling was happy and not crashing into me. He did go-outs, his second better than the first! He took the right jumps, he pivoted fairly correctly, and he did his scent articles like he actually knew what he was doing. He might have been high, but he was really trying. I am feeling optimistic we'll get that UD someday. Tomorrow would be nice!
And then Navarre, loud baby dog, he had two great runs today in Excellent. The standard course was actually really interesting, I loved the opening and really enjoyed having two dogs so I could try it different ways. I love it when a course makes me wonder what the right handling choice is! And then an interesting puzzle with the teeter as well, I like puzzles. And Navarre did all the hard parts, including nailing his weaves while I moved laterally to get down the dogwalk! And then at the end I took for granted he would take the tire - ran around it. Whoops! Work every obstacle, Navarre is the poster child for that one. Much more focused and with me today compared to his last trial - super happy with the baby dog.
Jumpers was more straight forward, but another great effort from Navarre, more fabulous weaves, was doing great, then I sent and left to get ahead at the end, same thing, didn't support the jump between him and me, ran past it. Doh! So close! Work every obstacle. I will learn, eventually. HAPPY puppy today, he thought this was great fun. Getting him to shut the hell up though, jeesh. Note to self: Bring More Treats.
Long, fun day at the trial, enjoyed the obedience, enjoyed the agility - good times. Kept forgetting it was Friday. One more day tomorrow, we'll see how the boys do. Bright will be taking it easy and get to come sit and cuddle and get treats.
No video today, kept forgetting to bring in my camera. Just imagine Navarre being awesome and Haku being highly entertaining.