955 miles for USDAA awesomeness
Yes, that is what we clocked in the last 4 days.
BUT, it was a fantastic trial. In a huge way. In many different ways. Despite the super long days (5 am to 11:30 pm on Saturday and 5 am to 1:15 am on Sunday - including drive time), it was a blast to see so many friends at the same time. RAT did an amazing job of running the trial and I did not see much grumpiness, which is just great. Great vibes, a heated kennel area (WOW!!), new shoes and um .. a bit bright .. purple pants haha, my amazing Jim Beam running his heart out for me, awesome travel buddy and budding true agility addict, great courses on both sides of the aisle, an awesome lesson with the Lucero - I am learning so much!, time with my momma and Bob, finishing a quilt that really just made me happy, and seeing NIKO!!!!
There really is not enough space for my heart to gush out this wonderfulness. I really could go on and on about the peeps at this trial .. half of me feels like I should write a Rosie post, but I'm gonna just soak it all in since many of the peeps are not on LJ.
So here's the writing all about Beam. Beam makes me a little teary eyed. I feel like we're THERE. I get him. He trusts me. He definitely had a consistency this weekend in happiness and speed, and I feel like I finally know how to run him. My 2 year quest .. to figure out my intact boy dog at trials. He needs motion, he needs connection, he needs 110% from me. And he'll give it back to me, like a 4th place in Steeplechase finals (round 1 video), a super Q and 2nd place in Masters Snooker, the ability to run first in Masters Relay (and finish off his title), and keeping his bars up in Masters Jumpers. We made a dent to the ADCH (if only we can figure out those pesky gambles), and I am super pleased with our journey. As his brother just finished his MACH (and already has his ADCH .. go Patron!!), I am feeling less and less pressure to "keep up with the Jones" and more focused on just me and him. Because when I am warming him up, I tune everyone out. I focus on my boy, and it's just about us. Our connection. We play and do tricks, and sometimes a bit of pacing.
So my two most successful courses:
Steeplechase round 2
Master Snooker
Niko goodness - next Sunday is his 18 month birthday AND he gets to celebrate it with his trial debut at an ASCA show .. GO NIKO!!
Quilt goodness and my favorite border collie square :)
Beam and his weekend loot (well, I only took some of the ribbons...) - thanks Bonnie for the awesome bed!!
So much to do, so much to catch up on, but my mindset is in the right place.
I needed this weekend!
BUT, it was a fantastic trial. In a huge way. In many different ways. Despite the super long days (5 am to 11:30 pm on Saturday and 5 am to 1:15 am on Sunday - including drive time), it was a blast to see so many friends at the same time. RAT did an amazing job of running the trial and I did not see much grumpiness, which is just great. Great vibes, a heated kennel area (WOW!!), new shoes and um .. a bit bright .. purple pants haha, my amazing Jim Beam running his heart out for me, awesome travel buddy and budding true agility addict, great courses on both sides of the aisle, an awesome lesson with the Lucero - I am learning so much!, time with my momma and Bob, finishing a quilt that really just made me happy, and seeing NIKO!!!!
There really is not enough space for my heart to gush out this wonderfulness. I really could go on and on about the peeps at this trial .. half of me feels like I should write a Rosie post, but I'm gonna just soak it all in since many of the peeps are not on LJ.
So here's the writing all about Beam. Beam makes me a little teary eyed. I feel like we're THERE. I get him. He trusts me. He definitely had a consistency this weekend in happiness and speed, and I feel like I finally know how to run him. My 2 year quest .. to figure out my intact boy dog at trials. He needs motion, he needs connection, he needs 110% from me. And he'll give it back to me, like a 4th place in Steeplechase finals (round 1 video), a super Q and 2nd place in Masters Snooker, the ability to run first in Masters Relay (and finish off his title), and keeping his bars up in Masters Jumpers. We made a dent to the ADCH (if only we can figure out those pesky gambles), and I am super pleased with our journey. As his brother just finished his MACH (and already has his ADCH .. go Patron!!), I am feeling less and less pressure to "keep up with the Jones" and more focused on just me and him. Because when I am warming him up, I tune everyone out. I focus on my boy, and it's just about us. Our connection. We play and do tricks, and sometimes a bit of pacing.
So my two most successful courses:
Steeplechase round 2
Click to viewMaster Snooker
Niko goodness - next Sunday is his 18 month birthday AND he gets to celebrate it with his trial debut at an ASCA show .. GO NIKO!!
Quilt goodness and my favorite border collie square :)
Beam and his weekend loot (well, I only took some of the ribbons...) - thanks Bonnie for the awesome bed!!
So much to do, so much to catch up on, but my mindset is in the right place.
I needed this weekend!