Wednesday, December 31, 2008

December DOCNA Agility Trial

We had our last agility trial of the year this past weekend out in Queen Creek, AZ. This was Conor's first full agility trial -- he was entered in 10 runs for the weekend. We've had a lot of rain lately, so classes had been cancelled and we weren't able to get in much practice, so I had no idea how things were going to go with my little silver bullet. Saturday actually didn't go very well with either dog. It was incredibly cold, especially in the morning (the low was 33 degrees Saturday morning and there was thick frost on the grass). The pants I wore did keep me pretty warm, but they were very heavy and very hard to run in. I felt like I was running with lead boots on. Kaylie only Q'd in one of her Standard runs and her Snakes N' Ladders run, and Conor only Q'd in Traditional Gamblers. I was pretty miserable, and really wished I had a pair of shorts or something in my van to change in to. I learned that being able to run and move is WAY more important than being warm!! On my way home that evening, I stopped by Dick's Sporting Goods and found some warm, fuzzy, stretchable pants to wear on Sunday. I was able to wear long johns under these fuzzy pants, which kept me perfectly comfortable on Sunday. I was able to run and move, so I was a happy camper again on Sunday. Conor only Q'd in his Jumpers run on Sunday, but the NQ's were basically due to poor handling on my part. Kaylie Q'd in both Standard runs (getting 2nd Place in both), and then Q'd in Jumpers, with a 3rd Place. This definitely wasn't our best trial. We have an AKC trial in a couple of weeks, so we've got some work ahead of us. At least now I have some warm fuzzy pants to wear!!

1 comment:

Diamond Girl said...

I would give anything for a Q in Standard. :)

Kaylie - The True Wonder Dog

At our last DOCNA (Dogs on Course in North America) agility trial in Prescott, Kaylie did fantastic! We are trying to be the first team to earn the MEX (Merit of Excellence) who started in the Beginner level. We are getting VERY close. All the other teams that have earned the MEX were grandfathered in at higher levels. Kaylie was just starting her agility career when DOCNA was created, so we had no choice but to start at the beginning. And as it is, I believe there are under 20 teams that have even earned the MEX to this point.

Well, going into the trial at Prescott, we needed 2 Specialist Gamblers legs and 2 Specialist Standard legs. In DOCNA, there are two types of Gamblers runs -- Traditional and Strategic Timed Gamblers. Unfortunately, we have only earned 3 Traditional Gamblers legs -- one from the Beginner class, one from the Intern class and one from the Specialist class. All the other Gamblers legs have come from the Strategic Time Gamblers. So, I knew going in that the chance of getting that Traditional Gamblers leg on Saturday was slim. We walked into the ring, and I knew Kaylie was on fire and ready to go. The Gamblers class is usually the first class of the trial, and Kaylie is usually absolutely wild in the first run. Well, this was no different. She was incredibly fast, and I was not -- I kept getting in her way, and things just fell apart. At 30 seconds, the buzzer rang, which meant I had to get to the gamble portion of the course. I sent her over the jump to the tunnel -- she took the wrong end of the tunnel, then came right back to me over the wrong jump and that was the end of that. No MEX for us this weekend. BUT, she did qualify in the two Standard runs she needed, getting First place both times, and she got her Strategic Timed Gamblers leg on Sunday, earning a Second place. Wooo hooo Kaylie!!! Out of 10 runs over the weekend, we qualified in 8 of them, placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in all but one run -- our Jumpers run on Sunday. I got lost on the course and just got confused. Luckily, Kaylie can read the numbers on the cones (that's the only explanation I can come up with) because she ran the right course despite my mess ups! Hence the name "Wonder Dog." So we still Q'd, but got 6th place. Still, not too bad!!

So, our next DOCNA trial will be in Pinetop the end of August. Hopefully we'll get our MEX there! Just one Gambler leg to go.