UPS and DOWNS
Cool weather, HOT dogs! The weekend before Halloween the weather was wet, windy and in the 40's. Quite a change from July - a change for the better we hoped. After The Premier, Ricky and Casey had had a summer vacation from agility and obedience. Both attended an "open" training session for agility only twice in that time and only for about 10 minutes each time. They worked well and Deb and I both felt they were ready for competition again. Saturday morning we arrived early at the show and were surprised to find that our division, Division I - under 14", was the largest division of the weekend. Agility shows in this area are usually dominated by the larger working breeds and it is nice to see so many new "smaller" dogs making a good showing! Our class consisted of several Corgis (who are a heck of a lot faster than you might think!), Bostons, Poodles, Cockers, several terriers, a mini Dachshund, Chihuahua, and several mixed breeds. The building was light and bright, the equipment sturdy and brightly painted. We now know from experience that some clubs use equipment that we feel, for one reason or another, is unsafe for our dogs. Those are clubs that we will no longer enter. The first course was for Agility I and had a number of sharp turns in it, but nothing we hadn't practiced frequently. Several dogs went through with only minor faults and then it was Ricky's turn. Rick was fast and dead accurate until the last jump, which was deliberately set off center of the two preceeding it. Not quite a "run-by" but still a small deduction for being out of line. His score was 199 - good for 2nd place. Casey too must have eaten Wheaties for breakfast as we set a personal best as a team on time - coming in 14 seconds below the allowed time for the course with a score of 199 and 1st place! Where did that 1 point go? Coming off the dog walk Casey cut a corner. While just touching the contact points with a toe nail may be OK with AKC, it is NOT Ok by UKC rules. The dogs must enter and exit all obstacles in a safe manner and in this instance that means a straight line from start to finish. Not so easy with dogs that are having a good time and in a rush to head for the next obstacle! Agility II consisted of 16 obstacles with many tight turns but Ricky and Casey shine when it comes to a tight course and they were ready. Both came through with scores of 200, with 2nd place going to Casey and 4th to Ricky. Once again Casey and I beat the clock by 25 seconds! We were now only 10 points away from that coveted ACH! Sunday morning was crisp and sunny, a beautiful October day. Our class was third to run the first course so we had ample time to watch mistakes made by other teams. Deb and Ricky sailed through with another perfect 200. That was quickly followed by Casey with a perfect score, 10 points and his ACH!! Ricky placed 1st this time beating us out by just 2 seconds. Casey still, on occasion, must take the time to rearrange that crest! After lunch our division ran the Agility II course first, giving us no chance to watch others make the mistakes we wished to avoid. Bright sunlight was now pouring through the large windows, temporarily blinding dogs and/or handlers at different points of the course. It was a long, tight course in which the dreaded crawl tunnel was used not once (as required) but twice! The time allowed seemed adequate if Casey and Ricky didn't waste it doing the crawl and the weave poles. Ricky was again first and just flew through the course like he has never done before. Deb had been trying a new training method on the weaves and it certainly paid off. Not a single foot out of place anywhere, Ricky hit the final jumps at a run and cleared them by more than a foot! Another 200! But Mighty Casey was not to be outdone today!! We have had our share of problems with the crawl and the weaves but anyone seeing us for the first time this weekend would never have known it. Not only was Casey dead perfect once again but we beat the clock by more than 30 seconds! Another 1st place finish for Casey, with 2nd going to Ricky. It certainly was a "Crested Weekend" We left the show with Casey's new title and Ricky but 6 points behind. Another show next weekend may mean both varieties of this great breed will have an Agility Champion!
Ricky, Ricky, you're so fine!!The weekend of November 4th and 5th was mostly a boring weekend for Casey and Ricky. Three obedience trials in two days is not exactly their idea of "fun". While both did well in obedience, with Casey earning his U-CD, it was the large ring with the agility equipment that kept drawing our attention. We had decided to enter all three obedience trials and then just enter the final class of the day in agility. Our thinking was that all of us could use the agility to wind down after the weekend. And wind down we did! The class was Agility II and Ricky still needed 6 points from this class for his title. Since Casey had completed the requirements the previous weekend we could just go out there and have a good time. The course was in fairly tight quarters which meant there would be sharp turns and we would be repeating more than one obstacle. Repeat jumps of any kind have never been a problem for us but our hearts sank just a little when the weave poles were included twice. Doing them well once has been an accomplishment, but twice!? Casey ran before Ricky and was really feeling good after the confinement of obedience. The lead was off and his favorite playthings were in front of him! For those who know Casey well it is easy to tell when he is in his "fun mode". This was one of those time and I knew if I lost control for one second it would all be over as Casey designed his own course. Maybe the weekend of obedience helped because every time Casey ran ahead and I thought he might be heading for the wrong obstacle he immediately came back when called or waited for more commands before plowing ahead. The last jump/weave pole combination had been a problem for several teams but Casey stayed close to heel position until told to go ahead. Except for rearranging his hair after the crawl it was a pretty nice run - another 200 points. Deb had watched a number of teams before it was her turn and she knew exactly how she needed to run this one. Ricky is a dog that loves to jump and when there are three or four jumps in a row he sometimes gets carried away with the game and forgets to listen. The way the course was set up it was to the handlers advantage to work the dog on the right side in some instances in order to really save time. Deb and Ricky didn't care about placing today, only about a perfect score and that ACH! So she decided to go the longer route, keeping Ricky always on the left, which is also "heel" position. The weaves, which have always given Ricky sooo many problems, were among the best he has ever done! Beating Casey's time again by 2 seconds, Ricky and Deb also scored 200 points for their title. One of our friends with a Boston had a really great day scoring 200 points in this class for 1st place with a time 8 seconds faster than Ricky. Ricky placed 2nd and Casey was 3rd. The Boston's time and score were good enough to bring home the High in Trial - an achievment we haven't yet accomplished. But we will........
  
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