Let the Dog Do It

Sometimes things are better left to the dog I guess. "Fast" is an AKC agility game. The object of the game is to gather as many points as possible in a designated time... Each obstacle is given a value, you can only do an obstacle once and you can get bonus points if you do the Challenge.. The challenge is a series of obstacle which are done in a certain order with the handler having to be a certain distance away from the dog.. At Wesson's level I had to be 10 foot away from any obstacle in the series... Wesson had very little direction from me as he had the zoomies and zipped around the course having a good old time... Funny thing is he scored enough points to place second... I think I am liking "Fast" as all I need to do is start him and finish him..
Sometimes things are better left to the Dog....

Sometimes it is Better for the Dog to do it himself

A Week Ago

Well a week ago Mr Wesson was the king of the hill in Open Standard... This week we had a change.. Instead of being the master of the contact  Mr Wesson decided he did not want to even go near the contacts. The first video is my Friday run when he demonstrated to me his sudden dislike for contacts..

WESSON NOT DOING CONTACTS

 

 



The Weekend Results

Well, overall the weekend was pretty good.  No Q's for Wesson but he did show improvement with each run.  Saturday in Jumpers he only missed the entry to the weaves  and though he did not qualify, he did have the fastest 16 inch time so the run was very promising.  His standard time was bad but contrary to the other standard runs he did not avoid the contact obstacles and, in fact, went right up them.  Of course on the A-Frame and dog walk the issue was coming down.. I will post video as soon as I receive them from Agile Images.

 

The big News of the weekend was that Maureen's white Angora doe "Big Times Rhea" took a Best In Show at the Springfield Rabbit show on Sunday.  There was a combined 1999 rabbits entered.

 

 

Maureen, Best in Show Judge Stacy and Big Times Rhea

 

 

 

 

Here is a judging photo as Stacy reviews Rhea

And, yes, there is Maureen in the background getting nervous



 

 

Oh

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Wesson Doing his thing

Here are the pictures from the Queen City Trial taken by Virgil at Paw Prints... Virgil always takes great photos..

 

 





Results of the Queen City Trial

Here are the results of the Queen City Trial

 Cindy and Izzy
Qualified in Excellent A Standard with a first place

Colleen and Cooper
Qualified in Novice B Standard which gave Cooper his Novice Agility Title with a 1st Place Colleen and Cooper then moved up to Open Standard for the Sunday event and Qualified and got a 2nd place

Sorry no pictures

Wesson Rules

This Sunday found Wesson and I back on the agility trial with our first run since January. I was not to sure of what to expect as our practices have been few and far between.  But the Wes man did not disappoint. He took a first in Open 16 inch Standard and NQed in Jumpers popping out of the weave poles (who does that sound like) but both runs went very well with lots of good things happening.  Unfortunately I did not get his first place Q in standard on tape.  But here is his NQ in Jumpers and yes students I did do a rear cross on the flat... I do expect the boy to pick up the speed as we get back in the groove..  So for your enjoyment here is Wesson at Queen City Open 16 inch Jumpers.

 



 



Third Tme For Laura

This week in the mail we received a wonderful surprise. Laura has qualified for the AKC's National Agility Invitational.. This will be Laura's third time being invited to this event.. Each year the top dogs in each breed are brought together to compete in Orlando, Florida.  Sometimes I am lost for words and this happens to be one of those times.  Laura has taken me to new heights in dog training.  She has frustrated me, deflated my ego and crushed my spirit during this agility venture.  Along the way she has taught me patience, resilience and the real meaning of determination.  Through it all she remained unscathed, enjoying her moments with her grumpy owner, sleeping on assorted hotel beds in our travels and meeting lots of new people.  She has toured multiple airports, been exposed to numerous not so nice dogs and has always remained cool. calm and collected.  She has remained loyal, and trust worthy and always on guard duty to watch my back. 
If this all seems like a eulogy it is not it is a sincere note of thanks to a friend who has added much to my life in spite of hating to train, trial or get groomed.  She has put up with me and that is a feat into itself.
Unfortunately we will not be traveling to Orlando this year as Laura was retired in January of this year.  She is in good health and after 7 years of lots of runs and jumps I felt it was time.  I had a full knee replacement in May and we have not done much practice or conditioning and neither one of us are ready for the challenge.  As the saying goes she went out on TOP.. She will now be shown when she wants to go, other wise she will be found sleeping on the bed or the couch at home...