Anyway, enough soppy stuff. The trial went really well. She got 11 Qs out of 19. Pretty good, especially considering the risks we took. We tried all but one of the Bonus Boxes that Arlene Courtney (the judge) set up. She could make the physical distance in them all, but other things (like knocked bars and missed weave entries mainly) went wrong that kept her from one of those special Qs. Nonetheless, she was able to impress the crowd! There were three Touch N Go runs over the weekend, and she got 1st place in Every. Single. One. Keep in mind this is against all the other 20" dogs (the most competitive height class), most of which are some of the fastest dogs in the country! She also had a couple spectacular Regular runs.
She finished two titles over the three days: her Elite Jumpers and her Novice Hoopers title.
Video of some of Dazzle's highlight runs:
And Peanut has brags of her own!
That's right, little fluffy Peanut-the-couch-potato. Check it out:
It's no joke. Little Nut really did earn every one of those big ribbons!
Peanut has issues. If I had to pick one word to describe her, it would be
Paranoid
She has separation anxiety, she is very noise sensitive, she stresses out easier than a cornered chipmunk, and she despised agility. Now, almost 2 years after her major agility shutdown, 2 years of hard work and re-training, she has finally come out of her shell. She now loves "the game" and can be blazing fast too! I took a big chance and entered in all of the NADAC "core classes" (Chances, Jumpers, and Regular) for Friday and Saturday. She did do two Jumpers runs back in June (and Q'd in both) but this would be her first time doing the big equipment.
She had 8 runs total, she Q'd in 7 if them! OMD! I couldn't believe it! Not only that but she got a first place in them all too (except Chances which is just pass/fail). And the amazing-ness continued. She finished her Novice Jumpers title (she only need one more Q for it) but she also not only started, but finished her Novice Agility Title! You need 3 Q's for the title, and she got it in 3 runs! She got a lot of extra cookies for that!
The one run that she didn't Q in was just more than she was ready to handle right now. It was Chances (for a velcro dog, obviously not her favorite class). The course required me to send her out about 15' to a curved tunnel (her worse nightmare) and layer a jump (he favorite obstacle). She tried, she really did - she would look at the tunnel, then look at me, then danced her paws like there was an invisible wall keeping her from moving forward. That was fine, I stepped over the line to help her out. No need to keep trying something I knew she wasn't ready for. Maybe at her next trial!
Here is Nutty's video:
Peanut will now hopefully be going to more trials. Both NADAC for the core classes, and USDAA for the Junior Handler class (when it is offered). And Dazzle, well - 300 more points until her NATCH....
(photos by Todd Coon - "Infinite Exposures")
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