Day 1 – Sunday August 7, 2011
This trial is half way through our agility season, and after the previous trail we were due for some better results. This trial was being held in the indoor air-conditioned K9 Campus in Randolph, NJ. We have taken classes there before and we are hoping the isolation of the agility ring from the rest of the crowd would help Scraps and Rags.
On Saturday morning Rags was the second dog on the line for FullHouse and she didn’t move, didn’t make it over the first jump. Fortunately it wasn’t captured on video as there literally was nothing to see. The rest of the day wasn’t too successful for her either but she never totally froze and the start again.
Scraps on the other hand did realty well on Saturday going 4 for 5 and only missing 5 for 5 by a little bit. The compactness, tightness and subsequent, controlled slowness seemed to fit Kathy and Scraps’ style.
Day 2 – Sunday August 7, 2011
It was a pleasure coming to day two at K9 Campus. It is about an equal 15-20 minute trip to our home and on this August weekend, it was nice going back indoors. It rained at the end of Saturday and stopped part way through Sunday morning. While it would not have severely impacted running a trial if this week was at St. Huberts, the fact this was at K9 Campus, made it so much easier. Sunday was hot and humid outside, but inside there was a cool chill to the air.
Scraps and Kathy continued their solid performances with a perfect 5 for 5. This made a 90% qualifying percentage for the weekend, matching their career best.
Rags on day 2 seemed a little bit more responsive getting better with each run and finishing strong on almost all of them. This wasn’t captured on video, but by the third run of the day, Colors, Rags completed the entire course which is the first time she was able to complete a course during a real trial. She went over course time by 15 seconds and got 15 faults and an NQ, but finishing a real course is a lot of progress for the two of us. The next run was FullHouse and I used her enjoyment of the teeter to my advantage to craft out a course that I thought she would run , which got us through the game and got us 2 more points than the 17 we need at the remedial level I run her. We went over course time by 2 seconds but the 2 faults that 2-second penalty generates brought use down to 17 points which was exactly enough to qualify. It was Rags’ first qualifying run of her career. Wow.
With Scraps going 9 for 10 and Rags miraculously getting a Qualifying run, first place, I have to say it was a successful weekend. Back to class atSt. Hubert’s on Monday night to practice up for the remaining trails at that field for the rest of the year. Stay tuned, let’s see if Rags can get it together outdoors.
Scraps & Rags K9 Blog 