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| Waiting on the election results is making me very, very sleepy...... |
Team J-Dawg participated in the AKC Fun Match on Saturday
afternoon and Open FAST and Novice JWW on Sunday morning. We had a fun time and I was pleased with our
performance. First off, on Saturday, the
weather was perfect for agility – around 70 degrees, sunny with a slight
breeze. Jefferson does not run as well in the
heat so the weather was definitely in our favor. The rules for the Fun Match is that there is
a course set up and you have 75 seconds in the ring with your dog – no
food/treats allowed, but toys are okay.
I did not take any toys with me but had treats (pepperoni sticks)
waiting when we finished our run.
Our first run was JWW and we accomplished our goal of
starting together, but after taking about 9 jumps, he ran past the 6 weave
poles. Argh…those darn 6 weaves! But, I reconnected with Jefferson, front
crossed and wrapped him around the exit jump and went back to retry the 6
weaves. He ran with me and got his
weaves and then I took him over a few more jumps, front crossed and went back
for a second time to get the weave poles.
Yay – he was looking good, staying with me, fast and happy. Pepperoni sticks for J-Dawg!
Next up, we ran the Time to Beat Fun Match. This course had 19 obstacles, including the A-frame and 12
weave poles. It was more complicated
than the JWW course, but Jefferson and I both enjoy a course that covers in the
entire field. Originally, I had planned
to just run a loopy, flowy course of my own design, but the course had been
changed while we were running JWW. So, I
opted to actually run the Time to Beat course since it flowed well and had the obstacles I know that Jefferson enjoys.
We went in and he broke his start line stay and took the first jump. Rather than go on, I called him back and we
restarted. And what a good boy he
was! He ran the entire Time to Beat
course fast and clean! This was one of
our best runs we have ever had outside of practice. It was almost like there was an invisible
string attached to us while we ran because we were so connected and in
synch. I was so proud of both of us for
staying in tune with each other, running fast and having a great time! Yay!!
We did so well that I should have known to stop while I was ahead. But, when we finished, someone yelled for me
to take him back in since we had 75 seconds and I had only used less than half
my time. I was not thinking, so I
hurriedly ran back with him to take the A-frame, weaves, etc. It was a poor choice by me, but I learned not
to do that again! He did run with me,
did not disengage but was not having as much fun as we had during our actually
running the Time to Beat course. However,
I am glad we went back in so now I learned to stick with my own plan. If I do not make mistakes, how will I ever learn?
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| Open FAST |
Sunday was a new day.
It was hot – 80 degrees in November – and it was not even noon. Ugh!
The heat is always a de-motivator for Jefferson (me too, truth be told)
so I knew I had to work around the higher temps. I crated Jefferson in the car (in the shade)
since it was cooler and kept him in there until it was almost time for our
run. First up was Open FAST. The send was very doable – jump - jump - tunnel
(1-5-6) OR tunnel - jump - jump (6-5-1). I had a great
plan to perform the "Send" in the 1-5-6 order. Of course, “the best laid plans of
mice and men often go awry…” The start
line was quite a distance from the first jump so I awkwardly sat Jefferson down
for the start line; but, lo, it was not meant to be! Before I could even turn around to face the
course, Jefferson hot-tailed it out of there and ran! Off I went to chase him down, frantically yelling,
“A-frame!” as he ran up the obstacle.
Yikes! So, I tried to direct him
back to me, and I sent him to tunnel - jump - jump (6-5-1) for the “Send” portion of the
run. He got it, but I think he may have
dropped the last bar, not sure because it all was a blur! I ran him out of the field and somehow
managed to accumulate 34 points (55 needed) from this crazy run. Oh, well…at least he was not shutting
down. Again, I learned the importance of
us starting together – on my terms, not his!
LOL!
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| Novice JWW |
The final run was our JWW and it was a deceptively easy
course to run. Only two front crosses –
one after the tunnel and one between jump #9 and #10. So, I walked the course, felt pretty
confident in my “plan” and was ready to run Jefferson. I had decided that the start line stay was
probably not going to happen (I did not need one for this course) so I was
going to just place him down, say “Sit” and then “Okay” and run. (A mish-mash between a running start and a start
line stay). We ran beautifully until the
tunnel to weaves. As he exited the tunnel, Jefferson ran past the weaves and ran on to take some other jump. Yikes!
So, I caught up, attempted my planned front cross, which he did not
read, but got him back and then directed him over the closest set of jumps I
could find (#3 - #2 - #1) and ran like hell to the exit.
Fun times! Yes, I made a big
handling mistake that led to our disconnect before the 6 weaves. I thought that it was an easy entrance to the
weaves and did not support his exit from the tunnel to show him the
weaves. Rather, I sloppily handled his
exit, not realizing that he did not have a clear understanding of what obstacle
was next. My fault. But, I learned a
HUGE lesson – walk the course from the dog’s perspective, not the handler’s. If I would have walked the course seeing what
Jefferson what have seen when he was running out of the tunnel, I would have been better able to
handle his exit from the tunnel and support the weave entry.
Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable weekend. I had set our goals: start and finish a course together; run fast;
and have fun. The best part: spending time with my doggie and knowing that
he ran without stress and had a good time!
~UK Coach John Calipari
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