I know I haven't gotten to do too many blog entries this year, but there are lots of good reasons as to why.
First, my mom is starting her own speech therapy business and that takes up some of her time since she is still working full time at the University of Tulsa too until mid-May. However, she hasn't let her busy work schedule keep her from taking me to school for Agility training!!
Mom and I have really been focusing on our team work. We have both had good skills but we just hadn't connected them together until recently. Mom would want to do things one way and I would want to do them another. Well finally, during this last school session we have figured out how to make it all click together during classes anyway. I was entered into a UKC trial that was supposed to take place back in Feburary, but if you're not from Oklahoma then our weather here has been the dog-gone days of winter here. We have had numerous nice days but it seems like for every 50 degree day we've had, we have had 3 ice storms. Now I love the snow, but ice makes my paws slip everywhere and makes me feel nervous about walking around outside. Schools around town have been closed many times, mom's university was even closed a couple of times because of bad ice and extreme cold weather. There was one morning that it was so cold that I even felt cold going outside with my big fur coat on. Well with all of that going on, the weekend that the UKC Trial was supposed to happen in February there was a high risk of really bad weather, so the 2-leggeds decided that it woudln't be safe to drive with all of us precious cargo and postponed the event to mid-march. That was great and all, but mom had me entered in an AKC Agility trial for March 14, 15, and 16th. The UKC trial was now going to be March 22nd and 23rd. March was going to be an awesome agility adventure for me!
Well here it is March 16th! I have been competing for the last 3 days in the Tulsa Dog Training Club's AKC Agility trial. I have been competing in 2 classes: Novice Jumpers with Weaves (JWW) and Novice Standard Agility (STD). On Friday, I was so excited that I was going to get to spend the whole day with mom and have 2 agility runs during the day and see some of my favorite 4-legged friends from school. I didn't realize that my day would start so early in the morning...5:15 am. Mom and I took all my stuff (portable condo, water dish, treats, towel to dry off, and blankets) and set up my spot for the weekend. Then mom had some work to do. She kinda helps run the weekend's events with my teacher Mrs. Dovie. Well after about 2 hours it was my turn to start getting ready. Mom took me out for a walk outside to take care of "business" if ya know what I mean and then she went to walk the course I would be running. My mom showed me the map so I could look it over and we high-fived that we got it and would use good team work. I was first dog to run the course so I didn't have anyone to copy or watch. I had to trust my mom and she had to trust me. Well we wound up smoking the course! I got a perfect score of 100 and had the fastest time for dogs of my height division and took 1st place. I was so proud and so was mom! Then I got to chill out and wait for a while until I would run in the Standard Agility course...this while turned out to be about 4-5 hours. But I was patient and didn't complain. I just hung out in the office and made sure everything with the trial was funning smoothly. Then before I knew it, it was my turn to get ready to run in the ring. Mom and I did the same warm-up routine. We went out for a walk and then mom walked the course, I reviewed the map, and then it was go time. Mom and I got a little off sync when it came time for me to get on the table and I would up with a 5 point deduction because I stopped just before I got on the table, but I recovered quickly and we carried on. I still received a score of 95 which was high enough and I was fast enough to get a qualifying score and a first place in Standard for the day too!! It was such an awesome day and such a good feeling but i was feeling so tired by the time I got home. Mom and I went to bed as early as we could because mom told me we would have the same schedule the next day.
Then Saturday morning arrived way before I was ready for it to. I was exhausted!! So mom let me stay home with Dennis for an extra couple hour nap before I had to go up to compete. When Dennis said it was time to go to the dog show I was ready to rock and roll. I ran into the arena and took Dennis to where my condo was set up. I said hi to mom and to everyone working in the office, Dovie, Mariann and Leslie. Then I hung out in my condo for a little bit whlie they got my ring all set up for JWW. Mom went and walked the course then came in and showed me the map. We then went for a walk around the outside of the building and then before I knew it was my time to be in the ring. Well I started my run and was feeling great as mom and I turned from obtacle 3 to 4, the cone was right in the middle of the weave poles. The judge walked over to mom and said oh you guys can start over. Mom was afraid we would get disqualified, and said it was fine, the judge said no penalty would be assessed, and we had to stop and start the course all over. I wasn't nervous, but you could tell lots of people were nervous that we wouldn't do as well having to start the course over. Well we just gave it our best go and again mom and I smoked it!! We got another perfect 100 and first place finish!! Then came the long wait until I would run the standard course. Mom was worried that standard wouldn't go well because of how tired I looked, but I told her I would chill out during the time in between and take it easy in my condo. When my time came up to run in Standard I wasn't feeling my best but I was going to try my hardest. Mom and I stuck to the routine that had been working. We went for our walk around the building, and warmed up on the jumps and got our legs ready to run. At the start of the course I got a little distracted by a jump that the judget set out to try to trick us 4-leggeds, mom quickly got me back on track and I ran superfast to make up for the time. I wound up getting a 95 and a first place!
Sunday was the last day, and I had set myself up to possibly get titles in both JWW and Standard Agility if I got a qualifying score in either or both of the courses. Mom and I went to bed around 7:30 on Saturday night and we both felt much more rested. I was going to be the first dog to run aroudn 7:30am. We got to the show and I was ready. Once the maps were made available mom and I read through the map and mom said it looked like a nice smooth and flowing course. She told me I would need to pay attention, but that I could go fast. We got all warmed up and I was ready when the judge was ready. I went and smoked the course again. I ran it just over 33 seconds with no errors. This gave me a score of 100 and a first place finish and a Title in Jumps with Weaves!! Then it was time to hang out and wait for the Standard course. Mom and I looked over the map and just laid low trying not to feel to excited about the title I had already earned and stay focused on the Standard course. Well the time went by pretty fast before it was my turn to go on the course. Mom told me it was going to be another fast course. I was ready! Of course when I went outside to take care of business before getting ready to warm up I noticed it was quite a big colder and it was snowing. I started the course with a bang...well when I got to the table I was ready to keep going...mom said it was a fast course and I was ready to keep moving. Well I saw mom start to move again but turns out it wasn' t my turn to move again so I had to get back on the table again. I was a little confused, but mom and I got on the same page again real quick. Then we finished the course as quick as I could. I blew through the teeter totter and the weave poles. I would up only scoring a 90, but it was still good enough for a qualifying score and a first place finish!
So it was an incredible weekend! I competed in 6 runs. I got 6 qualifying scores. Placed first all 6 times, and walked away with 2 new titles!! I am so excited and so tired all at the same time!
Next weekend I get to compete in an UKC Agility Trial. I'll be competing in AGI and AGII in hopes to earn points. Wish me luck.
I hope everyone has had a great weekend!! This has been one of the best weekends of 2014 yet for me!
