Evergreen Afghan Hound Club
Auburn, Wa. August 7,8, 2004
Judges: Bob Kirkman, David Lawniczak
Outdoors on grass. 600 Runs per day, The weather was sunny and hot and humid (Low 90's) on Saturday. Torrential rain on Saturday night, and cooler, partly cloudy and highs in the high 70's on Sunday. This event was originally scheduled to be indoors, which would have been disastrously hot! but was moved outside in order to increase the interest in participating.
Standard Course 1(Excellent B):
Al was excited to start the day. He sat well again, but I didn't get much of a lead out. It worked out OK as he went straight past me and almost had a wrong course after he took the first jump. I called him back and we were on our way. Al did great. He was moving with good drive and enthusiasm, but he popped out of the weave poles at about pole 10, which he very rarely does? I don't know why, but I think it was because he wanted to get on to the rest of the course. We went on. Al arrived at the table, took a little while to get into the down because he was just so excited to be there. His tail never stopped wagging. He did a good down, held it for the full count and worked hard at the table as I had moved away from him. He ran the remainder of the course perfectly, although I had a little trouble with a front cross at the bottom of the A Frame. He was focused on the obstacles and ran hard.
Al's time was 60.84 seconds. The Standard Course Time was 72 seconds (167 yds.)
No Q, but a nice run for him regardless.
This run turned out well, even though the start could have been another disaster. When we went up to the start line, I sat Al, started to lead out, and when I turn around and called him over the jump, Al decided there was something interesting for him at the scoring/timekeepers table, and headed off the opposite direction. I chased him down, and got his full attention, and we did a running start onto the course.
It was hot and humid so Al wasn't in high gear. The heat in the early afternoon seems to really affect his performance, and I don't blame him for that at all. I'd rather be sleeping in the shade in a cool place than doing agility too. I can tell when he isn't in high gear when we get into the weave poles because his speed drops noticably. On this run, he actually slowed down enough to run/trot through a couple of poles. After the weave poles he really picked up speed, and ran much harder through the remainder of the course. His focus was great! It was a nice run, and Al was very happy at the end of it. I want treats!!! Where's my treat!!!
Al placed Second. His time was 34.33 seconds (4.37 Yards/sec.). The Standard Course Time (SCT) was 46 seconds (150 yds.) He earned 16 MACH points on that run. There were 15 Excellent B 12" dogs.
Standard Course 2 (Excellent B):
This was a really nice Standard Course run by Al!! He was feeling good, and did his best at the start line. I sat him, he was focused and paid attention. I had a good lead out, and was totally amazed at how well we were doing! This was incredible. Al was actually letting me lead out and holding his sit stay??!! He held it, I called him over the start line and we were off. This is where I messed up.
I was so amazed at how well Al had done at the start, I think I forgot to say tire as we approached it, and I kind of ignored it. I didn't look at it as we approached it, and as a result Al ran by it, which he hasn't done in almost a year??!! We went back did the tire and then had a perfect run. Al took a little time going into a sit at the table, but when he did sit, he held it for the full count. Then we were off. It was a similar weave pole entry as he had missed a couple of weeks before. This time I worked it properly, (Maybe I'm learning something with all our runs??) Al ran hard right into the first pole and did really good fast weave poles! (His weave poles at home are still a lot faster). He was so excited after the weave poles that he almost jumped up on me to celebrate as we turned for the final jump sequence?!
This was a great run for Al. If you take off the 15 seconds we wasted with our tire refusal (7) and the delay in the sit at the table (8); Al's actual running time of 66.38 seconds would have been good enough for 5th place. The SCT was 72 seconds (168 yds.)
I felt bad after this run, because I hadn't focused enough on the tire and let it slip, costing us a Q with an nice solid run.
The JWW course that was set was really nice. I think Al was paying me back for my mistake in the morning run.
He gave me a pretty good start, but sniffed the ground just before he took the first jump. A bad sign, but nothing happened until we got about 1/3 into the course, and had just taken a jump and Al was looking at the fastest part of the course. There were 3 jumps almost in a line and we were heading about 80 feet across the course until the next turn. It was going to be easy and fast. I was going to have to run hard to keep ahead of Al. I said over and started to move ahead, Al was with me on my left, and then suddenly, Al turned hard to his right, across my path, and behind me and made a perfect and hard entry into the tunnel we were running past. ??!!#
OK Al, Good boy, now lets do the rest of the course. Which Al did with good speed and plenty of enthusiasm!
Again no Qualifying score, but a nice run for Al. We were even.
Al's time was 40.22 seconds. The SCT was 47 seconds (153 yds.) The wrong course at the tunnel cost us 5 seconds, and the spin at the entry to the weave poles cost us another 2 -3 seconds. So Al's run could have come in at around 32-33 seconds, which would have placed him Second. He had a run going which had the potential of 4.7 yds./sec. which is where I think he should be running consistently. This was muggy and hot weather.
Note:
Bob Kirkman is from Virginia, and he set beautiful courses for both classes on both days. I really liked the way he handled himself, and would love to have him judge us again. Another year of maturing for Al and he would have nailed his courses and loved every inch of them.
