Penninsula Dog Fanciers Club Agility Trial
Bremmerton, Wa.
September 4, 5, 2004
Judges: Jo Ann Mather, Larry Brockett
This was a two day trial, outdoors on grass, 600 runs per day. With International Sweepstakes Class offered on both days. The trial was held on the County Fairgrounds and the Fair had taken place on the site about two weeks previously. The club and the fairgrounds people had done their best to get the field in shape for the trial. Apparently, the area where the food was being sold in the County Fair was on the location where the Agility trial was subsequently held. Knowing this, the Club sent out a group of dogs to walk over the area and "clean" it up. Apparently they were very busy, and did a great job, because there were no problems when we ran in competition the next day.
I wish other clubs would learn from this and do the same before they set up their agility rings. It makes it better for everyone, and doesn't take much effort to do.
The event was held at the County Fairgrounds, and what do you do on a Saturday late in the summer in small town Washington? You have a demolition Derby of course???!!! This went on all day long about 100 yards away from our Agility Trial. It bothered the humans more than the dogs. Thankfully, they had wrecked all the old cars in town by 8PM on Saturday, night, so everybody went home. There was no Demolition Derby on Sunday.
Summary: Al had Three Qualifying scores this weekend. He earned Two Qs in Jumpers with Weaves (Excellent B) and Finished his MXJ Title with a Third Place finish. Al also finished Third with his Qualifying run in the International Sweepstakes Class Standard Course. It was a very good weekend!!!
Al gave me a pretty good stay at the start and was very enthusiastic about the course. He did well until we hit the weave poles and he did them with speed, but he popped out at pole 10.? Then a few obstacles later he did the A Frame and then spotted the collapsed chute on his way down, and he did some exploring by shoving his nose into the Chute. A Wrong course. He did everything else after this point with very good focus and speed. He did a fast sit at the table and then was with me through a couple of front crosses to the finish. A good run for Al, but no Q.
Al's time was 55.03 seconds. The Standard Course Time (SCT) was 73 seconds (170 yards).
This is one of Al's must amusing runs. We had trouble at the start line. There was some interesting food inside the ring behind the start line, and when I walked Al into the ring, I almost had to drag him because he wanted something on the ground so badly. I got him to sit at the start line, but when I took off his leash he broke from me and headed straight for the food behind him. Yikes!! I didn't know what to do. I had already crossed the start line so I knew I couldn't go back and take the food out of his mouth because I'd have to touch Al. I went back and saw him chewing on a HUGE dog biscuit someone had dropped inside the course. It was so big Al couldn't even chew down on it. Al he could do was hold it in his mouth and naw on it's corner.
I decided to run with him anyway. I called Al several times and then Al decided that he had control of the food and he could literally "eat and run". Off we went. Al was incredibly slow, and we went through 7 or 8 jumps before we got to the weave poles, with Al munching and choking on the biscuit as he ran. He finally finished it about 1/3 of the way into the weave poles and finished the poles with good speed, then he veered off to look for more food???!!!. Luckily, he didn't refuse anything, or back jump anything on his way back to me. We went on and had a clean run. I was sure that we would be over course time, but when I checked, Al was .09 second under SCT and we Q'd??!!.. I couldn't believe it. I seemed like we were out there for an hour.
Al's time was 43.91 seconds. The Standard Course Time (SCT) was 44 seconds (142 yards).
This was really a fun course. I had some trouble at the start line with Al again??!! He just wouldn't sit for me. I decided that I would go through our start line routine a second time so I put his leash back on then spun him around on his leash 360 degrees and then asked him to sit, and when he did I took off his leash and told him to stay. It worked this time and we had a lead out that worked.
Al ran great. He got his contacts and we came to the most fun part of the course. A set of weave poles then a tunnel (180 degrees) and back into the same set of weave poles. Al loved it. We had a little bobble which the judge didn't call which was a spin right before the first set of weave poles. On the second time over the A Frame Al missed the contact on the down side, and as a result we had a 5 point fault. Even with that fault ( the ISC rules are different), Al still Qualified and placed Third in the Mini Class behind my Instructors dog Arrow, and MACH 5 Lacie.
Al's time was 46.29 seconds. The Standard Course Time (SCT) was 50 seconds (154 yards).
We love the International Sweepstakes Class. It is more fun to do than anything!!
Standard Course 2
This run wasn't taped. It was so long ago, I can't remember anything about the run, except that we didn't get a Q.
This was another fun course! The video is missing chunks because I asked someone to tape it for me and they pushed the wrong buttons. Al ran really well on this course. He gave me a small lead out at the start, and ran hard the whole course. I had to do a rear cross at the last jump, which is always an adventure when we turn to the right. Al spun but he didn't get turned so hard that he could injure himself, so it worked out OK in the end even if it wasn't pretty. It turns out that on this run, Al earned his MXJ title!!
Al's time was 32.98 seconds. The Standard Course Time (SCT) was 47 seconds (151 yards).
Al placed Third in the Class behind Arrow (My Instructors Dog) and MACH 5 Lacie.
This was the last run of a 6 run weekend. Al was tired and it was hot. When we got to the start line he wouldn't settle into a sit and stay. Instead he crept up to the line, and jumped the start before I had gotten out far enough to shape the turn over the second jump so that he wouldn't go off course into the tunnel. Because I couldn't hold Al at the start line, the angles were such that Al thought the the tunnel was the next obstacle, and so he took it even though I was trying to call him off it and send him over the double jump. Al happily went into the tunnel, came out and found me far away, headed for me and then backjumped the 3rd jump so that we had a wrong course. That killed us, as faults are allowed, but no wrong courses in the ISC class.
Al did something really hard that he had never ever practiced before, and he did it in competition and at full speed. At the 5th obstacle, you had to do a rear cross and push the dog to the left, then have the dog do a wrap into a front cross (270 degrees). This is a hard manoever even if you have practiced it. Al nailed it and made it look easy. He surprises me all the time, but this sequence really amazed me.
Al ran the course perfectly. Did the weave poles twice with good speed, and finished with great enthusiasm. It was a very good run, even if we did have a wrong course. He ran hard and it was a tough course.
Al's time was 45 seconds. The Standard Course Time (SCT) was 43 seconds. Had we not wasted time on the wrong course we could have made the SCT.
