It's been a long time! That's because we've been so busy. Both dogs are doing great and we're gearing up for an exciting late summer and fall.
Last weekend we went to a training session where we did a few sequences from Masters Challenge courses. Both dogs got through them nicely. For Jonah, he's such a steady guy and I can always do things multiple ways, with him covering for my mistakes. What a guy. With Nika, sometimes we screw up--she's not as experienced and we're still working out our partnership. When we get things right, though, it's awesome. She's really fast. What fun! Plus, she's only 15 months and the fact that she can fly through International level courses is pretty awesome.
So...one week from today Nika will make her trial debut!
We're going to a CPE trial and she's entered in Fullhouse, Standard and Jackpot. If the Standard course doesn't look friendly, I may scratch her. I figured I'd enter, though, since it was between the two classes I really wanted to do (since I can make my own, Nika-friendly course).
I've entered her in Level 3 because she doesn't have trouble with weaves or the teeter. Her A-frame is her weakest obstacle right now. She's great with the box in place, but when I take it off she starts having her second hit be high. We'll get there.
I decided to start her at 16". I'm hoping she'll measure into 16" regular, but if not I'll just show her in Enthusiast. For now, there's enough for her to focus on that I don't want jump height to be an issue. I know different people have different ideas about this, but it's what I feel most comfortable with. She doesn't need extra pounding while she's young and learning. She may jump 20/22" later on--she's certainly capable.
Anyway, I'm really excited. I think she'll do great, but I'm also not in any rush to get Qs and titles. That will come if we get used to going to a trial environment and working together and having fun.
Meanwhile, Jonah's entered in Jackpot and Standard, and hopefully he'll do well, too. He still needs *9* standard Qs to finish his CATCH. We may start picking them up faster now that the puppy's trialing, though. We've only done a couple this year, so no surprise we're slow getting Qs!
Last weekend we went to a training session where we did a few sequences from Masters Challenge courses. Both dogs got through them nicely. For Jonah, he's such a steady guy and I can always do things multiple ways, with him covering for my mistakes. What a guy. With Nika, sometimes we screw up--she's not as experienced and we're still working out our partnership. When we get things right, though, it's awesome. She's really fast. What fun! Plus, she's only 15 months and the fact that she can fly through International level courses is pretty awesome.
So...one week from today Nika will make her trial debut!
We're going to a CPE trial and she's entered in Fullhouse, Standard and Jackpot. If the Standard course doesn't look friendly, I may scratch her. I figured I'd enter, though, since it was between the two classes I really wanted to do (since I can make my own, Nika-friendly course).
I've entered her in Level 3 because she doesn't have trouble with weaves or the teeter. Her A-frame is her weakest obstacle right now. She's great with the box in place, but when I take it off she starts having her second hit be high. We'll get there.
I decided to start her at 16". I'm hoping she'll measure into 16" regular, but if not I'll just show her in Enthusiast. For now, there's enough for her to focus on that I don't want jump height to be an issue. I know different people have different ideas about this, but it's what I feel most comfortable with. She doesn't need extra pounding while she's young and learning. She may jump 20/22" later on--she's certainly capable.
Anyway, I'm really excited. I think she'll do great, but I'm also not in any rush to get Qs and titles. That will come if we get used to going to a trial environment and working together and having fun.
Meanwhile, Jonah's entered in Jackpot and Standard, and hopefully he'll do well, too. He still needs *9* standard Qs to finish his CATCH. We may start picking them up faster now that the puppy's trialing, though. We've only done a couple this year, so no surprise we're slow getting Qs!
