Well, I don't know what the deal was last weekend at our first USDAA trial, but Jonah was awesome this weekend back in our CPE comfort zone.
Our first round was Jackpot. We'd missed two in a row and I was really hoping we could get things together this time. Well, it wasn't meant to be. Jonah entered the ring excited, barking and leaping like his usual agility self. He bolted down the opening line and kept his speed up the whole time. I was bad and released him early on his dogwalk contacts, but he was great. We had a very high point opening that ran smoothly. Actually, I finished what I thought we'd be able to do in the allotted time and didn't really know how to spend the rest of the time before the whistle blew, but I found some extra obstacles and soon enough we heard the whistle. Then we raced towards the first jump, and Jonah lept it and charged across the gamble line into the tunnel beautifully. Next I ran into position for the A-frame, and Jonah surged up it happily. He ran back down and flew over the last jump beautifully. Then I realized that I'd heard the judge yell 2 and 4 but not 6 or 8. This judge tends to call all close contacts, and this was one of them. So...no Jackpot Q, but it was a beautiful round except for that missed contact (which was really, really close), so I was pleased. We still ended up in 4th.
Round 2 was standard. It wasn't an especially difficult course but I was worried about the contacts. I slowed Jonah down on both the A-frame and dogwalk to make sure he hit yellow, and it worked. Overall, he wasn't quite as fast as he can be but he was very good and accurate. He hit his weave entry easily and weaved confidently--a big improvement from last weekend. The round was good enough for Q and 1st. Good boy.
Round 3 was Fullhouse. I still wish I were a little better at judging how long things will take us, as once again on the day we finished my plan before time was up. Of course, that meant that the beginning went very well. He was fast-fast-fast. Dave said it was the best run he'd ever seen us do. We practiced our A-frame contact and it was looking much more solid. From my brief look through the scores, we had more points than any dog in level 3, and I only saw one dog with more points in the upper levels. So, another set of blue and green ribbons.
The last round was jumpers. When I walked it, I thought the course was a little de-motivating. It started with a pinwheel, then had a tough wrap a few jumps later. Anyway, Jonah didn't seem to mind a bit. The trial was really slow (a 14 hour day!), so the judge was trying to speed it up at the end. We went in on time and set up while the previous dog was finishing the last line, but then that dog hit two of the last few jumps, and it took a while for the ring crew to get things set back up. This isn't an ideal situation for Jonah because he walks into the ring with a lot of enthusiasm but that excitement fades the longer he waits. Once we got the ok, though, I reved him up a little and he was hot to go. He cruised the whole way home for a third Q and 1st. I was so proud of him.
So, I guess we're back :). I still don't know what happened last weekend, but it's good to know it's not permanent, whatever it is.
Our first round was Jackpot. We'd missed two in a row and I was really hoping we could get things together this time. Well, it wasn't meant to be. Jonah entered the ring excited, barking and leaping like his usual agility self. He bolted down the opening line and kept his speed up the whole time. I was bad and released him early on his dogwalk contacts, but he was great. We had a very high point opening that ran smoothly. Actually, I finished what I thought we'd be able to do in the allotted time and didn't really know how to spend the rest of the time before the whistle blew, but I found some extra obstacles and soon enough we heard the whistle. Then we raced towards the first jump, and Jonah lept it and charged across the gamble line into the tunnel beautifully. Next I ran into position for the A-frame, and Jonah surged up it happily. He ran back down and flew over the last jump beautifully. Then I realized that I'd heard the judge yell 2 and 4 but not 6 or 8. This judge tends to call all close contacts, and this was one of them. So...no Jackpot Q, but it was a beautiful round except for that missed contact (which was really, really close), so I was pleased. We still ended up in 4th.
Round 2 was standard. It wasn't an especially difficult course but I was worried about the contacts. I slowed Jonah down on both the A-frame and dogwalk to make sure he hit yellow, and it worked. Overall, he wasn't quite as fast as he can be but he was very good and accurate. He hit his weave entry easily and weaved confidently--a big improvement from last weekend. The round was good enough for Q and 1st. Good boy.
Round 3 was Fullhouse. I still wish I were a little better at judging how long things will take us, as once again on the day we finished my plan before time was up. Of course, that meant that the beginning went very well. He was fast-fast-fast. Dave said it was the best run he'd ever seen us do. We practiced our A-frame contact and it was looking much more solid. From my brief look through the scores, we had more points than any dog in level 3, and I only saw one dog with more points in the upper levels. So, another set of blue and green ribbons.
The last round was jumpers. When I walked it, I thought the course was a little de-motivating. It started with a pinwheel, then had a tough wrap a few jumps later. Anyway, Jonah didn't seem to mind a bit. The trial was really slow (a 14 hour day!), so the judge was trying to speed it up at the end. We went in on time and set up while the previous dog was finishing the last line, but then that dog hit two of the last few jumps, and it took a while for the ring crew to get things set back up. This isn't an ideal situation for Jonah because he walks into the ring with a lot of enthusiasm but that excitement fades the longer he waits. Once we got the ok, though, I reved him up a little and he was hot to go. He cruised the whole way home for a third Q and 1st. I was so proud of him.
So, I guess we're back :). I still don't know what happened last weekend, but it's good to know it's not permanent, whatever it is.
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