Trial Day!

Our trial today went really well and the a/c was working and kept the building just barely reasonable for all the furry athletes despite the heat outside.  I was able to get Gidget's final official measurement today.  I'm pretty sure she's happier about that than me!  Open std was up first.  The course had a couple of tight turns that would make off course jumps easy if the turn wasn't right, other than that it was a pretty fun course.  Gidget crawled through the chute as usual (Gidget: It's hard to find the light at the end of that heavy tunnel!) but otherwise she was quite speedy.  When I released Gidget from the teeter my body was pointing the wrong way which lead to a wide turn towards an off course jump (she didn't come close to taking it) then back to me and the table.  The turn threw me off and in the video it looks like I got in Gidget's way a bit causing a refusal.  The rest of the course went smoothly, though we really need to get in the habit of using the speedy weaves that I know Gidget has in her.  We Q'd and were the fastest 16 inch dog, but got second place due to that refusal.

Then we had a long, long wait til the open jww course.  I'd thought about taking Gidget home to rest, but I didn't think we'd have quite that long of a wait.  Also lots of my classmates were there and I wanted to hang out and watch them run their dogs.  The building started heating up and we didn't run til after 2 (an hour later than expected).  This was a long day for Gidget.  To make matters worse, I didn't want to take Gidget out too early and lose her excitement, but I ended up taking her out a tad too late.  The gate steward started yelling for us and we had to run to the start line!  At that point they were still running the last 12 inch dog and still had to do the height change so we had to wait after running a bit.  So Gidget was slow and poky for her jww run, but still quite focused.  I stumbled a little on a front cross but we survived it.  Then at a pinwheel I started turning a tad too early and pulled Gidget off the middle jump, so one refusal due to me on this course too.  We ended up about 3 seconds over time but still Q'd with an 89 and 4th place.

I think for class this next week I'm going to bring my camera and have someone video my runs.  I think seeing the difference in me running in class and in trials could help us a lot.  Gidget did well today, but I know she can run faster and I can handle better.  Looks like I need some help making sure I trial like I train!  Happy agility!