Two Dogs and an AKC Trial

This past Sat. I competed in an AKC trial with both Gidget and Gracie!  I was worried how Gracie would do at a bigger trial, but the location is so familiar to her now that it was no big deal!  She got a little upset when my mom's dog arrived and got in the kennel next to hers, but she quickly got over that.  She really got upset when my parents' neighbor and her dog came to check out the trial (she'll be learning agility soon too!).  I'm not really sure why as she's fine when other dogs walk by her kennel, I guess this one hung out too close for just too long.  Luckily she recovered quick enough.

First up was Gidget's Exc A standard run.  Those Exc A STD Q's are hard to come by, we only have one so far.  The run was going well up until the weaves.  It was a straight entry, table, wing jump, weaves.  I think I just didn't set myself up to converge as much as I needed to and she ran past the entry.  Then I'm not sure what happened at the jump before the dog walk, but she refused that at first too.  I'm relatively certain she jumped the dog walk contact too, but the judge didn't call it.  She did everything else nicely, though at her own pace.  The teeter bounced when it came down and she looked rather concerned, so we'll have to get some good easy teeter practice in before her next trial so she can forget that event.  Here's the video:

Gracie's first AKC run was up next!  Nov B STD.  We had no issues while waiting our turn and she ran quite well.  I was worried about the off course tunnel straight ahead of the A-frame and a jump, but she turned with me perfectly.  She needed a second attempt at the weaves, but then did them just fine.  I hadn't considered the dog walk as a potential off course choice (duh!) but she did!  The brilliant pup also decided to jump of the top of the up ramp before I could get to her and guide her back down.  Thankfully no harm done.  Then some quick sniffing of some tunnel bags at the side of the ring before the tunnel.  The rest of the course went really well and she got a 1st place Q!  There were a bunch of obstacles she hadn't seen at a trial before: chute, weaves, broad jump, table, and teeter!  She did them all without issue!  Here's the video:

Next was Gidget's first Exc B JWW run.  Not much to say about it besides it was a lovely run.  Still need to work on speed but otherwise it couldn't have gone better.  No placement ribbon, but a Q and 3 whole MACH points!  Gotta start somewhere!  Here's the video:

Last was Gracie's Nov B JWW run.  She went around the first jump for some reason.  I guess a bit of a "C" set is better for her for now, that or I needed to be ahead of the wing jump before releasing her.  We fixed that glitch and the rest of the course was perfect!  She even got her weaves on the first attempt!  She got a 2nd place Q!  Here's the video:

I'm very proud of my girlies.  Gracie's stress is decreasing with every trial.  There's an A match in the area in July that I think I might try Gracie in.  It will be smaller so it'll be a good chance to see how Gracie will do in a new location.  I don't know if I'll ever completely figure out Gidget, mostly when it comes to speed.  As long as she seems happy to run with me I'll be happy with her!  Happy agility!