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Monday, February 21, 2011

Ramona Rampage NADAC 2011

Wooh, Ramona Rampage! This trial is always rainy, but so much fun. It's also one of the only covered trials we ever do. Usually there are two weekends of Ramona Rampage, but unfortunately circumstances did not allow for that.

First off, Blue and Truly both received High in Trial for their respective levels! Blue got Veterans and Truly got Open!

Obviously, Blue did well. I think she got 7 Qs out of 10 runs and managed to snag another 20 pt Q in Chances! She would only need one more non Chances or Jumpers bonus Q to qualify for SuperStakes. See, she can qualify when she isn't going. XD

I think I might have mentioned Blue being 'off' at the last trial. Well, she got taken to the chiropractor and started an Adequan injection series. I could definitely feel a difference in how she was running. She was a lot more fluid and smooth and not so stiff looking. Well, it did seem like she was getting tired in third set of weaves in Weavers, but she seemed okay the rest of the weekend.

Her attitude has been what was really bothering me. We went to a fun run and she ran off to visit dogs/people after she got out of the car. There were other loose dogs and didn't want her to get in their faces or jump on people. I tried to call her and she just ignored me so I went over and got her, then put her in the x-pen. She was kind of odd for most of the time, although I didn't think the ground was the greatest either. Odd as in being slowish and ignoring commands.

When Blue is great or good, I will usually leave her out of the crate or x-pen and let her socialize. She abhors getting in the x-pen and will avoid going in. So usually if she ignores me during a run, I will give her treat/praise, then put her away. It's not like anything bad has ever happened to her in there, but she is just away from all the activity, which is what she wants.

I tried to see if this might be what was causing attitude issues. Well, she was good all day Saturday and got to visit after runs. Sunday she had one run where she was just sassing me the whole run because she jumped off the AF. I guess she hit the contact, but it wasn't a very good performance, haha. She was going to go off course so I called her off and went on, but like I said, she 'sassed' (she knew she did something wrong). I gave her cookies and put her away. I didn't withhold praise or act angry. Just put her away. She was 'pouty' the next run. She skipped weaves and ran to a strange off course after the weaves. So I let her visit after that run or at least stay out for a while and guess what? She was fine the next run! I guess she's just getting more sensitive and 'bitchy' about what she wants in her 'old age.'



Since both Chances courses are in these videos, I'll give some observations on them. Saturday's course looked very challenging from the start. It needed a lot of distance directionals and handling. Quite a few people Qd on that course. The challenges were pretty clear and obvious.

Sunday's course on the other hand, only had 5 Qs in Elite. Why? This course was only 9 obstacles long, but there were two areas tripping people up, the first switch and getting the jump after the second tunnel. The challenges were a lot more subtle and relied a lot on timing and being in the right spot. I was surprised at how many dogs that had good distance were coming into that second tunnel.



Truly actually got less Qs than Blue for once. She Qd 6/10 runs. She earned her ECC and WV-O. She earned another few Qs for Champs and just needs one more Regular and TnG to qualify. One more big Q brag. Truly Qd every Chances run for a whole year! The Q streak ended Sunday as I decided to practice the first part of the course from the bonus line and she didn't even get to any hard parts to mess up on. She just ran straight to the tunnel after the first two hoops. XD

My was she fast and hyper. She tried to break her start twice on Saturday. Her weaves were smoking all weekend and she hit all the entries and stayed in them. Her contacts weren't totally consistent, but she was flying over the AF and DW. I'm glad she's back to liking the contacts. Random note: I've been doing a couple reps on the slatted equipment the last two times we've practice and she still slows down a lot more than compared to the rubber. Her AF is still weird on the slats, but the DW isn't as bad. She does get slower as you do more reps. (The max I've done is 3.) If only I could go somewhere close to practice slatless contacts...

Her distance switches were fail. I know what we are working on. Her waits were also quite creepy. She usually immediately pauses when I tell her 'wait' at a distance. So, so, so useful for line work. I can easily go out and 'rescue' her (and the Q sometimes).




Truly was very crazy the last run on Saturday. Her 'special' talent of running under jumps magically reappeared. This is the first time it's happened at a trial and she hasn't tried to do this in quite a while at practice. I think she does it because she doesn't think she can get over the jump safely because of a weird or close approach. Thus I can see the reasoning for the first one, but that second one, I don't know. I guess she was just in a mood. As long as it doesn't happen again I'm okay, haha.



Since we don't have any trials really planned until the end of April, I think I will be giving Blue an agility break and try to take my dogs to do other things. Truly needs to lose some weight, which I think would help her jumping. We were just told about an ASCA trial in March and how you don't need a number unless you want titles. So Truly and Sirius might go to an ASCA trial. Maybe I'd take Blue and run a round of Nov. Jumpers. We'll see what happens.

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