ESAG NADAC Trial 2012

After an eight hour drive Sunday night/Monday morning, we arrived back home from the beautiful mountains in Mammoth Lakes.  My whole family drove our trailer up and we stayed up there for four days.  They were running EGC on Friday and I really wanted to run that with Tru, so we went up Thursday (yay for 8 hour drives! not), but weren't allowed to camp at the trial site that day, so we stayed at Convict Lake.  Gorgeous site.  Well, once we got into the mountains all the scenery while driving was beautiful, so it really wasn't a bad drive, just hot.  Anyway, our campsite wasn't far from a little creek at all and nothing said the dogs couldn't go in.  People were fishing and there were some deer that came right up to it.  In the evening, we even saw one deer right up by another site and the people there didn't even notice!

Sirius found a new love in creeks and rivers and lakes. I actually didn't see much of this since I was at the trial all weekend.  I'm glad she's found something she really enjoys.  We've been taking her to the beach and throwing the frisbee for her there, but lakes are so much nicer.  No need to wash the sand out of the dogs after they get wet.  I wish there was somewhere we could take her near us.

Truly was very strange.  She was very, err, needy and seemed uncomfortable.  Only Qd on three runs, but earned her S-WV-O and S-TN-O.  (And won a bottle of wine in the No Whining raffle!)  A friend that was there thinks it might have been that altitude and I'm thinking she might be right.  Tru's so concerned with her body and how she feels.  She used to really freak out when her ears would pop while driving.  She doesn't like slats.  Certain spots of grass are considered icky and she won't walk in it.

She wasn't sending very well.  I tried a couple 15 pt bonuses, but she only did well on one.  (Not good enough for a Q though.)  It was rainy and cold on that one.  We actually got to run that course twice because we were rained out on Saturday with two classes left to run.  Well, 1 and 2/3.  Most of Open and Novice Tunnelers still needed to run.  They let those who ran in the rain were allowed to run again, which is where one of Tru's Qs came from, haha.  (Since I ran with her the second time.)  Otherwise she wasn't doing too well with the distance.  Or, she'd start okay and then mess up and not rebound as well as she normally does.  She was popping out of the weaves whenever I'd say something as well.  Just all around weird.

She got to run EGC and had fun with that!  This was the first time we did barrel racing and run the same course twice.  Tru usually memorizes the course she's rewarded for, but oddly (as was the trend this weekend), did WORSE the second time around.  I also think she could have run faster, but Ideal Truly Conditions (tm) are dark and cold.  It wasn't consistently dark and cold.  Damp also seems to be a real Tru speed boost.  I think the grass was a little thick for her too.  It's so funny how environment effects her so much more than Blue.  I wish there was some more EGC closer.  I'm hoping clubs can be encouraged to add EGC on Fridays.


Blue was awesome as usual.  She Qd 8/10 runs.  Don't know if there's much to say.  Wait, yes there is.  My mom ran her two times and Qd both!  Mom is running Blue in team at Champs.  She, Truly, and her brother Aiden are on the team that we called 'All in the Family,' haha.

MAC NADAC April 16

We did one day of a NADAC trial. It was hot. The dogs weren't the most into it.

Blue was odd. She's actually been acting odd at practice for the last couple of weeks (which she hasn't been doing much at). We took her to the vet to get vaccinated last week, and had her looked at because my mom was concerned about her weight and how firm her abdomen felt. At the vet she weighed 34 lbs! Last time we were there, she weighed 32 and even that was heavy. We usually like her around 29-30. We started feeding the dogs raw full time at the end of December, and supplementing it with Honest Kitchen Preference, which is just a mix of dehydrated fruits and veggies. So we think this might have been the issue, since there were quite a few extra calories or there is something she has an allergy to. Anyway, she doesn't seem as swollen since we stopped feeding it last week (and the scale at home even said she weighed 32 lbs again).

One other factor that might have contributed to her weirdness is that I found a huge lump at one site where she was vaccinated. Ugh, stupid vaccines. It wasn't as bad as her rabies shot a few years ago when she could barely even run it hurt so bad and she cried when you touched it. She wasn't flinching or anything when I was touching this one. She also didn't seem to want to leave yesterday morning. I don't know if she didn't understand we were really leaving or what. I dunno what is up with her.

Anyway, she only Qd 2 runs, and both were not pretty (one Regular and a Jumpers). She/I were making the same mistakes as most of the other people, and I was usually able to fix my handling for Tru. I felt much more connected to Blue and our runs were much more flowing on our NQs. I hate fixing things. Blue did not want to do distance very much, even on things where I wasn't that far away. She also ticked quite a few bars in Jumpers and even ran by a jump. I did not say 'over' or 'go', but she knows how to take things when I am clearly showing her the path. So that was odd. All I can think is she didn't feel good going by how she was running. I'm hoping that if I get some weight off her and that maybe she still needs to get some of whatever was in the Preference flushed out, she will feel better next trial.

Tru was pretty good despite the heat, and earned 4 Qs out of 5 runs. She also finished qualifying for NADAC Champs! Pretty good for her first trial in Elite (except TnG). She popped out of both 12 sets of weaves, even though she nailed all of them back in February. She was nearly over time on the second round of Regular and her only big mistake was popping out of the weaves. There were a couple wide turns that probably took a couple seconds, but I was surprised at how close she was to an NQ. I haven't run an Elite dog in a Standard jump height for so long, I didn't realized how tight times are. Blue's in Vet so she gets more time, and she was in JH for almost her whole career, so she always had extra time. Tru's gonna have to step it up speed wise. Well, I just need to be a tighter handler.

Sirius didn't run at all this weekend. She was limping last Friday and continued to for a few days after that. We weren't sure if she hurt her self or not, but then realized the same day she started limping was the same day they got vaccinated. So we figure that's probably the reason she was limping. Fortunately she doesn't seem to be limping anymore, but we are watching her.



Random other note. Tru's AF at the end of the video was kind of funny. She flew up it and didn't seem to realize how fast she was going. She landed pretty far down for her and was scrambling to stop. I think she figured out how much she little had to work on the AF for the rest of the day.

Hopefully the girls will all feel better in a few weeks when we have another NADAC trial. It's also more local, so we wont have to get up at 4 am. Maybe they were just tired? And hot.

JCAC NADAC Jan. 15-16, 2011

First trial of the new year. Wooh.

Yeah, so this trial didn't have the greatest feel for our dogs. Don't quite know what was up, but all the dogs seemed off, especially on Saturday. On top of that, I find out that Blue and I happened to be one of the two agility teams cut out. Dunno what we did wrong, but we got fourth, yet they show the fifth place dog instead. All I can think is I either forgot do do something, or I didn't look very interesting doing distance work. Kind of a bummer there.

Blue ended up with 4 Qs over the whole weekend. Silly girl messed up on two runs where I didn't do lines, including her senior moment in Chances. It's like she forgot I said "tunnel" while she was doing the jump, lol. She also blew a discrimination at the beginning of a Regular run.

I didn't leave any of her weird runs in here, but most of the line attempts were strange, so I was/am worried about her. I'm gonna try to get her into the chiropractor soon. I'm also wondering about her hearing. When she was young, she got something in one of her ears and the vet said it scratched the inside and there might be some scar tissue that could cause issues. She's also nine now. Does anyone know anything about hearing tests?

Random bonus line bits. I loved her try in Regular round 4. I felt so connected and the run was so smooth. Also, I think I'm going to really cut down on the amount of special skills lines we try, just to cut down on the bonus lines. She could still do Regular, Jumpers and Chance because those count for a "normal" Silver Achievement Cup. Of course if the course looked like something we really had the potential to get, I'd try it, but if there's something I'm really (or maybe a little) unsure about, I wont do it.



Now, Tru on the other hand, Qd 7 runs. She got 3 more Regular Qs and a Weavers Q towards Champs, her first Elite Qs and finished her HP-O. One more trial to go and we could have a year long Q streak in Chances, woot!

Unfortunately, I noticed Tru's jumping seemed a little off. She knocked a bar in each Jumpers round. I was looking and it seems like she is trying to push of with her front and I don't really think that's a good thing. I'm gonna try working with her on it some, while trying to work her rear end a little more.



Sirius only Qd two runs and I didn't feel like posting video. My mom's going through another "I'm retiring Sirius" phase. We'll see how long that lasts. Sirius will magically be good for a couple trials. I'm attempting to convince her to try and finish Siri's Elite Versatility at least, lol.

So not the best start to the beginning of the year. Hopefully, the next trial will turn out a little happier. Well, the next trial is one run of AKC with Tru, so I mean the next NADAC trial, lol. Oh, and you can watch the whole PIDC and my runs separately at http://www.barknetwork.com/

JCAC NADAC Dec. 18-19, 2010

Here comes the last trial post for 2010!

Well, we headed over to AZ for our annual Jumping Chollas NADAC trial. My mom and I were also staying for the rest of the after the trial to do Christmas at one of my grandmother's house. The rest of the family was going to come over later. I have some amusing videos from our stay that will probably have a different post dedicated to them.

Let's start off with Blue. She Qd half of the runs and got another two bonuses! We tried so many lines. I'm so glad there were so many to try, even if we didn't Q. Her bonus Q runs were a 15 in Weavers and another 20 in Chances. I just have to say, OMG, the 15 pt line in Weavers was like, the easiest line ever. At least for Blue. I walked it, then the 20 and I was like, hmm, give Blue a break and go for the easiest line evah or try the harder challenge. Seriously, half of the course is practically next to you.

Oh, and Blue got her NATCH-6 at the last trial. I fail at counting apparently. She's also qualified for SilverStakes again.



Tru Qd 8/12 runs and finished two titles, her OAC and S-OCC! That means she will move up to Elite Chances, her first Elite class, at the next trial. I can't believe she already has a Superior in Open. My baby dog will start working towards her NATCH soon. Silly pupper also got her first Hoopers NQ at this trial.

Her contacts were pretty good Saturday, but deteriorated on Sunday. She was self releasing all over the place. I was like, um, well, at least you went fast and had confidence. We really need somewhere with rubber contacts to work this. I don't want her to loose confidence because of slats, but she needs to work her contacts. After she gets her 8 more Regular and 2 more TnG Qs for Champs, she will go on another contact break at trials. That is if we don't find somewhere to train.



I also tried a bunch of lines with Ms. Scrumptious. She didn't get any bonus Qs, but we came away with tons of things to work on (like usual). I really wish we had some more tries at Novice lines, but Novice and Open lines aren't always available so it wasn't worth waiting around. I just have to do more work in practice.

Back to Blue for a second. She decided to be naughty and jump over the A-frame contact, not once but twice. That's more times than in her whole life up to that point! So we decided to do a little ring contact schooling after the second time. Blue was thinking "WTK?" as we ran out of the ring after the second try, haha. She didn't try that again.



Sirius came out of this trial with a good haul of title ribbons. Out of 12 runs with 7 Qs she managed to finish 5 titles, her S-TG-N, S-OAC, S-OJC, HP-N and ECC! She's only been in Elite Chances for three shows now and already has three Chances Qs! She also gets to move to Elite in Jumpers and Regular now! My mom never expected her to get all those Open Qs. The Hoopers title is also pretty significant as Sirius has been doing it for years and just this year managed to get three Qs!



I guess this was a pretty good trial to end the year with. I'm now curious to see the Top Ten standings by breed now, haha. I'm thinking Blue will only be on that list in Chances this year, but who knows. Tru hasn't run in Elite yet, so she wont be eligible until next year. Next year Sirius and Tru are starting new adventures in Elite and we'll see what happens with 2011 Champs. I haven't even heard a confirmed location for that yet.

We'll be having some fun in the desert this weekend. See you guys in 2011!

MAC NADAC Dec. 5th, 2010

All the dogs were great at this trial! We only did one day (my mom has school on Saturdays this semester), but it was a very successful day.

The most exciting brag I have for Blue is that she got TWO 20 POINT LINES! That's pretty good for only 6 runs total. She got a Chances bonus (her fourth, I think) and a Jumpers bonus (her first!). We also tried lines in Regular, and she was very close in the first round, no so much in the second. Let's watch Blue qualify for SuperStakes the year she most likely can't go, lol (like 2009). She also Qd in Tunnelers. Oh, and she finished her Chances requirements for her NATCH-6. I don't think she's ever been in need of Regular Qs to finish off a NATCH before, haha.

There's one interesting thing to note on the first Regular course. As I walk out and see the first 4 obstacles I think to myself "Wow, this looks familiar...could it be?" then I hear someone saying that yes, it is basically the finals course from this year's Champs (modified for a weekend, of course). I decided I wanted to try the distance again (well, I just want to try distance, lol), and we did it further from where I ran it at Champs (and Blue didn't run off the AF right away to do the tunnel, lol). I'm surprised she got as far as she did, and I guess it was kind of a good idea that I went in and helped her at Champs, especially because she was getting mentally burned out.



Truly did really well two. She ended up with the same amount of Qs as Blue in the same classes, haha. Truly also GOT A BONUS in Jumpers! That was her first Open bonus Q (well, we've only seen Open bonuses at two trials now) and her first Q towards next year's SilverStakes class. That Jumpers Q finished her O-OJC.

Her contacts were okay. Still not what I'm looking for, but better than super creepiness. I don't have it on video, but she did stop early on a DW send away in the first round of Regular (she stopped right above the ground instead of going right into a 2o20). Her second DW was great though. I think she left the AF a little early in Chances, hence the confusion caused after it. She wasn't creeping down the sides though so yay! Tru hearts rubber contacts.

Sirius did well too. She got 2 Qs and was really close on her Chances run. My mom kept her moving pretty well through most of the runs.

Siri and Tru's videos are combined.



Well, this semester is nearly over (yay!) and we have another NADAC trial next weekend. We don't have any trails for probably about 4 weeks or so after that. Tru could potentially finish her S-OCC, Blue will probably get her NATCH-6, and Sirius could finish her S-OJC and S-OAC and move to Elite! Hopefully we can end this year on a high note!

UDAC NADAC 11/20-21/2010

Wooh, NADAC trial! In the rain. I think this is the first really rainy trial we've been to in a while (not counting February trials because we're running indoors). I don't know if the dogs really minded. I think Blue might have been a bit more hyper when she was running in the rain, but I could have just been imagining it.

Blue only Qd 5 out of 12 runs this weekend. She didn't Q any of her runs on Saturday. The NQs were mostly caused by failed bonus attempts and occasionally me being dumb. I don't know what was wrong with me when I was running Blue. Sorry girl.

Some random thoughts and notes on individual runs. In the second round of Regular, where she came in to the tunnel, I had said "out, tunnel, go tunnel." That double command always gets me, lol. She just takes the second command as an early signal for the next obstacle. Also, Blue was super close to a bonus on a TnG run that didn't get filmed. She just turned a bit wide and that negated the bonus. That's only her second TnG Q this year, haha.



Truly was really good. She entered non contact classes + Chances again. She Qd 4/6 runs and finished her O-OCC and S-WV-N! The two NQs were caused by me trying to mess with some distance handling stuff. I was really proud of her second Jumpers run. No, there wasn't a 'real' line there. I also tried to do Chances from about where the Elite line was and she nailed them.



Sirius only ran one day. She Qd 3/6 runs. I actually made a video right after this trial because I ran her in Chances because my mom had to do something in the morning at home. So I ran her in her first Elite run and she Qd!!! Yay Siri. She also finished her O-TN-O.



We've got a couple trials in December coming up to finish off the year. We're doing one day next weekend, and then heading to AZ the weekend of the 18th & 19th. I've entered Tru in the contact classes, and I'm hoping to get some more practice in. I choose to enter her because the contacts will be rubber, and not just (crummy) slatless. I also hope she can get 3 more Chances Qs and finish her S-OCC and move to her first Elite class next year! Blue could potentially finish her NATCH-6 at the AZ trial (or if she miraculously gets a bonus line next weekend).

Champs Trip: Part II

Oooh, the eagerly awaited part II! (Yeah, right.)

First, a montage of Blue's SilverStakes runs set to music.

Okay, so after we left Gillette, we drove. And drove. And drove. We did stop at some interesting sites. On the first day, we stopped by the Mammoth Site in South Dakota. We stayed that night at a pretty little campground in 'Middle of Nowhere,' Nebraska. The pond and trees in the morning were beautiful.

From there we headed into Ord, Nebraska, where my grandfather grew up and is buried. We stayed the day at a park with campsites. Sirius got to play in a little creek nearby. The other dogs weren't too interested in getting wet, haha.

We pulled into Purina Farms the day before the event. Very large and very nice facility (at least for a weekend). I was amazed at how many fields there. Lovely grass, too. Oh, so we had to dump the tanks in our trailer and went to this really pretty state park a little bit away. It was really, really pretty.

So, as nice as Purina Farms is, it wasn't perfect, at least for an Agility Championship event. As of our trip, 2011 NADAC Champs was potentially going to be held in the brand new indoor facility there. First, there was no dump site at the facility, second, there were very few sites with full hook-ups, if any. That's just the camping. The indoor facility's uber expensive flooring did not impress any of the competitors. We didn't run on it, but none of us would have let our dogs run on it. There was no cushion either. I've heard more unhappy comments elsewhere and one could probably find them if they wanted. There are rumors that Purina is attempting to find a temporary surface they could roll out for agility events. Although, from what I've been hearing, Champs is not going to be there next year.

Well, the PIDC was fun. Friday we got to do our two practice runs, and then had dinner. There was a video presentation after dinner for all the competitors, that was basically a recap of the regional events.

Blue wasn't as clean on this course as the Regional one. She ran only one round clean each set. I was a little late on the turn on the practice run. Interesting course, though. Here's her runs. The music they had isn't as good as the ones I got on the other runs. :)

Here's a video of her practice runs. I'll save the 'real' ones for the TV special (if we get on.) I don't remember the exact date it's supposed to air, but I remember it was in January before the NFL playoffs.

I'll just mention what happened on our 'official' runs. Well, first off, that morning Blue got out of the trailer and ran over to the truck, as if to say, "I'm ready to go home now." I'm thinking, "That's not a good sign." Well, she did seem okay during her runs, but she decided to have an issue with a jump that'd I'd seen another dog have problems with, but Blue was fine with on both practice runs. Ugh. So she ran one round with a couple of faults and the other clean. She was tenths of hundredths of a second over the third place dogs time. I really can't figure out how I could have gotten a much faster time out of her, except for handling differently in one spot. (You know that turn she missed the on the first practice run?) Oh, the good thing was I didn't have to do another interview.

Well, Blue wanted to go home, and we got to go home. The trip home wasn't particularly interesting. It was quite stormy in a lot of places. We were quite happy and relieved to be home when we arrived.

Here's a montage of our trip!

And some photos!

Wordless Wednesday

ACSD NADAC 10/9-10/2010

I'll get to a Champs/PIDC post eventually. It's just that I need to finish videos and editing photos and haven't had (or taken) the time to finish stuff. In the mean time, have a trial post.

Blue definitely seemed tired of agility at this trial, especially on Saturday. She seemed a bit better on Sunday when we had everyone that usually attends trials (me, mom, Tru and Siri) there. Blue really seems to be sensitive to whether her family is at events, because this isn't the first time she's acted funny when one or more of the usual members are missing. This is really good to take note of because I am considering going to Champs next year without my family. I would definitely not enter her in a Stakes class if that's the case. Everything next year is up in the air (even the exact location of the event!), though I would really like to attend.

Oh, results, she Qd 7/12 runs and is now 3 Regular Qs and 3 Chances Qs away from her NATCH-6. Not much else to say. She sure was loopy when I tried lines and these were pretty decent line courses that she probably could have nailed if she wasn't so burned out.

Truly was a good girl like usual. I feel like that's always my comment regarding my dogs. She Qd 6/7 runs and got her OJC and O-TN-O! She's now 5 Qs away from her S-OCC and 4 away from her S-TN-O, which means she'll move up to Elite in those classes soon. The Chances Qing streak continues and if she keeps it up, she should be in Elite in three trials. O_o I decided that Chances must be my best class as both my dogs suddenly got super consistent at it. It must be because Chances is practically running with the dog compared to lines. She's also one Q away from her S-WV-N, which means only TnG to go for her Nov. All Around and Nov. Superior Versatility.

Oh, and I only entered her in classes that don't always have contacts. I was reading that I should probably get her away from the contacts until I can figure out exactly what I want from it. I probably will do the same for the next trial because I don't think her contacts will be ready by then. I need to get all her obstacles figured out if I even want to consider qualifying for and doing a Stakes class with her. I really need to work with her a lot more if I want to do that. I wrote down a list of stuff to work on. Maybe I should post it.

Soo, I haven't posted about Sirius in awhile. I can't really post that in depth on her because I'm not the one normally working with her and don't have that bond. All I can say is her attitude is still improving. I don't think it's ever not improving, haha. She was just awesome at the one day of this last trial. My mom has school on Saturdays right now, so Sirius wont be in a full trial until December.

Well, all her Qs are in the video. The single biggest brag for Sirius is that she finished her S-OCC and will be entering her first Elite class at the next trial!

What's been up lately and a CPE trial!

It's been a while since I posted something that's not a Wordless Wednesday post. Well, what have we been up to?

A bit of practicing. Blue had diarrhea that morning, so I took only Tru to the park. I picked the wrong day to take a tunnel as it was pretty windy. We've got to practice gates and tunnels for the Extreme Games Challenge that they are holding in Gillette at the same time as we'll be up there for Champs.

Then, my mom asked if I wanted to enter a CPE trial a week or so ago and I said yes. Blue and Truly actually did pretty good and both ended up with 7 Qs out of 9 runs.

Sirius ran one day and actually, had some pretty good runs and earned one Q. She only ran three and they are all in the below video.



Truly earned her CL2-F and her CL2-S! She also fell off the A-Frame in one round of Standard. It's not like I wasn't expecting something to happen sooner or later, but, it kinda shook me. I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but Truly does not like slatted contacts. Unfortunately, that's all she's seen the past couple of months as the field we practice at only has slatted equipment and she's been doing slats at trials. This incident made me get out my slatless AF at home and we're going back to the working the 2o2o position. I was planning on reworking her contacts anyway, so that she doesn't look back or hesitate, but this just made me realize I need to do it at home on the slatless stuff (first). She probably won't be doing any slatted contacts at practice or at a trial for a while.

If Blue's expression on her first couple of runs could be pictured as an emoticon, it would look like :D. She was just flying on her Jumpers run and craaazyyy on her Standards. I should mention why we ended up with two of the same Standard runs. So, Blue and I were running, and as we are heading around and Blue's going through the weave poles, the competitor before us is having a loud conversation with the judge about her score! So I slowed down and caused the off-course, because usually when there's a loud carried on conversation, something went wrong and you need to stop. The judge was nice enough to let us run again, though it didn't make any difference, haha. I just thought that was pretty rude. The person could have waited until the person running was done.

So, the next day, Blue got to run twice in a row. We literally went from the Standard ring, right over to FullHouse and then ran that. Blue was rewarded for agility with more agility, haha.

Oh, maybe I should mention what titles she got. She FINALLY finished her Snooker requirements for her CL3-S. We've been working on that title for about 4 years. She also got her CL5-R. I was hoping she'd do that Saturday so I could move her to Lev. C on Sunday and we could get some pretty rainbow flat ribbons, haha.

Well, we've got a NADAC trial tomorrow, which is our last trial before Champs. I hope the rubber contacts make Tru really, really happy and she magically remembers how to do them fast. Wait, this isn't our last trial. We signed up for the Championship "Pre-Trial" because we were planning on getting there early and figured why not.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Practice Video

My goodness, another video! This time we have some of Sirius and Blue practicing a Novice JWW course. Unfortunately, my mom did not get any video of Truly.

Testing the New Camera!

ACSD NADAC May 1-2, 2010

We had a pretty awesome weekend at the ACSD NADAC trial. I'll just get the big news out right away. Blue got a 15 pt bonus on Jumpers and a 20 in Chances, while TRULY GOT A 15 pt BONUS in Nov. Jumpers! I can't believe little wimpy Tru got a bonus and it was a very pretty run too.

Now for some details. Blue Qd 8/10 runs and finished her Vers-NATCH 3! There was a bonus on Tunnelers, but we actually ran Sunday's courses at Elk Grove in March, so I knew not to even think about trying that one. We haven't been practicing turning away from tunnels while coming out of a tunnel. Unfortunately, my mom did not film that run.

It was nice to start the weekend off with a bonus Q. We actually tried some 15 pt lines in Regular, because we were then 3/4 of the way to qualifying for PreSuperStakes(now known as SilverStakes). I figured there was no reason not to try and just get qualified for that so we could actually be in some sort of distance class at Champs. I waited a tiny bit to long to call "here" on that first Reg. bonus try, otherwise we could have gotten that course easily. Bad handler.

The next day starts of even better for Blue. We nail a 20 pt line that we did not get in Elk Grove. That qualified her for SilverStakes, while giving us a Q towards SuperStakes! Only 4 more 20 pointers to go. That's Blue's first 20 since the end of May 2009. That extra 10 points also puts her one Chances run away from NATCH 5. I don't think either of her Regulars will be 100+ DRI runs as she only hit just over 5 yps on both runs. They were some nice runs though. Jumpers was bleh on Sunday, Blue and I were out of it, lol. Blue had been having squirty poop for the last couple of days and was up the previous two nights.

I already let you guys know Truly's really big brag, that run also finished her S-NJC. I am still going to leave her in Novice for a while because I would like to try some more Novice Jumpers lines before moving up. My plan at the moment is to move her up in classes where the course doesn't change for all levels (Chances, TnG, Tunnelers, Weavers, Hoopers) after her Superiors, but hold her back longer for the others (Reg. and Jumpers). I tried some other Novice lines in Regular. I had to go get her or she messed up towards the beginning in both of those, so I ended up running with her or practicing. She got a normal Q on one run and a E on the other.

Her Chances was hilarious. I was trying the beginning sequence from far away to "practice" for the Regular bonus. She came in and thank goodness for her "wait" command. I got her to stop half way over the line and backed her up. As she was backing up, she picked up the tape in her mouth for a sec. I was wondering the rest of the run if the judge had "E"d us, and we still got the Q. Tru also had an awesome TnG, the fastest time in Novice and a Q.

Sunday went great as well. She only "E"d one run, because I went over and touched her after she started to pull a wimp act. "Oh, my, I'll just melt in the sun, it's just too hot to run." "I'm going to go find some shade." Um, no, Truly, you are running the rest of the course. I found it amusing that they thought I needed the leash. I didn't say "thank you" or anything to the judge. I only realized he was coming over as I was about to take off. All her other runs were really great, with some nice distance work thrown in. She was just on with the distance this weekend. She got another Chances Q, a Regular and a Jumpers. She also Qd in Open Tunnelers, finishing her TN-O, her first Open title.

I was very happy with her speed and attitude. Her contacts were pretty good, after last trial's stand above the bottom then walk off.

Sirius Qd 3 runs. She got a Chances Q, a TnG Q and a Regular Q. Otherwise she was overtime or went off course or "E"d for training. My mom may take a trialing break with Sirius. I think she should at least try for the classes she needs for Champs, but otherwise we would just be working on motivation. Siri only needs two more Chances Qs for her S-OCC and then she could move to her first Elite class. She also finished up her TnG Champs requirements.

Hopefully we will get to our usual Memorial Day weekend NADAC trial. It's actually a little iffy on the entering front this year. *cough* daddoesn'treallywanttodrivethetrailerup *cough* Tru could finish up her S-NCC and move to Open Chances and Blue could get her NATCH-5. Blue and I might be able to hitch a ride with a friend to another trial in June. My parents are going away that weekend, so I would be on my own. Well, with a friend. Then there is one more in July somewhere in SoCal or maybe we could hit up one in AZ. Those are our last chances to get qualified for SS. Hopefully we wont have to try for all of those and I could magically guide Blue to four 20 pt bonuses at the Memorial Day trial, lol.

MAC NADAC April 17-18, 2010

The crew did pretty well this last weekend. It got fairly warm and humid in the afternoon, so not the best weather for Sirius and Tru. All I really cared about this weekend was doing bonus lines and that is what Blue and I did. I didn't really care how Tru did Q wise because I was so focused on the bonus line work with Blue.

Blue got 4/10 Qs. Two Hoopers, one Weavers and a 15 point Tunnelers! Yes, we got one bonus run! Yay! It was the last run of the weekend too. Her second Hoopers run was the fastest out of all dogs, nearly 4 seconds faster than the next fastest time. She also had a smoking Weavers Q, where she was a bit faster than the dog that normally beats her in the special skills classes. That Weavers Q completed her Vers-NATCH-3 Weavers requirements. We still need one more Tunnelers Q for that.

This weekend, we added some more to our list of things to work on. I think I need to teach a command that means "come in towards where I am." "Here" wasn't quite cutting it, even though my timing on the verbal was good. I am thinking of using "come." We also need to work on turning away from things that are right in front of Blue's face to something she can't see right away. This mostly applies to tunnels though.

Truly got 5/10 Qs, with most of the NQs being Es for me going over and touching her. She was soo hyper on some of her runs and distracted on others, while still having other awesome runs. Her contacts were not excellent like they were at the last trial. She still needs more practice. She had some super wimpy! Tru runs. On both Weavers she tried to pull her "It's too sunny and hot" act. You can sort of see the first one on video. She decided to stand inside a tunnel because it was shady. She was also kind of distracted that run as well. Her second try was trotting off the start line to go see Sirius and my mom while I was handing her leash to the least runner. She's all "No Becca, I'm going over here in the shade with Siri." I'm all, "Haha, no. You are coming out here and running the course. With distance because we've been Ed." Speaking of distance, I made up some "baby bonus lines" to do with her and she did really good, Qing both the runs I did that on. Tru needs to work on sending ahead straight aka "go on."

Oh, I forgot Tru's title brags. She got her S-HP-N! Now I will mover her up to Open Hoopers. She also got both of her Open Tunnelers runs, so she could potentially get her TN-O at the next trial.

Sirius was Sirius. She got 4 Qs, one in TnG, one in Weavers and two in Hoopers. Those Hoopers Qs are her first ever and she has been running NADAC since before they introduced Hoopers. Sirius gets to run Open Weavers now because she finished her S-WV-N with that Weavers Q.

The next trial is next weekend. Hopefully we can get out to work some stuff. I should work Blue's "come" work in the back yard. I hope we can get some 20 point bonuses at the next trial. Maybe if there is no bonus on Tunnelers, we could get Blue's Vers-NACH-3.

WAG NADAC Trial March 27-28, 2010

The trial in Elk Grove was a blast! We loved the trial grounds and seeing friends we don't often see. We got to watch Truly's brother run, and his owner get a NATCH on another one of her dogs. We also got to see Susan and Fritz run. I wanted to get some pics of Blue and Fritz together, but never got to doing it.

Tru and Aiden say hello from WAG!

Blue was a good girl. She Qd 7/12 runs and was very speedy and happy. She had been acting a little off since after those trials in February, like I would practice and we would mess up and she would freak out. She had been very itchy (I don't know if I ever mentioned this), and was sleep deprived, I think. She was just itch, itch, itch all the time. We gave her some Benadryl and after she stopped itching she really started to perk back up. She also went to the chiropractor to get adjusted as well.

Now onto the runs. She was super cute when we would mess up a couple of time. Particularly in TnG and Weavers. In Weavers she totally seems like she was mocking/mimicking me. My parents were laughing as I came over and they told me that. We may have gotten one 100+ DRI Regular, but I can't be sure.

We didn't get any bonus Qs and there were only 4 opportunities the whole weekend, and we tried three of them. A really good bonus line handler told us that she thinks the courses have gotten way harder to do from the line. Not really good news to hear, but she also said that if there aren't enough people qualified for SS(like last year), Sharon will have to let people in (that she knows can do bonuses of course). My timing is still what is holding us back. It's really hard to get everything coordinated right, verbals, body motion, signals, and position, looking where you want them to go, etc.

Oh, and Blue now has 6 NATCHs in Jumpers and 5 in Regular. Only 4 more Chances for her NATCH-5 now, haha.

Now Truly was a little star. She came out of this trial with 11/12 possible Qs and 4 new titles. She got her S-TN-N, O-NAC, O-NCC and TG-N! That last one completes her Novice Versatility! The only title she could have gotten that she didn't was her S-NJC. Oh, well, next time. She gets to enter her first Open class at the next trial, Tunnelers.

She had some really nice runs, and others weren't as smooth. She only had one small bobble on most of the courses. She had some weaving issues in a couple of runs, either running by or popping out. Her contacts were very good though, right to the bottom and stopped on all but one. She keeps getting faster and faster and her distance was great as usual.

Sirius was Sirius for most of the weekend. Her first two runs were crazy fast for her, but she tapered off after that. She Qd 4/12 runs, 4/6 on Sunday. She got her O-OJC and completed the Regular requirements for Champs. We'll see where the Champs thing goes as she still needs 2 TnGs, 1 Nov. Weavers and 2 Open, and her Nov. Hoopers title + 2 Open Qs before August. Sirius has never Qd Hoopers. Ever. I hope my mom can turn that around.

Here are some fun videos from the trial of other dogs we know.

First is a video of Fritz and Mini-Fritz(Blue) running the same course. I think you can see why Blue got the nickname at her first Champs in 2006.

Here's a vid of Tru's brother Aiden running. He will kick some major butt when he gets some more control. They are still babies at only 2 years. His owner is envious of Tru's control while I envy Aiden's speed, lol. Opposite siblings are fun.

Here's a small amount of photos. There are some of Tru and Aiden and some from our walk around the capital building on Monday. We stayed an extra day to look around.

We have a couple of trials planned for the next month or so. The trial in Lake View Terrace is a games trial. Hopefully there will be a lot of lines to try. Blue could also get her third Vers-NATCH if we Q in a Weavers and 2 Tunnelers. Tru could get her O-TG-N, O-WV-N and S-HP-N. Then there is another trial at the beginning of May that we are definitely going to as my mom is working hospitality and I am doing awards. It's a "normal" NADAC trial.

Wordless Wednesday

Ramona Rampage part 2 Feb. 20-21, 2010

This weekend went a lot better all around. Blue was listening on the lines a lot better(or my handling was better, lol), she ended up with a lot more Qs and Truly got a lot more Qs as well.

Truly was a good girl and not as hyper as last week, haha. She Qd 7/10 runs and got her NCC! They offered High in Trial in each of the levels and Tru had the same amount of Qs as the dog that got HIT Novice. I think because she had an E she missed out on that. I was actually not just experimenting this week, and actually ran her. She had a smoking Tunnelers run with a yps of 6.34

Blue did a lot better too, Qd 6/10 runs. To think she only got one less Q than Tru even after trying 4 bonuses. We didn't make any, but most only had one off course or in the case of Chances, a redirect. She still Qd that run, but did not get he 15 point bonus. I saw a couple of instances of where I was late or gave the wrong signal on the bonus tries. There was one instance where I guess I was mostly on time, Blue looked at me, slowed a bit, then continued on to the wrong jump, haha. She also jumped another DW contact. Grrr.

I didn't write anything about Sirius last entry. The week before my mom took her back to the start line on just about every run to restart her. Sirius was trotting or ignoring my mom, so she would take her back, jazz her up, and then Siri would do great. She still ended up with 2 Regular Qs and completed her O-OAC.

This last weekend, she did a lot better right off and didn't need to be taken back as much. She got 3 Qs, a Jumpers, a Chances and a Tunnelers. She got her O-OCC and her TN-O! The yps on her Tunnelers was 6.13! Go Sirius!

I need to clean up and upload some pics that I took the past couple of weekends while at the trial site. We don't have a trial for sure planned until May. I have a couple I hope to get to because we need all the chances to do bonus lines we can get, haha. One is at the end of March in Elk Grove that heads into spring break week. There is another in Lake View Terrace in April that I would like to do as well. I am going to make sure I get in a lot of extra bits of practice.

UDAC NADAC Jan. 30-31, 2010

I remember writing about this trial last year. Blue got like, one or two Qs, I think, lol. That was trials were we were just out of it for the most part. One more trial after that and we got back in sync somewhat. Sirius was also moved back to Novice, and started Qing more. I think that was the first time I put a trial vid all of Siri and my mom up.

Now to this year's trial.

All the dogs did pretty well Saturday. Blue Qd 3/4 runs. She had some smokin' Regular runs. One was 5.47 yps and the other 5.51 yps. I hope those end up 100+ DRI runs. We will know in a couple of weeks if the new software they were talking about on the NADAC group is up. Truly did good and got one Q in Jumpers. She's still green and I'm still not completely used to her so there were mistakes made by both of us. Sirus had an amazing Regular run and Qd that. She was pretty awesome all day(excluding her first run, lol). The only bad thing that happened on Saturday was that Blue got hurt during her last run. She started to slow down and limp. We looked at the vid and could see where she most likely hurt herself. Her right front buckled under her in between two jumps. I really don't think it's anything serious, but to be safe she was scratched from Sunday's runs.

Ditto everything I said about Saturday for Sunday except results. Truly Qd 2/3 runs, a Jumper and a Regular. Sirius Qd nothing, but was pretty up most of the time on her runs.

I was soo glad to be back doing NADAC after not trialing in it for a month, lol. I was having NADAC withdrawal. We have two weekends in a row coming up in February, one of the reasons I didn't want to risk Blue running on Sunday. Oh, have I mentioned yet that my mom is gonna try to qualify Sirius for NADAC Champs? Well, she is. She's got the life time points and just has to get the requirements for the year.

On a non dog related note-Echo has been letting me pet her some more. Cats are silly. She really likes being pet, but doesn't want you to reach at her, haha.