Oops

Well, I haven't posted in forever because quite frankly, we've been busy! As you can see, Bailey completed his OA and OAJ titles in June and July respectively. He also got the first legs of his NF (Novice FAST) title and his AX (Agility Excellent) title. Finally we went to his second USDAA trial where he completed his Performance Standard I title (PS1) and if he'd had just one more Q under a third judge, would have gotten his Performance Dog 1 title (PD1) meaning that he has the PS1 and also 1 Q in each of the 4 agility games (Jumpers, Snooker, Gamblers, and Pairs Relay).

In addition to all of our agility, I bought a house and the two of us moved in. I've been in a constant state of cleaning, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, cleaning, improving, cleaning, etc. We now have a huge yard to play in and a giant shed in which to store all the agility equipment (and the riding mower!).

I've also been getting lazy about having people film every run. As much as I'd like to capture it all on film, sometimes it's hard to make time to beg people to record your runs, especially if you're working the entire trial too. Oh well.

At some point, I will come back and post the video of at least the Q runs from the last couple months. I wish I had a computer that could stitch all the videos together into one longer movie. That would make it all so much easier!

Anyway, no upcoming shows yet. I may enter the Bearded Collie trial coming up in the beginning of September if I remember to mail the entry form. It will be our first time in Excellent for both Standard and JWW! It seems that the agility trial season is coming to an end, so I think it's just back to classes and backyard practice for us!

More Upcoming Agility Trials

I entered Bailey into a couple more agility trials for the next month or so:

Capital City Cocker Club AKC Agility Trial - May 29-31, 2010 (3 day) - Fredericksburg Field House in Fredericksburg, VA

PVGRC AKC Agility Trial - June 26-27, 2010 - Carroll Indoor Sports Center in Westminster, MD

April PVGRC Agility Trial

Here is the video from the weekend. It was our first time in Open. We had 2 Qs, both first places. The other two runs were NQ - one due to handler error and the other one too many refusals. The rules get stricter at the Open level! The video has comments on what happened in each of the runs. If I get time, I will scan in and post the course maps. I know I still owe the maps from the last competition.

The video below was actually filmed in widescreen HD, so it's probably better to click on the video to bring it up in a separate window. That way, you'll see the entire screen.



Thanks for watching!

Next Agility Trials

I have entered Bailey in to a couple more trials in the next few weeks:

PVGRC AKC Agility Trial - April 24-25, 2010 - Carroll Indoor Sports Center in Westminster, MD

TAG USDAA Agility Trial - May 9, 2010 - Dulles Sportsplex in Sterling, VA

Bailey is running in Open 24" Standard and JWW at the AKC trial (our first time in Open! Eek!) and in Performance I (Novice equivalent) 22" Standard, Jumpers, and Snooker for the TAG trial.

Wish us luck!

Clean Bill of Health!

I took Bailey back for a return visit with a chiropractor tonight just to make sure that the adjustment he had on Easter Sunday stuck. It was a LONG drive, but Dr. Bierly looked and felt him all over and gave him a clean bill of health! We're going to keep the jumps low this week, and put them up to full height next week just to be on the safe side. We're back in business!

Adjusted and Massaged!

I took Bailey down to the Mid-Atlantic Agility Showcase today to have him adjusted by the chiropractor and massaged by Kim. Bailey started the day off with a massage, which he absolutely loved. He had a great time just lying on the table while Kim worked on him and he only needed a little bit of peanut butter as a bribe.

On the other hand, he wasn't a huge fan of the chiropractor. She took a quick feel and indicated that the ribs along vertebrae 9, 10, and 11 (if I recall correctly) were subluxated. She tried to pop them back manually, but couldn't so instead used an activator. The activator (or popper as I called it) is supposedly low force, high speed and it's a tool used to help put parts back where they belong when it can't be done manually. Bailey was not a huge fan of the popper, but he survived. Every time she popped him, he turned around and tried to lick her. Silly boy! The chiro said his hips and everything else felt normal. She instructed us to take a 10 minute walk, get some water, and completely rest for 4-6 days. I'd also already had him on Traumeel to help with the soreness and she said to keep him on it for the next week or so.

So, we begin a week of complete rest (no agility, no running, leash walks, etc) and hope that this does the trick...

Injured!

Tonight in agility class at ACA, Bailey stopped wanting to do agility. He ran the first course of the night OK, but very slowly and carefully. I figured he was just sore from all the agility over the weekend. For the second course, he completely refused to do any jumping, and he blew his contacts (not normal for him). I crated him up and we thought we'd give him another try at the end of class. I brought him out again at the end of class and the same thing happened. Refusal to do anything. We put the jumps down to 20" with the same result. Finally, at 16" we were able to get him over a jump a couple times. Claudia watched him closely and said he wasn't jumping like he normally does... he was jumping off his front end instead. He normally has pretty nice jumping, so that worried me a lot.

Thankfully Kim Bennett of Stablemate Massage was at ACA for the night and took a quick feel to see if she could tell find anything wrong. Bailey has a large knot in one of his hamstrings, but no other pain points along his back or neck. Kim thinks maybe his hips are twisted funny and suggested that I take him to a chiropractor. I couldn't run Bailey for the rest of the night. Kim and several chiropractors are scheduled to be at the Mid-Atlantic Agility showcase this weekend, so I plan to take Bailey down on Sunday to get adjusted and massaged. If that doesn't work, we're off to the vet...

Mattaponi Kennel Club AKC Agility Trial - March 28, 2010

This is the second day of the trial. It was another early morning and both of us were quite tired, but were able to make it through the day. Since Bailey had qualified (and titled!) the previous day in JWW, I could have moved him to the next level - Open. Instead, I opted to keep him in Novice just to have a fun run.

Course maps will be posted as soon as I get a chance to scan and upload them.

I'm glad I did, because we had quite a messy start on this run, which resulted in an NQ. I think Bailey also started hurting at some point during the weekend, so he was not nearly as enthusiastic as normal, even during warm-up.



Bailey knocked the bar on the second jump and then went off-course when he back-jumped #4. We NQ'ed. It didn't really matter though, since he titled in JWW the previous day. After the messy start, the rest of the run turned out OK though!

Again, we settled in for the long wait until the Novice Standard class. I started to get really nervous, because a Q in the Standard class would mean that he'd get his NA title this weekend too. The course looked pretty straightforward, with only a couple tricky spots. Nothing we haven't trained for and I knew we'd be able to handle it, so long as he didn't drop any bars or miss the table completely.

We were the very last pair to run in this ring and the entire ring crew was cheering, hooting, and hollering as we entered the ring. Everyone was watching us, waiting for the minute we cross the finish jump so they can pack up and head home.



SUCCESS! Bailey qualified, earned a perfect 100 score, and placed first with this run. I was especially proud of his perfect contacts and stellar table performance. He got a little distracted at the weaves, but thankfully weaves aren't faulted in in the novice class. He completed the course in 57.64 seconds (SCT was 69 seconds) and overall did a great job!

Bailey earned the third leg and his NA title! What a great end to the weekend, and just what I needed!

Mattaponi Kennel Club Agility Trial - March 27, 2010

This is Bailey's Novice A Jumpers With Weaves (JWW) run from Saturday. Once I get a chance, I'll scan in and post the course maps. They are tiny, so I'm not sure how well it will work, but I'll definitely give it a try.



We qualified and placed third with this run. Bailey was quite distracted at the tunnel, and that cost us 7 points... 5 for the refusal and 2 for time faults, since he took such a nice, long detour. I also did a really ugly front cross at the end of the weaves. I should have just let him go and done a rear there. He completed the course in 40.09 seconds (SCT 38 seconds).

Either way, a Q is a Q!

Bailey earned his third leg and the NAJ title!

We had a long wait before the standard course, during which I hung out and watched the other competitors run with their dogs and spent some time chatting with my friends.

A little bit before our standard run, I took Bailey out of his crate with the treat pouch to warm him up and get him ready. Since treats aren't allowed in the ring, I had to dump off the treat pouch outside the ring somewhere before we ran. Stupidly, I brought Bailey with me, so he knew exactly where I put it. I got him in the ring, he went over the first two jumps, then excused himself to go find the treats. Oh well! Clearly no Q there! Lesson learned!

Next Agility Trial

Things have been going swimmingly as far as our dog training goes. Bailey and I have been taking plenty of classes. So many, in fact that I barely have time to blog anymore!

I have entered Bailey into another trial coming up at the end of March - the Mattaponi Kennel Club trial. It will be held at Cedar Run Horse Center in Woodbridge, VA on March 27 and March 28. Bailey is entered in the 24" jump height for Novice A Standard and Novice A JWW both days. Wish us luck! And as always, we welcome spectators to cheer us on! :-)