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...
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, March 29, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, March 1, 2010
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! :-)
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! :-)
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