I just plain forgot about recapping our last trial, so this is going to be short since we have another trial coming up this weekend!
Briefly, Harley got 2 1st places, Qing in Standard and Jumpers to get her Open titles in both. Other than that, some handler mistakes NQ'd us from our other runs.
Harley's JWW Run
Harley's Standard Run
Mo had 2 great runs, but FAST was a little much for him (gotta work on those outs!), and he did an off course on the Standard run.
This weekend is Carolina Piedmont Agility's Charlotte trial. It's at the same location as the July 4th trial, which has a great surface (Charlotte Sports Center) . Wish us luck!
Titling Progress: Harley
Open Standard (OA) - 3/3 legs ** NEW TITLEOpen JWW (OAJ) - 3/3 legs ** NEW TITLE
Open FAST (OF) - 1/3 legs
Titling Progress: Mo
Novice Standard (NA) - 1/3 legs
Novice JWW (NAJ) - 0/3 legs
Novice FAST (NF) - 0/3 legs
Showing posts with label trial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trial. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Trial Recap: Carolina Piedmont Agility AKC Trial in Charlotte, NC
This past weekend was our first hometown trial in a loooong time. Carolina Piedmont Agility (CPA) hosted their AKC trial on July 4th weekend at the Charlotte Sports Center. We are more than happy to enter trials in July that are hosted indoors in A/C, especially if it is close to home! We've come to enjoy the trials that CPA hosts, as they are always well run and know what competitors expect out of a great trial site.
Many people came into the trial with reservations about the running surface. Indoor turf has not earned itself a great reputation in the agility community, especially in this area. I mainly attribute this to the turf surface at another local trial site that has drawn the ire of large dog owners due to the turf's lack of grip, resulting in dogs slipping. I, however, had no reservations about the Charlotte Sports Center turf - I play on it regularly in a soccer league! It's cleat-friendly and is infused with small tiny rubber pellets that A) give dogs a nice grip since their claws can really dig in for traction, and B) it has a nice "spring" to it so you don't feel like you're running on carpet over concrete.
Needless to say, we were excited about a local, indoor trial at a great facility. But that was only a small part of why we were excited: This would be the first trial for our youngest dog, Mo! Mo started training in late November at Dog Haven under Deb Knowles. We decided that we would try to enter him in this trial, as he turned 15 months old on July 1st (AKC regulations state that a dog must be older than 15 months to compete).
We also decided that we would only enter him in 2 classes, 1 each day. It's always an adventure when your dog goes to its first trial. You never know how they are going to react when they get into the ring for the first time. There are so many other things going on, it makes it very different from the controlled environment we have at our weekly classes. While Mo has been coming to trials with Harley for over a year now, we wanted to ease him into competition. Part of this was also entering him in "Preferred." AKC Preferred classes allow a dog to run in a jump height below what they measure. Mo measures 21" at the withers, which would put him in the 20" height class. We're working him up to to 20 inches, but in the mean time we decided that running 16" Preferred would be best, and we can build up from there.
Without further ado, here are the results!
Saturday 7/3
Open JWW - Harley - Harley opened her weekend with a BEAUTIFUL run. She was fast, accurate, and clean, earning a 1st place & Q. [video]
Novice FAST - Harley - Oops. We forgot to move Harley up into Open after titling in the last trial...Oh well. We ran this just for fun and, it turns out, infamy. Our run was going very well, racking up 78 out of a possible 80 points. All that was left was the last jump which stops the timer. James was paying too much attention to directing Harley and not enough attention to where he was on the course that he put himself on a collision course with the final jump. Luckily it doesn't effect our run, as that jump is only used to stop the timer and has no bearing on whether or not you Q. Plus, Harley jumped the jump simultaneously to me knocking it down, so the time difference would've been negligible. We ended up in 2nd place (1st place tied with points, but had a faster time) and a Q. Be sure to check out the video!
Novice Standard - Harley - Same as above, we forgot to move her into Open. Regardless, Harley steamed through the course, earning a 1st & Q!
Novice Standard - Mo - The big debut! Mo did extremely well for his first run at trial. He was un-phased by the change in environment and ran exactly how he would've in practice. He had beautiful downs on the contacts, and ran clean with no bars down. To our surprise, Mo ended up in 2nd place & Q, only 0.40 seconds behind 1st place! [video]
Sunday
Open Standard - Harley - AKC allows dogs to move up, so on Sunday we moved Harley up from Novice to where she was supposed to be: Open. Kristen had a nice clean run with Harley. Harley was a little slow on the table getting to a sit, but no faults led to a 2nd place & Q!
Open FAST - Harley - A difficult send bonus doomed this run (A-Frame - tunnel - A-Frame). Otherwise, the run was a success!
Open JWW - Harley - A nice start then led to an off-course. This particular course was VERY tight, and a lot of dogs and handlers were having problems with it.
Novice JWW - Mo - Mo had a small refusal on the 3rd jump (he just went around it), but James recomposed him and finished the rest of the course clean. Novice dogs get 2 refusals, so Mo Q'd and came in 3rd place! [video]
So all in all, a great success. We're very proud of Mo earning 2 Q's his first trial, and he showed us that he can handle the pressure of a trial environment very well. Harley was her usual consistent self, earning several Q ribbons. We are looking forward to CPA's next trial at the Sports Center.
I also want to say thanks to our parents for coming out to see us on Saturday, and a special thanks to Deb for all her hard work getting Mo (and us!) ready for his first trial.
Many people came into the trial with reservations about the running surface. Indoor turf has not earned itself a great reputation in the agility community, especially in this area. I mainly attribute this to the turf surface at another local trial site that has drawn the ire of large dog owners due to the turf's lack of grip, resulting in dogs slipping. I, however, had no reservations about the Charlotte Sports Center turf - I play on it regularly in a soccer league! It's cleat-friendly and is infused with small tiny rubber pellets that A) give dogs a nice grip since their claws can really dig in for traction, and B) it has a nice "spring" to it so you don't feel like you're running on carpet over concrete.
Needless to say, we were excited about a local, indoor trial at a great facility. But that was only a small part of why we were excited: This would be the first trial for our youngest dog, Mo! Mo started training in late November at Dog Haven under Deb Knowles. We decided that we would try to enter him in this trial, as he turned 15 months old on July 1st (AKC regulations state that a dog must be older than 15 months to compete).
We also decided that we would only enter him in 2 classes, 1 each day. It's always an adventure when your dog goes to its first trial. You never know how they are going to react when they get into the ring for the first time. There are so many other things going on, it makes it very different from the controlled environment we have at our weekly classes. While Mo has been coming to trials with Harley for over a year now, we wanted to ease him into competition. Part of this was also entering him in "Preferred." AKC Preferred classes allow a dog to run in a jump height below what they measure. Mo measures 21" at the withers, which would put him in the 20" height class. We're working him up to to 20 inches, but in the mean time we decided that running 16" Preferred would be best, and we can build up from there.
Without further ado, here are the results!
Saturday 7/3
Open JWW - Harley - Harley opened her weekend with a BEAUTIFUL run. She was fast, accurate, and clean, earning a 1st place & Q. [video]
Novice FAST - Harley - Oops. We forgot to move Harley up into Open after titling in the last trial...Oh well. We ran this just for fun and, it turns out, infamy. Our run was going very well, racking up 78 out of a possible 80 points. All that was left was the last jump which stops the timer. James was paying too much attention to directing Harley and not enough attention to where he was on the course that he put himself on a collision course with the final jump. Luckily it doesn't effect our run, as that jump is only used to stop the timer and has no bearing on whether or not you Q. Plus, Harley jumped the jump simultaneously to me knocking it down, so the time difference would've been negligible. We ended up in 2nd place (1st place tied with points, but had a faster time) and a Q. Be sure to check out the video!
Novice Standard - Harley - Same as above, we forgot to move her into Open. Regardless, Harley steamed through the course, earning a 1st & Q!
Novice Standard - Mo - The big debut! Mo did extremely well for his first run at trial. He was un-phased by the change in environment and ran exactly how he would've in practice. He had beautiful downs on the contacts, and ran clean with no bars down. To our surprise, Mo ended up in 2nd place & Q, only 0.40 seconds behind 1st place! [video]
Sunday
Open Standard - Harley - AKC allows dogs to move up, so on Sunday we moved Harley up from Novice to where she was supposed to be: Open. Kristen had a nice clean run with Harley. Harley was a little slow on the table getting to a sit, but no faults led to a 2nd place & Q!
Open FAST - Harley - A difficult send bonus doomed this run (A-Frame - tunnel - A-Frame). Otherwise, the run was a success!
Open JWW - Harley - A nice start then led to an off-course. This particular course was VERY tight, and a lot of dogs and handlers were having problems with it.
Novice JWW - Mo - Mo had a small refusal on the 3rd jump (he just went around it), but James recomposed him and finished the rest of the course clean. Novice dogs get 2 refusals, so Mo Q'd and came in 3rd place! [video]
So all in all, a great success. We're very proud of Mo earning 2 Q's his first trial, and he showed us that he can handle the pressure of a trial environment very well. Harley was her usual consistent self, earning several Q ribbons. We are looking forward to CPA's next trial at the Sports Center.
I also want to say thanks to our parents for coming out to see us on Saturday, and a special thanks to Deb for all her hard work getting Mo (and us!) ready for his first trial.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Trial Recap: Fletcher AKC May 29th
Just a quick recap this time...work has kept Kristen and I very busy!
Leaving for Blue Ridge Agility Club's AKC trial in Fletcher, we had one main goal: Get 2 Q's in Standard for our Novice title. We really wanted Harley to be in all Open classes at our hometown trial in Charlotte on July 4th weekend, and this was our last chance.
Saturday
Novice Standard - James ran this one with Harley and had some scary close jumps. Harley nearly nicked the bar on the double and final jump. In typical Harley-jumping form, she tucks her back feet in and clears the bars when she jumps too early. Some of the jumps on this run were just a little too close for comfort. Nonetheless, she was clean, and we ended up placing first & Q! (youtube)
Open JWW - Kristen had some bad luck....Harley dropped the 2nd bar in the course. Apart from that, the run was beautiful and clean.
Novice FAST - James ran for an impressive 74 points with 7 seconds to spare. We came up 1 point short of first place, but walked away with a Q and our NF title! James was kicking himself since he had plenty of time to go pick up a couple more points for first, but it's the Q that counts. (youtube)
Sunday
Novice Standard - Kristen had a flawless run, earning a 1st & Q and Harley's final Novice title, NA! (youtube)
Open JWW - This run almost started with disaster. After a 2 jump lead out, James looked back and Harley was sniffing the ground and wouldn't respond to her release command! I walked back trying to get her attention, and suddenly as I neared the first jump, she started to go! Although it wasn't as smooth as planned, the run was clean, and Harley earned another 1st & Q.
Open FAST - Kristen showed superior planning, racking up 78 points for a 1st & Q in our first Open FAST run! This beat her previous personal best of 77 points, and continues our 100% Q-Rate in FAST. (youtube)
For convenience, I created a youtube playlist with our runs from the weekend. The lighting in the outdoor ring was too much for the camcorder to handle, so I only posted video from our indoor runs.
Titling Progress:
Novice Standard (NA) - 3/3 legs ** New Title!
Novice FAST (NF) - 3/3 legs ** New Title!
Open JWW (OAJ) - 1/3 legs
Open FAST (OF) - 1/3 legs
Leaving for Blue Ridge Agility Club's AKC trial in Fletcher, we had one main goal: Get 2 Q's in Standard for our Novice title. We really wanted Harley to be in all Open classes at our hometown trial in Charlotte on July 4th weekend, and this was our last chance.
Saturday
Novice Standard - James ran this one with Harley and had some scary close jumps. Harley nearly nicked the bar on the double and final jump. In typical Harley-jumping form, she tucks her back feet in and clears the bars when she jumps too early. Some of the jumps on this run were just a little too close for comfort. Nonetheless, she was clean, and we ended up placing first & Q! (youtube)
Open JWW - Kristen had some bad luck....Harley dropped the 2nd bar in the course. Apart from that, the run was beautiful and clean.
Novice FAST - James ran for an impressive 74 points with 7 seconds to spare. We came up 1 point short of first place, but walked away with a Q and our NF title! James was kicking himself since he had plenty of time to go pick up a couple more points for first, but it's the Q that counts. (youtube)
Sunday
Novice Standard - Kristen had a flawless run, earning a 1st & Q and Harley's final Novice title, NA! (youtube)
Open JWW - This run almost started with disaster. After a 2 jump lead out, James looked back and Harley was sniffing the ground and wouldn't respond to her release command! I walked back trying to get her attention, and suddenly as I neared the first jump, she started to go! Although it wasn't as smooth as planned, the run was clean, and Harley earned another 1st & Q.
Open FAST - Kristen showed superior planning, racking up 78 points for a 1st & Q in our first Open FAST run! This beat her previous personal best of 77 points, and continues our 100% Q-Rate in FAST. (youtube)
For convenience, I created a youtube playlist with our runs from the weekend. The lighting in the outdoor ring was too much for the camcorder to handle, so I only posted video from our indoor runs.
Titling Progress:
Novice Standard (NA) - 3/3 legs ** New Title!
Novice FAST (NF) - 3/3 legs ** New Title!
Open JWW (OAJ) - 1/3 legs
Open FAST (OF) - 1/3 legs
Monday, May 10, 2010
CDCA Pendleton Trial
Harley's 2nd AKC trial was a success! We were down at the Canaan Dog Club of America (CDCA) trial in Pendleton, SC. The trial site was wonderful - large indoor arena with ample crating space. Here's the breakdown:
Saturday:
Novice JWW: Harley flew through the course in an impressive 21.50 seconds for a 1st & Q.
Novice Standard: Harley blew her A-Frame contact on what would've been a qualifying run!
Novice FAST: Despite the judge and/or scribe miscalculating our score, we still managed a 1st & Q with 62 points (should've been 77).
Sunday
Novice JWW: Harley sailed through the course in 23.05 seconds for another 1st & Q. This was her 3rd Novice JWW leg, so we earned our first AKC title (NJ)!
Novice Standard: We continue our bad luck with Standard. Harley jumped the bottom contact of the dog walk, which was the 2nd to last obstacle. We already had a refusal, but that would've still been enough for a Q.
So all in all, pretty successful weekend. Our Standard runs were pretty frustrating, but we know what we have to work on. BRAC's AKC trial in Fletcher is in less than 3 weeks, so we'll prepare for that. With any luck, we'll pick up the last 2 Novice Standard legs there (fingers crossed) so we'll be in all Open classes for our hometown trial in July!
Saturday:
Novice JWW: Harley flew through the course in an impressive 21.50 seconds for a 1st & Q.
Novice Standard: Harley blew her A-Frame contact on what would've been a qualifying run!
Novice FAST: Despite the judge and/or scribe miscalculating our score, we still managed a 1st & Q with 62 points (should've been 77).
Sunday
Novice JWW: Harley sailed through the course in 23.05 seconds for another 1st & Q. This was her 3rd Novice JWW leg, so we earned our first AKC title (NJ)!
Novice Standard: We continue our bad luck with Standard. Harley jumped the bottom contact of the dog walk, which was the 2nd to last obstacle. We already had a refusal, but that would've still been enough for a Q.
So all in all, pretty successful weekend. Our Standard runs were pretty frustrating, but we know what we have to work on. BRAC's AKC trial in Fletcher is in less than 3 weeks, so we'll prepare for that. With any luck, we'll pick up the last 2 Novice Standard legs there (fingers crossed) so we'll be in all Open classes for our hometown trial in July!
Monday, April 12, 2010
2010 April GCOC Trial Recap
Kristen and I were so grateful to have so many friends at the trial with us to mentor us in our first AKC event. As we anticipated, Harley did very well, and showed people exactly what mixed breeds can accomplish!
Harley had 3 runs on Saturday - Novice Standard, Novice JWW (Jumpers With Weaves), and Novice FAST (Fifteen and Send Timed).
Kristen took Harley on the Standard run. The run was looking beautiful until we realized our oversight coming into the trial: The table. In USDAA, the pause table is always, always, ALWAYS a down. The judge's count does not start until the dog is completely down. In AKC, the judge announces during the briefing whether the table will be a Sit or a Down. Unfortunately for us, we've trained Harley to do an automatic down when she gets on the table. This by itself is not bad, however we never worked with Harley to getting her up into a sit from a down. When Kristen tried to get her into a sit, Harley jumped up on her 3 times, earning a disqualification (Harley thought Kristen was telling her to give hugs!). The rest of the run was flawless!
For Harley's FAST run, Kristen got some much-needed counseling from our friends Laura and Christine on the rules. FAST is all about racking up points. Each obstacle has an assigned point value on the course, and there's a "bonus" combo where the dog has to take the obstacles at a distance (5-7 feet in Novice). You have a set amount of time to obtain the required points. In her run, we had 32 seconds to amass 50 points. A buzzer sounds at the end of time, and if you have not gone over the end obstacle, you get negative 1 point for each second you spend getting to the end jump. Kristen and Harley put up an impressive 77 points in 28 seconds! Harley again placed 2nd, missing first by 1 point!
After waiting all day, we finally had the chance to redeem ourselves. Remembering the table incident the previous day, we had been working with Harley all day training her to come up to a sit from a down. While not 100%, she was very close to having it down pat. We flew through the course and reached the table halfway through. Sure enough, she did her automatic down on the table and the moment of truth arrived: I said "Up" with a hand signal, and sure enough, Harley went immediately into a sit! We finished off the run with no faults, earning us 2nd place and Q!
So you might be thinking to yourself, if she did so well, why is she always coming in 2nd? There's a perfectly good answer to that, one that we are not ashamed of. Anna Eifert and her dog Nevian were in town to give a seminar. They decided to enter the trial, and since they don't usually compete in AKC, they had to start in Novice. As you can see in this video, Nevian, the dog who placed 1st to our 2nd each time, is quite the accomplished dog. We were humbled just to be competing with a world-class level dog and it showed us how special Harley is by being closely competitive with them!
So that was our first AKC trial! As you can see below, there was a good turn out of mixed breeds, and AKC gave us a commemorative ribbon to mark the event.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Our First AKC Trial: Columbia GCOC
We're heading down to Columbia this weekend for the Greater Columbia Obedience Club's AKC agility trial! This is an important milestone as it marks our first trial in AKC with our mixed-breed star, Harley!
It will definitely be a little weird being back in Novice level. For those of you who are unfamiliar, each organization has its own titles. Harley competes in PIII level (the highest Performance level) in USDAA. However, since she has not competed in AKC, we have to start at the bottom and work ourselves up. Most organizations will not let you enter a higher level even if you have achieved a similar level in another organization until you fulfill their title requirements. Main reason is that each organization has slightly different rules, judges, and regulations that might not be completely compatible with their own titling requirements and standards.
Expect updates on our facebook page throughout the weekend.
So it's Novice-A for us! Look out, AKC. Here we come!
It will definitely be a little weird being back in Novice level. For those of you who are unfamiliar, each organization has its own titles. Harley competes in PIII level (the highest Performance level) in USDAA. However, since she has not competed in AKC, we have to start at the bottom and work ourselves up. Most organizations will not let you enter a higher level even if you have achieved a similar level in another organization until you fulfill their title requirements. Main reason is that each organization has slightly different rules, judges, and regulations that might not be completely compatible with their own titling requirements and standards.
Expect updates on our facebook page throughout the weekend.
So it's Novice-A for us! Look out, AKC. Here we come!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
LCDA Charleston Trial Recap
February 27-28th was Harley's trial down in Charleston, SC. Harley did very well the first day, earning qualifying scores in several events, most importantly the tournament events.
The Cynosport World Games are coming up this October in Louisville, KY, and this trial was an important step along the way. To qualify to enter a Cynosport tournament event, one must earn 2 qualifying scores in that event (except for Dog Agility Masters Team/Performace Versatility Pairs, which only requires 1 qualifying score). Coming into Charleston, we had 1 Q in Performance Grand Prix and 1 Q in Performance Speed Jumping. We needed a Q in each to guarantee our trip to Louisville. Read on to see if we made it...
Saturday
PIII Snooker - Harley usually does very well in Snooker. It's been her handlers that alway bungle it up! Not so with this run. Harley scored an impressive 52 points (If you know snooker rules, it was 4 reds and the points were 1+7+1+7+1+3+1+4+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 52). Best part was that she placed 1st and got her first SuperQ! 3 SuperQ's are needed to earn a PIII title in snooker, and we were dry up to this point, not for lack of trying. The thing about SuperQ's is that you have to be aggressive in your plan. It's not enough just to qualify. A SuperQ is earned when you place in the top 15% of a height class of at least 7 dogs (there are other rules about less than 7). You have to start running for the most points you can get instead of trying to be conservative and get the minimum 37 points required for a qualifying score. We've struggled recently with this, and going all out has cost us. Snooker is very unforgiving!
PIII Gamblers - Harley always does very well in her Gamblers opening. She racks up a lot of points very quickly. However, the closing came to bite us again. We placed 3rd overall, but no Q. We're still working on her distance work, and there's a lot more work to be done.
PIII Standard - As is always the case with our standard runs, something went wrong. Harley uncharacteristically dropped a bar, then proceed to look at her dad while not doing the weave polls (which was more dad's fault for not hiding well enough while video taping!). We ended with a respectable 3rd.
Performance Grand Prix - With all Harley's troubles in standard, she sure doesn't show it in this tournament event (which has all the standard obstacles minus the pause table). She flew through this course to a first place and a Q! This was doubly important - A) This now qualifies us to enter PGP at Cynosport later this year, and B) a 1st place finish earns us a first round bye at regionals this June!
Performance Speed Jumping - Harley turned in another impressive performance, earning a 3rd place and a Q! This completes our goal for qualifying in each tournament event for Cynosport!
Sunday
In brief, Sunday was not as good as our Saturday showing. Harley was a little tired, and her runs showed it. She was making mistakes, and ended up not earning a Q in any of the events. She did, however, earn LOTS of 3rd places! Four, to be exact.
That's it for this trial. Our next trial isn't until April when we enter our first AKC trial! This will be the first month that mixed breeds are allowed at competition, and we are looking forward to showing our stuff!
Sunday
- PIII Standard - 3rd
The Cynosport World Games are coming up this October in Louisville, KY, and this trial was an important step along the way. To qualify to enter a Cynosport tournament event, one must earn 2 qualifying scores in that event (except for Dog Agility Masters Team/Performace Versatility Pairs, which only requires 1 qualifying score). Coming into Charleston, we had 1 Q in Performance Grand Prix and 1 Q in Performance Speed Jumping. We needed a Q in each to guarantee our trip to Louisville. Read on to see if we made it...
Saturday
PIII Gamblers - Harley always does very well in her Gamblers opening. She racks up a lot of points very quickly. However, the closing came to bite us again. We placed 3rd overall, but no Q. We're still working on her distance work, and there's a lot more work to be done.
PIII Standard - As is always the case with our standard runs, something went wrong. Harley uncharacteristically dropped a bar, then proceed to look at her dad while not doing the weave polls (which was more dad's fault for not hiding well enough while video taping!). We ended with a respectable 3rd.
Performance Grand Prix - With all Harley's troubles in standard, she sure doesn't show it in this tournament event (which has all the standard obstacles minus the pause table). She flew through this course to a first place and a Q! This was doubly important - A) This now qualifies us to enter PGP at Cynosport later this year, and B) a 1st place finish earns us a first round bye at regionals this June!
Sunday
In brief, Sunday was not as good as our Saturday showing. Harley was a little tired, and her runs showed it. She was making mistakes, and ended up not earning a Q in any of the events. She did, however, earn LOTS of 3rd places! Four, to be exact.
That's it for this trial. Our next trial isn't until April when we enter our first AKC trial! This will be the first month that mixed breeds are allowed at competition, and we are looking forward to showing our stuff!
Summarized Results:
Saturday
Saturday
- Performance Grand Prix - 1st and Q
- PIII Snooker - 1st and Q
- PIII Snooker - 1st and Q
- Perfomance Speed Jumping Round 1 - 3rd and Q
- PIII Standard - 3rd
- PIII Gamblers - 3rd
- PIII Gamblers - 3rd
Sunday
- PIII Standard - 3rd
- PIII Jumpers - 3rd
- PIII Gamblers - 3rd - Perfomance Speed Jumping Round 2 - Eliminated
- PIII Snooker - 3rd
Monday, January 18, 2010
Carolina Piedmont Agility USDAA Trial Recap
We've just wrapped up the trial weekend in Raleigh at CPA's USDAA trial. The venue was great! Hunt Horse Arena is a superb location for an agility trial. It fits 3 rings in the indoor heated arena, albeit it's a tight squeeze. A two ring show would be more comfortable, but with the amount of entries, 3 rings were really needed.
I'm really impressed with CPA. They are just starting out in the world of trialing, and they are getting everything right. We learned on Sunday that this was the largest USDAA trial EVER held in NC. This was only their 2nd trial, and there looks to be many more to come. Kudos to Greg Fontaine, Carolina Piedmont Agility, and everyone involved.
Now to Harley's performance!
Day 1
P3 Snooker (Kristen) - Not too tough of a course. Kristen and Harley were doing VERY well and looked like they were headed for a sure Q. Unfortunately, the practice jump was right next to the weave poles. In the closing, Harley got distracted by something that direction and popped out of the poles. Snooker requires 37 points to qualify, and we ended with 33 points. Had we gotten through the weave poles, it would've been worth 5 points and our Q. Oh well...
P3 Pairs (James) - This is a class Harley traditionally does very well at, and this was not an exception. We had a great partner who did their half flawlessly. Despite an awkward baton exchange area that got the best of a lot of pairs, it went very smoothly. Harley was on-target and fast, but unfortunately she missed her weave pole entry. I think it was probably that she had too much speed going in, and just overshot it. Regardless, it was a 5 point fault. Great thing about pairs is that Qing is time+faults so as long as you're still under course time, you're good. We Q'd, and just barely missed 3rd place. 0.05 seconds sooner and we could've had it!
P3 Gamblers (James) - Harley's string of Non-Q's continued, highlighting our need to keep working on our distance work. James had a nice send over a jump to a far tunnel, but unfortunately stepped over the gamble line. Our opening would've had plenty of points, but the closing is always the challenge. Even had I not stepped over the line, Harley took the wrong jump after the tunnel. C'est la vie.
P3 Standard (Kristen) - This was our most important class this weekend, as our last P2 title was on the line! Harley was running a little slow, but ran clean. We were concerned that she might not make the course time, but our worries were unfounded as we ended up placing 1st and Q!
Performance Speed Jumping Round 1 (Kristen) - The Steeplechase/PSJ course was very challenging for many dogs that entered. Since Harley was running pretty slow in her P3 Standard run, Kristen tried jazzing Harley up before her run with her favorite toy: a racquetball. Her strategy proved to be a successful one as Harley was noticeably faster. But it's not just speed that counts....it's accuracy. Harley was dead on! She earned a Q, and advanced to the next round on Day 2.
Day 2
P3 Gamblers (Kristen) - Harley's first run of the day. This run started out FANTASTIC....until the timer realized that they hadn't started the timer (very important in Gamblers). D'oh! So Kristen had to start over. Graciously, the judge said that as long as she did the same course, she'd give us the points even if we faulted. The restart did not go as well as the first run, but she did do the complete gamble, but missed the A-Frame contact. Despite not Qing, we were very happy with this, since she's starting to "get" distance work and not be velcroed to our side for the entire run. It's a process of learning, and she's showing signs of great improvement!
Performance National Qualifier (James) - This course was fast and fun! James had the pressure on to Q since Kristen already Q'd on Saturday in Performance Speed Jumping. These two tournament classes are important since Q's in these count towards qualifying for the Cynosport World Games. Harley did beautifully and Q'd with ease. She didn't place, but Q's are what counts. The only place that counts is 1st since that gives you a first-round bye at regionals (we earned one of these last year).
Performance Speed Jumping Round 2 (Kristen) - With our Round 1 Q in hand, this run is for the money! PSJ round 2 placements determine prize money for places 1st-3rd in each height class, with 1st obviously getting the most. Harley did well, but with so many good dogs and the fact that Harley was getting tired, she just wasn't fast enough to place. We ended up in 6th.
P2 Standard (James) - Since we earned our PS2 title the previous day, this run was just for fun since it won't count towards anything. Despite being late in the day and both of us being tired, Harley had a nearly clean run. Her only fault? She jumped off the pause table. While I'm very happy this didn't count, it was frustrating since we've worked very hard the last couple months to "fix" her table. All weekend she was doing a beautiful automatic down. For some reason or another, she hopped on the table and hopped right off. When she got back on, the down was automatic. Despite not Qing, Harley placed 1st (nobody else Q'd in our height class either). That's what I love about USDAA: You don't have to Q to place!
P3 Snooker (James) - Last run of a very long day! I took a very risky snooker plan and hoped it worked. Since it's the last class of the day, I knew Harley wouldn't be as energetic, so I wanted to avoid the weave poles (the #6 obstacle was a combo jump to weave poles). So I did all 7 point obstacles. Problem is that the 7 point obstacle was not very close to the required red jumps! Harley and I sprinted all over the field and made up some impressive ground (I actually had to warn the judge at the start that my path was coming right towards her! She thanked me for telling her, and moved to a better position so I wouldn't barrel right into her..). The strategy worked, and we got all three 7-point obstacles and made it through obstacle 6 in the closing for a total of 44 points (need 37 to Q). We were hoping for a "SuperQ" but were bested by 2 other dogs that managed to get 48 points. We ended with a 3rd place and a Q.
Summarized Results:
Saturday
- PII Standard - 1st & Q
- PIII Pairs - Q (Did not place)
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Perfomance Speed Jumping Round 1 - Q (Did not place)
- PIII Snooker - Did not place
Sunday
- PII Standard - 1st
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Performance National Qualifier - Q (Did not place)
- Perfomance Speed Jumping Round 2 - 6th
- PIII Snooker - 3rd & Q
NEW TITLES:
PS2 - Performance II Standard
PD2 - Performance Dog II
I'm really impressed with CPA. They are just starting out in the world of trialing, and they are getting everything right. We learned on Sunday that this was the largest USDAA trial EVER held in NC. This was only their 2nd trial, and there looks to be many more to come. Kudos to Greg Fontaine, Carolina Piedmont Agility, and everyone involved.
Now to Harley's performance!
Day 1
P3 Snooker (Kristen) - Not too tough of a course. Kristen and Harley were doing VERY well and looked like they were headed for a sure Q. Unfortunately, the practice jump was right next to the weave poles. In the closing, Harley got distracted by something that direction and popped out of the poles. Snooker requires 37 points to qualify, and we ended with 33 points. Had we gotten through the weave poles, it would've been worth 5 points and our Q. Oh well...
P3 Pairs (James) - This is a class Harley traditionally does very well at, and this was not an exception. We had a great partner who did their half flawlessly. Despite an awkward baton exchange area that got the best of a lot of pairs, it went very smoothly. Harley was on-target and fast, but unfortunately she missed her weave pole entry. I think it was probably that she had too much speed going in, and just overshot it. Regardless, it was a 5 point fault. Great thing about pairs is that Qing is time+faults so as long as you're still under course time, you're good. We Q'd, and just barely missed 3rd place. 0.05 seconds sooner and we could've had it!
P3 Standard (Kristen) - This was our most important class this weekend, as our last P2 title was on the line! Harley was running a little slow, but ran clean. We were concerned that she might not make the course time, but our worries were unfounded as we ended up placing 1st and Q!
Performance Speed Jumping Round 1 (Kristen) - The Steeplechase/PSJ course was very challenging for many dogs that entered. Since Harley was running pretty slow in her P3 Standard run, Kristen tried jazzing Harley up before her run with her favorite toy: a racquetball. Her strategy proved to be a successful one as Harley was noticeably faster. But it's not just speed that counts....it's accuracy. Harley was dead on! She earned a Q, and advanced to the next round on Day 2.
Day 2
P2 Standard (James) - Since we earned our PS2 title the previous day, this run was just for fun since it won't count towards anything. Despite being late in the day and both of us being tired, Harley had a nearly clean run. Her only fault? She jumped off the pause table. While I'm very happy this didn't count, it was frustrating since we've worked very hard the last couple months to "fix" her table. All weekend she was doing a beautiful automatic down. For some reason or another, she hopped on the table and hopped right off. When she got back on, the down was automatic. Despite not Qing, Harley placed 1st (nobody else Q'd in our height class either). That's what I love about USDAA: You don't have to Q to place!
P3 Snooker (James) - Last run of a very long day! I took a very risky snooker plan and hoped it worked. Since it's the last class of the day, I knew Harley wouldn't be as energetic, so I wanted to avoid the weave poles (the #6 obstacle was a combo jump to weave poles). So I did all 7 point obstacles. Problem is that the 7 point obstacle was not very close to the required red jumps! Harley and I sprinted all over the field and made up some impressive ground (I actually had to warn the judge at the start that my path was coming right towards her! She thanked me for telling her, and moved to a better position so I wouldn't barrel right into her..). The strategy worked, and we got all three 7-point obstacles and made it through obstacle 6 in the closing for a total of 44 points (need 37 to Q). We were hoping for a "SuperQ" but were bested by 2 other dogs that managed to get 48 points. We ended with a 3rd place and a Q.
Summarized Results:
Saturday
- PII Standard - 1st & Q
- PIII Pairs - Q (Did not place)
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Perfomance Speed Jumping Round 1 - Q (Did not place)
- PIII Snooker - Did not place
Sunday
- PII Standard - 1st
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Performance National Qualifier - Q (Did not place)
- Perfomance Speed Jumping Round 2 - 6th
- PIII Snooker - 3rd & Q
NEW TITLES:
PS2 - Performance II Standard
PD2 - Performance Dog II
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
This Weekend: Carolina Piedmont Agility Trial (Raleigh NC)
Wish us luck this weekend as we travel to Raleigh to compete in Carolina Piedmont Agility's USDAA trial! Given the recent cold weather, our host had the wisdom to hold this trial in a heated horse arena, so we will be very comfortable!
Looks like Harley has 2 titles she can earn this weekend: Performance Standard II (PS2) and, by extension, Performance Dog II (PD2). PD2 is an accumulative title that's earned when you have 3 Q's in each of the 3 non-standard Performance II classes (Snooker, Gamblers, and Jumpers), and your PS2 title. We have all the non-standard Q's required already, so by earning a Q in PII Standard, we can obtain both titles at once! Let's hope I didn't just jinx our chances...
Hopefully we can also pick up a couple tournament Q's so we can qualify for nationals again this year! Expect updates via our Facebook, and a full recap post when we get back.
Looks like Harley has 2 titles she can earn this weekend: Performance Standard II (PS2) and, by extension, Performance Dog II (PD2). PD2 is an accumulative title that's earned when you have 3 Q's in each of the 3 non-standard Performance II classes (Snooker, Gamblers, and Jumpers), and your PS2 title. We have all the non-standard Q's required already, so by earning a Q in PII Standard, we can obtain both titles at once! Let's hope I didn't just jinx our chances...
Hopefully we can also pick up a couple tournament Q's so we can qualify for nationals again this year! Expect updates via our Facebook, and a full recap post when we get back.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Fletcher: Trialing in the Mountain Snow
This weekend's trial in Fletcher started out with frustration. A snow storm descended upon western NC on Friday night as we were traveling. What would normally be a 2 1/2 hour drive turned out to be much, much longer.
The roads were bad, but passable within a safe speed. We were doing well until 3 miles from I-26 we were stopped due to a tractor-trailer accident. After an hour and a half wait, we got going slowly and decided to re-route off the highway to get to I-26 where I was convinced that since it was an interstate, the roads would've been pre-salted and possibly plowed once or twice.
I was wrong. Not long after getting on I-26, we got behind another accident approaching the gorge near Saluda. This time we had 2 hours to entertain ourselves. We found out that another tractor trailer had jack-knifed across the interstate.
After getting going again, things were looking good. People were starting to realize how to drive in the snow, and as a result, traffic was relatively smooth considering the conditions. Then came the THIRD stoppage. This time we were TWO MILES from our exit, and it was 1:45 AM. After about 2 hours, I got out and started talking with other people. Turns out that there was another tractor-trailer jack-knife, and that the police had now closed the interstate until it was all cleared, and they could plow everything. Hour after hour passed. Finally at 5:30AM we started moving. 10 minutes later we were at the exit.
We pulled off, and much to our displeasure, the exit was blocked. Two tractor-trailers had attempted to go up the exit ramp, and subsequently got stuck. (Are you noticing a theme here?) After waiting about 20 minutes to see if anything was going to happen, we turned around on the ramp and got back on the interstate hoping that the next exit was free. As we went through the underpass, we noticed the exit ramp was free. Having been driving for just under 11 hours, laws be damned, we went up the exit ramp backwards.
When we finally checked in to the hotel, it was 6:20AM. The trial check-in starts at 7. So we slept for 40 minutes and headed over to the site. Upon arriving we found out that the trial start had been delayed for 2 hours due to weather. So we had to sit around for another 2 hours.
Once things finally got started, we started having fun. Saturday we were entered in PII Standard, PIII Snooker, Performance Speed Jumping, PIII Pairs and PIII Gamblers. Snooker was short and not-so-sweet. We got eliminated on our first set of obstacles. Our pairs run was clean, earning a 2nd Place & Qualifying. Unfortunately, we already have a Q in PIII with the pair we ran with, so it won't count towards our PIII title (it can apply to other titles down the road). Harley did well in Gamblers, but came up short on the closing gamble. Our Standard run was excellent, earning a 2nd & Qualifying, which means we only have 1 Q left before getting our standard title! A fault on her Speed Jumping run left us out of the running for round 2.
Sunday started earlier than Saturday despite being slightly delayed due to the icy road conditions. We had 3 runs, none for Q's. Another good Gamblers run, but still came up short on the gamble (need to do more distance practice!). Harley faulted her weave entrance in her Standard run, and proceeded to do the same in Performance Grand Prix (in addition to an off course that was totally my fault). Having only 3 runs, we left for home early. Thankfully the trip home took the usual 2 1/2 hours.
Reflecting, we learned a few lessons and what to work on. While we didn't perform as well as we hoped, it was the best we could do considering the lack of sleep and conditions. We're planning on attending CPA's trial this January in Raleigh, so we'll see if we can get our weave poll issues and distance work improved by then!
Lastly, Harley, Slo-Mo, Jazzmine, India, Shai, Bruno, Pepe and their 2 two-legged friends would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!
Summarized Results:
Saturday
- PII Standard - 2nd and Q
- PIII Pairs - 2nd and Q
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Perfomance Speed Jumping - Did not place
- PIII Snooker - Eliminated
Sunday
- PII Standard - Did not place
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Performance Grand Prix - Eliminated
The roads were bad, but passable within a safe speed. We were doing well until 3 miles from I-26 we were stopped due to a tractor-trailer accident. After an hour and a half wait, we got going slowly and decided to re-route off the highway to get to I-26 where I was convinced that since it was an interstate, the roads would've been pre-salted and possibly plowed once or twice.
I was wrong. Not long after getting on I-26, we got behind another accident approaching the gorge near Saluda. This time we had 2 hours to entertain ourselves. We found out that another tractor trailer had jack-knifed across the interstate.
After getting going again, things were looking good. People were starting to realize how to drive in the snow, and as a result, traffic was relatively smooth considering the conditions. Then came the THIRD stoppage. This time we were TWO MILES from our exit, and it was 1:45 AM. After about 2 hours, I got out and started talking with other people. Turns out that there was another tractor-trailer jack-knife, and that the police had now closed the interstate until it was all cleared, and they could plow everything. Hour after hour passed. Finally at 5:30AM we started moving. 10 minutes later we were at the exit.
We pulled off, and much to our displeasure, the exit was blocked. Two tractor-trailers had attempted to go up the exit ramp, and subsequently got stuck. (Are you noticing a theme here?) After waiting about 20 minutes to see if anything was going to happen, we turned around on the ramp and got back on the interstate hoping that the next exit was free. As we went through the underpass, we noticed the exit ramp was free. Having been driving for just under 11 hours, laws be damned, we went up the exit ramp backwards.
When we finally checked in to the hotel, it was 6:20AM. The trial check-in starts at 7. So we slept for 40 minutes and headed over to the site. Upon arriving we found out that the trial start had been delayed for 2 hours due to weather. So we had to sit around for another 2 hours.
Once things finally got started, we started having fun. Saturday we were entered in PII Standard, PIII Snooker, Performance Speed Jumping, PIII Pairs and PIII Gamblers. Snooker was short and not-so-sweet. We got eliminated on our first set of obstacles. Our pairs run was clean, earning a 2nd Place & Qualifying. Unfortunately, we already have a Q in PIII with the pair we ran with, so it won't count towards our PIII title (it can apply to other titles down the road). Harley did well in Gamblers, but came up short on the closing gamble. Our Standard run was excellent, earning a 2nd & Qualifying, which means we only have 1 Q left before getting our standard title! A fault on her Speed Jumping run left us out of the running for round 2.
Sunday started earlier than Saturday despite being slightly delayed due to the icy road conditions. We had 3 runs, none for Q's. Another good Gamblers run, but still came up short on the gamble (need to do more distance practice!). Harley faulted her weave entrance in her Standard run, and proceeded to do the same in Performance Grand Prix (in addition to an off course that was totally my fault). Having only 3 runs, we left for home early. Thankfully the trip home took the usual 2 1/2 hours.
Reflecting, we learned a few lessons and what to work on. While we didn't perform as well as we hoped, it was the best we could do considering the lack of sleep and conditions. We're planning on attending CPA's trial this January in Raleigh, so we'll see if we can get our weave poll issues and distance work improved by then!
Lastly, Harley, Slo-Mo, Jazzmine, India, Shai, Bruno, Pepe and their 2 two-legged friends would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!
Summarized Results:
Saturday
- PII Standard - 2nd and Q
- PIII Pairs - 2nd and Q
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Perfomance Speed Jumping - Did not place
- PIII Snooker - Eliminated
Sunday
- PII Standard - Did not place
- PIII Gamblers - Did not place
- Performance Grand Prix - Eliminated
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
This Weekend: Fletcher
This weekend, we are headed off to one of our favorite places to trial: Fletcher, NC! The Blue Ridge Agility Club always knows how to put on a good trial, and we're hoping to continue the success we had at their trial last May (1st place in Performance Grand Prix that gave us our first round bye at SE Regionals, which lead to our qualifying for Nationals).
This will be the first time we've competed at the indoor arena at the Western NC Ag Center. Given the cold temperatures expected this weekend, it will certainly be nice to be indoors. Our trainer, Deb, will also be making the trip with her dog Ike, so we can bug her with our obsessive handling analyses instead of always bothering Susette. :-)
In other news: Carolina Piedmont Agility just announced some of their future trial dates for USDAA and AKC. In addition to the January USDAA trial in Raleigh, they will be hosting TWO AKC trials in Charlotte at the Charlotte Sports Center. Both trials are after April, when the new Mixed Breed classes can be offered, and it's been confirmed that they will be holding Mixed Breed classes. The Charlotte Sports Center is a great venue, and has a great indoor playing surface. I should know - I played indoor soccer there for many years in high school & college. It's great to see more trials in the popping up in the Charlotte area!
Wish us luck this weekend!
This will be the first time we've competed at the indoor arena at the Western NC Ag Center. Given the cold temperatures expected this weekend, it will certainly be nice to be indoors. Our trainer, Deb, will also be making the trip with her dog Ike, so we can bug her with our obsessive handling analyses instead of always bothering Susette. :-)
In other news: Carolina Piedmont Agility just announced some of their future trial dates for USDAA and AKC. In addition to the January USDAA trial in Raleigh, they will be hosting TWO AKC trials in Charlotte at the Charlotte Sports Center. Both trials are after April, when the new Mixed Breed classes can be offered, and it's been confirmed that they will be holding Mixed Breed classes. The Charlotte Sports Center is a great venue, and has a great indoor playing surface. I should know - I played indoor soccer there for many years in high school & college. It's great to see more trials in the popping up in the Charlotte area!
Wish us luck this weekend!
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