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Wins and Brags

Brags from October trial
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Yes, it is me here to brag about me and Merlin! Friday was a wonderful day. We came in 1st in Standard and came in 1st and Q'd in Jumpers (our 2nd Q in Jumpers). I was totally beside myself as some of you witnessed. Sunday was a different story. We did come in 3rd in Standard, but no Q...Thank you Jonathan for the advice regarding our weaves. Jumpers was a bust but a funny one...when Merlin came out of that #4 tunnel, I went totally blank looking around to see where we needed to go next...Oh my, I was lost. Then I looked up only to see my super smart border collie going over the correct jump! What a hoot! I told him to show Moma the way and away we went! I'm going to get one of those flip camcorders so maybe I'll be able to see and correct my faults and some Ginko for my memory.

I'd like to give a big thank you to Wendy and Mary and any others that provided us with breakfast and lunch! It was great!! Another big thank you to all the ones responsible for making it all possible!
We were sorry to only make it to one day this past weekend...but were glad we did!

We always have such a good time at our trials...and despite some very difficult courses, we learned quite a bit.

Bentley still doesn't have his dogwalk contact, but other than that, he really has improved. He was going almost 5 YPS in his jumpers run!

Jonathan and Bentley got their first Masters Snooker Q, and a Super Q at that!

And then we FINALLY got a Masters Jumpers Q, after numerous unsuccessful tries :)

We are looking forward to December!
Not much to bragg about, but we had FUN.

We had some good runns Sunday. On Friday and Saturday, however, Little Bit was operating under her favaorite alias..........where the B in her name was replaced with the letters Sh...

Kit
When that big dog knocks you down is it considered owner abuse???
Congratulations to all who ran this weekend, whether you had any Q's or not.  It was a challenge to say the least, and we can all learn something from that.  Even though Greta did some down-stays on the table and her startline stay when it counted, we will need to continue to work on that.  I got called by the judge for holding Greta by the scruff at the startline on Sunday (Greta was pretty revved up that day).  She said that she considered it abusive!  So let that be a warning to anyone else who has been guilty(?) of doing this.  I agree with her that it is a training issue, but not that it is abusive.  Still.....she's the judge.
On to better things.  Greta Q'd in Starters Standard on Friday and Saturday and finished for her Starters Standard title!!!!   Yay!! I wasn't at all sure we'd ever get through Starters Standard, but we have worked all summer on that down-stay on the table.  It worked long enough this weekend to get her title, although on Sunday when we had a freebie, she wouldn't do it!  Didn't Q in Starters Snooker by my own fault.  Greta had a beautiful run on Saturday and I pulled her off the last jump before the A-frame and home!!  I kicked myself all day for that one.  Sunday was just not a good competing day for us, but I'm so happy to be done with Starters Standard that nothing else really matters.  Now it is on to working on that table some more, and getting to the startline and staying there until released!  Training never stops, so don't get complacent! (I tend to do that :-) )  The food for the trial was great, as usual, and it was great to see everyone pitching in to help where needed.  Thanks  to all!!  JO
Last weekend sure was different.  It is over and lets push on.  My 9 year old Surfer Boy ran his heart out this weekend.  He is such a good boy. Shelly was a very good boy.  As usual, we have some things to work on.  He did manage to qualify in Snooker, and I saw a glimmer of the future in several of his runs.  He will be practicing where his feet are supposed to be this week.  I think it is great that we have such a good group of people and that we can all come together to support each other.  Bud Houston is our December judge and our dogs usually tend to do very well with Bud Houston.  We use a lot of his setups in training, and so there is a familiarity with his design style.  The design style this past weekend was certainly different for most of us.  I think I saw more threadles last weekend than I have seen in the last 6 years combined.  She sure did like those.
Wanda
Whew. Glad the weekend is over on multiple levels.
It was good for some, bad for others, and mixed for even more.
To our club members who had some difficulties this weekend, know that the club stands behind you and will work with you to remedy the situation so that these issues can be resolved.
I do want to post the USDAA Rule book on the website if I can download it so that everyone is familiar with its contents and the general rules for USDAA trials. This is a must to read if you will be participating in trials. We have a rule book available at every trial and when I travel out of town I take a copy with me. If you are subscriber to USDAA services, you can download and print a copy, otherwise you are just able to read it from the website. I suggest printing a copy and getting to know the material so you can be prepared in the instance that you ever need rule clarification. Yes, the 2004 copy is the most recent copy, there have been some amendments made but the entire volume has not been updated yet, (hopefully this year).
As far as my pups performances, it was a mixed, emotionally taxing weekend for both me and my dogs.
Echo, my sweet girlie, had the first grips of the fall season hit her and has started having some troubles with her joints again. She had a ball and was smiling with each run, but we did not have any qualifying runs although she was very very happy. As I have said before, everytime I take her into the ring I am grateful because I never know if that will be our last run together. So in my eyes she is a champion even without a title to show it. We do not know what our future agility holds and will take it a day at a time but for the time being she is again semi-retired until the weather improves and/or if her little body can keep up with her strong will next year when it warms up.
Meg, my sensitive little girlie, is actually thinking in the ring. This is a double edged sword for us for when she thinks she stresses. Poor girl was showing signs of stress big time this weekend and we had some pretty troublesome runs. She did give me a 2o2o during some of our runs, which is definitely making progress, but this also contributed to her stress as she feels it must be perfect or not do it. So, we have more work to do. Contrary to popular beleif, not all border collies are maniacs (giggle) and she has such a sensitive little demeanor. It is a challenge to work through at times. All in all, I think this is making me a better dog trainer (hopefully) because I have not had to deal with this mixture of behaviors before in a single dog. My first herding breed adopted me when I was 10 years old and I have been hooked ever since. (I won't say exactly how long that been :)...
You may have seen me being asked to leave for training in the ring. Okay, I will leave with my dog and throw a party outside the ring. She did not have to know that we were dismissed. You may have also saw me "get lost" a few times and then come out of the ring and tell my girls that they are the best in the world. Remember that the dogs are just doing what you ask of them and to still be thankful for your team mate. I may look or sound silly in the ring but will get thrown out any day for praising my dog too much or doing what is right for them at the time.
All in all, Meg and I did end up with an Advanced Snooker Q coming in second place to our wonderful friend Shelly Belly Usher, congrats Shelly and Meg!
Congratulations to all our students who had runs this weekend and thank you to everyone who made this trial a success. We have such great help and everyone just pitches in where needed. It is a pleasure to be a part of such a great group of people! 

Take care,
Kathy
Matilda and I had a pretty good weekend. We were definitely working as a team (except in a couple of spots) and feel confident heading into Nationals. We earned a PIII Gamblers Q, PIII Snooker SQ, Perf. Speed Jumping Q (and her Accomplished Tournament Dog title).

And many thanks to everyone that helped with the food - it was great. I especially liked the salads for today's lunch!!

Lori
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Low Country Dog Agility
1981 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29407