Compitition Agility Class

Last night we had competition agility class. We went through long periods of time that we didn't have class this summer because of the extreme heat, but hopefully as fall approaches it will cool down enough.

There were only 2 in class and we ran the steeplechase course that was left setup from this weekend. We discussed contacts. Clover is very slow at descending the contacts and we talked about ways to speed up the decent and have her stick the contact. This weekend we blew 2 runs because of contacts.

Currently when I reward clover for a contact, I throw the ball and release her. This has been rewarding her for the release, not for the 2 on 2 off contact. What we did in class is I threw her the ball when she was still on the contact and would not let her leave. Vanessa said she thought she saw an improvement in the few reps we tried during class. I will work on it at COW and see how she does at the NADAC trial this weekend.

Teamworks USDAA Trial

The USDAA Trial this weekend at Teamworks went well. I was one of two chief course builders again. It was a two ring trial and I worked the performance ring. Our judge was Blake Stafford.

I was disappointed by the way Clover and I started out. Our first course was the gamblers course. I started out going jump, tire jump teeter and then to the dog walk. Clover blew the contact on the dogwalk. I made her take it back and she blew it again and went into a tunnel. When she came out I made her take it again and she blew it again. ....She blew the contact 3 times in a row on the dog walk. I was not happy.

I didn't have much hope for the next regular run... and clover met my expectations, she blew her contact on the dogwalk again and I must have yelled at her because she had no confidence for the we weave poles and I had to restart her a few times. She did stick it on the Aframe however.

The other two runs I entered were the jumpers and snooker. The jumpers run was easy and we had no problems with it. The snooker run was fun because I was able to do a long lead out so we could get 2 7 point obstacles and a 6 in the opening. We had the most points in P1 by a long shot.

Saturday was a nice day, but it was extremely hot. It was in the mid nineties. Clover didn't seem to mind but it sure did wear on me.

Sunday was a much nice day. On Sunday we were in the grass ring and it was a little cooler with a breeze. Our first run on Sunday was the gamblers run. Clover did very well. She stuck her contact and the A-frame. Our next class was the regular class and she did beautifully. She hit all of her contacts and did the weave poles perfect the first time. Our next class was P1 Jumpers. We did fairly well, clover almost went past a jump and I had to bring her back, so we lost some time. But we did Q with plenty of time. The last run of the day was snooker P1. We had fun. Once again I was trying for as many points as possible and did a long lead out. Unfortunately during the lead out, she decided to take the tunnel. I had to think on my feet and adapt. We did get 2 7 point obstacles in the opening though and got a Q and first.

Overall, I was very pleased with how clover did once she settled down. We Q'ed on 6 out of 8 runs.

If you want to see some of the courses run, see Mike's Running Rowdy Blog