Report from Scott ~ After a rough start we managed to have a really fun show. Foster was running with more speed than I've seen him have in competition before, but stress and focus are still an issue. My first run of the show was gamblers P1 with Foster. He ran pretty well but just as the gamble clock started he decided to try to bail out of the ring. When I called him back he thought he should take the tunnel that was facing away from me and the gamble but staring him right in the face. By the time he finally exited the tunnel I figured we had eaten up our time but the whistle hadn't blown so I sent him on his way to the start of the gamble which was another tunnel. The next obstacle was a push out to a jump which he did just fine. With two jumps to go I started to think we just might make time so I started to put on some extra speed and wham! I trip over something, probably my own big feet or some unevenness in the grass, and fell. I heard later that Foster had taken the next to the last jump, good boy!, but not the last one. I didn't expect that he would but in hind sight I wish I had the presence of mind to yell "Go On!" as I hit the turf. Luckily all that was wounded was my pride. Foster and I didn't manage to Q this weekend but I did see some positive signs that he might eventually begin to show well. Show and Go's for confidence and some focus work is what we are going to be working on for a while.

Next, I ran Annie in Champ starters gamblers. We were clean up until the second to the last jump where she knocked a bar. Other than that it was a nice run so I was happy. From that point on Annie and I began to have an awesome show. Any mistakes that were made were all mine as she was focused and driving pretty hard on the obstacles she is comfortable with. On Saturday we Q'd in both starters standard and pairs. On Sunday we managed to Q in everything we ran! It was just a great day. Our first Q of the day was in jumpers where we had a nice run but the real treat was Q'ing in the Performance Grand Prix. I really didn't have any hopes of Q'ing but I thought I would give it a try. Annie was just so responsive and did everything I asked. Even when I forgot to change sides at the next to the last jump we managed to reset ourselves and finish the last jump with time to spare. We also managed to get our third starters standard leg so now we get to run in advanced standard, whoo hoo! Finishing out the show was our snooker run where we also managed to Q with a nice tight run and 47 points. So, Annie had a great show, getting Q's in 4 out of 4 runs on Sunday and 2 out of 3 runs on Saturday. Not a bad show for the green team! It is definitely one we will always remember! 

I saw some really nice runs by Nora, Bob, Barbara and Mia. Even though it was hot and muggy everybody stayed in good spirits and the dogs did a great job and kept working hard through the entire show. Way to go GVDC!

Report from Mia ~What a fun weekend of showing!  The courses were very technical in the DAM and Masters Jumpers classes, but they did let teams get up a head of steam.  Max's weekend started with DAM Gamblers and he was awesome.  He made the gamble seem easy and even took 3rd in his class.  Mr. Finn didn't want to send away in the same gamble, but he did have a startline (confirmed by my handy dandy new camcorder).  In DAM Snooker I did a conservative plan with Max and Finn, which they both did beautifully. Next up was DAM Jumpers and it was almost funny how many dogs were E'ing (kiss of death in DAM).  When Terry Simons and Reveille had troubles, Kristi and I turned to each other and said a quick profanity.  It was looking grim.  Max was awesome, so responsive and made the course seem easy.  Finn was equally good and both dogs took 2nd in their heights.  Woohoo!      

We weren't as fortunate in the Masters Jumpers.  I screwed up all 3 dogs in the last 3 obstacles.  The only good thing I can say is at least it was a new mistake each time.  Star was a very good girl in her first Adv. Standard with a Q and a 4th place.  She and Gale (Finn's sister) also took 4th in Adv. Pairs with another Q!  Woohoo! 

The last class of the day was Steeplechase.  Star stalled out at the top of the first A-frame and I really babysat her weave entry (which she did beautifully, despite my attempts at interferring), so we didn't make the cut.  Max had a really solid run and did make the cut.  Finn's run was awesome the 2nd fastest in 26", which was probably the highlight of the day for me.          

The second round of Steeplechase started my Sunday.  Finn was the first dog up and he had a terrific clean run.  He ended up 2nd in the class for $40 and change.  Big bucks for us.  Max was very smooth and efficient in his run.  Both dogs made some lovely weave entries and Max even ended up in 3rd place ($20)!  A great way to start the day! 

From there I was in Masters Jumpers with all 3 dogs.  The course was VERY technical and I thought it was over Star's capabilities.  She surprised me again and picked up her 3rd Masters Jumpers leg in 4 tries!  Max also Qed in Masters Jumpers, despite me nearly screwing us up at the last jump.  It was a great reminder about not taking anything for granted on a course.  Finn did a great job on the hard parts of the course, but ran around a jump in the closing line....totally my fault. None of my dogs Qed in the Grand Prix.  Both Max and Finn had troubles at a tricky tunnel.  Max went off-course to a tire and Finn had a refusal.  I caused a second refusal with Finn after the A-frame, since he did one of his obstacle missile locks on his way down.  Star took an off-course jump after the same tunnel that gave Max and Finn troubles, but I was still very pleased with her run. 

Star also gave a great effort in her Standard, but we had time faults after some troubles at the table, plus I held all of her contacts.  I wouldn't change anything and I do think the heat affected her table performance (I think the table became HOT since most dogs didn't want to lie down on it).  Max and Finn both did great jobs in their DAM Standards and neither dog Eed in any DAM classes. 

In Relay, Max's team ran first.  I ran anchor leg on both my teams, so I was killing time by playing the "belly game".  I heard troubles happen in the second leg of the relay and looked to see how it all was going to end (all ended well, Tammy did a great job getting Tryst back on track).  When I turned around I realized I couldn't find Max.  After what seemed like an eternity, I finally asked if anyone had seen him.  He was looking for food under the score table, but came back just in time for the baton exchange.  He went on to run a great leg of relay.  Finn held up pretty well being the last dog of relay.  We had a refusal, but stayed on course, which was the most important thing.  In the end, Finn's team (Kristi Cetrulo and Cinder and Dan Roy with Nala) was 2nd overall!  Woohoo!  Max's team (Tammy and Tryst and Sharon and Tiger) was 5th overall and Max was the 2nd place dog overall, behind the freaky consistent Luz.  Woohoo!!!  I'm so proud of all the dogs!

It was also fun having Violet and Kadi in the Masters Jumpers ring.  I heard some good things were happening in the Adv/Starters ring and Scott had one amazing show with Annie!  They're really coming together as a team!  Here's hoping for more fun, successful trials in the future.  Tell the dogs they're good. 

From Bob ~ Saturday: Kadi and I just missed completing the Gamble correctly (my fault!), had a tough Standard with no weaves (not my fault!), had an awesome Masters Jumpers run with 1 small error 3 jumps from the finish line, Pairs we did ok but weaved on our 3rd try.

Sunday: Kadi has a great Standard but missed the down contact of the dogwalk, another great Masters Jumpers run but 1 bar down, distracted during Grand Prix so we left early, and ran great in Snooker with a Q and 1st. Cooper played with us today- he ran a clean Standard but 2 seconds over time, Jumpers we had 2 bars down, Grand Prix he had the sniffs so we left early, and Snooker we went off course- a tough day for us!

A not so good show for Q's but a great show for learning.
Congrats to all our agility pals doing well at the show- Susan, Nora, Mia, Barbara, Scott, Dave, Diane, Elizabeth, with a special big bark to superdog Max and Mia taking 2nd place overall individually in the DAM competition, and Annie and Scott going 4 for 4 Qing Sunday, including Grand Prix!

Report from Barbara ~ I've come to finally realize that our biggest challenge in USDAA trials is making time. The days of holding contacts is officially over. At 8 1/2 years old, Violet doesn't fly off contacts any more anyway. She only paused for a moment at the end of the dog walk, glancing up at me, looking for confirmation to keep going, but after that blew right through the rest of them knowing we had a new stategy. This paid off as we made time in both Standard runs, even with a quick "off course" through a tunnel trap on Saturday. Our Sunday Standard went very well except for a wrong weave entry (the judge missed this!) and a resulting pop out missing the last pole. But we made time in both and that was our primary goal.

This was Violet's first time in the Masters (PIII) jumpers ring. On Saturday we were faced with a tricky course and as I was walking it I realized it would be much trickier if I had one of those turbo-charged dogs. This was a course just made for Violet! There were some tight turns, a few "traps" such as the old "tunnel vortex trick" and a false jump or two. Violet did a beautiful job for a Q. Nice way to start off our PIII career! Our Sunday jumpers was okay, I don't recall exactly what went wrong but we missed time by .25 of a second anyway.

Gambler's on Saturday was just for fun. I still don't really expect "Velcro" to work 20 feet away from me. We've been practicing, but the stress of shows just does not work in our favor. The trick in the gamlble was, as usual, going to be the teeter. During the opening I ran her over it twice. She only needed once to see that it was not a friendly teeter and that the wierd "clunk" it made was a "dangerous" sound! So, during the gamble she bailed from the teeter. The moral of this story, find more teeters to train on!

I think the highlight of the weekend was at the end of the day Sunday with Snooker. It was late and most people had gone home. I'm getting better at planning Snooker openings with making time, not earning points, as our goal. We divised a plan, ran it flawlessly and the whistle blew when she was in the air over the last jump. Q in Snooker!

Over all it was a great weekend! Enjoyed all the friends that were there and Cedar was a very good puppy for her first show experience. Very little whinning, lots of new dogs to meet and she loved playing with the hose at the kiddie pools. She seemed VERY interested in watching the ring action. She was calm, but attentive and looked like she studying what was going on. We sat a few times right on the sidelines and she would not take her eyes off the dogs running. Good puppy!