USDAA in Oregon
June 10 & 11, 2006
Report from Mia

Saturday: So, the good news is the dogs are for the most part running really well. The bad news is the results don't indicate how well they're running overall. Star has shown it's time to do some busy work, weave entries and more A-frame work. The weave entries cost her Qs in everything, other than Gamblers, which was a gamble that she doesn't yet have the skills to do (none of my dogs did it). Despite the Q-less day, she really is running well. Very happy, fast and confident. She ate a bag of treats right before her Grand Prix and had an uncharacteristic bar down, but had a GREAT dogwalk and let me
handle the teeter like she was a big dog. Finn is also looking good, my mistakes cost us in Standard, I think something happened to him in Steeplechase at the weaves, he kept skipping a pole in the middle, I thought a saw a limp, but by the 3rd reset he was in full
wuss-mode, so it was hard to tell. Other than the weaves, he had a great run. His Pairs partner went off-course, he didn't have a prayer to do the gamble, but he did make the second round of Grand Prix with a 5 fault run....whew! Max was a good boy. He had the
best results, but I'm happier with how Finn and Starlet are running. He also made the second round of Grand Prix, won PIII Standard and is in the second round of the Performance version of Steeplechase. He's being a good boy. All this said, I've decided
that this will be the summer of AKC for me. Star needs busy work, weave entries and continued work on her A-frame (which will be best accomplished away from the 6'3" one). I'll have an easier time staying focused on this (and not worrying about finishing her ADCH) at AKCs. Finn just needs to stay tuned up and be protected from having the meltdown he had last year around Bay Team. Max needs to be better with his dogwalk, I want more speed and he's close enough to his ADCH-Silver that I have the luxury of taking the time to work on things... So, it's training time for the dogs. I'm going to do
Happy Dog in July, but otherwise, I think my next USDAA could be Bay Team in Sept. If Finn gets a bye into the semis tomorrow, I will probably just take Max and Starlet to focus on them. They're all looking good, but now is the time to train while there's still time before Nationals!

Kate is kicking ass up here. Quick was the top qualifier in Steeplechase. Quick ran clean in all her classes and looks great. She's had two vets feel her and they both described her as "full", but too soon to say what she's full with. ;-) Driven ran clean in Grand Prix, so she'll be dropping the reigns on the freaky fast dog tomorrow and going for broke. It should be very fun to see. It doesn't seem like a big show, but it ran really late today. Here's hoping for a faster day tomorrow, so we can make some progress on the return home. I hope everyone is having a fun and successful weekend! Tell the dogs they're good. mia

Sunday we only had two Masters/PIII classes, which started the day. First up Snooker, it was a course where there were 1's on the outside of the ring and 7's was 12 weaves in the middle. I ran it first with Max, a couple little bobbles that kept us from winning (darn that Hoagie!), but he did take 2nd doing 7s in a competitive class. Yay! Finn had a terrific opening, really tight turns, great entries, good speed, but we went off-course going to 2 in the closing. Such a bummer, because his opening was great. Starlet continued to show that having NQs doesn't mean a run wasn't successful. My plan had us starting with a tunnel, then going to the weaves. I led out past the tunnel, released and down came 1 and into the tunnel she went. My first ever zero in Snooker. Max was top 10 last year, this year I experience my first zero. ;-) The great news is Star grabbed her leash after the run and instigated a game of tug (something I don't ask her to do, since usually she's just a wiggle worm wanting food...I can't ask her to do something she doesn't want to do for a reward). First time ever, woooohoooo!

Second run was Masters Jumpers. Max was first dog in and this was a class I REALLY wanted a leg in. He was awesome, just so solid and easy. He ran clean with a solid time and is now 1 Jumpers and 1 Gamblers from his ADCH-Silver. I've finished all the ADCHs with Max and Finn at Happy Dog and that's our next show.... He's such an amazing dog! Star finished her weekend with another NQ, with what I remember as a great run with lots of improvements. She had an off- course, but was fast, sent to tunnels easier and faster than Max or Finn, did an off-set serpentine with me ahead of her and had good turns. She also grabbed the leash for some tugging after the run. Woohoo! Finn had some amazing turns in Jumpers and ran clean. All weekend his startline was rock solid. It's been years, since I've felt this way when walking off the line. Yay Finn!

Max ran in the second round of Performance Steeplechase and was super naughty. The good news was it was the class before Grand Prix, which let me get in a good correction, the bad news is he was a TOTAL jerk-boy. Enough about that. ;-)

Grand Prix finished the day. Finn ran first and I could tell from what I'd seen earlier in the day that a clean run would get a bye into the semifinals. Maybe because I was planning on running for a clean run, maybe because it was hot, maybe Finn was just being weird, but he was super pokey. It kind of reminded me of last year's Regional at Bay Team. That said, he ran clean, earned his bye (the reason I drove so far), so I'm thrilled. Hooray! He'll be skipping Bay Team this year to concentrate on fun, low-key shows.

He's always been very solid in enthusiasm at Nationals, so I just want to keep him happy. I have to say, the course was great fun to watch (not quite as much fun to run, because it was very tricky and mattered so much). Watching 22" was the best fun I've ever had watching an agility class (possibly because I didn't have a dog in it ;-)). It was so exiciting and there were several goosebump moments. Quick could have been in contention for it, but she took a nose dive in a turn that took a TON of time. Thank goodness she didn't land on her belly! ;-)

Max was the first dog in 16" Performance GP. I spent a ton of the show hanging out with Kristy Netzer and she's just awesome. Jubilee was one of 4-5 dogs that I thought could beat Max with a good run, even if we had a very good run. Kristy is such a great sport and helped me enjoy the reality of the competition (since clearly we all wanted to win) while having a really good time with your competition. Such a nice lady! I decided since Max was the first dog in, I should run it like a run-off in show jumping. So, I wanted to put in a solid, but not reckless clean run. There's not going for broke, but I couldn't quite run safe... We had some WIDE turns and I had to really step in to support a jump that if we'd been called for a refusal, I would have understood. I also understand why we weren't called, it was close. Since we were first, obviously we held the lead. Kate decided it would build my character to watch everyone else's runs. That was a BRUTAL experience, since we didn't have a really good run. During one of my sidelines meltdowns, I told Kate I didn't have to watch, because all I really cared about was the bye, which she promptly reminded me should make it easy to watch the other runs, since a clean run would be a bye. The tricky parts kept getting dogs and before I knew it, all the other dogs had run. Max won the Regionals and has a spot in the Performance Finals this year! I can't believe it.

On the drive home, which was an adventure to say the least and was done in 3 driving shifts (me two, Kate one, which happened after an adventure that had me too freaked out to drive anymore...ask me about it) I had a moment near the Pig Palace just after Buellton. I was listeninng to a cd of a band that has a pianist. My mom was a concert level pianist and a friend's mom recently died, plus fatigue... Max woke up in the passenger's seat next to me and gave me a look he's given me since the day I first met him. The speed with which life goes by and how lucky I am to be in this moment with Max. A happy cry for me and I think that's the moment that my goal for us for the year was truly met. What an amazing dog, blessed is the word I think of when thinking about how I could have found him. Give your dogs a hug. mia