West Valley Dog Sports USDAA Show
February 12 & 13
Reports by Mia, Julie, Terra, Anne, Peggi,
Diane, Bob and Scott.
From Mia:
It was an agility marathon of a trial this past weekend. Fortunately, the people putting on the show are some of my favorites, otherwise I would have completely lost my mind. There were 3 rings running and each ring had a judge that was being supervised. It was already a big show with lots of classes, but adding the judge supervision factor and it became ridiculous. Saturday started with a 6:30 check in and I returned to my hotel room at 7:30 pm. Sunday was also a 13 hour day with Mike and I finally leaving at 8:30. At least there wasn't traffic on the way home.
It was good show for my dogs. Nothing spectacular, but nothing to be disappointed about. Max and Finn both made the second round of Steeplechase. Max finished 5th and Finn 8th for a combined $30 and change. Finn had a lovely Jumpers run on Saturday taking a 3rd and also Qed in Snooker. Max did an awesome Gamblers and finished 4th. I'm enjoying running him so much these days! I did an opening that I wasn't sure we could do in the 25 seconds allowed, which Max did great. Good boy! All in all this weekend, Max and I weren't in the best sync. Little bobbles here and there, mainly caused by me not pushing him hard enough/taking things for granted. On Sunday, he did pick up a Super Q (4th) with a terrific Snooker run and also finished his JCH with our best run of the weekend, which also happened to be his last run of the weekend.
On Sunday, Finn picked up a Q in Grand Prix and would have been in the ribbons, except we had some confusion going to the weave poles. Finn's Jumpers run was my last run of the weekend and he was great. I forgot my plan at one spot, but he did a great job covering for me (still took 4th).
Marie and Bubbles made the trip on Sunday for the Performance Grand Prix. We had a two refusals, so no Q, but Bubbles weaves were fantastic and she absolutely could have qualified. Good girl B-dog!
Star was a good girl. She and Julie's Ravey did a great job in Starters Pairs and took 2nd place! Go Team Sweet (Miss Star) and Sour (Miss Ravey)! Star also picked up her second Adv. Snooker leg with a great run. She would have made it through the closing, but I made a bad decision which chewed up a lot of time (whistle blew as she was coming down the A-frame, which was the 7). She did a great job in Adv. Jumpers. No Q, but she was great, I was barely hanging in there mentally and kept thinking "Is this the right course" every time she came out of a tunnel, which caused some time eating refusals. She still would have Qed, if I'd just said "over" at the last jump...it happens. On Sunday, she only had Gamblers. When I saw the gamble, I knew Star couldn't do it and my hope was she'd do the tire of the gamble. She did the tire and I remember thinking,"Wow, I can't believe she just did that" and then didn't push out as hard as I needed to for the rest of the gamble. She absolutely could have done it. I do love being surprised by that girl.
From Julie:
Ravey's weekend (I do love the red dogs!): Red Dog Sour got Q's in both her Standard Starters (3rd place Sat.), got her SS. Only had her in Steeplechase and GP other than the Pairs class, so, 3 Qs out of 5 not too bad for a little red dog who wouldn't even take the first jump in Camarillo. She made a gallent effort in the Steeplechase, whistled off in GP. We don't have that lead-out pivot down enough for me to have dared try it and I wasn't able to pull her off the dummy jump after jump 2, then she merrily back-jumped the dummy jump, for whistle #2. I was very happy she was sooo very happy!
From Terra:
Seeker got his AAD and he qualified for the 2005 Nationals in the Grand Prix, yeah! He was already qualified to run the Steeplechase at the Nationals this year and at this show he made it into the steeplechase finals again. In the final round however I made a big mistake and so we didn’t run clean – Seeker didn’t care though. He got some other legs at the show too. I know I keep saying this, but the best part of the weekend was that he did all this while still holding all his contacts and his start line! That is always my underlying goal because it is a big part of why we are having so much fun running together.
From Anne:
I don't think I have fully recovered from the very fun yet exhausting WVDS USDAA trial Feb. 12-13th at the Industry Hills Equestrian Center.
Kiwi was great this past weekend though, she qualified in Standard both days and Snooker on Sunday. We had the most amazing experience. This particular trial dragged on forever, and sometimes we had 3-4 hours in between runs. We had a couple runs in the morning on Sunday, later Kiwi ran in the Performance Grand Prix and got her first Q, then we had to put her in the car in the parking lot after that. Kiwi likes to cheer Zip on from the sidelines with constant barking and it really winds Zip up even more. Mike and I think Zip does better if he can't hear Kiwi so if we put her in the car during his runs he tends to be a bit better. So Kiwi is in the car, we have Zip out and are waiting for his chance to run the GP, and I realize in the next ring over they are running Kiwi's Snooker class. I check the run order and Kiwi was up in 3 dogs. I run over to Mike, take Zip, and ask Mike to run to the car (please) and grab Kiwi.
As Mike runs off I realize that maybe I should have just forgotten about the Snooker run and focused on Zip's upcoming Grand Prix class. It was too late, and a minute later I see Mike and Kiwi come running towards us. I hand Zip to Diane Baley, take Kiwi from Mike who just ran from the car. Kiwi was up at that very moment in the Snooker ring so we went in with no jump warm-up or anything. I pace out my strides to the first jump and removed Kiwi's leash and collar. I figured what ever happens, happens. Off we go and Kiwi proceeds to have a perfect Snooker run and finishes the course. She got a Q and a placement (I think 4th) and I am really proud of her because she pulled it off on the fly, and our class participants included Terry Simons' Curry, Teresa Rodney's aussie Smokey, Cole the fast sheltie, sometimes the great BC's Whist and Caper ran in performance, and many other successful dogs that have gotten older.
So I hand Kiwi off to Mike, get Zip from Diane, and realize that Zip was up in the Grand Prix in 2 dogs. We did a warm-up jump and some obedience, and then it is time to take the line. Amazingly enough, the lack of a proper warm-up was actually OK for Zip and we only had a bobble on the weave entry (it was super tight). He left all his bars up, got his contacts, and stayed on course. I believe that is Zip's first Grand Prix Q ever, and since he was so great in that class (after a less than stellar weekend) I quit him on that good run and we packed up and went home. Zip and Kiwi were there for me in a pinch and I couldn't ask for more. I left the show feeling so happy and satisfied, and tired from the long trial hours. We were at the trial for 14 hours on Saturday and 10 hours on Sunday, and I had no desire to wait around for Jumpers which was nowhere near close to starting - and it was already 6:00pm!
So we are half way towards our Grand Prix goals for the 2005 USDAA Nationals, we'll see what the rest of the year brings us. Zip and Kiwi are pretty pleased with themselves and I have to say I am proud of them both too. I need to clean up some of my handling and do some sprint drills before the next trial, and hopefully I will be on the ball and (maybe) worthy to step to the line with "The Champ" and her brother Zippy. We'll see. :-) Anne
From Peggi:
The Labs were out in full force for GVDC and they all had successful shows! Woohoo! Go non-herding breeds!
Well again what a fun trial!!!! Great to see all the Santa Barbara folks there having fun!!!! USDAA is just the best!!!! My favorite run of the weekend was my first of the weekend and a non Q. But who cares? It was just a great run!!!! I was soooooo high when I came off the course. It was Masters standard and Indy was 9 seconds under time and was perfect except for me yelling and turning just as she was taking a jump and she clipped it!!! But is was just a kick butt run and I loved it! The whole weekend she was a good little girl! She got her first Master gamble!!!! Two master jumpers legs for her Master Jumpers title, a great snooker run with four reds and we finished the course and then on day two her first Master Standard leg. Two more and she gets her MAD!!!! Yikes!!!
We were a really fast mess on our pairs run with Finn!!! How Indy and I can have two off courses with only 10 obstacles is really talent!!!!! A really fun steeplechase where I ok'ed her off her second contact (didn't even know it until someone told me!) What a dork!!!! But boy what a fun fast course!!!! We ran our last jumpers run at about 8 pm on Sunday with an over two hour ride home! But we thought it looked like a fun course and stuck it out! A lot of people wimped out and went home!!! Not Diane, Mia and I and we all Q'd!!!!! Cool!!!! I sure hope more of you try USDAA. It is just the "funnest" game in town!!!!!!!! It was great to see Scott and Bob there!!! Wish I could have seen more of there runs!!!! Congrats guys! As always Diane, Ann and Mia were there just having the most amazing runs!!! It is an honor to watch them!!!! What a kick! ~Peggi Bean
From Diane:
West Valley might have been one of our best weekends ever. We finished our AAD with a 2nd place Standard run on Saturday. We had another chance on Sunday for insurance, and got another Q and a first place.
We also picked up our first Grand Prix Q despite a very unusual start.
We did the gamble, but I got a line violation. Oh well, the thrill was getting the gamble.
Perhaps the most fun and rewarding thing of the weekend was getting our first 2 masters jumpers legs. The club offered jumpers twice. We got first place both times. I was so jazzed. One thing I did in my jumpers runs was to run without saying anything. Only once in each run did I utter a little "Gidge," when she needed to come in. It was beautiful. Despite this being a very long trial it was a lot of fun with some very nice courses. I was very happy to seem my friends do well too. ~ Diane
From Bob:
I am happy to report Kadi and I have taken more positive steps dealing with our show stress issues. I was especially worried about this show, since on Saturday we got there at 6:45 am and didn't run until 2 pm- 7 hours of waiting for our first run! Snooker was first, I messed up and we were whistled off early. Standard was next, and although we had a few mistakes, I was encouraged by her energy. Last that day (after 7pm- a 12 hour day!) was Jumpers, I didn't think she'd be up for it after such a long day but she ran great and we Qed!
Sunday we did even better, starting off the morning with Standard. She had her best show run in quite some time, and even attacked the weaves and did them super fast! We Qed, a nice way to start the day. Pairs was next, we did our 1/2 fine but our partner had an off course. Gamblers was last, she ran great again but we just missed the gamble.
I also ran Cooper for Susan at this show. Susan has been working with him on his distance work and her efforts really showed. On Saturday we started with Snooker, a perfect run from Cooper for a Q and 3rd place. Standard was next, he ran great again for a 3rd and another Q. Jumpers was last, and it was my favorite run with him. He started so fast I had to change my handling plan on the fly, and for the last 5 obstacles he was running so fast I just couldn't keep up with him, but he did everything from a distance! We finished the course in 20 seconds. Another Q and 2nd place. Sunday we Qed again in Snooker, ran great in Standard but missed an up contact, and during Gamblers he decided to take a poop break...
Note: Look out for Scott and Annie, they had a great first show!
Special thanks to Susan for letting me run Cooper, he and Kadi are best buddies and have a great time together! (and I really enjoy running him!)
Last, but certainly not least, Scott made his USDAA debut with both Annie and Foster. He did a great job and looks to have quite the future in Snooker (my FAVORITE thing in agility)! It was a reminder that Industry Hills is not a great place for new dogs and teeters. Avoid it with the green dogs, unless they're fearless.
From Scott:
This was our first USDAA show. In fact it was Annie's very first competition and I have to say she performed very well considering all of the noise, and commotion going on all around us. The covered arena caused all of the sounds to reverberate and amplify creating quite a din for all of us to endure.
My first run with Annie was snooker, another competition first for all of us. I chose a pretty easy course that we managed to get through just fine, we even took 2nd place in P1! On our jumpers run I crowded her at the tire, after she balked at going through it, which caused her to back jump between the tire and the frame that resulted in a NQ.
On Sunday we had a even faster snooker time and more points than the day before. This landed us in 3rd place. Next came our gamblers run. I had never run a gamblers course before and as I walked it I could see there was more to it than I had originally thought. A stop watch would have helped too. Anyway, I managed to come up with a flexible plan that kept us in the center of the ring about the time the gamble should have started. My plan worked and we were in good position for the gamble, but I failed to get her to send into the tunnel so Annie turned to look over her shoulder and saw me running to the other end of the tunnel and decided to follow. I wanted to keep things happy and fun so I crossed the line putting her in the tunnel and then we finished the rest of the gamble inside the line. All in all Annie ran fast and clean, she like her dad, is still just a little green, but 2 Q's out of 4 runs in our first show wasn't bad at all. I'm so proud of her!
Foster and I have some issues to resolve. This was a really hard show for him with all the noise and confusion, he wanted to bail out of the ring several times. To his credit he came back and worked almost every time so we are making progress. We didn't qualify on any of our runs, but we took away some good experiences from parts of our runs, a lesson I'm finally learning to appreciate. He had developed a teeter phobia prior to this show so I was uncertain how he was going to react to the start of his last run which was a standard course that started with jump, dog-walk tunnel and had the teeter at obstacle 7. I was afraid that he would think the dog-walk was the teeter and bail right away. I told myself if we got as far as the teeter I would consider the run a success. Well, we manage to make it just that far. With a lot of coaxing he even did the teeter, but decided the next obstacle, the tire, was just too much so our show ended right there and I think it was on a happy note.
Riley came along too! He was the cheering section for his brother and sister. He was such a good sport the entire weekend waiting patiently for his turn to get out of the x-pen and walk around. He didn't mind the commotion at all. In fact it seemed to rev him up, he loved sniffing at all the smells and other dogs. I think he had the best time of all even in spite of the fact that when we pulled into the hotel the first day after driving 3 hours in the pouring rain we found that a couple of bags had shifted and had fallen on him. He didn't seem to mind, he just looked up at me as if he could see and said with that look "It's about time you noticed me, Sheesh!"
All in all it was a fun show, just a lot to take in for a first USDAA show. I regret that I was so focused on my own runs that I didn't get to see vary many of the other great runs that were going on all around us by our fellow GVDC members. It really made a world of difference to have the support of our friends at this show special thanks to Mia, Anne and Bob who helped me to stay focused and kept it fun!!!
So, it was a long, but still fun weekend showing. I'm looking forward to more USDAAs! Tell the dogs they're good. mia
From Barbara the Webmaster:
Thanks so much each and everyone of you for your contributions to this report! Keep 'em comin'!!! I sure wish I had been there to see all of your runs!
