A Cluster is Still a Cluster

As much as people complain about how dusty it is, how hard the concrete is, how long and hard the days are, I do really enjoy the Thanksgiving Cluster. Even when it's not on Thanksgiving weekend. I don't dare do more than two days worth, but I fully enjoyed those two days this year, despite having a terrible cough that had me in bed by 7:30 and sapped all of my energy. It's not even the shopping. I don't really shop. Well, maybe window shop. I did buy the dogs' Christmas presents: new leashes for their gentle leaders that I use at hotels. I'm sure they will be thrilled but I hated the tiny little thin nylon leashes that I was using. They weren't really even designed for that, didn't even have a clip, they were free slip leads I had gotten in vet school that I happened notice would work looped through the ring of the slip lead. Yeah, it was time to get real leashes. Been so long since I've done anything with a clip or snap, it was novel. Not that I'm going to be using these any time soon as they only wear the gentle leaders at hotels really, when I need them to behave. Or else. Had to cut way back on trialing for the winter, and pretty much cut out anything that requires a hotel stay until I get some major repairs done on my car and around the house.

My good girls and their placements. Placing at the Cluster is no small feat. Though this year the 8" class was pretty much up for grabs as a certain someone with a billion Papillons did not come. She had been at the US Open the weekend before, and I can see how she might want a weekend off. But still, I thought this was a memorable photo. Marron was a little rock star on Friday, getting her second QQQ, placing fourth in JWW and second in standard. Would have been triple placements but Spy's time was a few tenths faster in FAST with equal points, so Spy got the fourth place. Marron was absolutely flying. I think she would have been faster if I didn't almost collide with her trying to redirect her after we finished the send. I was trying to be careful not to cross the line too early, and waited too long to push her and show her we were turning. Spy I messed up in JWW that day (didn't get to walk it and she was first to go of my two) and she took a bit of a site seeing tour on a turn off the A-frame, so a Q but not very fast time. Obviously, she was rock solid in FAST. The send was pretty easy. You know it must have been when all of the 8" dogs qualified. Saturday they were just in the 2 classes and it was Spy's turn to be on fire, third in standard and fourth in JWW. It wasn't as much of a Marron-type of course so she finished out of the placements there, and I messed her up in JWW with a terrible blind cross.

I don't have any pictures of Kraft with his ribbons. They weren't very exciting ones any way. He had three runs each day, FAST on Friday, T2B on Saturday. He had two fabulous runs and one train wreck run each day. On Friday, JWW was a train wreck. It had an awkward line that I miffed pretty badly and just didn't do a very good job overall on that course. Standard was a gorgeous run that was a very unfortunate NQ. 

After the judge saw the dog do the A-frame, he walked to the right so he was standing to the right of the #6 jump. With some of the fast dogs that I watched in the 12" class, he barely got out of the way of the jump by the time the dog came out of the tunnel. Handlers who chose to stay on the right of the A-frame generally had to dance around him. I didn't want to risk a near collision with the judge with Kraft's weird issues he's had about stressing in the ring, so I chose to try to blind before the A-frame, even though I knew it would risk him missing the tire completely, which is what happened. The rest of the run was so absolutely perfect though, I'm bummed I didn't get to run it the way I wanted to because I'm sure he would have nailed it if I had been able to do so. FAST on Friday, I didn't see a course map before my walk through, so had to come up with something quick and couldn't make something work to get the teeter in, so did a non-pointed dog walk instead. He put on his big boy panties and pretty much did the send by himself with no real direction from me, so hey, if I can't train distance skills, might as well just have a dog who can do it by himself right? His first Open FAST Q and fourth place since I skipped a pointed obstacle.

Saturday started with T2B. It wasn't a particularly exciting course. He wound up third by about 1.5s. Was kinda hoping he would be closer to the top time than that since that dog has a stopped A-frame and it was two A-frames. But hey, he's doing the best he can and that's all I can ask of him. Then we had to go straight over to standard, which was quite a technical course as far as AKC courses go. I knew I would have trouble with the dog walk exit, a tight turn to jump with an off course jump straight ahead, with him being so high after T2B. There was barely a thought of turning. Maybe a slight inkling that he should turn, since he did miss the contact entirely, meaning he wasn't sure what his striding should be, but it went downhill from there. Glad I didn't ask any one to film that. JWW though I was pretty happy about. He got his first Masters Q, his first MACH points. It was a course that really rewarded distance handlers since running with your dog pretty much sent them right at off course obstacles or left the handler too far behind. Distance handling is not our strong suit. But he pulled it off. Seventh place, ~3s off of the winning time, so again bummed that we were that far off, but since it wasn't a course that played to any of our strengths, I guess that's ok.

Overall, lots of room to grow with him I think. He was happy and fast both days, no signs of sad Kraft any where. And after our last day at Cynosport, that was my biggest goal. 

So here's the compilation video:

LaTerre Thanksgiving Cluster

I Feel Bad For Their Students

Got to thinking today about something that happened on our way to California. We were grabbing breakfast in a hotel lobby before heading out, somewhere in Iowa I think, and we saw two people loading up a car with a bunch of Border Collies. They definitely looked like agility people, so we decided to go up and introduce ourselves. Turns out, they were people Mary knew (but didn't recognize from the backs of their heads), who had come to some trials out in the PA/upstate NY area when she was out there. And they were headed to Cynosports as well. We didn't speak much, other than "Oh, hey, that's funny!" We friended each other on FB so we could keep in touch on the journey, but went our separate ways. We caught up with them again in Nevada somewhere, and met for breakfast at a Denny's. One of them asked me what kind of dogs I had. When I told her, she put her hand over her heart, rolled her eyes, and exclaimed, "Oh, I am so sorry!" And then she proceeded to tell me about all the awful Jacks she has ever known. They were both pretty much done talking to me after that. It became quite clear I was on the outside of the conversation from that point forward. Come to find out, these two people teach classes, together I think. Now really? You teach classes, you have students who presumably look up to you, and you are THAT quick to dismiss anyone who doesn't have a breed you consider a worthwhile agility dog? They didn't know anything about me, or my dogs. But they knew I was headed across the country to compete with not one, but three terriers. It's not like I just "got lucky" with one good terrier. Just the kind of people who continue to foster the belief that you have to have a BC to succeed in this sport. Just the kind of people who make people like me afraid to take seminars or classes. And why am I not surprised that they never once acknowledged the fact that I made finals with one of those unworthy terriers? I really thought those days were over, where trainers expected competitors to go out and get a certain type of dog for their sport. But I guess not.
Just one of those things that got under my skin. And will probably stay with me unfortunately.

Calling It

I'm calling Kraft temporarily mentally healed. Last night in class he was completely himself. The dog I love to run. He made mistakes, and he and I laughed at them together. That's how he used to be. I ran with the toy on me. I'll keep doing that for a while, until I know I have him back to himself even in trials. I don't even care if he starts looking for the toy at the trial once he realizes I *don't* always have it again. We'll go back to working on that if that tendency reappears.
So for now, here's a majestic Rattie photo for you:

I call it "Dog on California Beach"

Epic Cynosport Video

One Republic, "I Lived". The perfect song. Giving it all you have. Taking everything in. Learning as you go.

I was originally going to use two songs, and do one part about the traveling, one part about the agility. Would have been able to include more photos of our travels and the complete runs for Marron and Spy's two that I bought. But I like the way this one came out much better.