| Meet Harley! |
[Aug. 4th, 2009|10:33 pm] |
So call me crazy, buttttttt I got a golden retriever puppy Sunday night :) He's 7 months old, AKC registered, housebroken, and very well behaved for his age. The people were giving him up because they had 2 little kids and a townhouse, and not enough time to give him proper exercise, plus he was too rough for their kids. We drove to D.C. to get him, and didn't get home til midnight Sunday night. He is doing very well, better than I expected. Thank God I have Sid to watch him this week because I'm working 45 hours and getting ready to go on vacatin (call me crazy, I know). We've managed to do at least 2 training sessions a day and he is catching on very quickly! I thought everything through, and I just think it was better to get him now even though I wasn't *quite* ready, because the oppurtunity presented itself, and he is just irresistable! He was already through the worst part of training (housebreaking), is AKC regisitered, and old enough to start some basic agility training. I need a new challenge. My guys are too well behaved anyway. Ha! I'll get new pics and videos when I get back. So far he has been a very low maintenace puppy. He's not much of a chewer, he sleeps very well at night, and, most importantly, my dogs really like him!!
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| PCA National Specialty |
[Apr. 21st, 2009|10:11 am] |
Well we're back from our awesome but very tiring weekend!! We showed in a regular AKC trial Saturday and Sunday and here are our results:\
Jackson only...
Sat:
Exc B STD: Q! Beautiful run, 13 points!
Exc B JWW: uhm, he was sleeping all day and I could not get him woken up at ALL to run, so he was slow and was .4 seconds OT but clean otherwise
Sun:
Exc. B STD: Beautiful run but messed up the weaves
Exc B JWW: Very difficult course, but Q! I forget how many points..
The courses over the weekend were very challenging with lots of call offs, jump wraps, serepentines, etc and I thought Jackson did well for me considering the fact that he actually RAN through the difficult parts of the courses and still did them cleanly!
Monday PCA National Specialty (Ben and Jax)
Bennett:
Exc B STD: He was most definitely in pain every time he landed, so I took him out 1/2 way through, gave him some pain meds and let him rest
Exc B JWW: Q/4th and a BEAUTIFUL RUN! He was sooo fast (he was only 1 second over Jackson's time)
Jackson:
Exc B STD: Ahhh...he had a "dur?" moment...BEAUTIFUL run,, fast enough to have placed 2nd with 20 some points and he ran past the LAST JUMP :(
Exc B JWW: Q/4th, this run was a bit choppy but we pulled it off!!
So I'm back with sore knees and muscles, got a lotttt of unpacking to do today and then it's back to work tomorrow through Saturday. I just ordered a bunch of new training things from Clean Run (The Click Stick, the Hobday Agility Book Vol. 3, a new fur tug, a stopwatch to time Jackson's weaves and a couple other things) so once my boys rest, I get to have fun playing with all of my new toys!
Video:
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| January Videos |
[Mar. 10th, 2009|09:31 am] |
I ordered a DVD with all of jackson's run on it....not as fast as he could have been but he is doing SO much better than he usedto with distractions and actually running in trials. 2 QQ's, 4/4. Not too bad, and we'll work on the speed for sure. Hopefully he's fast and clean at the show this weekend because I've been training him a lot lately.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXl3Q51p4ug&feature=channel_page
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| Weekend |
[Jan. 26th, 2009|06:26 am] |
Well, the boys and I had a very nice weekend at the show. They both ran STD/JWW both days. Bennett Q'd only once in JWW. He was clean in the other runs, just didn't make time. He's never been fast on that flooring, and making time in Excellent just isn't going to happen unless you run fast. Plus he's just running for fun, so it really doesn't make a difference anyway :) Jackson....WOW. He is FINALLY starting to mature! I was actually able to run him this weekend like I do at home. I didn't have to "babysit" every thing that he did and he was fast enough that I had to use rear crosses on him. There was no time to get in front of him to do a front cross. No placements this weekend, but he did run across the contacts for the first time, his weaves were gorgeous. He was just very well put together this weekend, didn't pay the crowd any attention. Just focused on me. He was amazing. Now I can only hope it stays that way and we don't regress to where we used to be! Let's see...We Q'd in all of our runs, earning his first 2 DQ's, 16 MACH points (doesn't sound like much, but when you're used to getting a point per run, maybe, it's a lot!), his 3rd and 4th MXJ legs, 1st and 2nd MX legs! Bennett now has 18 MACH points and 3 MXJ legs :) Very nice weekend from both of my boys. I'm just sad that it's over and now it's time to head back to work :(
They had lots and lots of cool vendors there. This show was held at the state fair grounds, so the World of Pets Expo was going on simultaneously. I bought 5 lb of pressed rawhide bones for my guys and a new bowl for Bennett. I did get 2 videos this weekend. If either of them don't work, let me know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES3MehX5aiQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6uLkKNrgW8 |
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| Update :) |
[Jan. 9th, 2009|06:16 am] |
Here's an update since Kristie asked for one lol j/k I haven't posted in a while so here's what has been going on...
First, let's start with me. Since graduating from high school in June, I've been working as a vet tech at a local vet clinic. I've learned soooo much and I love my job (most days), and for now, it pays the bills until I figure out what it is that I'm going to do with my life. In October, Sid and I got engaged...woohoo :) Here is a picture of my ring which I love soo much :) Other than those 2 things, life has been pretty normal...
Bennett...
Hmmm...you know the saying "you're not getting older, you're only getting better"? That is so true with Bennett. He's my old man (and starting to look that way, unfortunatley), and he acts the youngest out of all of my dogs. I decided to give him a shot at running again in the past few shows and he has done amazingly well. He's in Exc. B, racking up MACH points and still PLACING every once in a while. He's faster than he ever was and he just loves to be out there with me so I will continue to run him as long as I can. I have him on Glycoflex II and fish oil daily, so that has been helping. And he gets a Rimadyl for arthritis pain when we show. He's lovin' life right now and I'm so happy he's still so enthusiastic :)
Bailey...
Bailey, Bailey, Bailey...what can I say? The best dog in the world that still hates to show :P I've only entered her in a show once recently. That was in November, the one she placed 3rd at when Sid ran her (see pic). She seems to really like running for him, not me at shows. I'm not sure why, maybe because he is a new handler and she feels less stress? I will continue to enter her in NADAC trials here and there when there are no AKC shows to enter, but for the most part, she enjoys being the tagalong to shows and the best watch dog everrr at home :)
Jackson...
Jackson hadn't been feeling well for the past few months, so he's been in and out of the vet a lot with chronic ear infections. We started out by cleaning his ears everyday and putting antibiotics oin, and after doing 3 treatments of that, we realized something else had to be going on. His ears are always plucked, when the vet was doing an exam one day, he found hair waaay down in the ear canal that was most likely causing him pain. He was sedated and they got that hair out and so far, he's doing great!! He's really the only dog I practice with at home. Bailey hates to practice and Bennett doesn't need it :P I've been working on a sliding teeter with him, which I must say is coming along great! My mom bought me a clear tunnel from NTI Global for Christmas, to replace my old crappy falling apart tunnel and he LOVES that, so that's been fun :)
Next show...Jan 24-25 AKC. I WILL have videos because we got a new computer and I can finally upload/edit videos again :)
Goals for 2009...Bennett Q'd for AKC nats so we can go just for the FUN of it. Maybe Jackson too. We'll see how he does at his next few shows. For now we've just been taking shows one step at a time. It really seems to depend on the flooring for him. Some shows he does mazing at, others he still hates the flooring and will barely RUN for me, he'd prefer to trot on slippery flooring (astroturf, rubber matting, you know, things Bennett never had a problem with :P)
That's all for now. I'll have an update after the show in 2 weeks :) |
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| wow... |
[Oct. 29th, 2008|11:21 am] |
Had an AKC show this weekend in Hershey, PA. So I went to run Exc. B STD with Jackson first...beautiful, but I wasn't in the right place at the exact moment I needed to be and he ran past a jump, got DQ'd. Whatever. That was my fault. He tried and did the rest of the course beautifully. So now it's the Ben-man's turn for STD. Can you say GORGEOUS?? This run was perfect. WOULD HAVE BEEN 34 MACH POINTS AND 2nd PLACE IN EXC. B STD. Gorgeous. Probably my favortie run ever with Ben. He gave it his all and then some. He was flyingggg and did everything perfectly. But, here's the disappointment....the just called a refusal on the jump before the seesaw towards the end of the course. I've been doing agility long enough to know we did not get a refusal. I asked several people and they agreed with me. So I don't know what that was all about, but that was extremely disappointing. I hate this judge because last year he called Bennett's contacts when he definitley had them ( I have the video ). I think he just doesn't like Bennett so I don't plan on showing under him ever again. So we go over to JWW. Ran Jackson first. baby dog spaced out, missed the weave entry. So I used to rest of the run to practice switches with him so I don't have to constantly do front crosses. Worked out beautifully. So now I can run him like a "big boy" and use switches like everyone else in Exc. B does :) Now...here's the sad part. Bennett fell and twisted his leg while i was warming him up for JWW. He seemed okay so I took him out there just to see how bad he was hurt. He started off and by the 3rd jump it was apparant that he was in pain, so we left. He's been resting, taking Rimadyl and his Glycoflex since we got back, but if he's still not okay by tomorrow I'm taking him to work with me to get x-rays done. I hope he didn't partially tear his cruciate ligament. I can't afford to loose my good agility dog, and i can't out my old man through all of that stress, surgery, rehab, etc. :( So keep Bennett in your thoughts and prayers, please. It was such a shame because he was doing what he loved (showing off lol) and was so excited about it.
Next show...2 weeks, NADAC with Ben (if he's well enough), and Bailey |
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| on the road to the MACHs...finally :) |
[Sep. 22nd, 2008|06:57 am] |
This weekend the boys and I finally had another AKC trial. We just trialed Sunday since I had to work on Saturday. The weather was beautiful (sunny and in the 70s). It was a little warm by our second run (JWW, about 10 a.m.), but the weather was perfect for our first run (STD, which was at around 8:30 in the morning). Here's our results:
Bennett:
Exc. B STD: SOOOOO close. He was fast and suprisingly, we were still pretty much in-sync. We go to the last 2 jumps and I did a front cross when he was coming out of the weaves which I haven't practiced before (I forgot only Jackson knows that one) and he got a little too happy, taking one extra jump right before the finaly jump. We still had tons of fun and I was proud of my old man.
Exc. B JWW: He was fast!! My little old man was jumping 12" again and he still Q'd and got 13 MACH points from this one run. He was .2 seconds away from placing. We got 5th.
Jackson:
Exc. A STD: BEAUTIFUL!!! I wish I'd video taped this one because he did his sliding teeter (yay!!). Just perfect. This was probably my favorite run with him besides his 1st place run at PCA nationals. Anyways, he Q'd with a 1st and finished his AX title! FINALLY.
Exc. B JWW: Eh..he was hot, his poofy new hair cut trapped in a lot of heat and some little girl was petting him and making him mad and anxious before his run, but none-the-less, a Q with 7 MACH points. That was a course I wasn't expecting a Q on, but both my boys did it!
So 3/4 Qs for my boys. I couldn't have been any more proud of Jackson's STD run. And Bennett did so well for me, and honsetly I didn't see any limping (I gave him a Rimadyl the night before and as soon as we got home, and of course his glucosmaine the night before as usual) and he seemed to do fine. |
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| 7/27/08 |
[Jul. 28th, 2008|12:06 pm] |
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Jackson and I had a very good day yesterday. Sid's brother and our friend came to watch, and I think that helped get him more excited. He ran very, very well for me in both runs. Q'd in both. Got 2nd in STD (3 seconds behind the 1st place dog) and 3rd in JWW (3 seconds behind the 2nd place dog, 6 seconds behind the 1st place dog). We also finished our AXJ title, so now he needs 1 more STD Q to be in Exc. B and he's in Exc. B JWW, which means we can start getting MACH points next weekend!! |
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| 7/20/08 |
[Jul. 22nd, 2008|10:55 pm] |
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I know I havem't posted in a while...I've been forgetting to write trial results on here :) Jackson went to his first trial since May today. Bennett and Bailey came along for the ride because I didn't want them to be loenly at home (my parents are out of town). It was 97 degrees outside and though the buiding was air-conditioned, the people going in and out, combined with the amount of people there still made it pretty hot. In STD, he was very tired and sluggish (just woke up from a nap and it was hot, and he refused to eat this a.m. so he had no food energy), he made it to the weaves, hit his entry and then decided he was too lazy to continue :P I took him off. In JWW, he Q'd and got 4th for his 2nd AXJ leg!! He stayed in the weaves for me too, so I was VERY happy with that!! I have trials for the next 2 Sundays so hopefully we'll finish his AX and AXJ (he needs 2 more STD legs for his AX). |
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| PCA!! |
[Apr. 23rd, 2008|05:26 pm] |
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So I decided it was time to start posting trial results on here again...We had a very exciting weekend at PCA. Saturday and Sunday we went to a regular AKC trial and then Monday was PCA. Saturday and Sunday were all very, very close but not quite good enough runs. His STD run Sunday was SO close...would've been the fastest time, and I got several compliments on that run from people I didn't even know. I think I have finally figured out that Jackson and astroturf do NOT mix...because our last trial was on the same type of flooring and he had very close runs but NQ's there as well. Anyways, the BIG news was....at PCA with my baby dog thaqt JUST turned 2, at nationals, against the best dogs, my baby got 1st in Exc A STD for his forst AX Q!!!!! He was just tearing it up at 4.6 YPS for that run, so I could not have asked for more. I was on Cloud 9 all day. I couldn't have cared less how bad he did on his 2nd run, but he pulled that one off for me too. We Q'd in Open JWW finally, finishing our OAJ at PCA with a 4th place! I am still on cloud 9 from Monday. I've waited so long for a competitive agility dog to run in Exc and I finally have him! We're there...whew..a year ago I never thought this would have happened. I can't believe we're almost ready to start accumulating MACH points. Wow. I'm going to go ahead and try to Q him for AKC nationals in 2009, don't know if that'll happen, but we'll have fun trying! |
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| Game Plan :) |
[Oct. 5th, 2007|10:35 am] |
Wow, it's been forever since I've posted due to school and work and everything else...but, I've come up with a new plan for each of the dogs. A few weeks ago, I felt like I was running in a million directions with each of them, and getting no where fast. So, here's what I've deicded for each of them:
Bennett:
1 more chances Q, then he will have his NATCH. So, I entered him (and only him) in a NADAC trial the first weekend in November. I'm going to do a lot of distance training with him in the next few weeks, and get him really pumped up and excited and let him have my FULL attention that weekend, so we can finally get this NATCH. I know we can do it if I try my hardest :)
Bailey:
This was the toughest decision to make, but I'm going to semi-retire Bailey from agility for right now. I've come to the conclusion that she enjoys practicing agility way more than she likes to compete. I feel like when I trial her, she never gives me her all, there's just some stressor at trials that isn't at practice that she just hasn't overcome. I've reached the goals I had for her in agility, which was to get her to the elite level in regular and jumpers, and have her get over her contact issues. I'm not going to give up on her totally...she really does LOVE competeing in frisbee, so I'm going to work really hard with her over the next few months until frisbee season starts up again and try to get her to be the BEST frisbee dog she can be, and try to get a freestyle routine down. I know she can excel in frisbee, because she's insane at frisbee competitions. It's like she's a totally different dog, just SO excited that she can't control herself, can't wait to get out there, etc. And if frisbee can bring that out in her, then that's what we'll compete in.
Jackson:
My baby dog :) I have AKC trials scheduled for him for October, December, January, and February. The 2 in 2008 are 3 day trials, so I'm hoping to have him in Exc. B by the end of the Feb. trial. Then, I can start trying to get enough MACH points to Q for nationals. If we make it to nationals at some point over the next few years, and if we do well, then I'd like to *try* to take him to WT tryouts. We can always dream, right? :D |
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| PCA Nationals |
[Jun. 12th, 2007|09:54 pm] |
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Bennett and I went to PCA on Sunday and Monday...this was an AKC trial, which we don't do too often, so this was his first time in Exc. STD and JWW. On Sunday, he had a very nice STD run, probably one of his fastest ever. He Q'd with a 3rd for his first AX leg. In JWW, he NQ'd because I pulled him off of a jump. On Monday he had another very nice STD run, and Q'd with a 3rd for his second AX leg. In JWW he had a very nice, fast opening, but I messed up his weave entry, so he NQ'd again. Overall, I was very pleased with how he ran this weekend, he was a lot more enthused and fast than usual. Video is on Youtube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sKLELav1DwI |
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| Results |
[May. 27th, 2007|11:47 pm] |
We had a NADAC trial on Saturday. It was extremely hot (94 by 10 am), so I thought the dogs did very well considering the heat!
Bennett:
Elite Reg 1: Q/1st! I got 4 YPS out of the old man on this one :)
Elite Reg 2: Q/1st! 28th Elite Regular leg
Elite Chances: Once again, a NQ :( I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever get these last 2 NATCH legs..
Elite Jumpers: Q/1st for his 20th elite jumpers leg and his S-EJC title!
Bailey:
Open Reg 1: Q/1st! Gorgeous :)
Open Reg 2: I was running barefoot and I didn't get there in time to push her into the tunnel, so she took the a-frame instead
Open Chances: Q!
Open Jumpers: Q/1st! 2nd fastest time of the class, and her 8th S-OJC leg
Novice TNG: Q/1st!
Videos are on Youtube:
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=agilitypoodle99
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| Sunday Results |
[May. 15th, 2007|05:14 pm] |
Bennett:
Elite Reg 2: NQ…this was a disaster of a run, but he had fun J
Elite Chances: ahhh this was the hardest chances course ever. Needless to say, he NQ’d. We only need 2 legs for his NATCH, so maybe Memorial Day weekend.
Bailey:
Novice Reg 1: Q/1st! Gorgeous, no contact issues, she held her 2o2os. NAC title!
Novice Reg 2: Q/1st!
Novice Chances: Q! NCC title! She had some really nice switches on this course
Open Jumpers: Q/1st! Fastest time of the whole class…5.1 YPS 7th S-OJC leg!
Novice Weavers: This was a brainless end of the day run, she took the off course tunnel, but it was fun
Bennett once again showed me that he is ready to retire. I’m going to run him for his NATCH and then for his MX/MXJ in AKC, and then retire him. I got many compliments on Bailey and how much she has improved. This is the dog that wouldn’t go NEAR any contacts in trials in March! She only needs a couple more legs to Q for NADAC Champs, so we’re going for that this summer.
Videos are on Youtube, first 5 are new:
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=agilitypoodle99
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| I have the greatest dog in the WORLD :D |
[Apr. 14th, 2007|11:22 pm] |
We had a NADAC trial today..since Bennett has been having trouble with his arthritis, I only entered him in 3 runs, and I entered Bailey in 5. This was Bailey's first trial this year, and she did extremely well. I wasn't sure if she'd do her contacts or not (she hasn't for the past 18 months of trials..), so I used her first run as training. Here are our results from the other runs:
Novice Chances: Q
Open Jumpers: Q/1st, 2nd fastest time of the class...5.45 YPS, finished her O-OJC
Novice Rd. 2: Q/1st! She did the DW and a-frame and stopped in her 2o2os :D
Novice Weavers: She WON the 20" class and Q'd for her 5th leg of her O-WV-N
Bennett ended up having a not so good day. I somehow walked the wrong course for elite jumpers, so we NQ'd there. In chances, he knocked 2 bars :(, so we took a short course and left. In Touch N Go, he had a clean run, but was .6 seconds OT. I think his arthritis is getting to the point that I'm going to have to start thinking about retirement for my old man.
All in all, we had a great day. Bailey was SO confident after she realized that she could actually do contacts in trials. She was extremely happy today, which is something I haven't seen in Bailey at trials for about 6 months now :) That dog amazes me...she just gets better all the time!
Videos are on Youtube:
Bennett: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOQ3UPPMusw
Bailey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZCaLjmPM4A |
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| UKC Trial |
[Mar. 25th, 2007|12:22 am] |
Our trial today was a lot of fun, I thought Bennett ran very, very well considering that he hadn't practiced on any UKC equipment since last June. He Q'd in a ll 4 runs, and even got a 199 in Ag-2! That used to be an impossible class for us to get any UACH points in :) We got 12 points total, which means we need to get 17 more in April to finish our UACH. The judge was very strict with his scoring, I felt that Bennett should have earned more than 12 points in 4 runs, but such is life. We didn't leave the trial until 8:30, and we had to drive 40 miles on back country roads through the dark, fog, and rain. Talk about bad diriving conditions! It took us 30 mintues to drive 10 miles on the way home...and on the way there, the road was so slick that I almost fishtailed into a ditch...not fun at all. At least Bennett had fun while we were there, so that made up for the poor driving conditions :)
And the video is on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDHj-1fp7bk
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| Double, Triple, and Broad |
[Mar. 11th, 2007|05:17 pm] |
It was finally warm enough to go out and do some agility today. I had to use the only part of my yard that wasn't muddy, which didn't leave me much space. I decided to introduce the double, triple, and broad with Jackson. He walked over the broad at first and stopped in his 2o2o position (that dog will do 2o2os on ANYTHING!), so I had to put a jump over the broad at first. He caught on very quickly, and by the 4th attemt, he could jump over the broad without the 12" jump being in place.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up92FHfBoE8 |
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| Frisbee Demo |
[Mar. 10th, 2007|07:31 pm] |
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Today Bailey and I went to a demo that our frisbee club was hosting. First off, I have to say that I was EXTREMELY proud of Bailey. We've been competeing in frisbee for a year this month, and I got SO many compliments today on how much she has improved. We held the demo on the main stage, around lots of people, and lots of noise. I purposley threw the frisbee to the end of the stage so that I could see if she'd be distracted, and she wasn't the least bit distracted! She caught every throw, I threw five 20 ft. throws and three 15 ft. throws in Distance and Accuracy. In between our runs, she was barking hysterically. I could not get her to stop..she was just so excited that she couldn't control herself! In bullseye, she caught every single throw once again (I think there were about 13-15 throws), and scored 38 points! She was a totally different dog today than this time last year. She was just SO confident and so focused..I was very impressed :) I think we're going to have to compete in frisbee more often! |
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| Day 2 |
[Jan. 28th, 2007|08:56 pm] |
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Bennett ended up Q'ing in Open STD today, finishing his OA title, got 2nd place. Very nice run, though. He had very nice distance weaves too. In JWW, he slipped on the flooring and ticked the last bar on the triple, so NQ. That would have been our title too :( I was very impressed with his time, though. He ran about 4 YPS and has the same exact time as the dog who won Exc. JWW. He could have run faster if I didn't throw in an extra cross that was totally unneccesary (don't know why I did that haha) All in all, he was much more fun today, I know how i need to handle all the time now, I need to actually run with him and cross in front of him a lot instead of just standing in the middle and pointing :) |
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