Halloween Agility Trial

We were in Calgary all weekend at an agility trial.  The last trial we were at,  I came away feeling very frustrated.  This weekend was much better :)

Maggie was entered in 3 runs each day.  She was having some trouble with the weaves this weekend again.  In her warm ups, she was very stiff bending to the right and then last night I noticed some warm spots on her shoulders.  Despite the weaves, she ran very well all weekend and earned a Masters Standard Q.  I was very excited about that.  That is her second Masters Standard Q in 2 trials.  For me this is a huge deal - to have 2 masters standard Qs.

Bosley ran very well this weekend too.  He made his Masters Standard debut and had a great run except for being slow in the weaves.  He was clean but 0.22 seconds overtime.  Really?  How does that happen?
In his second standard run, he was slow in the weaves again and actually popped out.  What?  Then I realized that I was worrying about the weaves and was hovering about 2 feet away.  Bosley hates that.  He just likes to do things on his own and as soon as I gave him his space he was back on track. Not sure why I worry about him in the weaves - he is a great weaver. His third standard run was great once I got the weave situation figured out. It was a tough course and Bosley ran perfect - except that I was out of place on a front cross and he had a refusal on a jump.  Bosley did get an Advanced Jumpers 'Q' this weekend - yay for Bosley - those jumpers courses are not easy for him to make time on.

So I came away from the weekend very happy.  I am feeling good about the way Bosley is running and I am happy that Maggie is still having fun doing agility.  I can really see Maggie slowing down in general with the amount she plays at home and how long it takes her to tire out on walks, so am I glad that she can still have fun galloping around the agility course.

80%

I am about 80% ready to enter Bosley in Open Obedience in December.  There is a trial in Calgary that is Obedience only and it should be a nice, quiet trial without too many distractions.  I have my entry form filled out, but I still haven't mailed it.  

I am 20% unsure mainly because Bosley is not always 100% on his attention in the ring.  We are also still tweaking his drop on recall.

The other night we did a complete run through of an open routine exactly the way it would be in a trial - no treats and no talking between exercises.  Bosley did very well.  Today we did another run through in a place that Bosley had never been before.  His first run through was good.  His second time through, he was a bit more distracted, but we made it through without me losing him completely.

In a real trial, I think if I can have his attention and focus during the heeling, the rest will be OK.

The entry form is in my car.  I just need to put a stamp on and mail it.  I will need to decide soon.

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