So we had an awesome new trial that I was the trial chair of at Boomtowne this weekend. I busted my hump and ran my dog. I was pleasantly surprised that my dog (or me, I'm not really sure which one) was able to handle the stress of the weekend and still work her butt off.
We had 4 great runs, but I screwed two of them up.
Her jumpers runs were excellent runs but my body language (one shoulder out of place) and me loosing my place on the course because I didn't trust her to get the last pole cost us those Q's.
In standard she did awesome. The first standard run was a bit sluggish but we pulled through and got a 3rd place and a high scoring sheltie win for our 2nd AX leg. The next day I listened to the judge who came out to dinner with me the night before and trusted my dog and we Q'd with a clean run, first place and a high scoring sheltie win to finish her AX on her birthday!
I was so proud of her. We had so many issues when we started competing I never thought we'd make it out of Novice Standard. She is a great jumpers dog and now I'm falling behind in terms of handling skills. If you had asked me 3 years ago I never would have said she'd have finished her AX before her AXJ.
And our judge Terry Brown was a breath of fresh air in terms of respect for the exhibitors and the sport in general. He truely was rooting for the teams, but was very respectful of the rules. He was so supportive of all exhibitors but had a great way of treating the novice and junior handlers with respect and encouragement. He does conformation, agility, obedience and true search and rescue work with siberian huskies, an aussie and a Belgium shepherd.(they're working on getting certified in body part cadaver searches this month with his Belgium shepherd) Very cool interesting and individual.
It was a great weekend overall. But I have to say I'm glad to be sitting down...