Fall 2012 Season Kickoff

When I was a kid, I looked forward to the fall TV guide so I could see all the new shows and decide which ones I was going to watch. Later on that developed into an excitement over the September issue of Vogue magazine to see what was in style for fall. Now, I'm excited about figuring out which fall agility shows to enter. It's been a long summer.

Our first show of the fall season was USDAA, which we do not do very often. Maggie refuses to go down on the table in the ring, so I haven't been very interested in doing USDAA. This show was close to home, so we went.

Friday
Maggie was .01 seconds over course time in Jumpers. We got a PII Snooker Q, which we didn't even need. The PII Gamble was a piece of cake, but unfortunately we got stuck on the teeter in the opening and the buzzer went off as she was over the final jump in the Gamble. The timer was set up past the jump so I didn't have a chance. If the timer had been set up at the jump, she might have triggered it before the buzzer. Oh well.

Saturday
Performance Speed Jumping was first today. Very excited. Got up at 5:30 so I could be there in time to walk. Competition was light so I was so hopeful. We did 3 jumps and Maggie left the ring. She has never done that before. She just sauntered off.

Snooker is next. Another Q I don't need. The Gamble was easy again, but we never made it to the line. Maggie started out of the ring and when I called her back she got on the dog walk and time ran out.

Finally, Standard. We got to the table and Maggie went down. I think I stopped breathing. She got a mess of chicken at the end of that run.

Pairs is last. I will be in PII Pairs for the rest of my life. We had a clean run, but again our Partner failed us.

Sunday
Frank comes along with us and I think Maggie is more excited. We start the day with Standard and Maggie does a Down again for our PI Standard title. Finally. Pairs is next and I totally blew it. I will never complain about my Pairs partners again. We ran second. We go over the first jump, weaves are next and the numbers were removed. I started looking around for the number 3 obstacle and only saw 13. I had such a brain fart and couldn't get it together. Maggie started over the dog walk and it was all over. I don't think I've ever said Sorry more than I did after that run. I was screaming it out as we left the ring. I was the accomodating partner for the next person and of course we did great, but it didn't count for me. I had to redeem myself.

Gamblers is next. We nail the opening, but Maggie didn't have the momentum to do the Gamble. Last run of the day was PII Jumpers and she did great. I think we'll be able to wrap up PII at the next show over New Year's.

 

Sometimes it's fun to be the only dog in the class!

Kimi
Another project for the weekend was acclimating Kimi to the show environment. The last time we were at Belton, he was terrified of the traffic noise. This weekend he was skittish, but worked through it all. He had a blast at the show meeting people and walking around with Maggie and Shane. He continues to get better and better each day. I'm very hopeful.