This was our first time out at Royackers Kennels, a great facility in Ariss, near Guelph, Ontario.
Blaze did 5 runs today, 2 standard, 2 gamble, and a steeplechase. He got 3 Q's, but would have had 5 if I hadn't messed him up, again. I messed him up on his second standard run, we were about 3 or 4 obstacles from finishing... and I did something I haven't done in a long, long time. He had just completed the weaves, and did them great... I was so happy, as this has been our challenge for a long time. Then from the weaves we had a 180 degree turn to a tunnel, did that no problem. From the tunnel we had to go straight ahead to another tunnel, there was a jump off to the right that was pretty close, and to the left of the tunnel opening was the frame, with the ramp right beside the tunnel opening. Well, I was so damn happy he got those weaves, and the end of the course was so close (tunnel, tunnel, jump, jump), I did a "pre-celebration" in my head, thinking that, "yes, we are going to get this one!", I lost my focus, and was totally in the wrong spot to direct him to the tunnel opening that was beside the frame, and he went up the frame.... Smack the Handler! That kind of tunnel opening is usually no problem for him, and I could tell he was confused, as he didn't immediately go up the frame, but paused, and when he did go up the frame, it was with hesitation, not confidence, so I knew that he was not sure what I wanted. I always feel bad when I mess him up like that, as I know he has the ability to be clean, and he is not clean because of me! His steeplechase run was great. I love steeplechase, as I use those as "fun runs", I go out there and I run him really fast, as he likes that, and I can practice my handling at a fast speed, which I don't normally do in my other runs. There were two sets of 6 weaves, which meant two entries.... again, he did these great, no hesitation, and I did not baby any of our weave entries at all, just kept my pace, said "weave", and let him go. He ran that course in 39 seconds, one of our fastest runs ever I think. The SCT was 51 seconds, so for Blaze that was excellent. Then came the gambles. The first gamble was tricky, but certainly do-able for Blaze. He had a great opening, getting the mini gamble twice. Then, the closing was straight out to a tunnel, then a 180 turn to go up the frame. Then, the handler had to cross the gamble line, as the rest of the gamble was on the other side of the line, and it was a jump, straight out to the dog walk, and then a final jump. Because I was near the end of the running order, I got to see a lot of runs before we ran. A lot of people were getting the gamble, but running out of time, so I thought that time must be really tight on this one, so no time to waste! When the buzzer went for us, I was a bit frazzled, worried about wasting time. So, I did not take my normal time that I take to set Blaze up for his gambles.... This is something I have tried to always be careful to do for him, as when I take an extra second to really set him up correctly for his approach to the gamble, it always goes better, and because we are in veterans now, I always think to myself.... "we have lots of time!".... Well, I was rushing, did not take that extra second to set him up, sent him out to the tunnel incorrectly, he was unsure what I wanted, took the jump (no big deal really), went out towards the tunnel, came back to me, at this point I knew we would run out of time for sure, and that Blaze was not sure what the heck I wanted anyway... he did then go out to the tunnel, and started up the frame, but then jumped off. I was mad at myself for ruining Blaze's chances at a Q. He certainly could have done that gamble. Our final run, another gamble, was the highlight of the weekend. When I first got there in the morning and saw that the last run we were doing was a gamble that had 12 weaves in it, I just wrote off that run, as although he is certainly capable of doing weaves at a distance, weaves have been our problem for a while, and for him to go out away from me to do weaves.... well, forget it. Also, he has typically been good for one or two weave entries per day, and by then he had already done 4 weave entries... so I thought there is just no way he is going to do those weaves... Anyway, the mini gamble in this one was a bit tricky, but I always try them anyway, and if there is any hint of a problem, I step in right away. This is what happened, he did not get the mini, my fault I am sure, so I stepped in, and ran him really, really fast through the obstacles, just basically hitting whatever was in front of us, I abandoned my original plan. He loves this type of running, so it really pumped him up. When the buzzer went, I talked to myself in my head.... I said to myself... "set up your dog, set up your dog...." I took that extra second to set up Blaze, then just went for it. The gamble was a jump, out to the weaves, then two more jumps, with a distraction jump closer to the handler. He went out there, did those weaves, but I did not lose my focus, and he did the last two jumps no problem, BAM!, a successful gamble with those dreaded weaves!!!!!!! Whew, I was so happy it was great. But, because I abandoned my original opening plan, which included two mini gambles, I was not sure if we had enough opening points. Not that I really cared, as I was so happy he did that main gamble, I was trying to count the points in my head afterward, but I couldn't remember exactly when the buzzer went, and because I was just doing random obstacles, I couldn't really remember exactly what I did..... I waited anxiously for the results, and sure enough... 28 opening points, yippee!!!! One more gamble Q. I was just elated that Blaze did so well, and that his only errors were my errors. This certainly gives me more incentive to improve my handling for him. And oh-so happy about all those weaves he did! It was a blast.
Blaze did 5 runs today, 2 standard, 2 gamble, and a steeplechase. He got 3 Q's, but would have had 5 if I hadn't messed him up, again. I messed him up on his second standard run, we were about 3 or 4 obstacles from finishing... and I did something I haven't done in a long, long time. He had just completed the weaves, and did them great... I was so happy, as this has been our challenge for a long time. Then from the weaves we had a 180 degree turn to a tunnel, did that no problem. From the tunnel we had to go straight ahead to another tunnel, there was a jump off to the right that was pretty close, and to the left of the tunnel opening was the frame, with the ramp right beside the tunnel opening. Well, I was so damn happy he got those weaves, and the end of the course was so close (tunnel, tunnel, jump, jump), I did a "pre-celebration" in my head, thinking that, "yes, we are going to get this one!", I lost my focus, and was totally in the wrong spot to direct him to the tunnel opening that was beside the frame, and he went up the frame.... Smack the Handler! That kind of tunnel opening is usually no problem for him, and I could tell he was confused, as he didn't immediately go up the frame, but paused, and when he did go up the frame, it was with hesitation, not confidence, so I knew that he was not sure what I wanted. I always feel bad when I mess him up like that, as I know he has the ability to be clean, and he is not clean because of me! His steeplechase run was great. I love steeplechase, as I use those as "fun runs", I go out there and I run him really fast, as he likes that, and I can practice my handling at a fast speed, which I don't normally do in my other runs. There were two sets of 6 weaves, which meant two entries.... again, he did these great, no hesitation, and I did not baby any of our weave entries at all, just kept my pace, said "weave", and let him go. He ran that course in 39 seconds, one of our fastest runs ever I think. The SCT was 51 seconds, so for Blaze that was excellent. Then came the gambles. The first gamble was tricky, but certainly do-able for Blaze. He had a great opening, getting the mini gamble twice. Then, the closing was straight out to a tunnel, then a 180 turn to go up the frame. Then, the handler had to cross the gamble line, as the rest of the gamble was on the other side of the line, and it was a jump, straight out to the dog walk, and then a final jump. Because I was near the end of the running order, I got to see a lot of runs before we ran. A lot of people were getting the gamble, but running out of time, so I thought that time must be really tight on this one, so no time to waste! When the buzzer went for us, I was a bit frazzled, worried about wasting time. So, I did not take my normal time that I take to set Blaze up for his gambles.... This is something I have tried to always be careful to do for him, as when I take an extra second to really set him up correctly for his approach to the gamble, it always goes better, and because we are in veterans now, I always think to myself.... "we have lots of time!".... Well, I was rushing, did not take that extra second to set him up, sent him out to the tunnel incorrectly, he was unsure what I wanted, took the jump (no big deal really), went out towards the tunnel, came back to me, at this point I knew we would run out of time for sure, and that Blaze was not sure what the heck I wanted anyway... he did then go out to the tunnel, and started up the frame, but then jumped off. I was mad at myself for ruining Blaze's chances at a Q. He certainly could have done that gamble. Our final run, another gamble, was the highlight of the weekend. When I first got there in the morning and saw that the last run we were doing was a gamble that had 12 weaves in it, I just wrote off that run, as although he is certainly capable of doing weaves at a distance, weaves have been our problem for a while, and for him to go out away from me to do weaves.... well, forget it. Also, he has typically been good for one or two weave entries per day, and by then he had already done 4 weave entries... so I thought there is just no way he is going to do those weaves... Anyway, the mini gamble in this one was a bit tricky, but I always try them anyway, and if there is any hint of a problem, I step in right away. This is what happened, he did not get the mini, my fault I am sure, so I stepped in, and ran him really, really fast through the obstacles, just basically hitting whatever was in front of us, I abandoned my original plan. He loves this type of running, so it really pumped him up. When the buzzer went, I talked to myself in my head.... I said to myself... "set up your dog, set up your dog...." I took that extra second to set up Blaze, then just went for it. The gamble was a jump, out to the weaves, then two more jumps, with a distraction jump closer to the handler. He went out there, did those weaves, but I did not lose my focus, and he did the last two jumps no problem, BAM!, a successful gamble with those dreaded weaves!!!!!!! Whew, I was so happy it was great. But, because I abandoned my original opening plan, which included two mini gambles, I was not sure if we had enough opening points. Not that I really cared, as I was so happy he did that main gamble, I was trying to count the points in my head afterward, but I couldn't remember exactly when the buzzer went, and because I was just doing random obstacles, I couldn't really remember exactly what I did..... I waited anxiously for the results, and sure enough... 28 opening points, yippee!!!! One more gamble Q. I was just elated that Blaze did so well, and that his only errors were my errors. This certainly gives me more incentive to improve my handling for him. And oh-so happy about all those weaves he did! It was a blast.
