So I've been slacking on the blog front for the last few weeks. I've just been busy and a bit burnt out from summertime but summer is almost over and I'm getting on to a new schedule to start next week. It's going to be insane.
Anyways...
The biggest event of the summer has come and gone. The 2013 AAC National Agility Championships happened on August 1st through 4th in Leduc, AB and it was Izzie's very first nationals.
... All I can say is "holy crap".
What an experience. Izzie did wonderfully. She ran 4/6 runs clean and under time, we were smooth and connected and just a great team. She placed in all 4 of her clean rounds; two 5ths, a 6th and a 10th and she was about 1.5 points of the aggregate podium for her division, so close! More than the ribbons, I'm so very proud of my little dog. She worked her heart out for me and was happy to play with me which is what really matters. My girly and I are finally becoming the team I know we can be.
As a result of doing so well at nationals, I've had a seriously needed confidence boost. We can do this shit, and we can do it well. Just gotta believe in us. More on that later.
I don't have video due to being a scatterbrain and forgetting to charge my camera for all three freaking days, well I have part of one run on video but I'm too lazy to put it up on youtube. I also don't have much for pictures. I did bring my camera and did take it out but I took zero pictures, I guess I was too distracted? Oh well. Here's a photo of the GDG gang there, have I mentioned how much I love GDG lately? Seriously, I love our group.
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| GDG |
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| Release the hounds! |
Izzie turned the big FIVE today. I got her some froyo with her favourite fruit toppings to celebrate. She would be more concerned about ageing if she wasn't so concerned about getting every last lick of this delicious treat.
Happy Birthday, Buddy. Now let's show 'em what we're made of this weekend at Nationals!
The Lethbridge and District Kennel Club CKC agility trial has come and gone for another year. I don't do much CKC as it costs a bit more than AAC and there really aren't a lot of trials around these parts. This was our third trial and we were competing at the Excellent A level. Izzie ran well all weekend, only a few little things like a couple of missed weave entries and a pretty gnarly table slide off. Other than that she ran fast and happy, just how we like, and she went 2/4 which narrowly misses her AGXS title. We'll get it next year, I have no worries about that! But even better was the fact that all her runs, she ran about 20-30 seconds under time. That's HUGE for the Iz and is a major win. She's definitely feeling good and my newly refined ability to move and focus is making a huge difference in our performance.
Anyway! Take home points...
1. Izzie knows how to weave, but she gets all weird when I over handle for it and don't trust her to find her entry and ends up missing it. Don't over handle, she can find her entry.
2. We prefer to run tighter, more technical courses. Wide open courses with lots of running and time to think are more common in CKC than AAC (depending on the judge). We can do them fine, the courses don't tend to get us, but they're not our preference. I find that Izzie likes the connection through handling of the more technical courses as it keeps her engaged (And well, I like all the twisty junk and challenges so I'm probably in a different mindset too). So I guess I need to learn to like wide open courses too.
3. Tables that aren't rubberized are slippery as... Well as a bad word that I would normally say but I know children read this now so I probably should cut back on the f-bombs. Note to self, put hands on the table during the walkthrough to take note of the surface and know how to handle for it.
Other than that it was a great weekend and ran smoothly. We ended up getting out of there pretty early both days! I got to cheer on lots of my friends who were very successful at their respective levels, Q or not they ran great! I even learned how to scribe for CKC agility (there's a bit of a difference in what you write compared to AAC). Can't wait for next year for sure!
Izzie and I attended a seminar with Kathy Keats all weekend. We had a blast and learned a lot and Izzie and I worked better than ever as a team. I have ideas and advice to work on and some mental game thoughts that are percolating through my brain cells. Mental game stuff is always a big help for me and Kathy Keats is especially awesome for that kind of stuff.
This weekend also marked the first real transition into running Izzie at 6". We've done it in class or practising on our own, but this weekend was the first real event where I've had her run all weekend at that height and really worked handling skills. I've already come to peace with the decision even though it wasn't much of a struggle for me. It's better for my dog and I know it, she's happier and faster and more confident. So fast that I have to relearn how to run her in certain situations now! Kind of an okay problem to have I suppose! Anyway, experiencing her running so well and hearing from everyone including Kathy that she's doing awesome was really encouraging. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we have an AMAZING group of people friends here. So supportive.
I'm so excited to see where our future takes us. No matter where we end up, it's going to be a fantastic journey to take with my best friend.
I love playing agility with the Biz, so that's what we did today for a bit.
She's such a great little dog.
Time to talk about REGIONALS! Woop woop!
This was our first regionals that we've competed in. I've been to a regional event before (and a national event) but only to volunteer. Luckily those things gave me an idea how it's all supposed to work though which is super helpful.
Anyway despite the myriad of weather (hot, cold, rainy, hail, wind) and an allergic reaction to bug bites on Thursday night, Izzie ran awesome and only had a few bobbles. A bar and a couple refusals and a couple seconds over time here and there. Nothing huge. We ended up qualifying for nationals with about 367 points and placing 10th in a pretty competitive 10" specials class.
She didn't miss a contact all weekend and weaved great. Her gambles were iffy but i knew that going in. BUT she did a pretty good attempt at the second gamble and even took the left cue I gave her! Unfortunately she lefted all way back behind the jump she just came from, but it was a good effort. I don't know many placements but she did place 6th in the first standard run which is AWESOME. Go Iz!
She makes me so proud. Nationals here we come!
Via Flickr:
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. - Henry Ford
Less than a week until regionals. I'm nervous but excited. Izzie and I are better and more in sync than we've ever been and I've learned more about teamwork and plain old hard work in the past few months than ever before. I'm pretty much mentally and physically where I want to be right now. We're ready. I keep saying it out loud to myself. We're ready, we're ready, we're fecking ready to get out there and do our best. To be the best team we can be.
Bring it on.
