So, the South Central Regional was a lot of fun, and we had our good and bad moments. I’m so proud of both my girls–they were fantastic! On paper, Trip did great! She earned a PVP Q (Top Mini dog Team), as well as Semi-Final Byes in both Performance Grand Prix and Speed Jumping. So, she met all my goals in that respect. But, and it’s a big but, she regressed in how she was running. Over the past 6 weeks, ever since Nationals, she’s been running fantastic! Flying all over the course, happy, etc. We haven’t been clean all the time, but the attitude and enthusiasm was there, and I was so thrilled to have my happy girl back. The first run this weekend was like that–she was super fast, dropped a couple of bars, but was super enthusiastic. Then, as the weekend progressed, she became more and more hesitant. Round 1 of Steeplechase was probably the worst–we trotted through part of it, and were lucky to advance to Round 2. But I wasn’t able to find anything wrong with her. I was also lucky that we didn’t have any more jumpers-type runs, because I don’t think she would have done then. Everything had contacts in it, so she was more excited. But still not 100%. I’m at a loss. I suspect it’s mental, but I can’t prove it. Still, it was very discouraging. Now, I have to decide if I take Trip to Cynosport in Colorado–I won’t decide until the release the schedule.
Ticket did really REALLY well. She earned her AD title by getting that elusive Jumpers leg. She was SO CLOSE to a Grand Prix Q on Friday, on a tough course, but with an AMAZING run. It felt so good, and I was still proud of her. She also dropped 1 bar in Round 1 Steeplechase, but still made Finals, and had the fastest time in Finals, but called on the broad jump. SO close, but again, still managed to earn a Semi-Final Bye. It is highly unlikely she’ll be using that Bye, but we’ll see how the rest of the year goes. Ticket’s bad news this weekend actually came on Monday. I took her to Dr. Beale, and he confirmed a partial tear of her RIGHT ACL. The leg that she did NOT have a TPLO on. I was strongly suspicous based on a couple of things, and so I wasn’t surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised. No arthritis, and no instability yet. Obviously, it doesn’t bother her that much, based on her weekend’s performance. I’m going to go ahead and continue competing for another month or two, and see if we can manage to make any progress towards qualifying for Tulsa. It’s not likely, and if we can’t get it done, then I’ll shut it down and proceed with surgery. And of course, that’s all dependent on her continuing to remain pain-free and sound. The surgery is the same whether we pursue it now, or in a couple of months, so prognosis doesn’t really change based on waiting for a bit longer. It’s not something I can put off indefinitely, and I certainly want it done before the tear becomes complete, but I will continue to monitor her closely and do everything I can for her. Currently she’s getting laser therapy and acupuncture weekly, and I’m managing her training schedule closely so as not to overdo it. On the plus side, we don’t have a heavy show schedule, so plenty of rest days in there.
This weekend, we’re doing 3 days of AKC out in the summer heat. Last outdoor show until Fall for us. It will be hot, but it’s one of Trip’s favorite arenas, so hopefully she’ll be happy about that. And hopefully both girls will manage some QQs this weekend. Hey, we can hope.
Here are some runs from the weekend…
When can we STOP taking it easy???
We’ve been taking it easy lately, little bit of training but not really drilling, still watching both girls health. Trip seems to be fantastic–happier then she has been in a long time. Ticket always WANTS to go, but I still find myself being careful because if she gets hot/tired, she won’t protect herself from injury.
This coming weekend is the South Central Regional in Ft. Worth. I’m really looking forward to it, even though I’m primarily an AKC girl, I think because I’m just craving a big event. We had Nationals, but then I skipped Tryouts, so I think I’ve been a little down about it. I think it’s easy when you’re competing a lot to get a little complacent, and I am definitely feeling that. This weekend should remedy that. For those who don’t know, USDAA has one “National” event each year (Cynosport, this year in Colorado), but they also have several “Regional” events throughout the country. These Regionals allow dogs to earn a Bye into the semi-final round at Nationals, meaning one less round you have to qualify in to make the Finals. They tend to be larger then the average show, people travel farther for them, and they have a little more “atmostphere.” This one should be particularly interesting since last weekend the same building held the IFCS Championships.
Trip and Ticket will both be competing. Trip is already qualified for Nationals, so I’m just looking for those semi-final byes. Ticket will be running in Steeplechase, but she needs to qualify in the local Grand Prix on Friday to be able to run in Grand Prix Round 1 on Saturday. Fingers crossed for her–she’s been SO close. Tic also has the chance to finish a couple of titles, so we’ll see how it goes.
I rarely get to do 3 days of agility, and work has been crazy lately, so I’m REALLY excited to get out of town and compete. Then next weekend, Memorial Day, and 3 MORE days of agility, though instead of freezing cold AC, I’ll be sweating outside fighting off mosquitoes. Oh well, my dogs always do well there, and THEY get to be comfortable snoozing under fans. Lucky them. 🙂
So, like I mentioned before, weave entries are on the “list” of things that Ticket needs to improve on. She’s pretty good in general, but she doesn’t really seek out the weave entry. She also has a hard time doing a 90 degree approach and wrapping that first pole–she tends to go in at pole 2. The WT Tryouts courses this weekend did nothing if not illustrate the importance of rock solid weave entries, no matter how difficult. In the scheme of things, a much easier skill to teach then jumping, handling, etc.
Ticket was taught to weave on channels, and I love her weave poles. She drives through them, she doesn’t pop out, she lets me do what I want when she’s in them. But channels aren’t the greatest for teaching entries, and I’ve been lax in doing the work needed there, since we don’t see a whole lot of truly difficult weave entries. So I decided to go back and work entries, using Susan Garrett’s 2×2 method. I actually did a little bit of this when Ticket was younger, but I didn’t follow through with it, and we never moved past one set of 2x2s. I am no 2×2 expert–this is the first and only dog I’ve ever used them with, as I’ve been happy with my dogs’ weave pole performance. But I’ve been told by many people that this method creates great understanding for entries, so I decided to give it a go.
Unlike the first time, where I was really “whatever about it, this time, I have purpose. She’s going to be able to hit any entry I throw at her. So, over the last week, I’ve been working through the 2x2s. I started with one set, added the second set, and then started rotating them and moving them closer together. All of this is outlined in SG’s awesome 2×2 DVD, so if you’re interested, there’s your guide.
Watching the video, I see mistakes I make. While I “know” where the reward line is, I suck at throwing along it. My sessions are too long. And I’m not good at letting Ticket work through mistakes. Though, the reason for that is Ticket seems to start to pattern herself incorrectly. Once she starts to do the wrong approach, she has a hard time breaking out of it. And even when I move back to one we were successful with before, she may still continue to make the same mistake. So I now tend to take a step back quickly to where we were successful before then upping the challenge again. But watching yourself really illustrates how useful video can be in your training. You may think you’re doing one thing, but something else entirely is happening.
I also noticed at the last stage on this video, where the poles were the closest together and the closest to straight (but still offset), that Ticket began making the same mistake she makes in competition. She would skip the entrance, and take the second “gate” she saw instead. The 2×2 method will definitely let me work through this, and hopefully increase her understanding of what she needs to do to collect her body to nail the entry.
I hope my next weave entry will be Ticket nailing ridiculous entries from anywhere. Happy Training! 🙂
