Whoops, guess I never wrote about Tryouts. We had a great time, and I’m very proud of my girl. She made big strides between 2009 and 2010, and hopefully we can put it all together in 2011. She had some great runs, some close runs, and only one “bad” run. She really struggled with the surface, and her jumping was off all weekend. It was honestly the worst dirt we’ve run on in recent memory, and we ALWAYS show on dirt.
Her turns were tight, and I didn’t have any moments in my walkthrus where I thought “I can’t do this.” What I really felt we lacked was overall fitness. Her muscle just isn’t what it was last year, and because of that, I think her speed is just a half step off. I will definitely continue to work on that. When we move, I want to buy a treadmill, which I think will help.
So, I’m proud of how she did, and I expect even better things next year. Congrats to everyone who made the team–should be a great time in Germany!
Well, just a few days until we leave for World Team Tryouts in Minnesota. I’ve been working Trip’s dogwalk as often as I can, and she’s definitely THINKING about what she’s doing again. It’s looking good. I’ve run some courses from the WC judges the last couple of weeks, and Trip is handling them very well. I really feel like this year we have the skills to do well and rock those courses. She’s a good girl–I know she’ll do everything she can for me. 🙂
Trip went 3/4 at her last trial (last weekend), got both dogwalks, and some really pretty runs, on some tough courses. She’s now 4 QQs from MACH2–we dont’ have a lot of shows coming up, but I hope she will get it soon–maybe in June…
Ticket is doing great. I measured her last weekend somewhere between 14.25-14.5. SHe doesn’t look an inch taller then Trip to me, but it doesn’t really matter at this point. We’ll see how she continues to grow, but I honestly don’t expect very much more. She will be 6 months old this week, and Trip didn’t grow from that point on. She’s such a happy, goofy girl, and she’s a lot of fun to train/play with. I’m actually starting to teach her a stay, since it will make the rest of my life easier. Way harder for us then anything we’ve shaped, but we’ll get it. 🙂
So, lately we’ve been doing USDAA trying to get Trip qualified for USDAA Nationals. She’s qualified in Steeplechase and DAM Team, but still no Grand Prix Qs. Something always seems to happen. And, the last remaining leg she needs for her ADCH–Grand Prix. Very frustrating. We don’t have a ton of shows coming up, so we have to take advantage of the opportunities when we have them. Still, she’s been running well, though her less then perfect fitness is emphasized at 16″. Still working on that.
World Team Tryouts are 3 weeks away. I’ve been doing my best to get prepared. We are light years ahead of where we were last year, and I’m excited to get Trip on those courses. I’m doing all the dogwalk maintenance I can, in the hope that it gets her back in the groove hitting that contact. Other then that, she has looked fantastic. We have an AKC trial next weekend, and then one weekend off before Tryouts.
Ticket has been looking great. She is now bigger then Trip, but not by much. I would say she’s a hair under 14″, but don’t have an official measurement. She will be 24 weeks this week. I don’t expect a whole lot more growth from her, but she could surprise me. Her work on the plank for her dogwalk contact is going well–putting a cue on it, and I’ve played with her on the bottom of a dogwalk at class. She’s scary smart. Started working on a stay (finally), as I remember that was the limiting factor when I wanted to start to work on “handling” flatwork with Trip. THAT is much more of a challenge for her, though I think a lot of that is in my head. We’re also working on her spins to the right and left, and a foot touch to a closed hand. Her outside circle work looks great (this week). I admit, I haven’t done much inside circle work. It’s just not fun. 🙂
Anyway, it’s been a challenge, trying to balance what I need to work on with Trip, vs. what I want to work on with Ticket. If we make the Team, I’m afraid Ticket’s training will take even more of a backseat, but that’s ok, we have lots of time. We are in the process of closing on a new home, with room for a full-sized agility field, so training will hopefully be getting easier a few months down the road. Can’t buy contacts until we sell the old house, but still, it’s in the forseeable future. Very exciting to think how much more I will be able to work on things, in the comfort of my own backyard. I like to think my girls will get even BETTER!
Here’s the latest picture of Ticket, stacking on a table, and a video of her contact work…
