Photos from Act Up Trial, May 15, 2010

Spot was entered in the Act Up CPE trial on May 15th at Canine Mastery in Seekonk.
We were entered in Fullhouse 2, Snooker 2, Colors 2 and Jumpers 3. We Q'd in Fullhouse and Colors. I'll give the full rundown later, but here are some photos! Spot looks so happy and shows great form. I love the A frame picture where he's looking over at me.

GBAEC Earthdog Trial, May 22-23, 2010

This weekend the GBAEC hosted its first trial of the 2010 season. Spot was entered in Master both days and I entered Shelby in IQ Sunday morning just for the heck of it.

On Saturday, Spot was in the first brace with Buzz, a border terrier. The walk up went well, they both hunted together and Spot found the scent line on the way up. When we got to the tunnel, both dogs were ranging around and Buzz marked first. Once Buzz was picked up, Spot ran over and marked. He barked twice and the judge said, that's a good mark, pick him up. I was really surprised because a lot of judges want the dog to mark for a while and be really vocal. Also, Spot didn't stay at the mark, he left to come to me and be picked up, which I think some judges would fail.

Buzz worked first and Spot had to honor. Buzz actually wouldn't go into the tunnel. Spot was good at honoring, just barking a little bit. When it was time for Spot to work he went right in and got to the rats in about 20 seconds. He worked like a champ, and when it was time to take him out, the judge removed the cover, which I wasn't expecting, so I wasn't quite ready. Of course, he backed up, and wouldn't come out. Instead he backed up all the way to the entrance! the judge said the whole run was perfect up until that point and he would have passed if he had come out.

On Sunday, Spot was in the third brace with Phoebe, a female fox terrier who already had her ME title, but was going for the EE title, which is Q'ing in ME and SE in the same day. The walk up went well, Spot was hanging back a little more than on Saturday. He likes to run ahead, then stop and look back, then come to me, then run ahead again. Judges generally like this when the dog checks in on his own. I did have to call him back to check the false den, which was no problem. When we got to the tunnel, Phoebe was checking out around where the rats were, while Spot was checking out the whole tunnel. Well, the cover to where the dog gets taken out was left off the tunnel, so Spot went in! There was a momentary panic as the rat steward ran to where the rats were to make sure Spot didn't get to them from the other side. He was actually at the exit and was stuck because it was barred. So I went over and let him out, and then he was able to mark and did a nice job. He was a little noisy on the honor, getting excited when Phoebe was vocal, but not too bad.

Then Spot got to work the tunnel. He went right in and came out the exit, turned around and got to the rats. He worked the rats for 90 seconds, barking and digging, and then it was time to take him out. This time I opened the cover, and he backed up, but then came forward again and I was able to grab his scruff. I praised him a bit and let him work for a second, and the judge was telling me to get him out because I was running out of time. So I pulled him out, and we Q'd! So now we just need 1 more leg.

Shelby was entered in IQ on Sunday. I just wanted to see what she would do. I went in and I put her down and he nose picked up the scent right away. She followed it right to the tunnel and stuck her head in and then went in. I was optimistic, but then she came back out. She was scenting around, obviously interested, but not wanting to go in the dark tunnel. I went up and encouraged her, and she went in again, but even with the judge rattling the cage, she wouldn't go all the way. That's ok, I was encouraged that she followed the scent in. We just need to work on the corner.

Spot shines at Bo Gee CPE trial

On Saturday, Spot was entered in the Bo Gee CPE trial in Deerfield, NH. He was entered in Jumpers, Snooker, Jackpot and FullHouse. He Qd in all 4, got 51 points in Snooker, 2 first places, and 1 second place. It was a great day!

Jumpers was first, and of course Spot was excited. He was fast off the start, but held his stay while I lead out. The course was pretty easy. Spot had a couple of jumps he ran around, but I was able to call him back and we finished the course under time. However, we were the slowest, so we got a Q but didn't place. Ok with me!

Next was Snooker. This was an awesome course because the 7 obstacle was a tunnel. So I did the 7 tunnel 3 times, and we finished the entire closing, earning 51 points out of a possible 51, getting a Q and first place. It was a thing of beauty if I do say so myself. I really planned well, calling him out of the tunnel each time, and calling him around the jumps so his turns would be tighter. He listened to me, did a great contact on the dog walk, did the tire twice correctly, and the only bobble was coming out of the 7 tunnel in the closing, I didn't get ahead enough and we almost collided on the way to the table. I need to check the scores once they are posted to see how many others were able to get 51 points. :-)

Then came Jackpot. It was a standard Jackpot, with the gamble being jump, tunnel, jump, table. There was a tunnel under the dog walk, and that was worth 7 points the first time, so I took advantage of that. I started with a single jump, then the double, then the tunnel once and then back again, then another jump, then the 7 point tunnel, then a 5 point combo, then the tunnel under the dog walk again. Then the whistle for the gamble blew, and we were in a great position for me to send away to the jump, then the tunnel, then I called him towards me out of the tunnel so I could send away to the second jump and then the table.

Last class of the day for us was Full House. It was pretty hot by then, so I wanted to make it as easy as possible for Spot, and planned a course with a lot of tunnels. There were 3 tunnels on the course and I did 2 of them twice. Also, there was supposed to be a triple as a joker, but they just used the double instead, so I used that instead of the A frame or dog walk. I did a single jump, then a tunnel twice, then the double as my joker, then another tunnel twice, then three single jumps, then a tunnel again, and then one more jump as I headed to the table. We ended up with 25 points, which is enough for level 4,5 C, so I consider that a success!

Overall the day was a huge success. I don't know if it's because Spot is so bomb-proof that nothing bothers him, or that I have more experience and can keep my head on course, but we are doing really well. Spot loves doing agility, but he's not so hyped up while he's waiting that he loses his edge. He's ok if we have to wait a little bit, and he's ok if I don't have food. He's happy just being with me and getting attention. I hope that he stays healthy and we can play agility for a couple more years.