Hattiesburg Agility Trial - STCA

Maxie 6 runs, 2 Q's, 1 3rd place, 39 MACH points, 6 videos.
Lucky Lucy:  6 runs, 0 Q's, 5 videos

Maxie and me at the start line,
on the red, red dirt of Hattiesburg.

This was a new trial on AKC's calendar, hosted by the AKC afilliated Staffordshire Terrier Club of America on the red red dirt of Hattiesburg.  Dog Gone Fun was hired to run the trial, and they took my BARK bucks in payment, but as no nearby STCA club members could be found to form a Trial Committee, 5 flew in from far parts.  2 from California, 1 from Missouri, and a few others I didn't meet.  They lent a very different flavor to the trial --  loud, friendly, competitive, opinionated, and quite bold handlers of their terriers and pit bulls, who all ran superbly!  They crated near me at ground level in the back hall, so I was privy to some of their almost continuous talk.  No shyness there, and they liked Lucky Lucy.  Their comments were that we southerners are way too uptight, our handling in most cases not very sophisticated.  Their motto:  Fun, Fast, and Fair.  In one kitchen conclave, they said their judges were lots more laid back and entertaining, they handled much more boldly, they focused more on speed and less on Q'ing, and they favored upping the difficulty of AKC courses to prepare competitors for national and international competition.

I objected to that last, explaining that only a handful aspire to compete at the higher levels, that most of us do agility for the health benefits, mental challenge, and structured activities with our dogs.  Several ladies agreed. I suggested the place to make things more complicated is once a dog MACH's, but don't take the recreational aspect of the sport away from the vast majority.  They listened and weren't the least huffy at hearing opinions contrary to their own.

They related that almost all trials out west are held outdoors, as the weather is not so humid and the summer heat much easier to tolerate, everyone brings canopies against heat and rain, and there are tons of matches and trials to attend almost every weekend.  They hinted that outdoors, dogs tend to be more excited about the sport.  Is that why Lucky does so well at our field, so poorly in the arenas?  I hadn't thought of it, but we NEVER practice indoors!

OUR PERFORMANCE:


Maxie's 1st run was splendid, a solid Standard Q with 20 MACH points.  A few wide turns cost us placement. That felt great!   His second run was clean but he broke his start line stay (not a fault but very rare) and ran 2 seconds over course time.  Why so slow?  3 runs were very close to Q's, 1 run he veered right and did a tunnel suck while I was going left.  Another run he knocked a bar.  Then one run we did the "Walk Of Shame" off the course, where he smelled something mid-course and wouldn't stop circling and sniffing, and would not let me pick him up.  We got whistled off, of course.  I finally commanded a "Sit", and he sat.  Several other dogs sniffed and NQ'd in the same general area.  I marched straight to his crate and denied him a treat, and ignored him for awhile (a first for us), but I don't think he related this punishment to his behavior.  The best part of all this, for me, is I didn't feel the least bit embarrassed!  Last year I'd have been mortified.

Lucky had 3 clean runs, alas all over course time, and the other 3 she had one mistake each - one weave pop-out, another caused by my bout of vertigo at a planned front cross so I just stood there as the room spun around and she took the jump straight ahead, another a badly placed rear cross.  This last run was her only one with seconds to spare.  She mostly walked the courses.

"BEHIND" command.  One of the STCA gals, running a fast 20" terrier, did an amazing maneuver that caught everybody's attention on Saturday and some of the small dog handlers, walking the course afterwards, crowded around the jumps to discuss it and wonder if we would dare try it.  I was sorely tempted, but with a QQ on the line and no prior practice, I chickened out.  I include the map below. 



It's a "ketchker", some said, but one which I found easier to comprehend than most. More elegant than making a 260 turn, and much faster, the STCA lady showed me how she taught that maneuver at home as a "behind" command.  I'm setting it up in my yard this week, from both left and right directions.

At the vendors, I finally fitted Pepper with a sturdy red harness, and a matching black leash.  Immediately upon attaching this leash to either his collar or harness, he began calmly walking by my side on a loose leash.  Not one bit of pulling, the whole rest of the weekend.  Go figure!  Is he growing up or is it that he finally feels properly pampered?

It was a pleasant RV vacation.  All went perfect.   Nothing forgotten.  No injuries.  No mishaps. Weather overcast and not too hot, nothing like last year's tornado/hail storm.  There was space between the isolated rain showers to pack without getting wet.  A few visitors - Ken, Karen and Christina.  Avoiding the 4th of July parties, I enjoyed my yard and listened to an audio book, The Promised Land, for hours with my new Bluetooth speaker -- my version of celebrating the 4th, because the book is about a Russian Jewish family who emigrated to America in the 1890's and compared their new-found freedoms with the oppressive social, political, poverty and religious conditions in their native village.  We do have it good! While listening hands free, I made a few more improvements in my packing.  cut down significantly on road rattles by placing damp sponges behind the dog crate doors and stove grate.  I learned that Maxie and Pepper love to lie in the red wagon on the porch and chew their twizzle sticks in isolation from Lucky.  We were all completely relaxed.  I worked on training them not to bark so much at passersby, popping a damp wash cloth against the fence and saying Aah, which startled them!  After a few times, they settled down very well.

Going to Hattiesburg and back, generator running, takes 3/4ths tank of gas, i.e., 45 gallons, i.e. $148.  Yikes!  Including running fees for 2 dogs (entered only in MS and MJ) and RV spot for 3 nights, this trial cost me +/- $450.  Sounds high, but imagine those who have several dogs entered, run them in 4 events daily, stay in hotels, eat out, come from much further away, and whose SUV's don't get much better mileage than my RV!

GOALS MET/GOALS SET:

Maxie to surpass 750 MACH points, accomplished.
Maxie one QQ, not met.
Maxie, run his weaves.  Did this 3 out of 6 times.
None of my goals for Lucky were met.  No Q's.  No fast weaves.  Only 1 run under course time.  But I can say a few good things.  She didn't pause on top of the A-frame, didn't miss any of her contacts, and didn't seem overly stressed.

So my goals remain the same:  QQ's, running weaves, faster times, and better handling.  Do what I can to lengthen Maxie's stride, which seems to be getting shorter and shorter.  And now, getting to the bottom of this vertigo and having the courage to deal with my worsening vision.

I delayed this post a long time waiting to finish my video composites, but I still haven't done them.  Not much of a thrill watching a long string of NQ's!  Besides, doing Librivox recordings and my garden have kept me plenty busy, plus an upcoming post on the produce we've enjoyed.

Upwards and onward!

Hattiesburg Agility Trial - August 2012

Maxie: 4 runs, 2 Q's, 1 3rd place, 41 MACH points, 4 videos
Lucky Lucy: 4 runs (3 clean), 1 Q, 5 MACH points, 3 videos

Despite surviving a tornado, locking myself out of the RV, only 3 Q's in 8 runs, and my most embarassing moment ever at any trial, in retrospect I am moderately pleased with our trialing weekend.  The RV's maiden voyage was mostly successful.

I left Baton Rouge Wednesday afternoon to give myself time to set up the RV and rest up before competing on Thursday. We had a very pleasant day and evening and all of us slept well.

Pepper, at 10 months, was excited but not nervous, and a great companion for Maxie.  He received many compliments.

Thursday, dogs ran small to tall and the FAST class went first (which I didn't enter), so Maxie's 1st run wasn't until around 9:30 a.m.  I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn until Friday, when he was the 4th dog on the line at 8, and even after the stress of being caught out in a tornado Thursday afternoon, I felt fine on Friday. Here's the video composite, with commentary (missed one). I'm still not satisfied with the audio, which sometimes cuts out.  Since both dogs are running the same courses now, I decided to put identical runs together for comparison.



In every run, Maxie ran the course in less time than Lucky, ranging from 1 to 10 seconds faster.  Odd considering the difference in their stride and leg length, and Lucky's strength.

Maxie ran well, only popped out of the weaves once out of 4 runs, and I pulled him off the second to last jump on another run.  2 errors out of roughly 80 obstacles.  His time was good but he had some stiff competition, including one Welsh Corgi, Stella, who smoked all the other 8" dogs every time by several seconds.  Lucky handled well and only made 1 mistake in 4 runs, she was reasonably focused, but again she didn't make course time 3 out of 4 runs.  Her weaves were slightly faster this weekend.  She walked less and ran more than previous runs.

Saturday I woke up with my shin muscles very sore, probably from my struggles in the tornado on Thursday.  I could barely maneuver my legs, was off emotionally, and it turned out to be a horrible day.  I hadn't entered my dogs, just planned to hang out to cheer on and video our novice competitors (our club has generated many new competitors this year, more than ever!)

My most embarassing trial moment to date: 

Ken and Casey on the start line Saturday,
Novice Standard

Ken, a new friend and enthusiastic club member, at his first trial, was 4th dog on the line early Saturday morning, his 2nd Jumpers run ever. I left my dogs in the RV and and ran to the arena to watch and video him. I was near the start line, camera running. Ken took a long lead out as we had practiced.  When Casey broke her start line stay, Ken headed back behind the1st jump to sit her again.  Before I knew it, confused on the rules myself, I yelled "NO, KEN, NO", the judge blew the whistle and disqualified him for "Outside Interference".  Shocked at this unfolding drama, I begged the judge over and over to give him another chance, it wasn't his fault, it was all my fault, etc.  But she said 'NO, SORRY, NO, BOTH OF YOU CAN LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME".  Incredulous! 

I thought that was such an unfair ruling for a Novice A handler.  Punish me, not him.  Take away my last Q, whatever.  That would have somewhat assuaged me but nothing worked.  After he left the ring, I was unconsolable.  Ken told me later he would have led out again past the jump and been disqualified anyway, but that doesn't excuse my outburst, nor my confusion about the rules.  I left the arena, cried all morning, almost threw up several times.  Of course , nobody from our club had gone over the start line rules with him, Ken hadn't read the AKC regulations, and I hadn't reviewed the rules in 2 years!  Conclusion, something needs to change.

Reviewing the rules is something our dog club should do with every novice competitor.  Maybe as my penance, I should write those up in layman's language for us to hand out to our newbies, and to remind myself of the rules.

Secondly, nobody in our club had measured Ken's dog, so he's been jumping Casey at 20" all year long in practice. The VMO measured her at over 22", which required her to jump 24". She managed to do it, only knocking 3 bars, but barely cleared the rest. They Q'd 5 out of 10 runs the whole weekend, but the surprise height change was quite a shock.

Every dog in our club intending to compete in agility should be measured by the time they enter Advanced Beginner level.


Next trial I'm entered in is our own in Port Allen, just 4 weeks away.  Til then Lucky is enrolled in Monday night Competition class, Maxie is enrolled in the Tuesday night Competition class, and Pepper in the Wednesday night Intro Class.  Lots of Agility going on.

Upwards and onward!

Maiden Voyage of my new RV - Hattiesburg

New puppy, Pepper, lounges on the couch
of our dream RV, as we head to Hattiesburg.

Heading out to Hattiesburg (about 3 hours away) for our first trial since April, this was our first time on the road since bringing my new RV home from Florida last May.  I have spent the past 3 months working out every minute detail for comfort and utility for me and my dogs.  I knew I'd have a few more kinks to work out, but OMG nothing of TORNADO magnitude!  I filled the tank, and drove the whole trip at 65 mph, so next time I gas up I'll be able to calculate mileage at that speed, hoping it exceeds 8 mpg.  So far, my plan is unfolding.
 
Once there, I parked on a slanted slab so dreaded by my previous experience in Hattiesburg with my pop-up camper, but a different wheel base and my home-made leveling boards worked perfect to level the unit and keep her stable.  Still good.  I set up my 32' x-pen yard at the RV site, with my lattice skirt along the RV wall, and found that the lattice needs to be cut down 1/4" more to clear the door.  Humm, at my house it clears fine, but I'm not on concrete.  Maybe there's a dip in my yard. I marked the lattice and sawed the excess off when I got home.  I hit one pot-hole on the way home that made 2 drawers and the kitchen door fly open, but that just served to help me figure out how to bungie them shut in transit.  I timed complete set up in 2 hours on Wednesday afternoon, it was easy work, and every preparation was working great!

Lucky Lucy is comfortable on the bench,
while Maxie (who can't be seen) chose
to lounge in the open crate at right.

Until . . . . . Thursday afternoon, after my last run, with storm clouds gathering, I decided to pack my wagon and dogs and walk from the arena to the RV before it began to rain.  It was a long walk.  About half way, too late to go back, lightening split the sky and it started to drizzle, then rain.  I thought I could make it to the RV so kept going.  Lucky was in harness helping me pull the wagon.  We walked as fast as we could, getting wet, laughing, but with each crack of lightening Lucky's pulling became more eratic and the rains increased.  Eventually I unhitched her from the wagon.  Thank goodness, because within 20 seconds a tornado touched down, knocked me off my feet and flung the wagon 30 feet away.  I scrambled fast to marshall us all to the door of our motor home, but as I rounded the bend saw my x-pens had been knocked down, my table flipped over and there was lots of debris to get tangled in.  And then I realized the keys were still in my purse, in a wagon flung far away.  We were locked out -- in dousing rain and high winds, only barely protected by crouching against the wall of the motor home, which began rocking furiously back and forth.  There was no shelter anywhere else.  No choice, I had to try and reach my keys and get us inside.  I commanded the dogs to "STAY" against the side of the RV, which I figured provided them some protection from wind and pelting rain.  I headed toward the wagon as fast as I could.  Suddenly, it began hailing so hard, blowing almost horizontally, I was knocked to my knees. I had to crawl and keep my head down.  Afraid for my life, I abandoned the wagon idea and took refuge behind my neighbor's trailer -- a little trailer that could have blown off it's chocks and crushed me at any moment.  My prayer was that my RV wouldn't capsize and that my dogs were safer than I was and would stay put where I left them.  I couldn't even see them and dared not call. I was truly afraid for all our lives.  What seemed like 10 minutes later (probably 3) the hail subsided, and I see Lucky skulking my way in the downpour, dragging her leash, and she crawls up under the trailer and extends her paw to me then licks my face.  I grab her neck and melt into tears. Then I see Pepper wandering about, looking for Lucky in the blinding rain, and I call his name from my gut.  He makes his way under the trailer, totally drenched but otherwise unharmed.  Then I notice Maxie is still STAYING where I put him, I begin calling furiously, furiously.  And he makes his way to the trailer, me praying with all my might his leash doesn't get tangled in debris.  He made it.  I have never been so glad to have all my dogs near me.  I unhooked their leashes to prevent them further danger of getting tangled in debris in case we needed to run again.  There was no predicting what might happen next.   When the winds died down, but it was still raining hard, I ventured forth to fetch my keys.  They all followed me to the wagon and then to the RV.  They were all totally focused on my commands, no controversy, total trust but they didn't want to be separated from my side.  We were all drenched to the bone and dripping everywhere.  I no longer cared about keeping my carpets or upholstery clean. Who gives a shit about carpet compared to safety?????  They followed me in, I towel dried each dog as best I could, quickly changed out of my sopping clothes, then put on a poncho and went back out in the rain to fetch my purse, camera case, and dog duffle bag, which were all drenched.  At that point some nice lady walked by saying people and dogs had to head back to the arena immediately for safety, another even worse storm is coming within 5-10 minutes.  Without hesitation I leashed the dogs and we hurried back, and entered an air conditioned arena that was freezing cold to us wet people.  Maxie began shivering so violently I feared hypothermia, and I didn't even have a towel to wrap him in. 

NOTE:  Always carry a big towel in your gear.  Add a hair dryer to my equipment list.

I managed to borrow a towel, dried Maxie off as best I could, and held him in my arms for the next half hour.  Lucky and Pepper weren't so affected by the cold.  The trial stopped.  After an hour and no worse storm happened, the trial re-commenced and we walked back to the RV, where we stayed cozied up the rest of the night. I realized I need a big tub to put wet items in.  A few items in my cabinets were topsy turvy and I made notes for the future.  We learned later, one 5th wheel had been turned around 90 degrees, blown off it's jacks and suffered damage, the brand new little A-frame trailer to my left had collapsed, and other RV'ers suffered minor damage.  Part of the arena roof blew off.  Trees snapped off, and debris was flying all over the grounds.  No one was hurt. We were all extremely lucky.  I managed to salvage all my stuff along the fence line by the next day, and though wet, none of it was harmed. I dare not contemplate how I would have faired in my pop-up,

Next day, Friday, to my great amazement, we all felt fine.  Maxie Q'd one of 2 runs with only 1 problem caused by me to his NQ, and Lucky ran pretty well for her.  I was calm.  I didn't feel shaky until Saturday.

Saturday I wokd up with my shin muscles very sore.  I could barely rotate my ankles, was off emotionally, and it turned out to be a horrible day.  More on the trial-related horrible thing will be in my next post along with a summary of our runs.

Second horrible thing, I was packing up the RV to go home Saturday afternoon, dogs inside, me moving stuff in and out, when the f'ing door locked itself and I was locked out!  Keys were inside.  95 degree weather.  What??????   After recovering from jaw slapping shock, I found my iPhone in my pocket and used it to call 911. They offered to contact a locksmith, meanwhile I went back into the arena to see if anyone could help, but of course the trial secretary was busy recording scores, also told me campus security wasn't on site.  After an hour 911 couldn't rouse a locksmith, but eventually sent a sherrif out to pick my lock.  (They didn't send anyone at first because "we can't pick locks on motor homes, only on vehicles."  I thought fast, and assured them that my Class C motor home was built on a van chassis, so it was just a vehicle  So they agreed to try.)  But this took 2 hours, with the dogs inside and me out in the heat.  At least my dogs were air conditioning, but I wasn't.  I used my time wisely re-arranging the outside storage compartments (which I had planned to do anyway), staying in the little ribbon of shade beside the RV.  But towards the last half hour I was getting hot, parched and while still not frantic, considerably nervous.  Finally I remembered the broken window latch I had taped shut on the drive home from Florida, managed to force the window open and get inside by standing on the handle of my little step laddar, and just as I got my butt in, my feet dangling out the window, the sherrif arrives!  Lucy, I had some 'splainin' to do!

NOTE:  Hide a second set of keys in a magnetic box and put it outside somewhere.  I hear one can purchase a magnetic box with a combination on it.

Made it home without further incident, pacing myself, exhausted and not caring about our agility performance.  Haven't even watched the videos.  I'll assess this when I feel better rested.



Upwards and onward!

Hattiesburg MS Trial - Aug 2011

Maxie 6 runs, 4 Q's (3 XJ, 1 XS), 2 4th places, 1 QQ, 1 TITLE MXJ, 36 MACH points. Videos posted
Lucky 6 runs, 2 Q's (XJ-A, XS-A), 2 3rd places. Videos posted
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 4 runs per day.
Judges:  Jill Roberts, Alan Arthur

Hattiesburg Arena entrance

Having beaten down the bugs problem - (previous post); beaten down the calf problem (Monroe Trial) to where I think I can run again, arranging special permission to crate at ground level (see Trial Site Summary for Hattiesburg), and finding the missing house key so the neighbors can feed my pets, I felt confident heading off to Hattiesburg for a 4 day trial, despite the strange new rattle in my car.

Crating at ground level, in the hall. There
was space for dozens more people.  It was cool and
quiet, and the car was parked just outside.  Arena entrance
is in the distant background of this photo.

Left Baton Rouge Wednesday at 12:30 and arrived at Motel 6 on 49 at 3:15.  Interstate all the way, not much traffic.  Checked in, hung around til 4:30, then drove 8.5 miles back to the arena where I crated in the hall around the back (South) side on the ground floor.  Hung around and helped set up both rings, all of us sweating like pigs because the arena A/C was out of freon and they had to call in emergency maintenance. My eyes were stinging with the fumes of urine, which I was told would clear up when the A/C was fixed.  Mercifully by next morning, it did.

THURSDAY:  Thursday morning, up bright and early, well rested, no stress, made it to the arena way ahead of time, stepped out the car and realized -- I was still wearing my Tom's slip-on shoes (they are so comfortable I forget about my feet).  Tennis shoes were 8.5 miles back at the motel!  On the way back, a terrible car wreck stopped traffic a good long while, which got me back to the arena just in time to walk the Excellent Standard course a few times.  This didn't seem to unnerve me.  However . . . . .

Maxie: Maxie was the 6th dog to run XS.  The course flowed well in 2 beautiful loops with the Table at 11.  I could run the whole thing in my head. Maxie was alert. We were in sync. When I found myself putting him through the weaves a second time, though, it hit me that I was repeating the first loop.  CRAP, I went left instead of right after the table! The humiliation would have been terrible last year.  Now I just told the judge "I'm lost", waved goodbye, and took a few obstacles on the way out.  Maxie made no mistakes, but Mommy didn't Q.  My fault entirely. Later that day, in XJ, we Q'd . . . . . but almost missed the run.  Running 2 dogs now in Excellent, Lucky had just finished his XS run and I heard them calling Maxie for XJ.  I hadn't even walked the course.  The "walkthrough" apparently occurred while I was out pottying Lucky before her run.  Alan Arthur, the judge, invited me to walk the course with the 16" dogs, and offered to set the bars at 8" so Maxie could run first.  How sweet! That worked, Maxie Q'd and got his MXJ title!  This judge was awesome handling scheduling conflicts.

Maxie didn't run as fast as usual, though.  Came in 5th.  That was, I think, because my calf muscle starting aching about half-way through the run, I started limping again, and Maxie could tell.  Afterward I hobbled back to our crate space where I immediately hooked my calf up to my new TENS machine for 30 minutes of electric therapy.  I had to run Lucky on that same course in about an hour.  Would I make it?  A bit of tension building now.

Lucky: Long story short, Lucky Q'd XS-A in her first run, 3rd place.  She was 3 seconds over SCT, (-9 points), but in Excellent A you can score 85 and still Q as long as you have no other faults.  Only 3 out of 11 dogs Q'd.  1st and 2nd place dogs tied, both running a full 20 seconds faster than Lucky!  All the other dogs logged approximately the same time as Lucky, so she's not the only slow dog out there.  On her second run XJ-A, she ran without faults, but so slowly she NQ'd due to being 6 seconds over course time (-18 points).  What am I going to do with her?  She only races hard for tug toys.

Skipped dinner with the club folks.  Went home to ice and electrify my calf, prop up my leg, and watch TV.  Actually, I ended up downloading Thursday's videos, and working on this blog first.  Oddly, my computer won't play back the videos.  Now what's wrong?

FRIDAY: Slept okay, but had a weird dream about "a blog writing it's own blog about what it's like to be somebody's blog - disdain for all the stupid things they write, laughing at their jokes, etc". A blog from the blog's point of view.  HA! Blogs and dogs on the brain!  Got to arena in plenty of time, properly shod, and taking care not to walk around more than necessary, my leg held up.

Lucky: Lucky ran both Standard and Jumpers before Maxie ran at all.  She scratched in XS-A, by popping out of the weaves, and ran 11 seconds over course time. In XJ-A, she Q'd with a 3rd place, score of 91 because of running 3 seconds over SCT (again). 
Maxie: In XS, he scratched -  came off the A-frame fast, took the jump ahead and raced straight for the chute instead of following me left to the table.  It was an easy course and he made good time, but I couldn't call him off of that chute for anything. Bummer!  Usually "Here!"  or "This way!" works, but not this time.  Then he burned up several seconds sniffing the dirt until I hollered "Leave it!" and lunged toward him.  This got his attention and we completed the run without fault.


Everyone crashes after a hard,
noisy day at the arena.
Top to bottom:  Lucky, Maxie, Willow

Later he Q'd in Jumpers, with 5 seconds to spare but 10 seconds slower than the 1st place dog, another Papillon named Lily, from Pensacola, a few years older and far more experienced.  Everybody fusses me for slowing Maxie down, saying I need to run faster, etc. Of course placement is sweet, but Q's are nice too.  Unfortunately, what Maxie really needs are 4 more Standard Q's, more QQ's, and lots more MACH points. Maybe we'll Q tomorrow.
The food served at the trial was so delicious (unlike some trials where hot dogs, mac-n'-cheese, and junk food are standard fare), I got introduced to "Texas Caviar", and brought home my portion of pulled chicken barbeque, put it on sourdough bread with some lettuce, and that along with fresh fruit, was supper.  While I watched videos, everyone else crashed.

SATURDAY:
Maxie QQ'd.  Two beautiful runs, no problems, good time, 2 4th places, missing 1st place in XJ by just 6 seconds, and missing 3rd place in XS by 6 100ths of a second.  I was making a point of running faster, even though my calf pulled on the second to last run, and I ran Maxie's last run with the TENS machine attached to my leg.

Lucky struck out both runs.  In XJ, she balked at a jump for no apparent reason, stopped then walked around it, which screwed with my concentration, I got lost and sent her over the wrong jump, after which we got straight but it was too late.  Also, she ran very slowly.  I was so miffed that I crated her, called her "Bad Girl" and didn't give her any treats for her run.  She understood I was upset, cowered down and didn't budge for a couple of hours, but I doubt she understood it meant "next time, RUN".

VOLUNTEERISM:  After my runs were over, I volunteered as TIMER for EXCELLENT FAST and EXCELLENT NOVICE, where I wouldn't have to walk, timing for the first time.  What a class to start on!  It was fast paced and hard to hear the judge's calls with all the barking dogs and chatty observers right behind us.  One lady stood behind us with her huge black deep-throated non-stop barking lab.  I yelled at her to move away but she didn't hear me.  Someone else heard me and asked her to leave.  After about 5 runs and asking somebody to bring me a course map, I learned the value of each obstacle and so long as the judge made a noise, I was able to tell the scribe what to mark.  It will take a few more times to learn to operate the Timer box.  The judge had to come set the times for each jump height.  A few times the timer started counting on its own (apparently the scribe's metal pen was glinting light across the eye, which the judge finally figured out and set the eye at a different angle).  I had to eyeball the start line between two poles and press the button when the dog's nose crossed the line.  I did the best I could, but the system isn't exactly accurate and nobody seemed real picky about it.  Now that FAST is a titling class, I bet that changes.

Maxie's Ribbons:
Green for Q, White for 4th place, Red and Black
for MXJ (Master Agility Jumpers) Title.

Big darn bummer, Dog Gone Fun doesn't give out rosette ribbons for titles.  Maxie's MXJ titling ribbon is a plain blah double red/black ribbon, no rosette, not much bigger than a Q ribbon.  I'm going to complain to Monica about all of us working so hard and spending so much money all year pursuing titles, then getting such a plain ribbon to show for it. Nedra agreed to let me have an AKC rosette from our club's ribbons, and I'll attach the Mississippi Mavericks ribbon to that for my display case.

I also forgot to pick up one of Maxie's Q ribbons and sticker.  I'll have to snag one next time I'm at a BARK trial.

The meatballs served for trial workers was again delicious.  Swedish meatballs and bread. Fresh veggie platter.  Fresh fruit platter.  Lots of desserts. Yum!

Met up with 6 of our Red Stick gang at Oscars on 98W for a margarita and Mexican dinner.  Everyone was chatty and cheerful.  I was too tired to eat and couldn't wait to get home and snuggle in with my doggies.  In bed by 9:30. We are all wiped out.

SUNDAY: Didn't run, just hung out, shopped at the vendors, took pictures for my Trial Site Summaries, photographed my score sheets, etc.  I awoke at 6:30 (without an alarm this time), packed leisurely, got to the arena around 8:30, and headed home around 11:30.  Stopped at Mandeville Seafood for a dozen crabs for me and a lb. of boiled shrimp for John, and still arrived home by 2:30, unpacked the car, did laundry.  All was done by 4 when John got home.  He had mowed the whole yard.  Looks like a park.  Sweet! Audrey came over for dinner.

Trial Site Summary:  See links.
The arena didn't seem quite so huge this visit.  Guess I'm getting used to big arenas. It makes a world of difference being able to crate on the ground floor, though, and having the car near by.

LESSONS LEARNED:
Every NQ was only one little mistake.  We are so close to getting it right.  Just need to analyze the mistakes.  Are they often the same?

• LUCKY, exceeding course time, walking thru the weaves, stopping in front of a jump where I am attempting a rear cross.  Do box work. Figure out how to get her running faster like she does at home.
• MAXIE, sucking into the tunnel, chute, A-frame or dog walk.  Have to block, pull harder, call "here" or "this way" instead of naming the next obstacle.
• ME, getting lost on course, missing walk-throughs.  Need to learn to handle scheduling conflicts, anticipate how much time I have between runs, etc.  With 2 rings going simultaneously and 2 dogs running, this has become a must.
• When timing or scribing FAST classes, make sure the Course Map is at your table and become familiar with it beforehand.

Used my new Igloo Ice Cube 60 qt. ice chest for the first time.  I got it by trading with Nathan for an older non-wheeled cooler he wanted of mine that allows you to sit on the lid.  He needs the seating for his new boat.

Assessment:  4 blocks of frozen ice (in Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice bottles) did not last 4 days, and lining the bottom of the cooler, did not keep the top tray cool enough.  Need to put ice cubes from the motel over the blocks each day, also put ice in the top tray and refill daily.  If ice is kept in ziplock bags, it shouldn't be messy.  Also learned, anything juicy needs to be in a water-tight container.  When wheeling the cooler around it tilts, and salad dressing got all over everything because the plastic lid I had my salad in wasn't tight-fitting enough.  But I love my cooler.  It has a smaller footprint, wheels easier with the weight right over the wheels, handles better, makes a great coffee table, foot stool or desk.  But you can't sit on the lid!

GOALS:

• Get Lucky running faster like she does in practice.
• Learn to run faster myself.
• Heal my calf.
• Work on Lucky's rear crosses.
• Work on Maxie's "this way" and "here".
• At the next trial:
• 1 XJ-A and 1 XS-A to get Lucky's AX and AXJ titles
• At least 1 more QQ for Maxie and 179 more MACH points by November.
•  3 more XS Q's for Maxie's MX title.
• Find out what's the rule at trials about dogs that won't stop barking?

Upwards and Onward!

Proofing Lucky to a Trial Setting - Hattiesburg

Yesterday I drove up to Hattiesburg with Maxie and Lucky, Saturday only, not to compete, just to get Lucky used to the trialing environment.  I didn't enter Max into any runs, fearing that Lucky would be a handful.  I wanted to concentrate on proofing her.  But she was absolutely fine.  Made her longest trip in the car so far, 2.5 hours, without a single complaint.  Hung around the trial site without a single bark, growl, lunge, or complaint of being crated in a heavily trafficed walkway.  I was most impressed.

Maxie and Lucky's crates were side by side, and both behaved well.  I took turns walking one then the other away, leaving one behind, leaving both behind.  We walked on the red dirt, near the course fences, did the practice jumps, went inside, outside, up and down lots of stairs, passed hundreds of dogs in crates and strange people laughing, talking, gyrating around.  Not a single problem.  Several people commented how beautiful and well-behaved she is.

I also videoed the runs of my club mates and others who were competing, which gave me something to do.  I was especially interested in the Excellent JWW course, which lots of competitors had trouble completing.  I plan to set it up on our club's field and practice.  I picked up every course map I could.

Before leaving, I took a drive thru the RV park to see if I might spot some slabs that aren't on a slant.  There wasn't a single level one, and I discovered that what I thought was a "crack" in the sidewalk where I put up my camper before (horror story told in previous blog post), is actually a dip then a hump, and it's on every single slab out there.  I can NEVER bring my pop-up to that RV site again!  Blimey.

The arena gave me a totally different impression this time, though.  While huge, loud and noisy, it seemed much more inviting than previously.  There were 2 rings going instead of just 1 before, and no band equipment. I must have been too nervous before.  I'm like my dogs, I need proofing!!!!!

The drive, on the other hand, had its problems.  No bad traffic whatsoever, but I left home at 6:30 a.m., driving east and straight into the rising sun.  I realized I had left my sunglasses home, and my windshield was filthy.  Stopped at a gas station to clean it, but their squeegee didn't do much good.  Coming home after 4:30, heading west, I was again facing right into the sun.  Same problems.  Two hours of neck craning trying to keep my eyes out of the blinding sun. Soon as I got home, I got out the windex and cleaned my windows inside and out, and put my sunglasses in my car.  Upcoming trials at Kiln and Gulfport will present these same problems, so I'd better remember this experience.

Hattiesburg Agility Trial

Legs Earned: Maxie NS2, NS3, NJ2, NJ3
Q 4 out of 4 runs, all 1st place.
Earned NA and NAJ Titles

I entered Max in our first out-of-town trial, in Hattiesburg, only 2.5 hours away from home, preparing to compete on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and complete the 2nd and 3rd legs for both our Novice Standard and Novice Jumpers titles. Since John's days off are Thursday and Friday, he followed me as I towed the camper behind my Grand Marquis on Thursday. I write about our disasterous 1st Excursion in our Pop-Up Camper in a separate post.  I do not recommend the uneven RV park in Hattiesburg.

Hattiesburg Arena

Trialing environment:

Forrest County Multi-Purpose Facility:
The Hattiesburg arena is closed, vast, and the dirt is bright iron red. The bleachers are well built but you have to go up and down a lot of stairs all day. Crating is on concrete and there are nearby grassy areas to potty the dogs, but nothing much under cover in case of rain. Cars are parked far away. Quite a few vendors, no concessions. No refrigeration. Get there the day before to get the best crate spots (near the stairs and outside doors).  You are not allowed to crate at ring level without special permission (judge, crew, disabilities). The weather in July is HOT, WINDY and WET.  The RV park is a long walk away, almost driving distance, and all the slabs are uneven, some on a steep slant.  Cost is $25/night.

Performance:
Friday:
Max competed in Novice FAST, just for kicks and to get Max used to the arena. We scratched. Need more distance training. Everyone from BR went out to dinner but I was so darn exhausted, I stayed in my camper and downloaded to my computer the videos I had taken of all our club members' runs, and watched them. That was my evening's entertainment.

Saturday:
I slept well Friday night and we did very well on Saturday, 2 more Q's, 2 1st places with perfect scores. We were 1/2 way to our goal. Now we just needed one more Q in Jumpers, and one in Standard, to earn both our Novice Titles. Saturday night we all went out to dinner and had a good time. I refrained from alcohol, planned to get to bed early, and was confident all would be well on Sunday. It wasn't.  I hardly slept due to the Battle Of The Bands going on til 1 a.m. next to the RV Park.  I wrote about this in the above cited blogpost. 

Sunday:
Our first run, we Q'd with a score of 90, but barely, due to my exhaustion. My legs were like jello. Then, in heat and rain, Nedra and Cheryl H. helped me hitch up the camper, then I had to go back inside for our last run. We Q'd again, but barely. I was so sweaty, tired and disoriented, I just made stupid mistakes, such as releasing Max from the table BEFORE the judge said GO. Duh! I just could not concentrate.


Ace Maximillion von Fry, NA NAJ

 Summary:
We earned our AKC Novice titles and the right to list them after his name! Goal met. But it was sweating buckets the whole way. Here's a picture of Maxie posing with all his Novice ribbons. It shows 6 green "qualifying" ribbons, plus 6 blue "first place" ribbons, plus 2 red Titling ribbons. The best part is he earned 4 legs in 4 runs. It's a respectable beginning, but I'm told it won't last.

Now on to the next trial to work on our Open titles.

Upwards and onward!

Hattiesburg Agility Trial - 1st Pop-Up Excursion

John, Max and Willow pose just before we leave our house.

Legs Earned:  Maxie NS2, NS3, NJ2, NJ3
Q 4 out of 4 runs, all 1st place.
Earned NA and NAJ Titles

Our first excursion in the pop-up was a total disaster! I had entered Max in our first out-of-town trial, in Hattiesburg, and wrote about the trial here. Since John's days off are Thursday and Friday, he followed me as I towed the camper behind my Grand Marquis on Thursday.  We gave ourselves a whole afternoon to set it up.  It was my first time pulling it, and while it was jerky and bumpy in town, once I got going 75 miles per hour, at a steady pace, it towed fine.

Unfortunately, nobody told me I needed an extension mirror on the drivers side, so I couldn't see over or around the camper. Had no idea who was behind me. We had our walky talkies, though, and I was able to tell John to stay a good distance behind me, and watch my back. The traffic wasn't bad.

Arriving in Hattiesburg, at the RV area of the Forrest County Multi-Purpose Center, we found all the desirable slabs (near the lake, close to the arena) were on a steep slant. What stupid engineering! Nobody prepared us for that. Nevertheless, I chose the best view, near a hiking trail. When lowered and fully extended, the two back feet of the camper were 3" off the ground, and we had no levelling boards! We scrounged around the park and found a discarded 2x4" piece and some pressboard we were able to tear up into little bits to wedge between the back feet and the slab.

Cracked slab under car.

Unhitching the camper from the car was a bitch because the slab surface wasn't flat, either. It had an enormous dip shaped like a V, which I had not noticed when choosing the site. No matter where we positioned the car, the camper was either pulling UP on the hitch, or pushing DOWN on the hitch. We had a devil of a time finding a spot where both were level, but this positioned the camper too far back from the patio slab extension, or too far forward of the electric and water hookups.

Feet finally stabilized, we unhitched the camper from the car it immediately began chattering off the boards and down the hill, and by the time we got it stopped, the back feet were no longer over the slab and there was a 6" dropoff to the soggy grass. Let me tell you, we were sweating buckets by this time. Of course, no one had told us we needed wheel chocks! We managed to push it back up the hill a foot or two, John held it while I backed the car up enough to chain it back to the hitch and pull it up about 5 feet, pulled the brake, then went searching for anything to chock the wheels before unhooking it from the car again. We finally found two old broken pieces of concrete block that were plugging up holes under the chain link fence around the lake, thank god, and used those.
 

At this distance, we discovered that our 15' hoses (one for water, one for drainage) were too short to reach the water spigot.  So we had to join them together to make one hose long enough so I could have running water. OOPS!  Need to buy longer hoses. I'm beginning to realize, this rig didn't come with ANYTHING EXTRA!  I didn't really need a sink drain hose anyway because I wasn't washing dishes, just brushing my teeth and rinsing out the coffee cups, etc.  What the hell, the sink could just drain on the slab, and excuse me for not knowing everything already.

All this in 90 degree weather, windy, and overcast.  It was muggy as hell!

?, with linked pens set up for all her boxers,
and a separate trailer to house her scooter
and other stuff.

We got the rest set up without a problem, went to the arena to set up our crates, then came back and fried up some thick pork chops on the built-in outdoor stove under out awning, somewhat what we had pictured our first campout to be, and visited a few other dog people in the park.  One of them was Susan Kelley, competing with her Champion boxers, and we were amazed at all the pens she set up to feed 6 or 8 of them, and how she walked them twice daily on her motor scooter, 1 or 2 at a time.  It was quite an operation! She warned us to take down our awning, as horrible storms have come thru that park suddenly and ripped them off of dozens of rigs.  So we took the awning down, then turned in.  For the rest of the weekend I smoked my cigarettes outdoors in the rain under an umbrella!

Next morning John and I were awoken by Nedra, who was walking her dogs and had come to find us.  That was real nice.  Then we went to the arena for awhile and watched the Excellent dogs compete before John had to leave for BR.  I was on my own.

Max competed in Novice FAST on Friday, just for kicks and to get Max used to the arena.  We scratched.  Need more distance training.  Everyone from BR went out to dinner but I was so darn exhausted, I stayed home and downloaded to my computer the videos I had taken of all our club members' runs, and watched them.  That was my evening's entertainment.

I slept well Friday night and we did very well on Saturday, 2 more Q's, 2 1st places with perfect scores.  We were 1/2 way to our goal.  Now we just needed one more Q in Jumpers, and one in Standard, to earn both our Novice Titles.  Saturday night we all went out to dinner and had a good time.  I refrained from alcohol, planned to get to bed early, and was confident all would be well on Sunday.

What I came home to, though, was a Battle Of The Bands going on in an open air arena right next to the RV Park.  The bands screeched horribly and the crowds were loud 'til 2 a.m.  I hardly slept.  Nedra had also told me to pack up as much as possible on Sat. night because as soon as our dogs ran on Sunday they were leaving.  I needed their help getting the camper hitched back up to my car!  So I packed everything I could on Saturday night, and between runs on Sunday I had to go pack some more, and lower the roof.  By this time it was raining and hot!  I left the dogs crated up inside the arena. I wore my thin waterproof jacket with hood, but while that kept the rain off, I was sweating buckets inside.  I felt almost feverish, weak and light-headed.

When Max and I had our first Sunday run, we Q'd with a score of 90, but barely, due to my exhaustion. My legs were like jello. Then Nedra and Cheryl H. and I went out to the camper and they helped me raise the feet, back the car up to the hitch, then unchock those wheels.  I drove the camper up to the arena and parked sideways along a curb, perpendicular to the painted lines of a long row of parking spots.  I took up about 5 slots.  Then I had to go back inside for our last run.  We Q'd again, but barely.  I was so sweaty, tired and disoriented, I just made stupid mistakes, such as releasing Max from the table BEFORE the judge said GO.  Duh!  I just could not concentrate.

My wee little pop-up amongst the big rigs.
Notice my neighbors' dogs behind their portable fences.
There were a husband, wife and 5 dogs in that family.

When I got back out to leave, someone had parked in the slot right in front of my car, and someone in the slot right behind the camper! Fortunately, one of the cars moved within about 5 minutes or I could have been hemmed in for hours.  So, I'm thinking, what the fuck else can go wrong?  I couldn't wait to get safely home.

I pulled out of there and vowed NEVER AGAIN to take my pop-up to a trial unless I have checked out the area beforehand, the weather is nice, go the day before to set up, and have some help.  Going solo almost cost us our title.

Yet hundreds of agility competitors travel to trials all over the country in their RV's.  They do this weekend after weekend, and many have real nice rigs, with fences to let their dogs out in, scooters to walk their dogs with, barbeque pits, etc.  It was so pathetic to see my wee little pop-up amidst all the big rigs.  But you know what?  Max, Willow and I were as snug as a bug in a rug.  Were it not for the, er, "learning curve", we would have been very, very content.

So, what else could go wrong?  When I got home, the next day I had to put the camper back up to dry the canvas out.  While raising the roof, a cable popped, one of the 4 telescoping pillars that raise the roof collapsed, and I could neither raise nor lower the roof any more.  It sat there totally lopsided. Shit!  Shit!  Shit!  What if this had happened in Hattiesburg?  We finally got our strong, tall neighbor, Thom, to come over and hold that corner up while I cranked the roof down, then towed it to a shop for repairs.  I explained about that repair in my Pop-Up Camper post yesterday.

Ace Maximillion von Fry, NA NAJ

Summary:  We earned our AKC Novice titles and the right to list them after his name!  Goal met. But it was sweating buckets the whole way. Here's a picture of Maxie posing with all his Novice ribbons. It shows 6 green "qualifying" ribbons, plus 6 blue "first place" ribbons, plus 2 red Titling ribbons. The best part is he earned 6 legs in 6 runs, and didn't NQ once.  It's a fantastic beginning, but I'm told it won't last.

Now on to the next trial to earn our Open titles.