FRAC USDAA - Loveland, Colorado

Well Sagey-girl is on a roll. We had another two-day USDAA trial this weekend. Saturday Sage qualified in Masters Standard, Snooker, Grand Prix, and Steeplechase! All her runs were smooth and flowing. The only class she did not qualify in was Masters Gamblers. She had a nice opening but did not get the gamble. Sunday she qualified in Masters Standard again! plus Pairs Relay, and had a really awesome run in Steeplechase finals but with one bar down.

She did not miss a single contact all weekend and she ran some really tough Standard courses. Tight turns with some pretty severe angles. Sunday's Masters Standard course had a very difficult weavepole entry. Many dogs missed the entry (including Summit) but Sage got it and qualified with 4th place.

Summit also had a good weekend. Not as many qualifying runs as Sage but only because of minor faults. He had a really nice GP run but I dropped my arm too soon at the 180 and he came in between the two jumps earning a refusal. Masters Standard he took a wrong jump at the very end. I did not see that jump as a wrong course possibility and put too much forward motion rotating out of a front cross and sent him over the incorrect jump. So basically we are at that stage of "just-one-thing" on otherwise very smooth runs.

I did get several leadouts from the table this weekend and some very long leadouts from the startline. He is showing a lot of impulse control on the course - I think my baby dog is growing up.

This was his first trial at Master's level. He did qualify in Masters Gamblers with a 4th place.

So here is my little Summit brag for the weekend. He qualified in Steeplechase with a THIRD PLACE!!!! The cutoff for qualifying was 19th place. Kim and Steeple (who just won the AKC Nationals) won with Stacy and Wally taking second place. Tenths of a second separated 1st -4th places. I was so proud of my young dog. Not bad for having stopped contacts on the a-frame (although I did release him as soon as he was in position).

He also qualified in Masters Pairs Relay and had a really nice, smooth opening in Snooker but dropped the #3 bar in the closing.

So it was a very good weekend and I am especially pleased with Sage's consistency. She now only needs one more GP qualifier for Nationals.

Next weekend we will be at Castle Rock for the MHGRC AKC trial.