A Weekend of USDAA

Friday morning Donna and I drove up to Laramie, Wyoming for a 2 1/2 day USDAA trial at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. This is one of my favorite venues as no matter how hot it is outside, it always seems to stay cool in the arena. It's also a one-ring trial so no conflicts and one can relax and watch the Starters and Advanced classes.

The judge was Tom Kula and as usual, he had some challenging courses that were a blast to run! Friday we had three classes. Summit won Round 1 Steeplechase, qualified in Masters Gamblers, and won Masters Jumpers.

Saturday he placed 3rd in Masters Standard (I held all three contacts to make up for the quick releases in Steeplechase), he had a beautiful run going in Grand Prix but came shooting out of a tunnel at the end and past the plane of the next obstacle (jump) which originally was directly in front of the tunnel exit but by the time we ran, the tunnel had shifted and I didn't notice. So we had a refusal there but I was really happy with his run. Snooker.... I ran both Sage and Summit and it was one of those Snooker classes that had the Red-Color-same Red combo which I can't ever wrap my head around and so by the time the walk-through was over, I still didn't know what I was going to do. So I didn't make it very far in the opening with both dogs. They decided to run Steeplechase Finals that evening instead of waiting on Sunday. I was tired by the time we walked the course and since I won Round 1, I was last dog and changed my strategy (without walking it) and chose to RC the broad jump instead of staying on the inside and pushing out to it. My timing was off and my lateral motion into Summit to cue the RC cued the wrong course tunnel instead. Oh well, Steeplechase finals is for pushing for speed and trying new things and it was a good lesson learned.

Sunday we were 3/3 again. Summit placed 2nd in Standard with held contacts. Had a smokin' fast run in pairs and our team placed 5th. Our partner was Taz, a Keeshond, and who is Summit's age. That afternoon we qualified in Jumpers (4th or 5th?) with some wide turns on a very difficult course.  Jen filmed some of our runs and I will post them as soon as I receive them.

So now Summit is also just needing a single Snooker Super Q for the ADCH title!

I am confident Summit will earn it soon. I am not so sure about Sage... but that is ok. She earned a MACH and because of the challenges we faced as a team, I never expected her to earn a Championship title at all.

Soleil had a lot of fun playing tug ringside, meeting new dogs, playing with a young Corgi and BC, and there was even a kid with a plastic tricycle for her to observe. She went for walks around the fairgrounds and met some goats. She was good in her crate even when she was not sleeping. This was her first hotel experience and we were on the 3rd floor of a Holiday Inn. Jen, Donna, and I reserved a suite and Soleil happily settled in the hotel room with four Border Collies and slept through the nights in her crate. I received a lot of compliments on her boldness and confidence.

This week we have a three-day AKC trial in Windsor at a very nice indoor soccer field.