CISSC Trial: Devon in Novice

What an awesome trialing weekend we had. I enjoyed crating near good friends (especially Emma from Agile Gold) and watching and taping a lot of great runs. This was Devon's second full weekend of AKC trialing. I was super proud of her this weekend. I'll cut to the chase and say she was a perfect 4 for 4 this weekend. Since Ian also had a 100% Q rate, I had two dogs with a perfect weekend! I have never had this happen to me, and I was really happy about it! As I mentioned in Ian's post below, I'm now a BIG Edie Allyn fan!

The down side of a one ring trial and running an Excellent dog and a Novice dog is the long wait for the Novice dog. The running order was Excellent JWW, Excellent Standard, Open Standard, Novice Standard, Open JWW and Novice JWW. I was proud of Devon for hanging in there for 10 hours each day from the time we arrived until her last run was done.

Saturday, Novice Standard 

On the start line, Devon wanted to make SURE the judge saw her sitting there. I swear she thinks all those folks out there are just to watch HER run! Every class had the same exact opening through the table. I thought this was tough for the Novice dogs to come out of that tunnel looking at two off course options, and come out of the chute toward the A frame with an off course jump. Some of the Excellent dogs didn't make it that far!

Her teeter performance was 100% fantastic, but at the end you will see my mental slip. Devon and I haven't sequenced since before Christmas at the CPE trial. I didn't realize this until I stepped to the line with her. I rehearsed all her performances before hand, but during the run I forgot she has stopped contacts, and Ian does not. You'll see I take her straight off the teeter to the chute -- BAD MOM!! Devon does a double take back up and me as if to say, "Uh, did we forget something back there?" Yep we did, babe, but we're going to keep going!

A friend of mine remarked later that Devon's A frame contact was text book perfect -- thanks Judy! I appreciate that comment! And her automatic down on the table was also very nice.

After the tunnel, you'll see me once again forget I have a baby dog. I made the connection out of the tunnel, turned and looked where I was going (breaking the connection) and never actually told my dog to JUMP! I dropped my arm, and GOOD GIRL, she came around the jump. Note to self -- sequence at least once in the week preceding a trial! Dogwalk was good. I turned her a little too soon for the rear into the tunnel. 

I think Devon just had too much speed coming out of the tunnel to get the weave entrance. This is something we practice all the time at home, but this was a trial. You'll see she smiled at her fans in the gallery before coming back to do them correctly! I was super pleased with her performance the second time. This was her first Novice Standard Q and she took 4th place.

Saturday Novice JWW

The weaves were third right out of a tunnel. It was a right entrance, one we've been practicing. She was distracted on the first try, not thinking on the second one, and I was pleased she nailed it on the third try. I liked the rear on the flat in the pinwheel, but I think I could have given her more info earlier. I think Devon adjusted at the same time I gave her a small call away from an off course jump toward the close.

Finally, the hard call I gave her was because when she landed over the double, she was facing the entrance gate. One of her very best Golden friends Emma from Agile Gold was standing with her mom waiting to come into the ring. Luckily Kathy and I had thought of this before the run, so she wasn't inside the ring as the gate steward wanted. I could tell it still crossed her mind to go say hello! Luckily she came back to work! Good girl! All in all I thought this was a nice run. This was her NAJ, thanks to two Qs a year ago. She also took 4th place.

Sunday, Novice Standard

Devon was super tried Saturday night, and we had to be at the trial even earlier since it was tall to small on Sunday. In spite of her weariness and slower than usual start, the opening was fantastic. I remembered to show her good deceleration before the turn to the chute and get my shoulders clearly rotated. She never even looked at the off course tunnel. She nailed her weave poles on the FIRST attempt! She flew to the A frame, and even gave the judge a wag and a smile to make sure she saw her perfect contact. The automatic down to the sit on the table was lovely.

After the table, Devon had a little bit of a concern on the teeter. You can't see it and no one in the gallery noticed, but I noticed a little hesitation. You can see on the video that there's moving shadows on the floor. This is from the Big Ass Fan (yes, folks, that's what it's called) and today the teeter was right under the fan. I'm thinking this was why Devon was slightly worried. The teeter has never been right under the fan. 

I gave her lots of praise for a successful teeter, but then she didn't even see the tunnel entrance after the teeter. She pulled left and saw the dogwalk and attempted a really bad entrance. You see she's not paying any attention to me and trying to work out her awkward position on her own, so I just stood up and waited. I figured she'd seek out my help at some point, and if not she'd get on the dogwalk and I'd have to run to the other end! In less time that it felt like out there, she turned and came to me and we were back on course.

I'm very pleased with her dogwalk entrance; it was fast and confident. I could tell when she came down the dogwalk she wasn't got to hit her contact. I released her and went on. I knew she was mildly stressed and decided not to push it. She came charging out of that tunnel like her tail was on fire! She gave me a glimpse of how fast she can be over the last two jumps -- and I'm glad that she finally gave me a head nod before the last jump to acknowledge I was there!

This was her second Novice Standard Q and she earned 2nd place!

Sunday, Novice JWW

The last class. I don't know who was more tired, me or Devon! The first two obstacles were the same as Excellent, and I'm proud of Devon for executing this well. She got her weave entrance, but couldn't hold it. I was pleased she nailed it the second time. Now we were off to the races! The rest of the course was an easy run, especially since Devon was so tired and it was now 5 p.m. (we'd arrived at 7 a.m.). She cruised in for an easy Q and 3rd place!

I couldn't have been more proud of Devon. She got the evening off tonight so I could post videos. I think she deserves it!