Saturday's Excellent B Standard
There were 19 dogs in our class. The course was 173 yards and SCT was 61 seconds. Ian ran the course in 52.6 seconds and was one of only 5 dogs who qualified (a GSD took 1st followed by three Border Collies and then Ian).
It was a lovely flowing course, with a difficult weave entry. Ian came off the line so fast, I wasn't sure I was going to make the push into the the third jump. Luckily he read it beautifully. He just did a lovely job on this course. He was so fast across the dogwalk, I wasn't sure I would make it to the end for the front cross. His weaves were the best of the weekend, and the did the sharp 45 degree turn back to the tunnel very well.
Saturday Excellent B JWW
There were again 19 dogs in our class. I cannot remember the Q rate, but the course was lovely and flowing. It was 148 yards and SCT was 39 seconds. Ian ran it in 35.32 seconds. His weaves were nice, but not all single tracked. He was still confident. I almost mishandled a very straight forward tunnel entrance. I made sure I didn't do that again. Generally, this was again a very nice run.
Sunday Excellent B Standard
There were 24 dogs in our class. I didn't write down yardage, but I know SCT was 66 seconds. I've debated a lot about what to say on the blog about this run. I will say Ian had a lot of reactive stressors before entering the ring. He was spooked by two dogs and two people for various reasons. We also were a part of an encounter with two children not managing their dog around reactive dogs waiting to run.
Finally, with all this stress, we had to wait a very long time before our run. There was a tunnel on course that was taken by the dogs twice that they could not keep in place with sandbags. Big dogs hit this tunnel with full speed twice, dislodging sandbags and moving the tunnel on every run. So between each run, more than one person was out rebuilding the tunnel. You'll see on my run I wait on the line for more than 25 seconds as they tweak the tunnel.
So as much as I tried to manage Ian's stress level, it was high when we entered the ring. It didn't take much to push him over the edge. All it took was the judge walking toward him as Ian was moving between the teeter and the table. I wish this judge had recognized the stress signs in my dog before he did. By the time he backed off, we had incurred the refusal at the table, NQ'ing us. I was too firm with Ian calling him to the table because I was mad. I realized I needed to move to help him and once I did he got on the table. In hindsight, I also should have stayed with him at the teeter, as I knew at the time he was stressing and slowing down.
I can't say I'm really proud of my actions as a handler. I let my frustration in the moment get the better of me and I forgot my dog training. However, I share the run because the whole of the run minus the table was really beautiful. I commend my dog for bouncing back and finishing this run to perfection, including a very lovely set of weave poles where I pushed him by getting a lot of lateral distance. There was a time not too long ago where Ian would have left the ring. Instead, he showed a lot of heart and finished the run in style. This is really a Q in my book any day!
Sunday Excellent B JWW
There were 23 dogs in the class. It was 160 yards long and SCT was 43 seconds. Ian ran the course in 41.41 seconds. Although Ian's speed wasn't there, he did a lovely job considering his morning run. He was far less stressed before the run, and he was happy on course. I have a feeling he was aware of the judge at all times due to the morning run, which likely affected his speed. However, his skills were solid and it was a good run.
I was very glad Ian and I could end the weekend on a positive run. It will be a while before our next agility trial, and I was hoping our last run would be good.
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