GRCCO WC/WCX test

The third weekend in September, the girls and I went to Columbus, Ohio, for a WC/WCX test. It was a very small test, so we were done early but had lots of fun. I want to thank Megan McClung for some very nice photos to remember the event!

My thought process was that going to this test would give Page two opportunities (including our club's test in October) to earn her WC; or it would give us a free weekend in October to do something else (like a VST test or an agility trial) if she did earn her WC on the first try.

Devon ran the WCX test just for fun. She has passed two WCX tests already, but it's always nice to practice triples with shot fliers. Nothing is a "gimme" in field tests! Devon had added pressure this time when she got a "no bird" her first time to the line. I will never understand why GRCA thinks it's a great idea to use pigeons for a WC/WCX test. I'm not a hunter, but I cannot imagine trying to shoot one of those little pigeons out of the sky! Devon's first pigeon flew unharmed over the treetops (and the smart bird didn't return).

Our poor gunners felt so badly that they'd missed Devon's bird the first time, that they tried extra hard to get it the second time ... and they blew it into about four pieces! The judge nicely told me whatever part Devon brought back would be fine. Poor Devon was searching and searching for a bird in the "fallout" area but didn't find a thing. She finally came up with most of wing and brought that back for me. What a good girl; and she didn't eat it on the way in!

Thankfully water was uneventful and Devon came back with her third WCX pass. She earned a lovely rosette and duck band for her efforts. Actually, I usually say the ribbons are for me and the pigeons and ducks are her reward. However, Devon also wanted to carry the ribbon this time, too! Only two of the three WCX dogs passed.





Page has never done a "cold" double before. I've always "built" the double doing singles first. In fast, she hadn't done a double in about 10 days when we did this test. I was really proud of her, because she had added distraction on her double. There was a firing range about a 1/2 mile away from the test. By the time Page came to the line, they were firing. Page marked both birds and handled the go bird just fine. However, when she went out for the memory bird, the gun shots started in the distance and they sounded as if they were coming from the direction of her go bird. Page looked back about three times just to make sure they weren't shooting any birds for her, but she never stopped. After she got out about half way, she committed to the memory bird and stepped on it.

Page's water work was very nice, and she even delivered the second bird to hand nicely. I think she thought since the gunners were in white and continued to stand (and not retire like at hunt tests) they could be talked into throwing her a third bird. Page sat as still as a statue making eye contact and looking intent to the gunners begging them for another bird. I literally had to drag her from the line on leash before she gave up! Such a silly girl!

Page was one of four dogs who passed the WC test. Pretty good for her first try!

Catching up: Field Spaniel Agility Trial

Goodness, I'm behind! Here's a quick wrap up of our last two agility trials. The Field Spaniel Trial was at a local venue, and it was lots of fun. Unfortunately the courses were very tight and difficult (as expected).

Page earns her first agility titles!!
Page was a very good girl, doing a great job on very tough courses. She Q'd in Standard on Saturday, finishing her NA. I was very pleased with this run. It was nice and controlled, and much faster than it appears on video! I'm still working to hold all of Page's contacts so she understands her criteria long term.



Page did her very best on this very on her Novice JWW run on Saturday, but the course was just too much. The only dogs that Q'd were moderate speed and/or small dogs. The big fast dogs had it rough. The opening was a 4 jump serpentine, with a 180 into the wall to the weaves. From the last tunnel the dogs had to change leads about 4 times over the last 4 jumps and take the last jump into the concrete wall (again). Page had done a lovely job, so it was too bad when the bar came down (my fault, but the alternative handling caused the next bar to come down with the next fast dog).


I forgot Page started the day with FAST and earned a Q on a pretty little run. I think it's funny how she was all "oh hello there hi!" to the ring crew until she realized there was a course to run and then she couldn't have cared less!



Page's first Open Standard run was one I wish I had back. I didn't handle this run well at all and it was a disaster. I think I was really annoyed when another bar came down. I wasn't annoyed with Page, it was the courses that were getting to me (can you tell I didn't care for the judge?). They were just practically impossible with a fast dog.

This run also shows a slight stress issue Page has with the table. This has come up once or twice in training, so I was interested to see it come out in a trial. I'm sure it's stress related; and it does prove that as confident as Page is, she can feel stress from me.




Thankfully this trial ended on a positive note for Page. The Novice JWW run was again a big challenge. It was very similar to the Excellent JWW course, so I knew the pitfalls. That yellow jump we had to work around in the close had eaten up more than a few dogs in the other levels. Page read my body language perfectly and slowed herself down and was very controlled for the forward sending rear cross. I know I was supposed to do all forward cues and no sending in Novice, but with these courses it was impossible!

Good girl Page!



Devon's looking better!
Devon had two wonderful runs in Excellent JWW. Devon nailed her weaves in competition for the first time since February! I was so excited I got her excited and she bounced out at pole 11. Then I didn't keep eye contact and she sailed over an off course jump, causing me to completely lose my place on course. If you could hear the audio a little better, you'd be really laughing at what I was saying out there. I so didn't care about that run except that Devon got her weaves!





Devon's last run of the weekend was also very nice. I chose to run the very demotivating start with a rear cross to get some speed and motion into her performance and I think it worked really well. I'll have to remember that. She almost hung onto the weave entrance, but not quite. I was so busy watching the rest of her pretty run, I forgot to do my last front cross, so I had to make up the handling on the close on the fly. I think I did pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Derby City Agility Trial -- Page

This was Page's third agility trial, and her first 3-day trial. No surprise: Page held up well over the three days; better than I did!!

FAST classes

I ran Page in FAST just for the experience of getting on the equipment. She had two wonderful runs. Again, I'm a "get in, get the points, and get out" kind of game player, so Page Q'd her FAST run on Saturday but was not in the placement ribbons. Since my goal was really just to get her on equipment and work contacts, I didn't care about the extra ribbon!

Page hit all her contacts, which was nice. We had the same fly by of the teeter that we did in Evansville with a small stress sniff. This was also the first run she ever missed a weave entrance! Shocking!

Sunday's FAST run threw a new and strange teeter performance into the mix. It's taken me a few days, but I've finally figured out what happened. She did the fly by of the teeter, but then she tried to figure out how to get on. Since I taught her a lot of board work as a pup, it was natural for her to hop on the middle. So she did and went down. Well, since she did 4 paws on, I had to do another jump and then try again. Same result. Then we ran out of time. No Q on this one, but I was more thrown by the teeter "performance."

JWW Classes

Saturday's JWW course was really nice, and we should have Q'd on it. However, I didn't anticipate a slight pull from jump 3 to jump4. As soon as I realized she was around jump 4, I knew she'd be in the tunnel too fast for me to react. The Q was blown, but I could still work the FMFC off the jump out of the tunnel. This was such a pretty run, that I'm still proud of it.

Sunday's JWW run was one I'll remember for a long, long time. It was flawless. Page did a send and I front crossed on the landing side of a pinwheel. She did three rear crosses that were lovely. And it was the first time she broke 5 YPS in a qualifying run. I've NEVER had a dog who ran that fast. This was a nice 118-yard course, and Page ran it in 22.20 seconds. That's 5.3 YPS, and I was thrilled. I could watch this one over and over. When we're on, it's so magical!

Our last JWW run of the weekend was on a really tough course. There were about four side changes, and that ate us up. Poor Page went around about 3 jumps that I didn't support well, because I was focused on where to go next. We still managed to get through it, even though we didn't Q.

Standard Classes

Poor Page. On Saturday by the time we got to Standard 11 hours after we arrived that morning, I was mentally done. I was no where near where I should have been for her. I left myself stuck behind on contacts and didn't support the contact entry well enough. We had two off courses, and I rotated my shoulders and pulled her around another jump. We certainly gave the judge lots of exercise on this run! At least the weave poles were nice!

Although our Standard run was much earlier in the day on Sunday, I was very tired. My hips were starting to hurt, and I was completely perplexed by Page's new teeter performance. Poor Judge Kurt! She hopped up and over and I just took it as a refusal and went back. Then when she hopped up and over the second time, I asked (you can't hear it on the tape) if I should go on because of the 4 paw rule. His response was "Ahhh...." He couldn't tell either! Page solved that problem by promptly putting all four paws on and coming off, so he laughed and said, "Yes, now go on!"

Obviously the front cross to the dogwalk was very late, as Page and I collided (and not very prettily)! I'm sure I heard her say, "GET OUT of my way mother!" as her head collided with my rear end! Poor Page. She works her guts out and I didn't make it easy!

The last Standard run of the weekend, and I felt like this was the best handled one. Yeah, we had the same teeter issue that NQ'd her, but that's ok. We worked well together as a team. I didn't anticipate the off course tunnel, but I worked the rest of it well with a pretty rear cross out of the chute. It was a nice run.

Overall, I thought Page did an outstanding job at this trial. She had 10 runs over the weekend, and while our Q rate wasn't perfect, we became a better team. I'm looking forward to the next trial!

Derby City Agility Trial -- Devon

This weekend we attended the Derby City Agility Association's 3-day trial east of Louisville. It was a fun weekend with friends, and oh yeah I had to run dogs, too! While I probably am more focused on my runs when I'm trialing by myself, I did enjoy the fun times with good friends.

Devon had a good weekend. I decided not to run her in Standard at all, due to her teeter issues away from home and known teeters. I also pulled her from Novice FAST on Saturday since there was a teeter in the ring. I didn't want to stress her since I know she looks for that teeter as soon as she goes into the ring.

However, based on advice from Jenn Crank, I ran FAST on Sunday. I planned a "get in, get the points and get out" course that would be fun and motivational. As soon as I sat Devon on the line, I could see her ducking her head under the first bar and looking over it trying to see the teeter. She did see it in the back, but as soon as I directed her away from it on course, she started flying!

Devon did have fun on this course, earning 54 points in 17.72 seconds, for a Q and a second place finish.

Devon had three Excellent B JWW runs over the weekend. All three were very good, except for the weaves. I know I've got a ring/trial issue with the weaves. Devon hits the first pole and then walks out of them. This is what she did a couple of years ago when she wasn't sure how to collect. Now I know she knows how to collect because she's solid in practice/training.

I am asking her to redo the weaves in trials since I do want to have her give me effort. But asking for the retry is giving her stress in the ring. I also agree with a friend who suggested that because Devon is so environmentally aware, she may be having problems going between 22 inch poles and 24 inch poles. Most of our training is done on 22 inch poles, and she sees 24s in trials. I agree that weave spacing plays a part in the problem. This is just something I think we'll have to work through.

Saturday's JWW run was very pretty and it was a tough course. Devon went off course after jump 3. Before we started our run, we heard noise and movement behind the wall of the arena. When Devon went off course, I thought it was due to that noise; however when I look at the tape I realize she committed to that off course jump very early and I didn't give nearly as much indication of the turn as I thought. In fact, I think all my turns on this course were late for Devon. She commits much earlier than I ever realized. I think she's anticipating where the course goes trying to be helpful to me. That means I need to cue her a lot earlier than I am.

Sunday's JWW run was the best of the weekend. Devon was slow off the start, I'm sure in anticipation of the weaves. But she handled this course very well. Her weave entrance was very pretty, so it's really too bad she didn't hang onto them. I think my handling was much better on this course.

After many, many runs, I was really tired on Monday, and poor Devon paid the price. I was mentally not there for her JWW run. I didn't run the course as I had planned, and frankly I was lucky to remember it. Devon hung with me until an off course after the weaves. I'm not sure you can tell in the video, but after the weaves, she really blasted through the rest of the course. I could tell she was burning off stress, just like she did in her last run of the 3-day trial in June.

Photos from the ACI trial

Thanks to Virgil Sweeden and Rebecca Forrest of Paw Prints Life for their awesome photography at the Agility Club of Indianapolis trial in June. Virgil is a very talented photographer, and Rebecca is the best at helping pick out just the right shots. If you see them at an upcoming trial, make sure to ask Virgil to take shots of your dogs. You will have fantastic memories!

Devon's photos:

See, I can do the teeter!

Mom, it's a sit on the table. Can't you hear she's not counting?

Told ya!

Page's photos:

Great second trial for Page

As frustrating as Devon's day was in Evansville, Page had a fantastic day! Page is much more secure in her job than she was in June. While I'm still supporting all her jumps with forward cues and only turning her on the flat, she's not running past jumps like she did at her first trial. It's remarkable what 2 months has done in her maturity level with this sport.

Page's standard run was first. While you can't see it on the video, her front end actually went out from under her when making the turn after the tire to the panel. She fell hard on her right shoulder.

It was a sit on the table for the Novice dogs, and I have not taught Page a sit since this was our only trial before the rule change Sept. 1 to a "positionless" table. I had expected to just let her stay in a down and then go on. However, I caught her before she went down and kept her in a sit for the table count. Whew!

The refusal at the teeter was weird and unexpected. I did pull off of it a little, so I'm going to chalk it up to my body language and a baby dog moment.

The rear cross on the flat and send to the weave poles was amazing! Frankly, that was a difficult series to find a place to cross, and I was thrilled at Page's ability to handle what I asked of her. I heard oohs and ahhs from the audience on that one.

Finally, the refusal at the last jump was just me letting up and not supporting it. I was mentally and physically tired, and I let up one jump too early. That's my big homework for the next trial - run through the last jump!

JWW was at the end of a very long day. This was a 1-ring trial. They ran all the standard classes first, starting with Excellent, then all the JWW classes, again starting back with Excellent. Because I had to set up and get two dogs measured (one of them twice), we got to the site very early. Page went to the line in JWW 10 hours after we arrived at the site that morning. When I went to get her out of her crate, she was sound asleep laying on her back with her feet in the air! It's funny how quickly she can be ready, though!

This JWW run was almost picture perfect! I knew it would either be beautiful or a disaster. It was a fast flowing course, perfect for Novice dogs. I haven't mentioned it yet, but I love Tom Slattery's courses. Just enough challenge to make it fair and very flowing. For the fast dogs, you've got to think and handle precisely or they are over an off course. To me, that's fair.

The only error on this course was mine and once again I did not support the last jump. I stood still too long on my rear cross on the flat and didn't get in to support that last jump. Good girl to Page for taking it at a horrid angle and not dropping the bar.

This little girl ran this course in 22.71 seconds or 4.84 yards per second. Wow, I haven't run a dog this fast since Reece, and I never remember him running with this much confidence or with this much handler focus! Page is going to be a blast to run!!

So Page ended her weekend with her second Standard Q and her first JWW Q, both with first place ribbons. Page only had one baby brain refusal and one that was my fault. And her weaves were once again beautiful. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weekends of trialing. I think the only one who isn't happy about Page's great runs at Evansville was Devon. While Page and I were running JWW, Devon dumped her water bowl and tore the Velcro strap holding it into 10 pieces. The devil!

And I suppose I shouldn't leave Ellie out of the blog posts about Evansville. She was a good girlie, too. Ms. Ellie is my friend Sheree's dog. Her registered name is Starduck's Habeas Corpaws JH, WC. Sheree can take credit for the field titles, and I expect Ellie to have a tracking title soon, too. Sheree trains her and I'm running her just in agility.

Here is Ellie's standard run. Don't know what the issue with the tire was; she's never struggled with the tire at multiple locations. The only thing I can think of is the red frame and the dark colors on the tire threw her. And I never expected the lovely way Ellie handled that rear cross and send into the weaves! What a good girl!

You will hear cheering as the dog before us finished his run. It was a Great Pyr, and they made it all around the course and did a lovely job - well worth the cheering. It was hard to run after that, though!

Here is a fantastic fast JWW run. This was a 29 second run, faster than I expected from Ellie. Drat that bar coming down! I'm sure that was just fatigue from a long day.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda ... UGH!

I'm getting this post out of the way, because it's depressing. After all the positives we've had this summer on the teeter, Devon has had a couple of set backs this week. Of course, just like last year, the set backs are right before a series of upcoming trials.

About a month ago, Devon refused the teeter at the kennel club when it was back in a dark corner. After having success lowering the teeter in that location, I moved the teeter to the middle of the floor. It was so interesting to see Devon work through her issue. She wouldn't leave the teeter until she went over it. Talk about dedication and heart! This is why I love this dog!

I was concerned that this would cause an overall setback in her teeter performance, but it didn't. For the last month, Devon has been confident on all the teeters she has been on. So I had no worries going to an agility trial on Sunday in Evansville. I could only make Sunday's trial, and there were 3 VMOs at this trial, and I needed a permanent height card for Ellie, a Golden I started running for a friend, and a temp measure for Page. I'm so glad to have these girls off the measure list! It makes my mornings go so much better.

I walked the Excellent Standard course for Devon. The course looped around where they landed off a jump facing the teeter, but instead had to turn to the right and do a 360 degree loop of 4 jumps before circling around and actually taking the teeter. I thought about cutting out that 4 jump loop completely and just sending Devon to the teeter when she saw it. However, I went against that idea because she had been so confident on the teeter that I thought I'd just run the course as usual.

The plan I did come up with was if she did head for the teeter I was going to step in and support the teeter and let her take it. I didn't want to call her off the teeter. I'd rather her go off course to take the teeter as she has been doing, sacrificing the short term Q for the longer term goal of a solid teeter performance.

Well, here's where the woulda, shoulda, coulda comes in. I shoulda gone with my first instinct and cut out that 4 jump loop. Devon actually committed to the turn and jump, which I didn't anticipate and I stepped in on her. This caused her to doubt her decision on the jump, but I quickly altered and supported this jump. I told her she was a good girl around the loop, but the small handling bauble in front of the teeter had done it's damage. When I supported the teeter, she wasn't sure of it and came off.

UGH!! Her first refusal of a teeter in competition. Something I NEVER wanted to happen in her career. And to fall into the coulda category, I coulda taken her special teeter treats (jerky treats that she only gets for a successful teeter and she loves; she even blows spit bubbles for these treats) and broken them up and showed them to her before her run and left them outside the ring like I do in training.

And I woulda walked her off the course so she didn't learn that refusing the teeter meant the game ended, but I forgot that too! I don't want to punish her for not taking the teeter, but I don't want her to learn that it's OK to bail off the teeter and then get to play the rest of the game. No teeter, no game. Sorry!

One other note about Devon's run. She spotted the teeter as she came out of the #3 tunnel. She's looking for it which tells me there's stress associated with the obstacle. No surprise, but noteworthy. Here's the run:

We didn't do the teeter in class this week, mainly because it was back in the dark corner where she had refused it a month ago. After a difficult time at the trial, I didn't want to follow it up with another bad training session.

Yesterday, I took a trip to the Louisville area to get Devon on a different teeter. I took the teeter treats, and she was happy to run to the teeter. After jumping off of it once, she went up and over it -- just once. She got lots of treats for that one time over it, but I could tell when she came off of it, she hated it. It was a hollow aluminum teeter and it made a loud hollow thud even on grass.

I was never able to get Devon over it again. I tried treats; I tried putting her up and working Page; I tried moving it to another location; and finally I tied her to the fence and had her watch Page go over it and get treats. Nothing. UGH!

We are entered in a 3-day trial this coming weekend and a 2-day trial the following weekend. This weekend we have FAST class the first two days, and it's the first class. Devon is the only one running in FAST, so I can concentrate on her. And if she is not successful in FAST, I will not be running her in Standard.

Unfortunately, she has never run at this location, which I wonder is part of the issue. Will she take the teeter in locations where she has trialed before? Or should I not run her in Standard in new locations and just stick with working in known locations this fall?

And the other consideration I have is preparing her for VST tests this fall. I learned last year that I cannot stress two sports with Devon at the same time when she's working at a high level in either of the sports. Right now VST tests are a top priority for us, so I'm leaning towards pulling her from Standard this fall until we get through her VST and then worrying about the teeter after that. I do think that working the other sports and not trialing consistently in agility has contributed to this teeter problem. Once we get a solid teeter, I need to stick with it and trial to build her confidence, pushing everything else aside.

The other thing that isn't helping is a weave issue, too. Back in June at the ACI trial, Devon had a a jammed shoulder and it was affecting her weave entries. This turned into a training issue. I worked through it and she has lovely entries in training, but as you can see by her JWW video they came back to bite us in that class, too.

Poor Devon. I'm just at a loss on how to support her, and it seems I'm making all the wrong decisions right now. Time will only tell how this issue is resolved.