I really wish I had video but I was not able to get video so I will use a little clip art to sort of help you visualize the days happenings, because I really wish I had something to show you all.
First off the flyer for this fun match said they would have a novice and open ring, but they lied. There was one course all day and it was a pretty challenging course, at least it was for our team ;-).
THE WEAVE CHALLENGE PAYS OFF ALREADY!
THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE DAY WAS that I went to walk the course and there was a jump, about 20 feet to a set of 12 weaves, and then about 20 feet beyond a pin wheel. I have a baby dog that is just understanding how to stay out to get jumps so there was no way I could hope to get to that pinwheel and be ready for the front cross after it.....
EXCEPT.........WE HAVE BEEN DOING THE WEAVE CHALLENGE, and proofing our weaves ;-). so I could get to where I needed to be....independant weaves are a beautiful thing!
.
Boy I was happy we had worked on recalls through the weaves and I could trust little Crickie to do her job and I did not have to babysit those silly weaves. We ran the course THREE times, with 12 poles and the third time Cricket missed the entry with the first try, but got it the second. It was like a sign from above telling me that yep, the investment we are putting in now will pay off over the long time. I was not sure because we have worked with SIX poles in the weave pole challenge and this was 12, but little smartie is understanding so much these days!
THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF THE DAY:
Yikes, not totally unexpected but Miss Cricket was a NUT around the ring. Yikes, lunging and pulling and so over stimulated by the dogs running. It did not help that the way the whole thing was set up you had to get over to the entrance of the ring and wait, and the order and what they were doing kept changing. Waiting right outside the ring when it was almost our turn was challenging and it did not help that they called and said to get in the ring, then some people just walked up and started walking the course, for about ten minutes.
HERE IS OUR VIEW OF THE RING FROM WHERE I HAD TO SIT TO WORK WITH CRICKET ON BEING CALM AROUND THE RING-We had to go out a bit far to keep her under threshold. LOL.
I was worried what would happen once Cricket got in the ring because she was so excited and over the top while we were waiting our turn, or when we were within say 2miles of the ring.
No worries, once she got in the ring she was all business. What a good girl. She held her start line stay, she was totally into the game. It was like someone flipped a switch as we walked into the ring and the over the top puppy disappeared and the working border collie appeared.
I jumped Cricket at 20 inches, which is pretty new for us, and she did pretty good....I think she is going to do ok at 20. She read a really hard serp into a very tight wrap to a front cross. She did not however read a line from the panel to the tunnel to a double at the end, it was an insane course for a novice dog and one that was hard for me to break down.
THE WHOLE THING LEFT ME A LITTLE SCARED.....SCARED I MIGHT HAVE BIT OFF MORE THEN I CAN CHEW, scared I might not be up to this challenge-Cricket is going to be quite a lot of dog ;-).
Cricket was SOOOOOOOO fast: way faster then she is in practice...she was like a speeding bullet or a racehorse...
WHILE I FELT LIKE A SWEATING TURTLE!
