Evergreen Afghan Hound Club
Elma, Wa., July2-4,2004
This was an indoor trial on dirt. Two rings, 600 runs per day. Judges: Bonnie Drabek, and Edie Allyn
I really enjoyed this trial and the facility was great, even though it was 1 1/2 hrs. from Seattle. Great viewing of the runs from bleachers, and the dogs had the arena floor to themselves when they got out on the course because there was no ringside seating.
In retrospect, this was probably Al's best weekend of Agility so far. He had 3 Qs in 7 runs which is pretty good. He had a great time on the ISC course. He did an incredible down on the table. He had a great celebration after his final JWW run, and the weekend ended on a very positive tone. Plus he earned some MACH points, which may be important sometime, but aren't really that important now.
Al was excited to start and broke his sit at the start line, but I was able to keep him behind the start line so we didn't get a refusal. I don't like this kind of start, because Al is able to accelerate faster than me, so often I watch him get out in front and take a wrong course or get a refusal before we get together as a team. This run I was able to keep him close so by the second jump we were together. Al wanted to run. After the first tunnel he came out and hesitated for just an instant and I think he was thinking about sniffing or looking around the arena but he refocused and was with me again. The judge almost called a refusal at the table as Al did a hard turn to check in with me just before jumping up on the table ( Do you mean this table DAD?), but after some head scratching and thought the Judge didn't call it and was probably right, because his momentum didn't stop, he just turned to look back at me just before he went up on the table. After a good sit on the table, Al was getting into it. He did pretty good weave poles (he was about 70%), and then he started to pick up speed as we went through the rest of the course. He loved the double tunnel sequence, did his contact on the dog walk, ran hard through the chute, and finished with a clean run.
Al's time was 54.06 seconds. Standard Course Time was 72 seconds (168 yards) 17 seconds under course time. Al Qualified with a First Place finish. If Al were competing in Excellent B he would have placed 6th.
This was a nice solid run by Al, and made me feel great because we have had such a hard time getting Qs in the Standard course because of little bobbles along the way.
JWW Course 1 Excellent B (A Little Help From My Friends)
Al was the first dog to jump at 12", and the wait at the start line while they reset the bars is a problem as he gets really excited to run and has a hard time holding the start. This was a good example of what happens when Al doesn't hold his stay at the start, as he took the start line jump as soon as my hands were off him, and I watched him run past jump 2 getting a refusal almost starting to sniff around because of the stress of him knowing something was wrong, and then coming back to me to go over jump 2 with me. The good thing is he paid attention, and he didn't back jump Jump 2 in coming back to me. But at this point our run was just for fun as we had an NQ. The next mistake on the course was mine as it was a wrap around a jump and Al did everything my body told him to do, including back jumping the jump because I didn't pull him away from the jump enough to resist taking it a second time. We have to practice this. After this point Al started to run harder so I did, and he did good poles (80%) and worked nicely through some front crosses and a pinwheel. This is where the fog of war comes into play and after I got into the pinwheel sequence, I enjoyed Al doing it so much, and upon completing the pinwheel and arriving at the second last jump before the finish line, which is also the first jump in the pinwheel sequence, I had a mental lapse, and almost went around the pinwheel again!! I realized it just in time to save it, and the crowd watching let out a great roar as they realized what was going to happen at the same time I did. It was really funny!! Everyone was laughing along with me after the finish. It's nice to know that so many people are watching and hoping that Al will do well. A little help from your friends is nice to have!! I think its legal but I'm not sure.
Al's time was 44.02 seconds although the timer kept going after he took the final jump because Al jumped so high over it he didn't break to beam to stop the clock!! This has happened a couple of times with Al, and the timekeepers are amazed, because they never see dogs over jump the timing equipment.
The SCT was 45 seconds (146 yds.), and although Al had an NQ (NonQualifying) run, if you took out the 5 seconds wasted at the second jump and a couple of seconds elsewhere in the course, he didn't do to bad on time.
International Sweepstakes Class Standard Course 1
I had never entered one of these classes before because they aren't offered frequently, and you have to be in Excellent in both Standard and JWW in order to enter. The course is set by an International Association, which sets the course for the day. Any dog competing in an ISC event on that day does the same course whether they do it in France, Argentina, or the USA. You can compare your dog to any other dog in the world for the day that you did an ISC course. The rules are a little different than AKC, and the courses are more open, which means fast and fun for Al. Also there is no pause table in the ISC Standard Course. Al had to jump at the mini height which is 14 inches or 2 inches higher than his normal 12" jump height. This was not a problem!
We had a good sit at the start, and Al let me lead out maybe 4 feet before he broke and we were off. Al ran great. It was really exciting to get out and run with him. He loved it. There was one little hesitation at the tire, where he started to loose focus ( the same place as this happened in the morning Std. run?? Hmmm! What's with that?) I got a front cross in that I wanted to do, and Al got his contacts on the A Frame both times. Al had a clean run!!
The STC was 46 seconds (150 Yds.) Al's time was 44.75 seconds. The ISC SCT is at a higher yds./second factor than the AKC rule for Excellent, so even though Al was just under the SCT it doesn't mean he was slow.
Al placed Second in the Mini class, and placed ahead of a Great Papillion that won the 8" AKC nationals last winter. Tigger had a faster time, but had some faults which surprisingly are allowed in ISC.
This was a really fun thing to do, and I will try to do it as often as I can as the courses are fun, and suit Al perfectly. I understand that the NADAC courses are of a similar style, which makes me think that we should do NADAC sometime as well.
Where's my dog??!! I experimented at the start line and set Al well back from the start line and had him calmly go into a sit stay. The only problem was he wasn't facing the jump and he actually was looking backwards from the jump. When I released him Al headed back from the start line and climbed up a set of stairs to the landing behind the start line? I'm such a bonehead. Was that predictable? Yes!!. Anyway, I retrieved Al carried him down from the stairs and we did a "drop and run" start. Everything went great until the bottom of the A Frame, when Al couldn't resist going into the tunnel awaiting him to lure him off course. I was able to do a not to pretty front cross in a hard location which slowed Al slightly, but also gave us a chance to do a pretty difficult entry into the weave poles, which Al did perfectly, and with good speed. Then it was on to the table where Al was so enthusiastic, he jumped off the table twice before he did his down. Bonnie Drabek gave Al the fastest count you could get at the table, which the crowd, and I enjoyed very much. We were off in the midst of an uproar in the crowd. Al almost went off course into the chute, but I was able to call him off it, and onto the Teeter. Al ran the remainder of the course perfectly, and with good drive and speed. I am most happy that I was able to get in a front cross between the winged jump and the tire on the way to the finish line. I had to run really hard to get there, and it worked because Al didn't have to slow down at all, and was in fact accelerating to catch up to me. He had a nice end to the run that had several disastrous parts.
The start line was a problem again?! I had a strategy that if Al wasn't going to sit easily at the start line, then I would turn him while on the leash so he would have to focus on me, and we could start again. I had to do this, and it kind of worked, but when I sat Al and then took off the leash, he didn't hold his stay, and crossed the start line getting a refusal, and then went into the wrong end of the tunnel for a wrong course, then he came back to me and in doing so, I sent him over the start line jump the wrong way for another wrong course!! We already had 15 faults and an NQ and the clock had just started on his backjump of the start line!! This is when I made a mistake. I was thinking that this was the time where I should pick Al up and take him off the course so we could think about what happens when you don't hold the stay. My mistake was that I didn't. We had nothing to loose at this point, but Al had a valuable lesson to learn, which was that these are the rules of the game. If you don't wait at the start line then you don't get to play.
Instead, we tried again, and Al sensed there was a problem. As a result when he did go in the tunnel the right way this time, he wanted to make sure he was OK, so he stopped and checked in, getting a refusal. We went on, but I was disappointed, and Al wasn't running hard. Then he picked up steam, did good weave poles, and was solid until the closing sequence, when I didn't get in a rear cross because Al was sensing something wasn't right, and then I didn't push him out far enough on a jump in a pinwheel sequence. But we finished!!
This was our worst run in a long time. The crowd was silent. It was like all the energy had been sucked out of the arena. The sound of one hand clapping. I was really upset about how I had handled the whole run. I had let Al know that I wasn't happy, and he started to shut down as a result. He was trying, and I had given up. I did learn something though, which is that when I do this with Al, now more than ever, I have to be there 110% for him. He expects it and should get it. Otherwise it's not fun. Back to the campsite to think about what I had done. A meal and a couple of Margaritas and tomorrow is a new day. Al had forgiven me when we got to the treats right after his run.
A New Day!! The strategy was not to torture Al at the start line. We did a drop and run start which I don't like, but it would work on this course so I did it. The camera commentary is by my instructor Sally Hildt. We had a hard course and Al did great. He had good weave poles, a tough serpentine sequence, and a jump to a trap. I blew it here, although Al could have helped. Al came over the jump and was faced with a dog walk or a teeter. I didn't shape the turn into the teeter as well as I could, and I could have used his name to call him off the dog walk, and I could have turned my shoulders more and... Anyway, Al took the Dog Walk, we had a wrong course and another NQ. Al did a nice down on the table and held it, but the judge didn't start counting??!! I never said anything, the judge never started counting and Al held his position. We could have stood there forever, so I reinforced Al's visual cue, and he stayed where he was. Al was down with both his elbows in full contact with the table for 10 seconds (actual time from the tape) and finally the judge started counting. She had danced around looked up and down at Al and he had kept his focus on me although she was a major distraction. He didn't move for 15 seconds on the table and then the count was over.There was no difference or movement in his position on the table before she started to count or after. Finally, we were off the table. Al was incredible!! I should have given him his treats right then and there and would have if I had any. He was FANTASTIC!!
I was pissed at the judge. Anyway, Al did everything I told him to do right to the end. I improvised at the end of the A frame as I just wanted to get off the course and have it over with. In doing so I didn't do the tunnel, and we went directly to the final sequence and the finish line. I could have worked it all the way, but I didn't. I didn't want Al to make any mistakes, and I wanted to get off and give him his treats for his good run. What a good boy!!!
I needed to do some work and get over some things. Al was very happy at the end and got extra treats for his hard work.
I was going to have a good fun run with Al this time. That was all that mattered. This was a challenging course with a tunnel trap that was very alluring. We did an drop and run start again. The video doesn't start until about the 4th jump. Al didn't run as fast as he could, but he was with me the whole time. He did a hard weave pole entry, and about 70% speed on his poles. He was really paying attention, and although he was running well he wasn't as fast as he could have been. About halfway into the course he got going and I really had to run hard to do a front cross between two parallel jumps. It was a nice solid run. The crowd who seem to really want Al to do well, roared. Al was so excited by everything he was jumping up into my arms, running around in circles at my feet, kissing my face, and saying lets get to the treats!!! It was his best celebration yet. He knows when he has done well.
The SCT was 42 seconds (136 yds.) Al's time was 36.03 seconds. He placed 6th, but I was very very happy about his run. It was a nice way to end the weekend.
