Bad Blogger!!!!

That's what I am!!  Wow - just about 4 months since my last post!  (Sorry Lynda!!!)  And I was so good at the start!  Well - I certainly won't bore anyone with a huge post on what's been going on for the last 4 months - so in a nutshell......

Trialing with Trapper has been going very well!  We've gotten in the Master's level for all classes!  I've entered Hunter in a few runs in a handful of trials and she has done very well!!  I decided to enter her at Regionals - which is only 2 weeks away now!!  My only 2 problem area's with her are her focus - if I can keep her focused on "us" as a team we'll be ok!  Also - Weaves!!  In practice - Hunter has fantastic weaves!!  Fast, accurate and her entries are great!!!  Truly - in practice she is perfect - 100% of the time!!!  In a trial - she seems to nail the first weaves in a run, maybe the second run also - then she pops!!  Mostly at the 10th pole - sometimes even at the 6th or 8th!  Very strange!  Believe it or not though - the less I practice - the better she seems!!  I still have 2 weeks to work them a bit - but not too much!!

Now - Mr. Trapper Trapperson is pretty darned good - but I still need more distance with him!  I took a seminar in May with Terry Simons (I loooove Terry and his teaching style!!) and learned so much.  We've been working on distance and we're getting there - but still a long way to go.  A lot depends on his motivation and how high he's feeling!  For Regionals - I've decided to try to gather up as many points in the opening as possible!  I may try a mini gamble if I think it's do-able - but I will not waste any time.  I'm going to try to find a path to get as many points as we can - then give a shot at the main gamble.

Of course - my goal for Trapper is to Qualify for Nationals - which are held at Spruce Meadows in Calgary this year!  Last year - my first Regionals with Trapper - my goal with Trapper was only 300 points.  Qualifying for Nats is 350 points.  Well Mr. Trapper reached 408 points and blew me away!!!  But my expectations were so low - I was truly quite calm during my runs.

My goal for Trapper this year is 350 points!  I just wanna Q for Nationals!  I need to trust that Trapper knows his job and I have to draw his path clearly for him in all the courses we run - above all - I have to be as calm and focused as I can.  So much of agility is mental toughness - don't you think?

For Miss Hunter - I truly have zero expectations.  When she's on - she's dynamite - but I'm running her for fun - honestly!!  I know I'll be loosey goosey with her and whatever happens, happens!!  I didn't run her last year as it was my first big competition so I wanted to concentrate on Trapper.  Why not throw her in the mix and see what happens?
The countdown to Regionals is on - let's see how it goes!!!! 

Just as a side note - I wanted to say how lucky we are to be able to have this wonderful sport of dog agility to run and bond with our best friends.  I just found out yesterday that an agility friend Penny had to retire her little Pap Boo due to health reasons!  While this is so sad and sudden - good on Penny for making sure she had Boo assessed and wisely made the decision to retire him to avoid further, serious injury.  After all - dogs should be our pet and family member first - everything else is a plus!!!
Now - let's go enjoy the weekend!!!  I'm meeting some girlfriends for a movie (Sex and the City 2) this afternoon and then off to dinner afterwards!!  I love Saturday's!!!!!