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!!!!!
Glad you are blogging again! let me know how the movie was! coming out for the funmatch?
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