Oh wow, so this is 2 months late but, better late than never, right?!
Baxter earned his first post ATChC title, the Bronze Award of Merit at the Nationals warm up trial on 20-July before we left for vacation and I didn't even realize it. He also finished his ExSt Bronze at the same time. I might not have even realized it now, except someone told me at Nationals!
In my defense though, I didn't realize that Challenge Q's can count towards Standard runs once you are into post-ATChC titles. I knew he only had a few more standards to go, but I thought we still needed 3 to finish both those titles. Hyper Hounds trials are good luck apparently.
I guess it's good that we got something out of his 1 qualifying round out of the 6 we were entered in.
They were nice courses. There are some judges out there who just make some really nice courses, there is still a challenge, don't get me wrong, but some courses are just more fun than others. These were nice courses. Baxter ran well and should really have come away with 3/6, but he was called on a dog walk contact that I thought was alright and then he was over time on a jumpers course. Either way there were some nice moments in all of them, some good distance on gambles (just not on the main gamble of course) good weaves on the standards.
This is the second time that he has been over time on Jumpers and it concerns me a little. There were no obvious bobbles or sloppy, loopy lines/handling. Maybe I could have been faster, I'm not sure? Maybe it was just that he was a little tired coupled with how crazy hot it was. Maybe I'll have to make the move into vets sooner rather than later. Hopefully it was just too hot for him.
I had also entered Spencer in the 6 runs, which I should have known better. He doesn't have very good heat tolerance and I usually only run him in 3 a day at a regular trial. Why I thought 6 was a good idea is beyond me looking back it it. I also didn't fully realize how bad he is in the heat, so at least this showed me exactly how little heat tolerance he has when working (as opposed to chasing a ball in a field) before we went to Nationals. I ended up pulling Spencer from his last 2 Jumpers runs because he was not looking happy at all. I know I can probably drag my unwilling dog around the course, but I want him to run with enthusiasm and be happy out there!
So we pulled. But I learned a few things. That's what it's all about right? The journey. Slowly we're getting there, my baby dog and I. He's getting more confident as time goes on. Kind of reminds me of
this article I recently saw posted on Facebook. No we're not perfect, but we're learning as we go.
We also had fun hanging out at the BBQ after the trial. Spencer got to play, or at the very least interact appropriately off leash with 6 Shelties. Baxter was okay with it until we went in the house and he was supposed to stay outside, and Penny didn't get lost (she's tiny, it's often a concern!)
