Top Spot Agility - Indus July Trial

Last weekend we had a "first" trial in the area for a new agility club that started up. I guess technically they did have a trial this winter as well, but another club donated ribbons. So this was the first time you could get a Top Spot title ribbon!

I have this thing. I like collecting (title) ribbons for agility clubs in the area.

We've got;
2x4 Agility
Paws'N'Effect (old ribbons, need the new)
Calgary Agility Association (old ribbons, need the new)
Fionavar K9 (old and new)
Training Troop
Flashing Canines (old and new)
Hyper Hounds
Go Dogs Go (only a Q ribbon with them, not a title)
Dynamo Dog Sports (only a Q, not a title)

Baxter actually earned his Expert Jumpers Silver title at Top Spot's last trial, but since it was sponsored by Fionavar, no new ribbon.

Not only was I excited about the venue (super close to my house with a stand of mature poplar trees with a carrigana hedge for shade to bench under) but both boys could also be up for titles! (Thus, ribbons from the new club!!)

Both boys ran really well this weekend and despite the massive hail storm at the end of the day on Saturday, weather was great. I had an absolutely fantastic time at this trial. I'm super happy with how consistent my dogs are performing and how much Spencer and I have come together as a team.

Baxter is loving Veteran's. It's taken a lot of the challenge out of qualifying since sometimes he'd be over time by a couple of seconds since he's "energy efficient" especially in the heat. He Q'd 7/8, with that one NQ (actually an E) my fault for not handling like I walked on Challenge. He did however get the Gamble, and also threadled on a part in Snooker that I was testing to see if we could do. What a good Fluff!

He was loving the 2 Jumpers runs we finished up with on Sunday. That last run was ALL about collection. I think I did 8 front crosses and a reverse spin? So much fun!! Jumpers is totally Baxter's game We've got 30 Q's in Jumpers alone now.

Spencer was the best baby black dog in the world this weekend going 5/6. Back to his "usual" 3 runs each day since he doesn't seem to do well with more than that. Sat he was happy and fast on his first run in Gamble - got the points but not the main, I think my handling may have been ambiguous. Then he Q'd in both Standard courses. Not super fast, but it was a little warm by that point in time and Spencer doesn't do heat. What Spencer did do though, was chutes. Without worrying! No chute refusals, yay.

Sunday he was smoking in Steeplechase. Little off on his Challenge, but was 1 of only 3 dogs out of 20 or 25 dogs to qualify! Then last run of the day he was back and had a fantastic Jumpers run where he was actually driving to the obstacles again and was a couple of seconds faster than Baxter giving me 4.6 yps!

With the 2 Standards on Saturday with the bonus of an actual Challenge Q on Sunday my baby bug pulled off his Expert Bronze Standard title. That finished his Bronze Award of Merit with a Q to spare!

Funny Story:

In 2013 a good friend of mine left Regionals early, or at least before the completion of the awards. I stayed for ribbons and *thought* she was called as qualifying for Nationals so picked up a Q ribbon for her. Either I didn't hear right, or they were called when they shouldn't have been, but after checking results the next day turns out they didn't qualify. I felt terrible.

This weekend she and her boy earned their ATChC! I asked her if she knew if he had gotten any of the Awards of Merit as well, since I  did not know when Baxter earned his until someone else told me. So I looked at the AAC dog stats page for her and yep, he did have his 10 Standard. I really didn't look at his Games though, since I was busy thinking about Baxter needing Standards to finish his Merit titles. I assured her he had his Bronze Award of Merit as well, so she hauled home 4 big, pretty ribbons.

Then I started second guessing myself on the way home when I couldn't check the AAC site. Her boy had to finish his MGDC (Masters Gamble title) and MSDC (Masters Snooker title) to earn the ATChC, so he only had 8 of those games. OMG did he have enough of the other games (you need 25) to earn the Merit title?! Did I just do it again?!? - Nope I get home, check and breath a sigh of relief. Thank doG!

Then on Sunday, I do it again, but with my own dog this time. Again, thinking about how Baxter just needs one more Standard for his Silver Merit, I knew Spencer needed 2 standards and was entered in 3. So when he got the Standards I put his name down and picked the ribbon up. Perfect! ... except then I was remembering how I was talking about how Spencer doesn't do full trials, how I pick and choose what to enter him in based on the titles I'm aiming for. So unlike Baxter, he doesn't have a slew of extraneous Games titles/legs, and he just finished his ATChC in Nov. OH. MY. GOD. Did my own dog actually have enough games titles to finish his Bronze?! Yes. He did. Barely! 28 Games Q's before this trial - 30 with the 2 Games Q's he picked up at it. Wow. Just wow.

That's what I get for not counting.

2013 AAC National Championships - Part 2 The Trial and Results

Since this year was my first Regionals, it only follows that this was my first Nationals as well!

I was supposed to share hotel and benching with our friend and trainer Kim, but that plan changed when Spryte went into heat a couple of months earlier than anticipated. So now I was on my own - but agility is about you and your dog right? So I hoped it would be okay. Besides, there would be other people up there I would know and could hang out with - just no other people I had really trained with before.

Baxter making sure we're organized with the catalog

I also a little concerned about the layout, being able to find everything and about conflicts running Spencer in Regulars and then Baxter in Specials. This was a bit of an issue at Regionals, but since I sort of knew how to deal with it from Regionals I wasn't too worried about it for Nationals.

The trial venue was awesome. Really nice grass to run and exercise/play ball on. There was also a lake to swim in less than a 10 min walk away and some lovely pathways to walk the dogs on. Swimming at the lake was a hit until I accidentally threw Spencer's bumper into the cattails on Saturday and then wouldn't let him try to get it back (I couldn't see it and I didn't want him to drown if he got stuck in the plants.)

Nationals was an absolutely amazing experience.

Ribbons, ribbons everywhere!
L - Individual round placements 1-10th     R- Aggregate placement ribbons for each class 1-10th

We made some new agility friends with local and out of town people. From people going out to grab takeout supper to eat at the trial site, to joining buddies at the banquet, to random helpful strangers (who turned out to be running in 6" specials with Baxter) helping set up the shade tent.

The energy and tension during some events was just crazy. During the last day running the final 26" regular dogs there must have been over 100 spectators surrounding that ring - and when the top 10 dogs were running it got progressively quieter, you could have heard the proverbial pin drop for the final 2 dogs (who were 1st and 2nd place for that height.) The crowd cheering on the dogs with silent tension was crazy, like we were worried about distracting from a clean run.

Steeplechase Finals were just the opposite, same energy but now that energy was given sound. The fighter jet flyover (convenient timing!) doing The Wave around the ring waiting for the event to begin, watching some truly amazing dogs with fabulous handling and training.

Baxter - 2nd Overall in 6" Specials

I am so proud with how well my boys did at Nationals! We struggled through some things, realized others and grew as a team. Both dogs really tried for me and ran well in some pretty warm conditions. Both had moments of brilliance that will only get better! I figured out some more of the mental management side of things that I have taken for granted before, and like the dogs, will only get better!

After Regionals with Baxter and having no expectations, I did have some going into Nationals I won't lie. I wanted to hit the podium with him (like in the Olympics -  you get Gold, Silver or Bronze so I wanted 1-3 place.)

We did succeed.  Baxter placed 2nd overall in 6" Specials with 439.44 points. He was a good little Fluffy, but if bad luck had not befallen a fellow competitor in one of their rounds we would have been third. Still a very good placement in my mind, especially for our first Nationals with only 2 clean runs. We had a couple of little bobbles here and there, due to some handler nerves and some stress when Baxter wouldn't work away AT ALL in Gamble 1. Then towards the end of the weekend, more moments of brilliance, his Standards were lovely, weaves were great and he almost managed to get Gamble #2 just ran out of time (and then flew off the teeter ...)

Baxter with all his ribbons.
We were trying to do it like Pokemon and collect one of each placement.
We did get a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th! but then a 7th and 8th to ruined our chance to get a flush!

He also took 2nd in the Steeplechase #2 qualifier round, earning his first legit steeplechase Q on a course with 2x 12 weaves 3 seconds under SCT!

Spencer did amazing. He missed ending up in the aggregate placement ribbons by less than 6 points, placing 12th overall in 10" Regulars with 419.25 points, which is more than he earned at Regionals!  He did however earn a couple placements in individual runs, placing 7th in both his Jumpers runs and 4th in Standard 1!

For the dog that I thought was not going to weave at all at Nationals (a story for another time) to actually run and run well was enough of a achievement in and of itself. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I am so happy with my baby dog.

Spencer ran 3 clean rounds, and did better in Gamblers than he has before. I knew he was in 10th place going into the final Standard on Sunday and I am sure that I inadvertently screwed up his run with handler nerves too. So things to learn and work on for sure, but some great successes as well.

We Did It! Baxter Earns his ATChC!!

So, so proud of my fluffy boy this weekend. And myself I guess, I did have to do the training with my dog to get this far. It just feels more like it's his accomplishment than mine!

Baxter earned his Agility Trial Champion of Canada Title (ATChC) with his 4th Master Gamble on Sunday under Yvonne Babij, at the first ever HyperHounds trial held out at WetNoses this weekend. He also got his Masters Gamblers Dog of Canada Title (MGDC), but that's a little like a after thought when you get the ATChC!

Judge Yvonne, Baxter and I

He's my first agility dog and this is my first ATChC. I just about cried when he successfully completed the gamble.

Play by play of the Gamble:
(you may want to just skip this orange part if you're not an agility person)

The gamble itself wasn't bad, as long as your dog with a running dogwalk would call off that jump at the end of it and come into the tunnel under the dog walk. The opening though didn't have any sections with a lot of points, I was a little stressed. It was get the mini, or we wouldn't get the points to qualify. The mini was similar to the final gamble, contact with a tunnel beside it. In the mini you flip into the tunnel which was a little further away than in the final, and in the final you call around after the contact and send them into the mouth of the tunnel under the contact.

First time over the mini Baxter didn't see the tunnel so I had to step in after wasting a little time trying to get him to send. Second time over the mini he still didn't flip into the tunnel (I think I was too far back on the AFrame for him to read the switch, he needs the body motion as well as the verbal and it's hard for him to see that coming down the Frame unless I'm really ahead.) BUT he did send to the tunnel!

Buzzer went, not bad positioning. Up the dogwalk, he hit his contact (they were a little sketchy this weekend, he jumped it in the Gamble on Saturday ...) around and into the tunnel. I remembered to stay back from the gamble line a bit so I'd have the room to step in and support with motion, but I didn't need it. Straight out over the jump ahead of him and then back over the next one. Good, good dog. He got it! I didn't almost explode with happiness. It just felt awesome. Was a good run, we worked as a team, I handled my dog well, and everything just clicked.

Kim, our instructor at HyperHounds who got us into doing agility in the first place and started me on positive dog training in the first place was videoing this run. She knew it we needed it but mostly I tried to keep it quiet how close we were to getting his ATChC. A few people we've trained with knew, some others had guessed that we should be close but didn't know what we were waiting on. Gambles are mentally a little hard for me, because we struggled with them for so long, and I didn't want to put any inadvertent pressure on me/us to get this!

After we got the final gamble she yell out "Is that your ATChC?" and that's when I teared up, happy, excited, too much emotion kind of teared up. Talking to her after she said she teared up too! Hugs all around. I love the people who play this sport. So supportive.

Such an awesome feeling.

I really wanted to get that last gamble this weekend. We'd started out with agility because I thought it looked fun when I saw the SuperDogs at the Stampede, but I was never sure if Baxter was doing good in class or not. Or when we should move up to the next level. I'd always ask if we should move on and Kim always assured me he was doing great. We finally made it into the 4th level of class where we'd run actual masters courses - which is hard when you're just starting out and have no idea what you're doing! Kim who kept pushing me (after we'd been training for 2 years) to actual go out and get a AAC number and start competing. Kim who kept telling me that we were doing great and that my "slow" little dog wasn't that slow, that he liked playing the game and we'd be able to earn our ATChC.

Getting his ATChC is special, but getting it at the first ever HyperHounds trial was even more special. Thanks Kim! We wouldn't have made it without you! =D

As a side note: If he was registered with the AAC as a Tibetan Spaniel (he's registered as a All Canadian, since he didn't have a CKC number and I didn't know any better at the time) he would be the FIRST Tibetan Spaniel to earn his ATChC in Canada)

All Grown Up

One of the local competitors from our area is on the WAO World Team for  Spain 2013 and there was a 1 day agility trial to help raise money to finance the trip. Another of the competitors created this awesome video of the even, which I loved even if neither of my dogs made a appearance in it. I always find these agility videos fun, but they're even more fun when you actually know the dogs and people in it!

Anyway. The boys and I had a great time even if benching was the tightest I've ever experienced at Wet Creek (anywhere - really.)

Baxter was amped to play. So amped that contact performance deteriorated a little. Steeplechase was 2x 12 weaves, so that was a automatic write off - even without the crazy tight standard course times that had many people who usually qualify not making time. I honestly didn't even look to see how far over time we were!

Baxter and I had a decent Gamblers run, but missed a fairly hard final Gamble (only 8 dogs got it.) Standard turned into a good training round, and Steeplechase was the usual "donation" run. We redeemed ourselves in Jumpers though where he read what I wanted very well despite me not knowing quite how I wanted to handle things. Such a happy, good dog. He seems a bit faster now that he is a little leaner and hopefully that continues to improve with the nice weather.

Winter is hard for me to keep the dogs in good trialing condition, bring on the spring!! Everyone is ready for a new excercise regime!

Spencer had a great day as well. Still some baby dog confusion with the weaves initially. And he was having such a good time out there that he blew right across the table in standard without even attempting to stop (in his defense, I  cue'd it late.) The highlight though, he took the chute without any hesitation at all!

Spencer would have got his second advanced Jumpers had I not used the wrong cue and pulled him off a jump 3 obstacles from the finish.  He did get his 3rd advanced Gamble, putting him into Masters Gamblers. I can't believe it. My little guy in in a Masters class already, and Gamblers at that - the "hard" one.

All grown up now - sort of ...

Trial Weekend Review

Feb 16 & 17 was the the Calgary Agility Association's trial. We love this venue! CAA's trials are held at the Fez Dome. It's bright, warm and the footing is packed not loose, deep, dusty dirt. Benching is a little tight, but people tend to sit by their crates instead of hanging out upstairs away from the dogs and I like that better. Especially since Penny came both days to keep the boys company.

This weekend definitely started out a little rough. I blame the week of 10 hour days followed up with a 12 hour Friday for it. Hitting the agility trial with only 5 hours of sleep with a headache brought on by exhaustion is not a recipe for success.

I had such a hard time getting that feeling of connection with Baxter on Saturday. Lots of little things going just slightly wrong. Sloppy front crosses coupled with a dog fully intending to blind cross on you does not lead to pretty looking runs. We did have some lovely moments too though, his weaves were beautiful. I was able to plan good gamble paths to get the points we'd need to qualify if he got the final gamble (unlike the last trial where we got the final and didn't have enough points to Q.)

Baxter ended up with 3/8 Q's which seems to be our usual ratio. We got another Master Gamble on Sunday, which made the whole weekend worth while. He did an awesome job. So much in fact that I had to ad lib some obstacles on to the end of our opening because he finished 13 obstacles and the buzzer still hadn't gone! He was visibly tired (to me anyway) for the final Jumpers run on Sunday and still managed a very quick (for him) 4 yps. Very proud of my fuzzy one.

Spencer had a great weekend as well. He wasn't in for the full weekend, just 3 runs a day. He was looking quite sore the second day of the Jan trial so he won't be running full time in a trial for a while.

First run of the day was Jumpers. He was speedy and happy except for refusing the chute. I can't say that came as a surprise. After all of our work with strange chutes at Dignified Dogs and in class I was hoping would carry over to trialing but that was okay. As "usual" he did it after a refusal.

Our second run was Gamblers. He did awesome and qualified, giving him 2/3 Advanced Gambles, which is crazy - one more and he's in Masters Gamblers while still in Starter Standard! He also qualified in Advanced Snooker. Completing the teeter with the #7 flag sticking up right beside the pivot point which was worrying some dogs in starters and advanced.

Sunday the boys and I just clicked, Baxter got all 3 of his Q's on Sunday. But the shining moment was Spencer's Standard run. He was awesome and wanted to play. I was getting the dog I get at practice (not quite as fast and as unconcerned as when we practice in the yard, but he was actually driving to the obstacles.)

The chute was our first obstacle and he was worried about it. After a refusal he did it, but slowly. By the 3rd obstacle at the DW he was on! No more worries. His table was beautiful. On the way past the DW the second time to a tunnel under it he did flick away to take the DW, so I'll have to work on proofing that. Almost to the end of the run - just a jump left and I rear crossed to send him back into number 1 - the chute again. Not only did he read the cross nice, he hit the chute like he meant it and zipped right through it. We left to have a cookie party for the awesome chute.

I wasn't paying attention to the ring crew or judge at all but apparently they were very confused. He knows the chute, he isn't afraid of it. Rewarding directly after performing the obstacle the way I would like is the only way I can see to reward him for doing that obstacle. Right now ball and food rank higher than more agility obstacles so that's what I'm using! It was really awesome to have a couple of seasoned competitors tell me that doing the chute again and leaving was a great way to end the run.

Getting there

Baxter and I are starting to get there as a team. I've got a fairly good idea of what he understands well and what I have done a less than stellar job of teaching/proofing - like his running dog walk or independent contact obstacle performance. Since Baxter is a small dog, as a handler I am forgiven a multitude of sins - but we have a different set of struggles that large or drivey dogs don't see.(I suppose the word is actually driven, but I like my word better!) 

Yep - this is another gamble post!

Gamblers is likely my least favorite game. Ranks right up there with Steeplechase. Mostly because my dog and I struggle with it.

It took 6 months for Baxter to get his first Starters Gamblers Q. I try not to think about that often, but as we're moving up getting closer to that big title it's on my mind a little. There is always that one last thing you're stuck on to get your ATChC - usually a game since you play fewer of those and it's just a numbers thing. With Baxter I'm fairly sure it's going to be Gamblers and not just because it's a numbers thing.

Since I know distance is a weakness it is something I'm working on. I've done several distance work classes and it's something I try to practice each time I'm out with the dogs. Happily, there are a lot of failed gambles in my little collection of course maps that I can draw from!

The other thing I find a struggle with gamblers is planning a path and getting enough points. It's bad enough that the gamble itself is hard, but getting enough points for the run to qualify IF you manage to get the gamble is a stress in and of itself. I find my biggest quandary is the mini gambles. They're the quickest way to get the points, but if your dog struggles with the mini's they're a huge time suck and a motivation suck for your dog as well if they become frustrated or confused about your handling and then disconnect just in time for that buzzer to go. But, not enough points and it doesn't matter if you get the final gamble. It's catch 22 type situation.

However, I had a great time with both Gambles runs at CAA's Remembrance Weekend Trial (my name for the trial, not theirs!)  Come to think of it now, I've had good luck with CAA's trials and gamblers runs. Baxter actually got his first 2 Starters Gambles to get his SGDC title at their trial in Feb!

Our first gamblers run was good. I found a good path, tried a mini that I didn't need to get as a actual mini for enough points and was even able to "practice" the weaves for the Standard run following Gamblers. As if that wasn't enough, I not only got to have my cake I got to eat it too, when he actually got the final gamble. Walking the course and looking at the map I thought the final would be harder for the small dogs than the large ones, but the off course teeter/jump discrimination on the gamble actually favored the little guys.

The gamble on the second day was much more challenging for us. The mini gambles were both tough independent contact obstacles (Aframe and dogwalk) and I was beginning to panic about a plan. So I talked to a friend, actually, the same friend I talked to this time, in the summer when I was struggling. She didn't point out a plan, just talked about hers, but she wasn't worried that her dog couldn't do the mini's either. I stopped freaking out in my mind and built a nice little path for my dog to get his points once I wasn't blinded by panic/worry.

No, really no one else would be walking "my" path, but the whole point in agility is to know and run YOUR dog. So I did. I even had a sneaky "cheater" part to my plan to show him the hard pieces of the gamble in a legal manner.

Long story short, we did a good opening path. He had enough points. We were in a good position when the buzzer went. We didn't get the gamble, but that was okay. On our way off the course the judge told us it was a good opening. I was happy with that. Heck, I was more than happy, I was ecstatic with that! I'm moving in the right direction. I honestly was thought I'd need to put him into veterans for more time/fewer points needed because we just weren't making enough points in the time. Now, it's a maybe, not a for sure thing.

And I'm slowly learning the mental management side of the game. I didn't screw up either of our jumpers runs, which are usually the hardest to memorize because of how twisty they are! There is still much more work to be done as I messed up the easy part on Team and totally gave him the wrong handling directions in Challenge, but it doesn't feel like a insurmountable challenge anymore!

Advanced Games Dog Title

It was a exhausting weekend but we did it! Baxter finished his Advanced Games Dog of Canada title on Sunday.

Baxter thinks it was a exhausting weekend too, but he still likes agility.

Yes, that is a collapsed tunnel that he is sleeping in.

He might have gotten the gamble on Sat if I had trusted my dog and his training. The gamble was a teeter, jump out to a tunnel under the A frame, back in over the jump and then out to the chute on the other side of the teeter. Baxter did the teeter and jump fine, but I sent out to the tunnel off of the jump instead of calling him in and then sending him out to the tunnel with a straighter line. He went out but I second guessed him and thought he might go for the wrong end, so I called him resulting in a spin in front of the correct end of the tunnel and a refusal. Oops! I didn't realize that it was a refusal either, so I was really confused when the whistle blew and I thought I stepped over the line.


Baxter ran really good all weekend, but that was our only Q in 7 runs.

Saturday had me pretty frazzled. First Jumpers run was really twisty with a lot of backsides/serpy (yes, that is a word!) stuff I was worried about handling a specific sequence right and didn't want to mess it up. So when running, when I got to that part of the course I forgot that there was a jump in front of the challenging sequence and ended up taking a decoy jump that wasn't really a decoy for the dogs, but more for the handlers. The judge later commented that she didn't think anyone would have taken that decoy - never say never, lol. He was smoking though, running at 4.15 yps! I realize for sport dog people that isn't fast, but this is a heavy boned/bodied short legged breed and it's pretty zippy for him  =P

Our second Jumpers run was clean and fast until the last obstacle. The final 3 obstacles were a actual serpentine, Baxter read the rear cross perfectly off the first jump, read the serp cue back over the second but instead of just pushing him over the final jump the way I walked it, I rear crossed again with bad timing and he went wide around the final jump.

I'm honestly not sure what happened to his master standard runs. He has been running them well, except for hitting his weave entries with speed, which is almost always my fault for not telling him to weave soon enough. So we'll have faults on our masters runs but we've never had time faults, even when having to fix weaves. This weekend, course times were super tight. Baxter was running really well and not overly wide on turns, no obstacles obviously slow and creepy but both runs were over time. His clean run was over by 1.53 seconds and the other run where it was only 6 poles (x2) he only missed one weave entry and was still over by 1.19 sec.

Weekend observations

• Work serpentines and pull/push through handling drills. I pulled Baxter off of a jump on 3 separate courses by not having practiced this enough. Either I am not holding position long enough for commitment, or he isn't experienced enough to read and understand it clearly. Likely it's a combo of the 2.
• Still work on rear cross drills - yeah I don't do them often because they demotivate him but when they are the only handling option that isn't a messy disaster it helps if the dog still can read and understand them ...
• Directionals. Left and right, not just a switch. Master gambles are HARD, the more tools in the tool box the better your chances are.

Summer fun

aka a outdoor agility trial in 30 degree heat (with no breeze) and mosquitoes. But no, really, it was a lot of fun and a great time!

This weekend was Fionavar K9's "Woofstock at the Beach" trial out in Olds. We were only entered in one day - but it was a most awesome day.

On his cooling mat under my desk. Too hot in the house for him to sleep after we got home

1) Baxter worked for me. In that heat. He was fantastic! It's always kind of a concern of mine how he would handle the heat because of his coat. He had his cooling mat to lay on but I haven't gotten one of the metallic shade tarps (you know the woven metal ones that block more sun and keep the tent cooler and still let in the breeze.) I brought lots of water to soak him down before and after runs too. I think it also helped that the tent was pitched in a soggy spot, so the ground was nice and cool.

2) Did I mention that he worked for me in the heat?! So happy with my little guy. Not only did he work in the heat, but Jumpers was the last run of the day and he ran his little legs off in the omg-so-hot-I-think-my-brain-melted to Q in Jumpers at 4.03 yards per second (which is really fast for him.)

3) Technically we only Q'd in 1/3 of our runs. However, he did SO GOOD that I don't care, it was a huge success.

Standard went well. There were only 6 poles (done twice) but he likes that better than 12 poles anyway. He missed the first weave entry, initially I thought it was because I didn't babysit it - but now I think I was also late telling him to weave. I didn't hold position on a front cross into a tunnel long enough for him to commit, resulting in a refusal for that one. I need to work on this with him in drills, seems to be a weakness of ours. I either need to support better or build in a little more value for tunnels. Other than those 10 faults we did good, and under time. More importantly, I handled it the way I walked it, for the most part it worked and I didn't get lost!

I thought that Advanced Gamble was going to be a donation run once I saw the course map. It was a tough final gamble.

It doesn't help that I've never sent him to the backside of a tunnel to find a entrance either. One of the other competitors was a huge help suggesting I send him into a tunnel in the opening to show him that there is a tunnel entrance there. I was only a little in front of the gamble line sending him through the gap in the tunnels to the right entrance of 2 and he took it like a pro, no hesitation whatsoever! The rest of my opening was a little helter skelter, but we were mostly in place when the buzzer went to start the final.

The blue line is the path he took. HE DID THE FINAL GAMBLE!! Staying out, and not coming back in around the back of 2! Sadly, the buzzer went while he was in the tunnel 3, and we missed qualifying by 0.09 of a second ... story of our agility career, lol.

It's bloody difficult to do these gambles with a short dog who doesn't move the tunnel much, I couldn't see him once he was near the tunnel mouths so I didn't know when he went into 3 or if he was looking but not in etc. I don't even care that we "didn't" qualify. I think the only other Adv dog to get this gamble was Flash, who isn't handled or trained by someone new to agility. Distance skills class is working (and in more ways than one, the small drills and good rewards are building drive really well too.)