Tryouts Day 2: Ah-maze-ing

Jenna: Round 4, well now.... Jenna and I were the first dog to run clean on the course. We stayed with our time on the "time to beat" clock for around 8 dogs, then we ended up third overall with 5 points. All I can say is, "I love you Jenna." She was such a good girl!! Especially considering that I forgot to spray her feet with anti-slip stuff! Round 5 was less of a thrill, but solidly clean...and I totally almost smacked my face into the a-frame ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mru2WbtJJmQ&email=comment_received&lc=CKB2EE4azQ3G9qcrg-FoM5Qzpj6zKIE0vxbRf3OR1Ns&lch=email&feature=email )... Not sure where we ended up after day too, but I don't really care. Jenna was awesome for me this weekend. Think I'm the first junior to place at tryouts since Jenn Crank!! So pretty psyched!

Demon: Round 4, E. bad Diane should have blinded like she planned. And Round 5 was super smooth and clean. Finished 6th. Such a great end to Demon's tryouts career! Can't wait to see him smoke some runs in Sweden!!

Videos, pictures, etc. to come when I get home! Stuck in Chicago on a computer from like 2001? Not even sure if it has a UBS port for me to download stuff anyway :P Excited to get home and start training Whimzy for next year, and prepping Jenna for the EO!

Tryouts Update: Day 1

Jenna: Had an E in round one...bad bad bad bad bad bad bad mommy, I let her swing wide on a wrap and she took the wrong end of the tunnel. Round 2 went much better. Jenna finished 7th? and was one of the ONLY dogs who ran clean. Round 3 was also clean, a little slow, but clean. Finished 10th. Then overall for day one Jenna placed 8th overall out of 21 dogs. Not too shabby. Honestly thrilled with how we are running, my handling is there and Jenna is right with me.

Demon: Had an E in round one... another bad bad bad (I think you get the point) mommy, Diane swung her arm up and Demon read the backside of the jump instead of staying in. Round 2 went was clean and Demon finished 6th. Then in the second standard round, Demon got 3rd place!!! What a good boy, they had a smoking run! Overall I think they are placed 10th? Excited to see them run agian tomorrow.

 At least she is cute, my laptop is being dumb, so Jenna is cute sideways :)

Tomorrow unfortunatly is a different game entirely. No longer is it clean dogs first, its based on placement points. Of which we have none, Demon has 4. So we shall see haha.

Hopkins time...

Finally! After a 14 hour drive into chicago on wednesday and then another 8 yesterday, we are finally in Hopkins! Honestly the drive wasn't too painful, dogs got out lots to run. Which Whimzy in particular needed desperatly.



Practice was today. Jenna was awesome, so happy that she is feeling better. Plus our show foot really helped, and my new shoes gripped great!!! So neither of us should be slidding around this weekend. Can't wait for tomorrow! It was so nice getting caught up with some old friends, and even more exciting news! The European Open Teams were announced. I'm on team with Kathie Leggett and Shout, and Karen Beattie Massey with her dog Bella. So yeah jenna, a world team coach's dog, and a really awesome pumi. Be jealous ;D haha! Sweden is going to be a blast, lots of amazing teams! Hoping this will be a great year for the USA!
Tryouts: Tomorrow o.O

Ugh...

Jenna is sick. Not going to die sick, but very very sick. Not sure at this point what is wrong, we started her on chicken and rice to see if she can start keeping her food down...so far so good. Of course this did seriously impact our last trail day, she wouldn't eat STEAK before standard and was a complete poop the whole course. Q but I just new something wasn't right. Sure enough a while later she puked. Also has put a set back in our last minute training before tryouts, which we leave for in a day and a half. Hoping she is feeling better by tomorrow so we can do some light training at class. Other wise our first training session since last Thursday will be 6 minutes long at tryouts! Guess it just time to hope for the best, and hope that our training these last few months will hold. Fingers Crossed!!

Tryouts: 4 days! 

Realizations and facts...

• we'll never Q in Open Jumpers
• Whimzy is amazing, I love her
• Jenna is peaking
• turf is fabulous
• awkward things aren't made awkward by choice
• that friends who bark are only friends if they bark with you not at you
• having neon colored shoes is fun
• turf is REALLY fabulous
• Whimzy has 2 Open Standard Qs
• I haven't a clue how many more QQs till Jenna's Mach 3...
• ^I should check, but I don't care
• I don't like ring conflicts
• Bazinga is an escape artist o.O
• my brother has no life
• ^is currently ranting about the greatest influential historical events in history
• I could currently care less^
• I train rear crosses
• ^Whimzy and I just need to start using them
• I just typed "weird" and haven't a clue why or where it fit into my sentence

Yep think that is everything. Sorry way to many things of random relevancy to actually weave them into a post. Good news is Whimzy is getting there, slowly but surely. Jenna was great today, really really really mad at myself for not bringing show foot though. She didn't get any grip and was super duper slow, but still nice runs. Can't complain bad handler with bad memory I suppose. One more day of trailing tomorrow, just Jenna. 

Then TRYOUTS! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0wJZTPxG2w&feature=youtu.be

Down to days...

Less than a week, and I almost can't believe it. Which is silly because really this is like annual trip. You know get in the car, drive 17 hours and hit the most exciting event in the USA (<slightly biased). But really it is a fun event, even though it isn't totally oriented for spectators it is still amazing to watch.

That's Jenna on the way to her first tryouts ever, she was only 3 years old. 

K fail of a blogpost, totally lost my train of thought, so look new shoes^

Not that simple...

Dog agility: a sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle courses in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys and incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. Consequently the handler's controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the handler.

^that's a definition, but in no way does it allow the reader to grasp what agility is.   Granted what agility really is changes depending on your opinion, but here is mine.

Agility is a sport, a passion, a test of your mind and body, Accuracy and speed combined with concentration and raw power. The will of the handler to do everything heavenly possible for their dogs, so that they are healthy and love the sport the handler adores it. Agility isn't about the obstacles, the competitions, or the handling...it's about you and your dog. I can't reiterate enough how much I detest people blaming the dog, as if it was their idea to train and challenge themselves. Nope, sorry not buying it. If you love agility for the right reasons, then you'll love the failure, the dog, and the people no matter what. Because agility is more than just a sport full of competitors, it is a world in itself. Think about the people you know through agility, for me it is some of my very best friends, some of the most amazing people I have ever met, and to think without this bond I would have never known who they were. Our community might be full of cliques and drama just like any other subculture out there, but I can only think of a few others that incorporate a bond between more than just the people. Think about, just for a moment, having never owned, trained, or bonded with your dogs. The idea of being without them  makes my eyes swell with tears, mainly because I actually wouldn't be anything without them. Hell I would be normal and what fun is that? Agility is the combination of sport, people, dogs, it's the journey. The winning, the loosing, the heartbreak, the glory, the hopeless addiction all agility people share is just all part of the game.