Secret had her fourth NADAC trial this past weekend, held at Family Dog Center in La Crosse, WI (our "home turf"). It was her first time ever attempting to go for three days in a row -- You have to remember that two of her first three trials were single days, so this was a lot to ask of her!Secret did awesome. She qualified in 9/12 events over the three days, earned her Novice titles in Jumpers & Touch-n-Go and earned her first Open Q's (six total!).
Everything started Friday night with games -- Secret was in Open Weavers & Tunnelers, and Novice Touch-n-Go. Perfect night! Yay! It ran a lot later than the last Friday night trial FDC had and we didn't get home until after 10:00. This was Secret before we went to bed:
I was a bit concerned about how she would hold up for Saturday because all of the dogs were pretty pooped (me, too!). She did start to fade as the day wore on -- Open Tunnelers was downright sad and she trotted through 3/4 of the course and somehow still managed to come in one second under time. She woke up in time for Novice Jumpers at the end of the day, though, and had a great run! We didn't Q at all in Regular. The first run was completely my fault because I was very late on a front cross and she went off course to the a-frame. In the second run, everything was going great until we got to the a-frame and she bailed!! It took four tries to get her back on the thing -- all I can figure is that she got corrected for going on the a-frame in that direction on the first run, so she thought it was "bad." Thankfully we got past it and there weren't any other issues.Here is how worn out Secret was after the trial on Saturday -- yes, she slept like this for some time...
Because Jumpers was the first run of the day and I figured she would have plenty of energy, I decided to go ahead and move Secret up to Open Jumpers on Sunday. My eyes bugged out of my head a bit when I saw it was a 20 obstacle course -- the same number that Elite had, only the course was reversed a bit. That's kind of how Open was all weekend, though -- The courses were practically the exact same, with the exception of a set of weaves being replaced with a tunnel and the tunnel being removed from under the dog walk. (hence why I think staying in open is silly...)Secret Q'd in Open Jumpers and had a great run in Open Weavers! I was late AGAIN with calling her to turn out of a tunnel in the first round of Regular, so she went off course up the dog walk on an otherwise very nice run. I cleaned up my act and we managed to Q in the second round, finishing up a very nice weekend.
Here's our video!
Wow what a great trial for you both! I hope Freya and I can aspire to a Q rate like yours :) Congrats on the wonderful trial, do you think you're going to make it to champs? I bet you will...
ReplyDeleteThanks! Well, the boys are both Q'd up for Champs already and I do *hope* to get there ($$$ more than anything). One of the reasons I chose to move Secret up to Open right away is to see how many Q's we can get towards Champs requirements. I figure if I can get her even close, Sharon would let her in. I won't be delusional and think, "She could win it all!!" (lol), but I just hate to take a dog and make them rot in their crate the whole week. Secret does have the option of running on Team if nothing else, though.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing with the Qing for champs. Considering when both our dogs started competing and considering how many Q's they will (hopefully) have by champs time, Im thinking Sharon will let us in. When were you planning on emailing her?
ReplyDeleteI don't. I figure I'll just send her entry in with the boys if I decide to run her. I've never heard of anyone being told they can't enter... Because it typically opens up to "second chance" every year.
ReplyDeleteI did finally put Secret in Chances for the first time this weekend. I figure she should probably get at least her Novice title before we worry about Champs. I doubt she'll have the Hoopers requirements, though -- Simply because we never see it.