Oh Kizzy....

Today was NADAC day! Kizzy's technical "third day of trialing" and second time running more than one run. She was high as a kite this morning. I'd hoped that she'd be more settled after our long day yesterday, but she was just screaming and screaming and screaming this morning. Even when I had her out on leash and kept her with me, she continued to scream.... I was getting so frazzled. I had gotten to the trial quite early today so I spent as much time as I could trying to completely wear her out. This helped, but she was still quite vocal for the first half of the trial. It did seem to get better after she got to run.

Kizzy's first run was great! We had a couple of space cadet moments and I knew that the "out" tunnel next to the a-frame was going to be an issue for her. Hindsight being what it is, I should have just gone on as soon as she hit the a-frame, but I wasn't positioned well for it and I did want to try to get her in the tunnel. Oh well. But she NAILED her weaves on the first try, so HOORAY!

Run two was when the fun started. I did not have anyone at the doors today because things were going well and it was a small trial. Kizzy left me halfway through the run and just stood there contemplating what to do -- and she choose to run out the door. She did come back into the ring, which is good, but she still left and from that point on the idea was in her head. For Tunnelers I elected to block the doors from the beginning, automatically taking an E for training. And I'm glad I did, because she tested both doors before coming back to me and finishing the course together (I did shorten it by a few tunnels to end on a good note). I didn't elect to block the doors for Jumpers because historically she likes jumping and it's not so much of an issue, but I did lose her on the first turn and a helpful person quickly moved to block her exit. Kizzy came back to me after that and stuck with me for the rest of the course, so there was improvement!

I suppose tomorrow I should cover my bases and make sure the doors are ready to be blocked. I try to remember that I went through this exact same thing with Kaiser, and look how far he's come.  ;o)  It's seriously no wonder that this dog is such an escape artist, though. She is too stinking clever for her own good, and she doesn't ever give up...

I'll share Secret's runs next since this is technically her blog.  :o)  Secret did great and had fun, but she must have used up all of her Q's yesterday. lol  Both NQs were due to her taking off course obstacles, and I always say that it's a good day when the cautious and overly perfect dog gets a wild hair up her butt and decides to take extra obstacles. The one in Regular was a bit more understandable than the one in Jumpers, but whatever. She was happy, it was fun. I have debated entering her in a couple of runs tomorrow, but why push it? I loved her weaves again today!

Kaiser was a good little Klee Kai today. His first round of Regular was absolutely fantastic right up until the end when he took the tunnel instead of the a-frame. He was just coming around the corner too fast and chose the easier option, I guess. When he gets running really fast like that he has a tendency to fly past the a-frame, so I should have known to check him up there. Round 2 was also very nice, if you don't count the broken start line. The highlight of that run was his super fantastic dog walk contact!

Kaiser finally broke the Chances dry spell today! I looked it up and his last Chances Q was in June and Luke's was in July -- not a single Q in Chances since then. I was starting to feel like we'd never Q in Chances ever again... Today's course was pretty basic, but he did a great job. I decided to enter Luke in Chances this weekend since our friend didn't put him in it, but unfortunately Luke took the tunnel under the dog walk.

Luke did great today, too! He and Erika had a really nice run in the first round of Regular for a Q there and almost got one in Tunnelers but were just over time. And watching that run tells me that I don't think Luke will be playing in Tunnelers anymore. Another sign of aging, but that many tunnels in a row was just kind of hard on him, I think. It started out all fun, but you could tell by the end that he was getting to the point where he was wondering if it was done yet. He gets to play in Hoopers tomorrow and I know he'll enjoy that far more.  :o)

Everyone is super-pooped here tonight, so we're just going to crash and rest up for tomorrow. Hopefully the weather isn't horrendous, as they are calling for "blizzard conditions." Yay... Is winter done yet?