NATCH 5 Luke!!

What a weekend! I can't remember the last time I felt so great about a full weekend of agility. It's pretty common for us to have one awesome day. Or maybe even for one dog to have a really great couple of days in a row. But usually some stupid mental issue on my part will cause me to disconnect and flub all over the place with my dogs. It's not their fault, they just do what I tell them to do.

That said, this weekend was outstanding! Every time we stepped to the line everyone really gave their all and we just had a blast. I felt connected on every single run; and even when I was starting to drag for those last Regular runs of the weekend, I managed to pull it together and give my dogs the effort they deserved and they did not disappoint.

The highlight of the weekend, of course, would have to be Luke earning his fifth NATCH! With his two V-NATCH awards, that makes his 7th Championship title overall. I am beyond proud of the old man and all of his achievements in life. There has never been a dog who tries harder and gives it his all quite like Luke does. I don't have any runs on video from this weekend, but if I did you'd see that he saved my sorry butt not once, but twice on this Chances run. We survived two redirects to earn this title! He pulled out an extra Chances Q for good measure again today, again saving my behind with a redirect to a tunnel. He is such a good dog.

Just look at how amazing my crew is!  :o)  The final tally of the weekend was 10/12 for Kaiser (man, that's a lot of runs, no wonder I don't do it often), 5/6 for Luke and 5/6 for Secret. Kaiser did not get Chances either day (my fault on both), Luke knocked a bar in Jumpers this morning and Secret missed the dog walk contact yesterday when I was pushing too much for speed. They were all just flawless this weekend!

Not only that, but they were FAST! Whee!!! Secret had YPS of 5.26 and 5.56 in Jumpers!! Her Regular runs were 4.55, 4.64, 4.88 and 4.95. That is super awesome for the long-legged border collie! I still run her at 16" Skilled (because I can) and we use these NADAC runs as fun-building exercises. I'd say it worked.  :o)

Luke had Jumpers runs of 4.81 and 5.46 YPS (he was hauling today when he knocked that bar). His Regular runs were a respectable 4.02 and 4.14. Good job big guy.

Kaiser just totally blew me away this weekend. He was ON for every run. I'm looking forward to seeing the results posted online to see how many DRIs of 100+ we squeaked out. I'm really hoping to get a Platinum Speed Star with him yet and with weekends like this it would add up quickly. Kaiser's Jumpers YPS were 5.13 and 5.51 (so check that out, as fast as he was, Secret beat him!!). His Regular runs were in the 4.8-4.9 range. Touch-n-Go was 4.99 and 5.29. He managed a 5.09 in Weavers and almost hit 6.0 in Tunnelers with a 5.9. It's no wonder I'm so pooped tonight, my dogs had me sprinting around the course all weekend!

Kizzy ran her two Jumpers runs and while she didn't bring home any Q's I am thrilled with how they went. Yesterday she did earn an E because someone was being a door-blocker (just in case) but had their dog with them, so she ran out to visit. But once outside the door she came straight to my hand, so that was fantastic. On that particular course she missed one jump in the middle when she went wide on a rear cross and then she also ran past the last jump going 100 mph. Gosh darn it she is FAST at trials....

Today was even better! We are having an issue with her going, "I'm FREE!" when the leash comes off -- she runs towards anyone sitting in the ring (a friendly Klee Kai, go figure), but she always runs right back and starts the course with me. Today she again went super wide on a rear cross (gosh it would be nice if I could manage to teach that skill to her) and we kept going, but we finished strong and we finished TOGETHER. I decelerated pretty hardcore coming into the last jump and she actually slowed and turned INTO me -- and came STRAIGHT into my hands! I was so ecstatic that I could barely manage to get the leash over her head. We ran out of the ring and had a huge party after that run!

I had planned ahead and brought the dogs' water toys with today, so after the trial was done we drove over to Airport Beach to swim for a bit. Thanks to the rain that had just passed through the area and likely due to the high water that pretty much made the entire beach disappear, we had the whole thing to ourselves. I like going there because I can throw the toys way out without worrying about a current pulling them away, so the dogs get a much better swimming workout. The little dogs enjoyed playing in the shallow water and eating god knows what they were finding in the grass... Then we came home and everyone got a pig ear that I'd picked up at Petco on Saturday during Luke's "buy whatever you want as a celebratory treat" visit. It's been a pretty great day to be a dog in this house!

I'm working at Petco the next two nights, so hopefully the dogs enjoy two days of rest and relaxation following the busy weekend - while I will be trying not to keel over from exhaustion. I'm looking forward to a couple of days of AKC coming up over the 4th of July. I also sent entries for the AKC trial in New Berlin on the 18th and 19th. I couldn't pass it up because they are offering the ISC classes on Friday! Then today I won a free day of trialing at the next NADAC trial, so I guess we'll be coming home from New Berlin and then going to play NADAC on Sunday.  :o)