A 3-Q-ful Weekend

This weekend Ike and I competed in the Act-Up Agility NADAC Trial. We had a GREAT weekend with Ike completing his NADAC Novice Regular title (30 points in Regular Qs). He is now Silvermist Icebreaker CGC TDI NAC.

Day 1

Saturday we were entered in Regular 1 and Regular 2. These two runs incorporate all of the obstacles (except for the table and teeter which NADAC currently doesn’t use for safety issues). I also entered Ike in Chances, which is similar to Gamblers in that it has a significant distance challenge; Touch n Go, tunnels and contact obstacles; and Jumpers, jumps, jumps, jumps and a tunnel.

Ike received full Qualifying scores in both his Regular runs (10 points each), coming in second out of classes of 4. Yay, Ike!! In Regular 1 Ike was a wee bit slow on the dogwalk, stopped between the 4th and 5th weave poles which just goes to show you how fast he was moving (for him) if he could still qualify. Regular run 2 he was WAY faster, but did stop to look at the judge like he had four heads. Both runs were clean.

In the Chances course the tape was set up so Ike took one jump and then a second jump that was at, maybe a 90 degree angle, 4+ feet from mum. The great news is that Ike SERIOUSLY considered taking the jump. Then he realized I wasn’t there and he wasn’t sure if he should. But he CONSIDERED it. Hooray!!

Touch n Go he was a good boy, just a few seconds over time.

Jumpers we ran in the dark, no joke. I could barely make out Sandy’s face talking to her before our run. I am glad we ran it though – Ike had taken a long nap after Touch n Go and he was rarin’ to go. His eyes were bright and he wanted to play! Unfortunately we entered the tunnel the wrong direction, but he was FLYING and I made some crosses that I typically wouldn’t make with him and he didn’t blow up. Yay!! I am starting to trust Ike more and he is starting to trust me more. Our YPS was 2.99 and this was with going in the tunnel the incorrect direction and then sending him through it the correct direction.

We both went home and CRASHED hard after helping to secure the big tent where the trial secretary is located. The winds picked up significantly and it was kind of scary!

Day 2

Ike was entered in Jumpers, Regular 3, Regular 4, and Double Shot Tunnelers.

Double Shot Tunnelers is running a course that is all tunnels and then repeating it! After the MAP Trial I realized that Ike thinks Tunnelers is pretty stupid and I was going to scratch from both. However, since Ike was moving much faster I decided I would run the first half of Double Shot, or one Tunnelers course.

I can’t remember what happened in Jumpers!! I think we were just too slow. Regular 3 Ike ran beautifully and we Q’d again (another FULL Q). We were a bit slower than Saturday, coming in 3rd out of four. Regular 4 there was a discrimination issue with the A-Frame and a tunnel. Ike chose the tunnel and, oh well. He was running very nicely for me. I need to work on my get-outs!

Tunnelers he was flying and missed Q’ing by a couple of seconds. He broke the 3 YPS mark for the first time. He was going 3.11 YPS! Yay! I think Jumpers, Touch n Go, and Tunnelers are more difficult for Ike because the course times are faster – the dog is RUNNING more. Ike isn’t a dog who likes to run purely for the pleasure of it and his idea of what’s fast isn’t the same as NADAC’s!

Final Thoughts

Saturday Ike initiated play with a male Australian Shepherd!! Holy Cow!! This is the first time Ike has initiated play with a LARGER, exuberant breed.

Our friends Shaya (a Junior Handler) and her All-American Tom were entered in the trial on Saturday, too. I hope that Shaya enjoyed the exposure to a different organization’s trial atmosphere. Unfortunately Tom had a bad case of the zoomies and was all over the place. Shaya handled it with aplomb and received LOTS of support from other people at the trial, which says a lot for the attitude of the organization’s members. Tom is damn fast, that’s for sure; and unlike Ike he likes to run!

Marlene and Kody stopped by to continue Kody’s exposure to stimulating environments. It was great to see both Marlene and Kody; I think Kody was VERY good dog!!

Sunday Ike initiated play with multiple small dogs including Squish, his Chihuahua boyfriend, and probably the nicest Chihuahua I have ever met.

In general this was an awesome trial for us. Ike was moving MUCH faster than he ever has before and his weave performance was closer to what it is like in practice. This is mostly due to the fact that I realized during the MAP Trial I did not give Ike the same signals I give him during practice. So I tried very hard to keep moving and do what I do in practice.

I think that Ike and I are started to trust each other more. I also think Ike is starting to enjoy himself more in agility. Hooray!!