Monday, August 25, 2008

Gemini Dogs CPE Trial

Saturday Carmen and I attended Gemini Dogs’ third annual CPE trial. The site is on the opposite side of the industrial park from their daycare and indoor facility. The day started with the ring in the shade and it was quite lovely. By 10 a.m. there wasn’t a bit of shade ANYWHERE! Eeek!

I entered Carmen in all four classes they offered on Saturday (Fullhouse, Regular, Wildcard, and Snooker).

But, first we had to be measured a second time. At the Act-Up CPE trial we were measured and the judge had us jump 8”. Then our permanent height card arrived and it said 12”. Hmmm. When the judge measured us this weekend, lo and behold Carmen is required to jump 12”. Unless I choose to run her as Enthusiast – the equivalent of Skilled in NADAC. So I opted to have her jump 12” Saturday. She will be a veteran in April and can then jump 8” if I run her as a veteran. My intention was to continue running her skilled in NADAC since she would be a veteran in April 09. I thought she jumped 8” in CPE and didn’t realize she would be jumping 12”. I need to figure out if Enthusiast legs can be transferred to Veterans in CPE. If yes I will probably run her Enthusiast – although she EASILY clears 12”.

The first class of the day was Fullhouse and we were given a “gift.” I wanted to start with the tire and Carmie jumped the bungee holding the tire in its frame! This is not a problem I have ever had with Ike but Carmie is an agility-baby and I have noticed she does this with some frequency with the tire. But guess what, the timer screwed up and the stopwatch wasn’t going, so we got to start again! Hooray!

In Fullhouse you must acquire the agility equipment equivalent of Fullhouse. 3 jumps, 2 circles, and one wildcard. Contacts were the Wildrcard and therefore worth 5 points. Carmie is a contact monster – she loves them! So we did the dogwalk twice. Our course was tire, dogwalk, jump, a-frame, tunnel, jump, jump, dogwalk, table. In Level 1 you only need 19 points, so Carmie cleaned up. We Q’d and placed first in our class. It was a really nice run and Carmie gave me the requested automatic sit on the table. Yay, Carmie!


Our next run was Regular and John, Ike, and my in-laws had the opportunity to see it. It was a nice clean run (we Q’d and placed), and I even remembered to try and take larger steps in my front cross and not double-step. I worked nearly every class I didn’t run, so my poor family was a bit bored and left before Carmie’s Wildcard run.



Thanks goodness. It was brutal. I think it was the hottest part of the day and Carmen was just plain ol’ beat, apparently. In Wildcard you have three opportunities to choose an easy or more difficult course option. In Level 1 Wildcard you must choose two easy options and one hard option. The first choice was tunnel or teeter and I chose tunnel because the next option was tunnel or a-frame and I know Carmen LOVES the a-frame. The final choice was a single jump or tunnel. The tunnel was angled a bit off and I thought the single jump would be the easier option. We got to the A-frame, Carmen put two paws on it, took them off, and starting sniffing. Oh no!! There had been dog after dog eliminating in the ring all day, so I was so afraid Ms I-Must-Mark was about to join the crew.

Really I think it was a combination of she was stressed because the prospect of the A-frame was so daunting in the heat and then she caught a nice sniff of urine. I quickly directed her into the tunnel and changed my plan. When Carmie came out of the tunnel I was momentarily lost – after all, this wasn’t the course I planned on running. Fortunately, although it felt like forever it must have only been a second, and I was able to get us back on track and Carmie gladly took the tunnel versus the jump. Q and 2nd. Yay, Carmie.




I was very worried about my girl after this run. She seemed so distracted during the run, which is VERY unlike her. I soaked my cool coat in my cooler’s ice water and put it on her after wetting down her loins in the kiddie pool. Then water and off to the crate. I worked Wildcard 3/4/5/C and decided that I would scratch from Snooker. I was concerned by how much the heat was affecting Carmen and I didn’t want to overdo it. When I took Carmie out she was bright eyed.



So, I re-soaked the cool coat and kept it on her until we went in the ring. Snooker consists of taking a “red” jump in order to take a “color” obstacle. You must do this three times before completing the closing sequence and depending upon what level you are you need to accrue a certain amount of points. Level 1 needs to gather 25 points (this includes the closing which are numbered 2 – 7 and worth the points they are numbered). I planned a very easy run because I wanted to make sure my girlie felt good. We did jump, tunnel, jump, tire, jump, tunnel, and then turned around to do the tunnel again as was the first obstacle in the closing. Success!! We accrued 37 points, Q’d, placed first, and Carmie was still bright eyed and energized!



A great day. Ms. Carmen completed two of her Level 1 mini-titles, CL-1-R (Regular) and CL-1-F (Fun Games) and we only need two more Q’s to completely finish with Level 1. This in only two trials, competing one day – what a great girl!


10 comments:

Dawn said...

Sounds like a successful trial. Good going Carmen.

Katrin said...

Good girl Carmen!

Hmm, I guess the lesson from Thursday's class did not sink in by Saturday?? (ie ALWAYS have a 2nd plan!) (and ok, I admit, there were a number of 'lessons' on Thursday, of which that was one of)

Congrats on the front crosses though! :-)

Diana said...

Great job!! Diana

Blue said...

Sounds like a awesome weekend. Good girl Carmen!

Liz said...

Hi Julie,
Unfortunately, the run I got on video was your least favorite.

Here's the link if you'd like to post it. :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtCepEA9W_M

Shelby had the same problem and got stuck in that corner. It took me 3 tries to get her going, and we ended up over time.

It was a long weekend doing both days, but fun.

ann-and-partner said...

Congratulations Julie and Carmen!

Jules said...

Carmie says, Thanks everyone! (as do I!)

Liz, the run was even more brutal than I remembered! ;-P Actually though it does serve remind me of some things I missed and need to work on - like she hopped the tire bungee in that run too!! I wasn't as consistent in my speed as I would hope.

And she didn't spend nearly as much time sniffing as I thought she did!

Thank you for taping it!

Sunday was a good day for you and Shelby? Have to go check out your blog! :D

Jules said...

Katrin, But I did go with my second plan pretty quickly (promise :D ) - I just forgot where to go after I made the decision! :D

Cat, Tessie, & Strata said...

Hooray, Carmie! :D

Holly said...

Go Carmie!!! What a great trial!!