Dazzle Agility Trial - Hoodoo Howlers, April '07

This is Dazzle in her 4th agility trial (NADAC).

This was a VERY fun trial. It was the first one that we actually had to travel to (we live on the west side, it was on the east side of Washington). It was a good 4.5 - 5 hour drive, but a scenic one. We took all three dogs and stayed at a hotel. The trial (NADAC) was put on by the Hoodoo Howlers agility club. It was much smaller than the other trials I have been to, only one ring and about 60 dogs or so.

Descriptions of the runs:

The first run - tunnelers. Daz loves tunnelers. She was a bit crazy from being in the car all day yesterday, and in a strange place last night, so her turns were WAY wide but still, a Q and a 1st place! Notice that I trip on a tunnel at the end, but we managed to finish the course clean and in good time.

Next run, Touch n Go! Dazzle LOVES TnG - but a little to much. She doesn't have a high Q rate in this class at all. But on this run she was very calm and really listening to my commands. I was proud! Another Q and another 1st place!

After that (not in the video) was another touch n go, but she missed the tunnel/dogwalk discrimination (she screwed that up) and got an NQ on that one. I took that chance to train in the ring and fix some contacts - which then improved for the rest of the trial.

Then the two regular runs! Simple courses. We did the first one OK, but with a little bobble - but we recovered and finished clean with a 1st place. The second regular she did better, very smooth and clean. ANOTHER Q and a 1st place again!

Then Chances. The dreaded Chances. She has great distance - no problem! But had never Q'd in this class! But, today she was ready! I wasn't even expecting a clean run (last run of the day thing - not her luckiest time) but except for a small bit of confusion (my fault) it was clean, and a Q!! She knew. She was SO happy after that run! First chances Q!!!

Next morning, another chances (first run of the day - not good, again an unlucky time!). Despite it being the first run - she did it! She did it clean! Sort of a strange ending, but still clean! Good girl!

Then another regular - again, clean and a 1st place!! She missed her weaves enterance, but went back and fixed them. The weirdness right before the end of the course was my fault. I was afraid she would go off course there so of course worried about it and didn't have very clear body language and was sending her right to where I didn't want her to go. But she made up for my problems and finished the course clean regardless. On this run she completed her O-NAC title (Outstanding Novice Agility Certificate)

Then the two jumpers. The first (not in the video) was not so great. She did OK in terms of no zoomies, but knocked a bar and went off course twice. It was sort of a strange course though, but I also didn't really know how to handle it, yet she did her best so I am not complaining. The second (in the video) was almost clean, and the fastest time of any division, although she knocked two bars!! She was jumping very flat for speed and didn't set properly to turn which is why they fell. I guess we will have to work on collected jumping more now....

Then Weavers! She was going SO fast that she missed the entrance to the first weaves but after that she got herself under control and listened perfectly for a very clean run and another 1st!

Last run, Tunnelers again! I did a very long lead out and hardly moved 5 feet in any direction for the whole course. It was a COOL course too!! Dazzle loved it, lots of flow. I thought she would be zoomy, it being the last run and all, but no. She was listening the whole way! And out of all the dogs (Novice, Open AND Elite) she had the second fastest time. The fastest dog (Chek, I think) beat her by 0.01 yards per second in speed. Not bad, considering we had one wide turn!!

At this trial they offered a High In Trial Junior award. There were two other juniors at the trial in contention for the award. Both are planning on going to Championships this year and are amazing teams! They both had Aussies (well, Aussies and then a mini-aussie!). All three of us were neck and neck in Q rates. Everyone was impressed with all three of the dgs. But Dazzle squeaked ahead in the last few runs and took HIT with a Q rate of 75% (9 Qs out of the 12 runs). She got a nice dinner that night!

This video is just the runs, the other ("Trip to Hoodoo Howlers April '07") has what the whole experience was like.