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Well, our three days of NADAC fun is over and the spotties are tired...me too! It was a pretty good day...not really Q-wise, but Indy seemed pretty happy and that's what really counts, right?
Elite jumpers: This was a nice course and we had a pretty good run, but ended up a second over time, so no Q. The opening was similar to yesterday's course, but I didn't quite have the dog I was planning on having when I walked the course so I found myself too far ahead of her in a few spots. I probably could have added a few crosses and picked up a little time...something to think about for future runs.
Elite chances: Even though Indy didn't have to do the dog-walk in this run, the opening had a tunnel under the dog-walk, which I think had her a little worried off the start. We didn't have enough speed coming out of the tunnel and Indy took the wrong tunnel discrimination. I decided to go ahead and pull her from her regular runs - good move, I think.
Open weavers: A nice run and Indy was happy, but she popped out of the weaves early. You can see in the video I thought about starting her over, but changed my mind - another good decision.
Elite tunnelers: Finally a Q and second place. This was a fun run and the perfect way to end the weekend!
Overall, it was a really fun trial and we had a great time. I'm really happy with Indy's performance, even though we didn't have much luck with the dog-walk. We'll keep on working at it, and in the meantime I'll just do what I can to keep her happy. She loves agility and loves to trial...I'm sure with time her confidence will continue to grow.
Day two started off great - we had a lovely jumpers run on a challenging course and managed to come in over two seconds under time for a Q. It was probably one of our best jumper runs ever, and unfortunately I didn't get it on tape - why does that always seem to happen? :)
I usually don't use long lead outs with Indy, but today I opted to do a three jump lead out since there was a tunnel just beyond the third jump that I knew she would take if I used any forward motion down the line. For once, my plan worked out nicely! Unfortunately our good start ended there. In our next run, Elite chances, Indy nailed the hard part - a double tunnel discrimination, but then refused the dog-walk at the end of our run. When I went in for a second attempt she refused again and started running around in avoidance mode. Since the remainder of our runs today all had the dog-walk in them, I knew we were in trouble.*Sigh* - I really thought we were past our dog-walk drama, but I guess not. It's hard not to get frustrated when I know she can do it, and is usually happy to do so. But at the same time, I don't think it's fair of me to get upset with her since it's clearly causing her stress.
I'm considering pulling her from her regular runs tomorrow, but I think I'll wait and see how our chances run goes - if there's a dog-walk in it and she refuses it, there's really no reason to keep trying when all it does is stress her out, and will likely slow her down in our other runs. :)
On a good note, I checked our records and Indy got her Elite jumpers title today! She is now Indy OAC, OCC, EJC, TN-E, TG-N, WV-N. Good girl!Oh, and I almost forgot - Peyton is tagging along this weekend (as the official spotty cheerleader) and he has been sooooo good! For the most part he just hangs out quietly in his crate, but when I do get him out to work him around all of the distractions, he's been giving me some really great attention. I think he really enjoys seeing all of his friends from class, and he's even crated right next to his best friend Riley. I think it's been a really good experience for him. :)
Today was day one of the annual three day Thanksgiving NADAC trial held in Palmetto and Indy and I had a great day! Not only did we have some really nice runs, but since this is a local trial we have several SOTC friends competing too, which makes for a really fun weekend. Here's a brief recap from today...
Elite Jumpers: This was a nice course and we had a good run going until the last line and (I think) I sent her a little wide with my front cross and she went around a jump. I made a really ungraceful and ugly attempt to save it at the last second, but with no luck. Note to self - don't do that. A good reminder at the start of our weekend that I need to *keep on handling* even when we're almost through the course. Elite Chances: A BEAUTIFUL run! I think we were one of only three teams that qualified on this course. Indy handles distance work so nicely...I'm almost tempted to run all of our courses this way. :) Elite Regular: Another good start, but at the end we missed the dog-walk/tunnel discrimination and I don't think she was entirely sold on the idea of doing the dog-walk so she added in a few jumps before she decided to be a brave spotty and just do it. Open Weavers: A clean run and a Q, but slow.slow.slow. We barely made course time. I swear she must have been half-asleep on this run, but hey - a Q is a Q and I think we just need one more for our open title.
Here's a little video!
The spotties hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
(Waiting not so patiently for their turkey dinners - yum!)
Since we've had a little break from classes at SOTC I've been taking Peyton over to a friend's house to work on her field once a week or so. New environments are always a challenge for the spotty boy, so I figured it might take some time before he was ready to do much work there.
Today I actually think the light bulb turned on, and after a little bit of running around paying absolutely no attention to me, we got it together and had some nice little runs, with some really decent enthusiasm and focus.
I'm really pleased with how his contacts are looking. We're still working with a low a-frame at this point, but I'm pretty confident he understands the behavior now so hopefully I can start raising it back up a little each week.
It was so nice to have someone to do some training with too...my friend always does a good job of pointing out my sometimes lousy handling (which I appreciate, really) and it's great to have someone around that you can bounce ideas off. She also seems to think we might be able to start trialing before Peyton turns 12. So in honor of that thought, I've decided to share my ideas for first trial success:
1. No meals at least 72 hours before the trial - This will ensure Peyton is nice and hungry and will happily run for food...providing he doesn't eat me first.
2. We'll need to run at least 5 miles before our class to burn off a little excess energy. Perhaps we should consider walking to the trial...no matter how far away it is. Proving I'm still able to walk when it comes time for our run, I might stand a chance of keeping up with him. Doubtful.
3. I'm thinking some added weight might help slow him down a bit. Do they make 20 pound collars?4. I'll recruit about 50 friends (wait, do I have that many?) to line the outside of the ring just in case Peyton decides to jump the fence. I'm assuming body blocking doesn't call for an elimination?
5. I'll pay those friends to turn their backs so that they can't see our run (or our attempt at running). Hopefully Peyton won't knock one of them over if he decides to jump the fence.
6. And finally some calming pills for him and double - make that triple - calming pills for me.
I think that about covers it...I'm sure I'll be adding to my list. :)
Ok, so I'm KIDDING - I think. :) I know I joke around a lot, but I do think if Peyton continues to progress as he has been we might actually be ready to trial sometime in the next year. We'll see...in the meantime, here's some cute pics of the little spotted monster. 
Peyton is a big smiler...and I'm not referring to the open mouthed happy smiley look most dogs give us. He has this big toothy smile that looks more like a snarl - I think it's more common in some breeds than others, and I've seen quite a few pics online of "smarling" dals.He smiles all the time...especially when he's happy to see someone, but also when he thinks he's in trouble, or when he thinks he's going to get a bath. :)
It is soooo cute, but to date all of my attempts to capture his smiles have been complete failures. So I've decided to start my own "project smile" and I'm determined to get a good picture of him smiling one of these days.
The really funny thing is that Indy started "smarling" like this too a while back. Knowing her, I think she was a little jealous of all the attention Peyton got from his smiles and decided she needed to get in on the smiling action. She only smiles on occasion, but when she does, it's adorable!
So here's the closest thing I have to a Peyton smile...I'd say it's maybe a half-smile? :) 
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