Saturday, May 23, 2009

AKC Day 1

It was a pretty good day! Overall, Peyton seemed a little more comfortable than yesterday...he still isn't very impressed with some of the dogs that want to stare at him or invade his space, but I'm trying to do the best I can to limit those encounters. My first big brag is that he did get measured and other than being just a little nervous, he held still long enough to get the one and only measurement we should need for AKC - yay! I know it sounds silly, but this was pretty exciting for me. :)

Our first run was novice FAST and other than a few little run-arounds he did pretty good. We thought that he might have qualified, but I guess the judge called a refusal on the second jump of the send bonus, so no Q - but a good warm-up run.

Our next run was novice standard and we ended up qualifying and taking 2nd place! I was really happy with how he did on this run, and other than a little confusion when we got to the tunnel, he seemed pretty happy and his focus was pretty decent.

Almost *7 hours* later, we had our final run which was novice jumpers. He was a little less focused during this run, but we were working through it until we got to the very end and after he came out of the tunnel he knocked a bar and then ran over and barked at the judge. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but this was a bark that I only hear when Peyton is in a total state of panic so something about her must have caught his eye. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed to have ended our day with that display, but I guess it's all part of the learning experience.

Another long day tomorrow, but I think we might try to go home in between our fast run in the morning and our other runs that should be later in the afternoon. For the most part, Peyton seemed pretty relaxed hanging out in his crate, but I think it might be better for him if he is able to take a little break away from the endless barking and trial activity and has a chance to really relax.

Here's our video from today - thanks for all of the good vibes! :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I must say, I really like the "caution" ribbon being used as fencing. Can Payton have some of it at the end of the trial? Maybe modify it to say "caution: Hot Stuff".
You two look great.

Anonymous said...

YEA Peyton!!! AKC is fun!!!! Congrats on your Q & 2nd place! Grandma

Lisa said...

Congratulations, Kim and Peyton, on your first AKC Agility Q!! Great job. Sounds like you now know why we don't do a lot of AKC agility...too much waiting and not enough running! Tess had a similar experience at the AKC trial yesterday, spending more than 8 hours at the trial to run twice. Don't they realize that spotties need more ACTION?!!

Kim said...

Thanks guys! And Paula I think you're right about Joanne...when he came out of the tunnel he was looking right at her. I guess we just need to make sure that our runs are clean so no hands go up. ;) LOL