Our AKC Debut

Is less than 2 days away! Well actually, it's only 1 day if you count the B match that we're entered in tomorrow afternoon. I'm really excited and looking forward to 4 days (yikes!) of agility and hanging out with good friends. Ok, so now I think I'm a little exhausted just thinking about it! :)

Oddly enough I'm not really nervous, which I'm sure is a surprise for those of you who know me. :) I realize that it will be a really challenging environment for us, but I think that Peyton is ready. My only teeny-weeny concern is getting measured. I know Peyton is going to have to jump 24", but unfortunately he still has to get an official measurement...I don't think that he's going to be very happy about that! Once he knows you he loves you, but he can be a little wary of strangers...AND he's very squirmy. He did *not* like the wicket the first time we tried to measure him, but after a month of practicing with a makeshift PVC contraption I put together, I think he's gotten much better. Fingers and paws crossed that he'll cooperate!

Here are my goals for this trial:
1. To keep Peyton as relaxed as possible - this is always important, but even more so since this will be a much larger trial than what we're used to.
2. RUN more THINK less! I've got to stop over analyzing during our runs and well, just RUN. :)
3. Think forward forward forward - Our last trial was a reminder that at this point Peyton needs lots of forward cues and I shouldn't be worried about getting nice, tight turns. He needs to be able to trust my forward motion first.
4. To relax and have FUN and to do my best to keep Peyton happy. Having a happy and confident dog in the ring is so much more important to me than a qualifying run.

I think that's about all for now! Here are a few pictures of my spotty boy looking rather sad since we've had a week of RAIN and he's been stuck inside for most of it - hmmm, we could really have a wild spotty this weekend! :)