Sunday, March 29, 2009
Mika agility trial March 22 - Day 2
All right, it's finally posted!
Masters Standard 1
She was so driven in that first run. Her speed was so much better than it's ever been at a trial, and even better than it often is in practice! I noticed in this run that she wanted to go off-course more than usual (which proved right in the other runs). I think she's developed this mindset that she should take whatever obstacle she sees first unless I call her. Which there's nothing wrong with, because it means she's becoming more confident. Our only mistake in this run was a skipped pole in the weaves.
Masters Standard 2
Yuck. Bad handling in this run! That front cross between the tire and the jump was much too late, which is why she wasn't sure where to go after. I should have rear crossed at the A-frame. Okay, I now officially vow to use rear crosses as my primary cross instead of front crosses! I'll still use front crosses, but only when I'm SURE that I can get ahead of her. In this run the mistakes were a missed contact on the A-frame (which the judge didn't call...) and two off-courses, but she got her weaves, good girl!
Masters Jumpers
Great speed! We just have to work more on wrapping jumps. There were a lot of almost-off courses, and a couple real off-courses (wrong end of tunnel and off-course jump at the end), but at least she's becoming a lot more confident at taking obstacles that are at a distance from me!
So...0% Q rate at this trial...but you know what? I'm happier with how she did at this trial than at almost any other of our trials. Why? Because she had the speed and confidence that I've been trying to get for a long time. AWESOME job Mika!!
~Nat
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Hi Nat,
ReplyDeleteI love your attitude! It sounds like you both had lots of FUN, and that is what it is all about. Go Nat and Mika!
You should be happy. You guys looked great! Wonderful job. Diana
ReplyDeleteI think that first Standard is the first time I've seen you lead out. What a great startline stay! Does she usually prefer that you run with her? If so, it wasn't obvious in the video as she really blasted off the startline. Nice to know that you have a solid lead out in your toolbox for the courses where it really comes in handy. Walter's lead out is really iffy so I rarely use it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome "today's offcourse is tomorrow's gamble" with the jump and tire in the second Standard.
Lovely rear cross in the Jumpers.
Mika sure looked like she was having a great time out there. :-)
Kim -- Thanks! I try to always keep a positive attitude about agility, especially trials. After struggling with some problems a couple years ago I'm just happy that Mika is happy :) We sure did have a blast!!
ReplyDeleteDiana -- Thanks! Yep, I'm very happy! :)
Lisa -- I used to always lead out when we first started trialing, but last summer she started to not get up when I released her (she would keep on staying), probably because stays were really demotivating for her and she didn't like it when I walked so far away from her. So last summer I stopped leading out. But Mika's gotten a lot faster since last summer, and it's hard to get ahead of her...I had to get a front cross in on that Standard course, so I decided to lead out to guarantee that I'd be ahead of her. She was surprisingly driven when I released her! I guess it's because she's gotten a LOT more confident.
She was definitely having a ton of fun!
~Nat
Way to go Mika.
ReplyDeleteEssex & Deacon
Those were great runs, Nat! Mika was so fast - it's cool that she has so much more confidence now! Gives mom hope for me!
ReplyDeleteThanks Essex and Deacon!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ricky, Mika's gained a LOT of speed since we started doing agility three years ago. She looks like a different dog when I watch our old videos. Most dogs gain speed over time! :)
~Mika