What a fun weekend! Riley blew me out of the water this weekend. She had back to back double Qs on Friday and Saturday! This has never happened before! That was amazing and an absolute 180 from where we were in November. She had some really great runs and I'm totally proud of her.
Friday was such a stress relief. I skipped out of work. Had a minor cold so didn't want to go anyways. Lots of my friends were there at the trial and Riley was raring to go and we were ready to do some agility. I have a horrible short term memory when it comes to running my courses so don't remember exactly what happens. All I know is that I planted my foot when trying to send Riley to a tunnel, and next thing I know, I'm pitching forward on to my hands and knees. I was worried I was totally going to land on top of her and with that, Splat, there would be no more Riley. Amazingly enough, I missed her, she committed to the tunnel and then she's gone. I scramble back up and try to beat her to the end of the tunnel, which I barely did, still off balance but manage to send her over the next jump. Amazing but miraculously no refusals were called in all of this mess and we were clean! We got a LOUD cheer when we finished and I took a bow. Geesh! Thanks for rubbing it in, yall! ;) Riley got lots and lots of cookies for that one.
Repeat great performance on Saturday (minus the falling and me making a fool out of myself). Sorry, can't remember any further details than that.
Sunday, courses were a lot tougher. . .understandable, as they can't always be easy. We've got to do a little more table work. I'm thinking she's developed some stress over it, so we need to make it fun again. Too much time jacking around on it, trying to get her to sit. I gave Riley a really bad entrance to the weaves in her standard run so she missed the entrance. I put her back in and then she started popping a couple poles. I didn't bother correcting them. She'd done them fine all the rest of the weekend so why bother. Jumpers was a different story. Hit the weaves fine, did the next couple jumps and sent her in to the tunnel. As I moved to the cross to the other end of the tunnel, I waited on her. And waited . . .and waited. Called her name. Thought crossed my mind that she was pooping in the tunnel, though I know she didn't have to go. All of a sudden, I look down and she's right behind and had been there the entire time. Good grief! Well, now what! ;) I look up and the judge is cracking up and so is the crowd. Take her over the next two jumps and try to send her back in to the tunnel again. Still a total refusal. Oh well, now we're done and make a quick exit. What can I say. . .after two great days, I can't blame her for blowing off some steam. She thinks it's funny (and it was) and I knew there was no way we could double Q three days in a row. She just can't be serious all the time and just wants to run for the sake of running (skip all those silly things we have to do, let's go now!).
She's such a fun little dog to run. I've finally figured out what she needs to be sure of what we are doing and how I need to prep her before we go in. She hates having to wait to go in so I timed it just right this weekend, with getting her out right as the 8 inchers start (she was dog 7 or 8 the whole weekend). Too much time waiting = stress in her book. She even wanted to play with her toys after the run, which hasn't happened in a while. Covering her crate is also making a big difference too, as she can relax and take a good nap before and after each run. Oh and leaving her little brother at home helps a lot too I think (unfortunately). Sweet little girl! I'm so lucky to have her in my life.