a mixed bag

Aoife had her first AKC agility trial yesterday and the results are mixed. The bad news is no qualifying scores. The good news is, this little girl rocks the course.

On each of her three runs, we had one critical error resulting in all NQs.

On her first run of the day was FAST (the event where the judge sets up the course and assigns each obstacle a point value plus a mandatory bonus and the handle runs the course however she wants to) she missed the bonus. I was pretty disappointed because the bonus was a jump to the teeter and she loves the teeter so I thought it was a shoe in. But she came back to me rather than take the teeter so a NQ. She was a little uneven on that run, barking at me a lot and pretty distracted - she ran by the A-frame and bobbled the weaves once. I think she had a case of ring nerves and that had a lot to do with why she didn't take the bonus and had those few other issues.

On her second run, Standard (with all the obstacles) she was running great, had a bobble at the table, the little shit dear left the table before the five second count was over so we had to do it over. That is a five point penalty plus the time you waste. Then we got to the weaves and it took her three tries to do them. In novice the weaves are un-scored but you must complete them. So it was just a huge time sucker. Then the dog walk. The poor baby fell off! That has never happened before to any of my dogs. She was about three feet or so off the ground on the up portion of the walk and she just could not keep her feet under her. Her approach to the dog walk was pretty horrible - my fault as I most likely could have lined her up better and she just could not keep her feet under her and fell off. And fell hard. I really shook me up. But she got right up and barked at me some more and we completed the course as there was only one jump left.

The last event of the day was Jumpers with Weaves and it was a super easy course and I had high hopes of qualifying. We were the first 12 inch dog on the line. I set Aoife up at the start line and put her is a stay (which she did beautifully). I released her, her back leg kicked the bar and down it went - get this - after a couple of seconds! It actually bobbled on the jump cups. Our run was over before it even started. But in agility you keep going and that is what we did. And she was amazing. I would even call it a perfect run after that first jump. She read both my rear crosses perfectly and was fast! And she had a perfect set of 6 weaves. She finished up with a time of 22.98 seconds on a 39 second course. And was the fastest 12 inch finisher! It would have been first place! She was even faster than a lightning fast 12 inch Sheltie that we go to class with. I was bursting with pride and at the same time so sad with the end result.

Overall I'm really disappointed on the outcome of the weekend but Aoife enjoyed herself and I will be able to take away some good lessons for our next trials. And I was glad to finally find out if she is as fast as I think she is. For a long time it was in my head that she was only fast in my mind. But she proved she can hang with the fast dogs. I had many people comment on her and that was very nice. And she will only improve over time. I actually feel that we could have gone faster on that jumpers run and by her dropping the bar on the first jump did take a little wind out of my sails. Her next trial is on November 14th and 15th so I'll have time to work on her table skills and her weave poles - her two problem areas.

Here is my progress on the BBD floss keeper from the last Loose Feather. I actually had time to work on it during the agility trial. I spent the bulk of the crafting weekend sewing my pirate Halloween costume. It's turning out great! On Friday I went shopping for the fabric and patterns. On Saturday morning I cut out all three pieces (pants, vest and shirt). Then I started sewing the actual costume. It took over five hours just to make the pants! About two thirds of the way done with the pants, I actually said to myself what was I doing? I could have just made a simple pair with a gathered waist with a simple hemmed leg. But no, I had to go and buy an authentic 18th century pattern with a buttoned waist and buttons along the leg. But it does look really cool. And then I started the vest and said the same thing. :-) Mine is from the same authentic pattern and I've lined it in silk and it has 15 buttons (and button holes) up the front. But I've always had the attitude that when I do something I might as well do it right. On Sunday after the trial I got most of the shirt complete and all I have left is the hem. Yeah! I'll take lot's of photos. Now I need to find a nice pirate hat and make a baldric for the sword. I purchased a nice faux leather for that because I could not find one online that I could get before I left for Florida on Friday. But that should only take an evening or so.

I've got a ton to do at work this week and even more at home to get ready for vacation. My niece has agreed to stay at the house for the entire time and pug sit. :-) That makes me very happy to have someone at home that I trust to watch over them.