Ask anyone who was at last weekend’s trial how it went, and they will probably comment on how cold and windy it was! Jumps were blowing down spontaneously, and more than one tent and EZ-up was taken down by gusts that reached 45 mph. The blowing dust bothered dogs and people alike — I finished at least one run half-blind with tears in my eyes.
But, it was the first out-door trial of the season — not to be missed! Even though outdoor trialing was tough for Gromit when we first started, it has become my favorite way to do agility. I love that there’s plenty of room for everyone to hang out and watch the trial, and I love the big, open rings. At Bo-Gee I especially love the Saturday night pot-luck after the runs are done for the day.
I’m pleased to say that Clewe did great at his first outdoor trial, ever. When Gromit and I started trialing, he had a little “problem” — he would finish his run with me, then blast out the exit and go gallivanting around, visiting everyone. When I pulled up to Bo-Gee three years ago, and saw the temporary snow fencing that defined each ring, my heart sank. I knew he would not respect that floppy, torn, knee-high fence, and I was right. In fact on our first run of the day, his sequence went like this:
jump, jump, A-frame, jump, jump OVER the orange fence, visit-visit-visit everybody’s EZ-ups, cross the wide path between rings, visit-visit-visit another line of EZ-up’s, jump OVER the orange fence and INTO the other ring, do *that* A-frame, jump OVER the orange fence, run down to the stream …. you get the idea. I remember someone saying “call your dog” and me thinking “um yeah, that’ll work.”
Needless to say, I had to fix that problem … and I did, with help from my dog-training mentor & friend Gerilyn. In just two weeks I taught Gromit that agility ended with ME — not with a free-for-all. He never blasted out an exit again, and he never leaped out of a ring for “Fun Times at the Outdoor Trial.”
Oddly enough, I was not worried about Clewe at this, his first out-door trial. He’s shown such drive and focus for the Very Important Agility Game, I just didn’t think he would care to go gallivanting –and luckily, I was right. He Q’d 9 out of 13 runs this weekend — not bad for a baby agility dog!
Here’s a little smidge of his weekend:
…and some of Gromit too!
The Social Puppy 