Gusto, Meg and I went a'trialling Friday and Saturday. I love when I get Sunday off to recover from trials!
Meg, of course, blew me away with her perfection. I had to laugh, because at one point I was chatting with someone about how nice it is to have the steady older dog to make you feel better when your baby dog is being a baby, and I said something like "I love how Meg just never worries about anything and marches into the ring and does her job every time". And then I burst out laughing, because how in the world did that ever happen?! My little stress case worrier is such a soldier now. Probably because I operate entirely under the rules I set when she got her PDCH - namely, there are no more rules. We only enter classes she likes (no pairs or gamblers ever again!), and whatever she wants to do is just fine. So of course, she hasn't missed a Q in I don't know how long, and has gotten a SuperQ in every snooker course in the last three trials (pretty much all we've done since she got her championship). I keep thinking that one day, she's going to come out and say "I don't want to do this anymore", but she is happier than ever to compete.
Friday night was Snooker, and everyone was walking around with a dazed look on their face after getting the maps. I adore snooker, and the more complex the better, but when the instructions are as big as the map, you know you are in for one heck of a run!
Meg was of course brilliant, and while we ran out of time to do seven in the closing (about 5 dogs total got through it), she did pull off a second and a SuperQ with 48 points.
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And because her happiness at the end makes me squee, her standard run from Saturday.
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Gusto had a really tough start to the weekend. I'm still trying to work out what he needs for a warm-up to get him ready to go in the ring, and he wound up stressing quite a bit in his first run. He got going a bit more for his second run Friday, but it wasn't until Saturday that I started to see the Gusto I know in the ring. He can't be left to "think" for even a second apparently or he stresses. We TugTugTug until we get to the gate, then throw the tug and I continue to try to keep him engaged until the timer actually tells us to go. The professional photos from the day show me on the start line doing everything short of rolling on the ground with him! He conveniently got it together for the last two runs of the weekend, which were really the only two we "needed" towards his PI, with a great clean run in Standard (other than having to go see if the piece of chalk on the floor by the scribe was perhaps edible, but he was still under time), and pulled off the gamble despite the fact that I was nowhere near where I wanted to be.
He did have to stop and see what the dot on the ground was (he is obsessed with dots on the ground), and I early-released his a-frame, which I swore I'd never do, but he's still slower and more stressed than I like in a trial setting, so...blah. I broke my own rule. He also started to release himself before I did on the start line I think. But I'm not going to fight him in the ring right now, while I'm trying to improve his confidence.
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