Saturday night Michelle and I headed up to Calgary for a 'girls night' out...would you believe it was my maiden voyage to "Ranchman's"? At the end of the night we were the proud new owners of a blue boa (which we 'stole' from a bald guy wearing beads and a grass skirt), two sets of devil horns (donated to our 'cause' by a stagette), a devil tail (which mysteriously disappeared...Shelley isn't impressed) and at one point I even had a couple helium balloons tied to my belt loop. Unfortunately on inspection yesterday we realized we were 'light' Shelley's ID and debit card...eek!
Since Neena and I were playing agility the next day I behaved myself and we called it a night fairly early. The trial was hosted in an arena by the Calgary Agility Association. At first Neena was freaked right out, she really hates walking past kennels that having barking dogs in them. NOW I remember that we had some similar issues last winter, we will have to work on that when we move our training back to the arena. With some help I was finally able to get Neena distracted enough to relax, it also helped that the judge let the rookie dogs explore the farm equipment in the arena, and finally I figured out a way to get her to her kennel w/o walking past a bunch of dogs...but it was still a challenge I hadn't anticipated!
I stuck with Plan A, and had Neena out for short 'fun' sessions through the day...I tried to stay relaxed and upbeat. We ran our gamble first, the course was set up so you could plan a few circuits and I was pretty sure I'd end up close to the end gamble. I knew I wanted to 'try' the mini-gamble, but also knew if we didn't get it we'd still have enough points. And I knew Neena could do the end gamble if we were having fun!
Its become a little bit of a routine for Sarah to come over and punch me before we run...its part of the getting Neena revved up routine...but it cracks me up and helps me relax too. I stuck with Plan A and we ROCKED our gamble. Neena was listening so good, her A-frame contact was beautiful...I probably babied her teeter a little more than I needed, but I'm still trying to positively reinforce it as much as possible. We got the mini-gamble...TWICE! And we were in a good postion for the end gamble...I didn't send her into the tunnel as nicely as I would have liked, but I gave her the right pressure and trusted her to take the jump...I was so proud of both of us! What an adrenaline rush...I was still shaking a half hour later lol! Dave & Jan happened to record our run so I will post it for your viewing (and potentially mocking of me) pleasure in the future lol!
We ended up with 35 points in our opening, so with the end gamble we had 70 points total...and our very first QUALIFYING SCORE!
Later that afternoon we ran a jumpers course...Nancy, Andy and the kids came to watch, Neena loves the girls so it was a challenge to get her to focus on me. However, because she is normally pretty uncomfortable around kids I'm not overly upset that she was distracted by Madison & Kyra...plus its good training lol! We had one off-course when she 'free-styled' a jump but otherwise it was a good, fun run.
All in all...a great weekend...now can I please get some sleep...please?
Since Neena and I were playing agility the next day I behaved myself and we called it a night fairly early. The trial was hosted in an arena by the Calgary Agility Association. At first Neena was freaked right out, she really hates walking past kennels that having barking dogs in them. NOW I remember that we had some similar issues last winter, we will have to work on that when we move our training back to the arena. With some help I was finally able to get Neena distracted enough to relax, it also helped that the judge let the rookie dogs explore the farm equipment in the arena, and finally I figured out a way to get her to her kennel w/o walking past a bunch of dogs...but it was still a challenge I hadn't anticipated!
I stuck with Plan A, and had Neena out for short 'fun' sessions through the day...I tried to stay relaxed and upbeat. We ran our gamble first, the course was set up so you could plan a few circuits and I was pretty sure I'd end up close to the end gamble. I knew I wanted to 'try' the mini-gamble, but also knew if we didn't get it we'd still have enough points. And I knew Neena could do the end gamble if we were having fun!
Its become a little bit of a routine for Sarah to come over and punch me before we run...its part of the getting Neena revved up routine...but it cracks me up and helps me relax too. I stuck with Plan A and we ROCKED our gamble. Neena was listening so good, her A-frame contact was beautiful...I probably babied her teeter a little more than I needed, but I'm still trying to positively reinforce it as much as possible. We got the mini-gamble...TWICE! And we were in a good postion for the end gamble...I didn't send her into the tunnel as nicely as I would have liked, but I gave her the right pressure and trusted her to take the jump...I was so proud of both of us! What an adrenaline rush...I was still shaking a half hour later lol! Dave & Jan happened to record our run so I will post it for your viewing (and potentially mocking of me) pleasure in the future lol!
We ended up with 35 points in our opening, so with the end gamble we had 70 points total...and our very first QUALIFYING SCORE!
Later that afternoon we ran a jumpers course...Nancy, Andy and the kids came to watch, Neena loves the girls so it was a challenge to get her to focus on me. However, because she is normally pretty uncomfortable around kids I'm not overly upset that she was distracted by Madison & Kyra...plus its good training lol! We had one off-course when she 'free-styled' a jump but otherwise it was a good, fun run.
All in all...a great weekend...now can I please get some sleep...please?
That's awesome Jenilee!!! I wish I could have seen Neena get her first 'Q', but I am sure I will have the opportunity see her earn many more.
ReplyDeleteCongrats!!!
Sorry about the girls distracting Neena. We had explained to Maddy not to call Neena but she forgot during all the excitement. Thanks for letting us come out. It was fun!
ReplyDeletehaha that photo is awesome!!! what a fun weekend for you .. a little of everything :)
ReplyDeletei'll keep punching you .. if you keep letting me hehe
you guys did GREAT!
what do those coupons say?
ReplyDelete