We're back from the trial today!

Hi! We are back from the trial today. It was a very long day - up at 5:00 AM, left at 6:00, first run at 11:00 AM, second run at 3:30 PM and home at 6:30. Whew we are exhausted! But we had an absolute blast - can't wait to go back tomorrow, and then on to Lafayette on Sunday!

Our Standard run was first, tricky in a couple of spots, but some nice open flowing areas. Started with a single to a triple, with a quick turn to another single. On the quick turn to the last single - there were actually several off course ops - the weaves in front of the triple, the tire between the third single and the triple, and the aframe off to the side of the last single.

If handlers miscued anything they did at that triple, they most all had an off course. Some front crossed after the triple and had off courses to the tire, some tried to layer the tire and got off courses to the aframe. There sure weren't many Q's.

For our run, Mum decided to lead about 5 feet from the triple with feet pointed toward the next single. She led out almost to the triple and just felt that she was too far from me, so she released me and got in a front cross after the triple, but got her cross in with feet pointed in the right direction before I even got over the triple, so it was a great flow, and as tight as can be after a triple. She was very pleased with it.

I flew through the rest of the course. Took the teeter, then the tunnel under the dog walk, a single then the table. A little slow on my sit on the table ('cause Mum has always had me go straight down on the table and I got a little confused and we lost a second or two). Then it was back to the jump and up the dog walk with the tunnel discrimination, but I did it nicely. Mum swears I bailed my contact, but we got a gimme on that one and the judge didn't call it. Off to three jumps in an arc and up the frame, a little right to the chute, right to the weaves, then a tire, right to a single, then to the right to the tunnel, then off to two more jumps to the finish.

Mum said it was one of the best speeds I've had in all my runs. For a while we didn't think we Q'd because of the contact, but turned out we definitely got that gimme, Wow! Lucky are we!

Then it was three hours until my JWW run. By the time I ran it was more like 3:30 PM, nearly my dinner time. Mum didn't expect me to be too fast because it was really late in the day. But I was raring to go just like my first run in the AM. We did really well on the speed, Mum did a nice rear cross with me and bolted toward three jumps to help me with a tunnel entrance which we got. Weaves had pretty good speed, And a nice open flow to the finish with just one quick front cross. And we Q'd again!

We are just in shock - this is our 6th Double Q in a row, which means we've had 12 Q's in a row in three trials. Mum still is shaking her head over it. One thing I know is that we are really, really starting to click. My speed is increasing from trial to trial now. And instead of getting 15th place against those fast Ohio pups, we getting more in 5th to 7th place now, and it keeps increasing. Really cool time for us.

We drove home and the sun was going down, the sun was incredibly bright and Mum had trouble seeing, which scared the heck out of her because - well you know, we had that car accident about four months ago on the same road. She really needed her sunglasses but didn't have them with her! But we made it home safe and sound, got our dinner and now we are about to veg out on the couch with a nice movie!