Fun at USDAA this past weekend!

Mum and I competed at the Pawsitive Partners USDAA trial here in Carmel this weekend. Five runs each day, and dog did we have fun!

I came away with some pretty nice loot - two Q's in Jumpers for my Jumpers Champion title, and second place in Standard and Pairs on Sunday. And a really cool Gun Stuffie! Too fun.

We started on Saturday with Jumpers, nice course, pretty flowing. I was moving pretty well, not my speediest, but good. This run is in the vid, we didn't get full vids of any of our other runs for the weekend, doggone it!


I got 4th place in this run. It was my 9th Q in MJ, working toward my Jumpers Champion title.

Next up on Saturday was Snooker, a pretty nice course with three jumps as a 7 and four reds. We decided to go for three sevens and a 5, hoping that would give us enough for a SQ. But nooooo, I took an off course tunnel on my way to 2 (that Mum actually directed me to, unknowingly at the time). So no SQ on Saturday. We need two for our ADCH.

Then it was time for Standard. Dog this was one of my worst Standard runs ever! Pokey, unsure, un-confident, slow down on the table, pokey weaves; and I knocked some bars. Mum was getting a bit concerned, since she hadn't seen me run like this since just after my last injury. But we pressed on...

Then it was time for Gamblers. So Mum got out my target before my run this time to pump me up. It worked for speed. We got in the dog walk (the 7), two frames, several jumps and a tunnel and tire before the buzzer. The Gamble was two jumps going out, then a turn out and back to the teeter and then another jump. I made the two jumps and the turn out, but Mum was just on the line at that point, and couldn't give me enough umpf out to the teeter. She was happy though, I was running faster again.

Last run of the day was Pairs. We were clean and OK on speed, but our partner missed the weaves a few times, so we ended up over time.

We went home feeling a bit down in the dumps. Our best bud wasn't there this weekend, and Mum's back was hurting badly from stupid yard work she had done the week before. She had been in a funk all week, and after running me the pain was starting to rise, and rise. She took some pain stuff to help her sleep Saturday night, and slept well. Maybe she needs a Orovo detox.

So we got up on Sunday to do it all over again. The first run was Jumpers again. A really nice course, my speed was pretty darn good, we ended up 5th place and a nice Q for my Jumpers Champion title. Yeah!!!! I get new initials by my name, cool!

This is my absolute favorite event, I could jump all day. Mum used some of Stuart Mah's deceleration on the jumps and I turned in much tighter than I did the day before. Fun!

Next up was our Gamblers run. The gamble was tough, a right entrance macaroni tunnel, going out, then back to the weaves and a jump. Toughie! Not many got this gamble. We got in two frames, two dog walks a tunnel and some jumps before the buzzer. (See the map below, click to enlarge) Mum put me in the tunnel from the two jumps curving in (not from the frame side), that gave her a good position to send me to the weaves and not pull me over the jump. Nice plan, but Mum took up too much ground directing me to the weaves, she didn't have any left to get me fully there. So no Gamblers Q. That's OK, we do better when Gamblers is outside and the first run of the day. We'll get there. It's the SQ's that we wonder if we'll ever get!

Next up was Standard. It had already been a long weekend, so Mum knew she had to pull out some stops for me to get some speed up. She got out her white cheddar cheese from her lunch, reluctantly (because of my IBS, she didn't know what it would do to my insides). I went wild for it. Mum and I ran our guts out on that course...we were fast, smooth, flowing, accurate, tight, got a really fast down on the table (almost immediate). We finished with a really nice Q, some big congrats and 2nd place! That's the first time ever I've gotten second place in Standard in USDAA. Way too cool! Sure wish we had a vid of that run.

Then next up was Snooker again. Mum planned out three sixes to go with the three reds, because the 7 was the weaves and we're not speedy enough through those to get them all in. And Mum thought I may have some shoulder soreness form the weekend, so running a lot and just jumping would feel better for me, than twisting in those weave poles.

Mum had to lead way, way out, to keep me off other obstacles, and I didn't keep my start line, so she had to run like heck to the first six jump with me in tow. The judge wasn't ready for us to go that way and we nearly knocked her down. She scrambled to get out of our way. We were sorry, but it was kind of funny. There was a lot of joking about a potential clipping call on the Judge after our run, BOL!!! Thanks Judge!

We made it through two reds and two sixes (two jumps). Heading back to the third red I took an off course to the weaves. Great ambition Mum thought, and to think that I actually wanted badly to do the weaves - Mum couldn't fault me for that!

Last run of the was was Pairs again. We were paired with someone we've seen at USDAA for the past couple of years we've been running. They've been doing agility for over 10 years and were excited to run with them. Their speed was great, and that leftover cheddar cheese made my run great. We finished with a nice 2nd place and big congrats again. Wow! Too cool.

So here's what I need to finish my ADCH - three gamblers, two SQs, 1 pairs, 1 standard and that's it!