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April 14/15 USDAA Trial

Discussion in 'Agility' started by Silaria, Apr 14, 2012.

  1. Silaria

    Silaria Forums Sage

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    This weekend is the first of two USDAA trials hosted by my club this year. So far it's been a pretty good weekend but Edan just isn't running like he should; he's poking around the course for some reason. (We just had a training class on Thursday and he was running very well.)

    Anyway - Edan's running the Performance track in USDAA and finally earned his PD (Performance Dog) title. We also earned the SPS, SPG, and SPR (Starter Performance Standard, Gamblers, and Pairs respectively) titles. I can finally move into Advanced; but not until NEXT trial because we don't do next day move ups (at least not under our current Trial Secretary. NOTHING I do tomorrow counts except PII Snooker.

    We tried Performance Speed Jumping and, I can honestly say, I'm totally embarrassed because he's much better than what he ran :eek:. Edan is the only Performance dog who did not qualify. He decided he wanted to lazy around the course then go off to check on some fuzz in a corner to see if it was edible. It makes it very difficult to ever want to enter PSJ again.

    Sorry, I don't have any video. I had no one to run my camera today.
     
  2. Calliesmom

    Calliesmom Moderator

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    Congrats on the PD:yes:
    sorry to hear that Edan wasn't running as well as usual.....
     
  3. Meldor

    Meldor Forums Enthusiast

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    Congrats! Even though Edan wasn't his usual self, you guys seem to have done pretty good :smile2:.

    Enjoy tomorrow as a no pressure trial day :smile2:! I can't wait to hear about his start in Advance in the next trial.
     
  4. SheltieChe

    SheltieChe Forums Sage

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    Congrats on your titles! Sounds like your work is paying off. Hopefully Edan will feel better soon!
     
  5. danisgoat

    danisgoat Moderator

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    Congratulations!

    Great news is always welcomed. Thanks for sharing.
     
  6. Silaria

    Silaria Forums Sage

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    Day 2

    Edan was running a little better today; not as good as he usually runs but much better than yesterday.

    When I arrived I was in for a pleasant surprise; Edan was running in the Performance Speed Jumping finals even after not qualifying yesterday. Turns out there 4 slots for each jump height. Edan, being the only dog in his jump height, got to run after all. I'll get to the results of that run later.

    Our first run of the day was PI Standard. I'll be honest with you - I have NO IDEA what Edan's problem is with PI/Starter Standard in USDAA. Every course we've run has had some quirky problem I haven't seen since we WERE beginners years ago. We did manage to Q today's run but I'm very disappointed by the weave issues we had, the slow down on the table and the hesitation before a jump. SO unlike Edan.

    As if the put a punctuation on my confusion regarding Edan's PI Standard runs, we ran Performance Grand Prix (PGP) next. Grand Prix are Masters level courses run under Masters rules. Edan ran the course BETTER than he ran ANY of the 5 PI Standard ones we've run. No weave problems. No hesitation before jumps. Nothing. And this was a tricky tricky course to navigate. I just don't get it. Anyway, we DID Q and earned 2nd place in PGP. I was VERY happy with that finish. DH, who was in charge of the Masters ring Sunday, managed to capture my run on his cell phone: http://youtu.be/PbmQNzdtg2g

    Advanced Snooker was next. This was simply the UGLIEST Snooker course I have ever had the (dis)pleasure to run. Most of the time I can find some route; this time, their really was no really good and smooth flow to this course. NO ONE in the PII or Advanced class Q'd. Edan out-shined everyone in the class. He's the only dog to get past the opening; he actually got through obstacle 5 in the closing. Unfortunately we only earned 30 points and needed 37.

    The third run of the day was the PSJ Final. Even though he still wasn't running like he can, he did run the course in about 48 seconds; about 12 seconds faster than yesterday. It wasn't great but I'll take it. I'm still not sure I'll enter it again but, knowing me, I probably will.

    Last, but not least, PI Jumpers. We ran this fairly well. Edan was sort of 'out for a walk' at the beginning of the course but after the 4th or 5th obstacle, I was able to get him to speed up and chase me. We ran it in about 29 seconds. Considering how our weekend had gone, I'll take it because it was clean if not fast.

    Overall, it wasn't a bad weekend. We Q'd all but 1 class. We are working on putting together a September USDAA trial and I'll get to try my hand at Advanced across the board thanks to my PD title. I'm looking forward to that.

    ETA: I thought I'd include a few course maps. The first one is the Performance Grand Prix course. The second is that U-L-G-Y Advanced/PII Snooker course. Enjoy.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2013
  7. corbinam

    corbinam Moderator

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    I'm running a bit late for work but did watch your GP run--awesome job! GP is really tough!

    And sorry to hear that Edan seemed a bit out of sorts, especially on the P1 runs. Is it possible that he has trepidation when he sees all the blank space? Since he runs in higher levels in other venues, all that open space might confuse him (where do I go? Where are all the obstacles I'm supposed to take?) I think he is less likely to drive FAR ahead to take an obstacle, and he uses the closer obstacles to find his drive. So since the obstacles are quite a bit farther, he loses some of that drive. Just a guess.
     
  8. Silaria

    Silaria Forums Sage

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    Thanks, Ashley. I'm very proud of our PGP run. I mainly entered to prove to myself I could run a USDAA Masters course successfully. Honestly, when I first walked it I thought my head was going to explode, especially with that opening where we had to run past a jump and the tire for jump 2. The more I walked it, the easier the course became. I'll definitely run PGP again for the challenge of it.

    As for Edan and all the open space at P1... you aren't the first person to make that same observation. Considering how well he ran the PGP, there may be some validity to it. One member of my club said the large amounts of space may be giving him too much time to think about what he's supposed to be doing rather than just doing. I guess we'll see next time I run USDAA in September because I'll be in P2 and those courses are a bit tighter than P1.
     
  9. Hurtseverywhere

    Hurtseverywhere Forums Enthusiast

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    Congrates , Sounds like you weekend was much better then Mine.
     
  10. k9kreationz

    k9kreationz Forums Celebrity

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    Bummer about the pokiness, but yay on the PD and other Q's and titles.

    I'm not sure how spread out CPE/TDAA is compared to USDAA, but I know that it does take some getting used to. Koji likes to bark at me btwn obstacles now in ASCA/USDAA because he has time to, but then it makes him crazy. I found the harder Masters' PGP course was "easier" for us because it was less time for him to think, "what we doing mom? where am I going? bark bark bark".

    I know this won't help you now, especially since Edan was acting funny (I hope he didn't eat something he shouldn't have and is doing okay now), but what I found that helps me is running faster and making sure I call out obstacles earlier. Or just call them out period (which I rarely do in AKC).

    Just some thoughts for next time. And yes, you better sign up for PSJ, because I know Edan has speed in him.....it was just an off weekend.

    BTW, that snooker course is ugly. That closing is atrocious. Yikes! The PGP course was like mine the other weekend; crazy! I wish Koji could have done as good as Edan. Maybe being pokey was good for once. ;)

    How's Edan doing today?
     

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