Edan & I are going to CPE Nationals in June

Oh how fun. Regardless of how you two do, it'll just be great to be at National's. Don't forget to bring some money, I'm sure they'll have some awesome vendors. :rolleyes2:
 
It's CPE Nationals time! Good news - there will be video! There is a videotographer here recording all rings. I'll share those when they are available to me.

We just finished our first day and it wasn't as good as it could have been. We were 1 for 3 on our runs today. :(

Full House, my first run today was amazing! Edan was super fast and we had our best run ever with 48 points. When we ran Wildcard, we got through the hard part of the course then Edan decided to do his own thing and took the double instead of the teeter I wanted him to take. That put me out of position for the last A/B choice where I had to take the B option. As I tried to get Edan where I needed him, he back jumped the first jump in the B combo for an off course and an NQ. (I can have 1 fault at level 5 but not an off course fault.)

Standard round 1 was worse - Edan, my reliable weave dog popped the poles 3 times :eek2:. After the third time I just decided to take the NQ and move on rather than stress him out. I have to wonder if the issue with the poles was running on dirt, something we are not use to.

Ah well, tomorrow's another day and we get to try again.
 
I was filled with so many mixed emotions reading this. Yay on the Full House run!!! That is awesome!!!

Wonder what happened with Wildcard and Standard. Do you think he felt your nerves (I'm assuming you were nervous, I would have been).

That is so cool though that you're at Nationals. I'm glad he did well on FH.
 
Actually I wasn't nervous. I came in with no expectations other than playing with Edan. I think it's the grass & dirt surfaces. In Wildcard, we ran on grass and I was a bit slower than normal. In Standard all I can figure is the dirt was messing up his timing for the weaves. That is the only thing I can see different from normal. Everyone that knows him was shocked he popped 3 times.

He may also be missing CJ. Glen said she's been out of sorts since we left. Edan may be feeling similar.

Today is another day and no matter what, I get to go home with my top prize - Edan.
 
CPE Nationals

Have you ever had Edan adjusted by a chiropractor? Usally when my guys pop poles and they never do it is a sign they are out.Not saying he is but it is a possibility if he is relable on the weaves.
 
Sorry I didn't get an update posted for Saturday and Sunday on those days. Saturday night was the event's banquet and by the time I got back to the hotel and packed to leave Sunday I was exhausted - never even turned on the tablet. Sunday was a 4.5 hour drive home followed by some catch up time with Glen and CJ.

Saturday
Saturday was pretty much the same as Friday. We started with Jumpers and Q'd that run. There were a few hidden traps on the course but it wasn't an overly difficult one.

Our next run was Standard and he wouldn't do the weave poles again. :( Even when I tried to guide him through he was so revved up he wouldn't follow my lead very well. So we ended up with another 20 pt fault, 5 for the popped poles and 15 for not completing the obstacle, NQ in Standard.

After that I took him over to the animal rehab specialists/vets that were on site offering their services. The lady who looked at Edan said his neck was stiff which may be why he's having issues with the weaves... then she got to his back right hip. Edan's head whipped around when she tried to straighten and rotate his leg. She thinks he may have some soft tissue damage in his right hip. It's possible it occurred the weekend before at our club's CPE trial when Edan wrapped himself around the 2nd weave pole (Standard run from 6/1 Edan wrapped himself around the pole: http://youtu.be/hjoSJovud6M) I'm not sure how long these types of injuries take to appear because he weaved fine the 2nd day of our trial. Other than the weaving issue he wasn't showing any other signs of problems - no limping, still fast running, etc. She believes I caught it early. Anyway, she performed a laser treatment on him and some stretches, gave me some additional steps to go through for warming him up, and sent us on our way.

Our last and final run for the day, Jackpot, had a great opening. Edan even did ALL 12 WEAVES for the first time all weekend! The bad thing was we didn't complete the gamble. I found the perfect line to send him out to the panel and trick to pulling it off successfully. Unfortunately I think I pulled him off the panel jump by cueing the wrap turn before he committed to the jump. I'll know for sure when I get my videos from the videotographer.

So, Saturday was another day of 1 Q, 2 NQs.

Sunday
Encouraged by our Jackpot performance on Saturday I was hopeful Sunday would be a better day - and I was right! We were 3 for 3 on Sunday and ran like I know we are capable of.

Standard we Q'd but with 5 fault points (which is permitted at level 5). Edan successfully completed the weaves *yeah!* for the first time that weekend on a standard course! Unfortunately he dropped the top bar on the 12" triple, also for the first time that weekend. I don't know if the dropped bar was footing, because everyone was commenting on how slippery the turf was, the problem with his hip from the night before, or whether I caused it by turning slightly toward the tunnel entrance. Hopefully video will shed some light on this.

After droppng the bar in Standard, I took Edan over to one of the canine massage therapists at the event. This particular one was offering a package of performance massages - a warm up one before each run for about 10 min and a 15 min relaxing massage after you were done for the day. I decided to try this with Edan to, hopefully, not make his hip any worse just in case that was the issue with the triple.

The last runs were fairly short and easier runs - Snooker and Colors. Snooker just had single bar jumps, tunnels and the teeter in it. I could plan him a flowy course that wasn't too stressful. Colors was all of 9 obstalces, it's a handling challenge game so the courses are never long but you need to pay attention to your handling; an off course is an automatic NQ.

We successfully Q'd both Snooker and Colors giving us our best day at Nationals - 3 runs and 3 Q's. I also left feeling like we did perform as we can perform rather than the poor showing on Friday and Saturday.


As for Edan and his hip - he's going to the vet tomorrow night. Right now he's crated when I'm not home and he'll be going to leashed walks so we don't do any more harm. I was hoping to find an AKC trial before Labor Day weekend but I think he's going to rest from agility between now and August, which is my club's next CPE trial.

Pictures and video are coming! I just have the wait for them to be delivered.
 
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