Trialing outside in the rain

So disappointing but you made the right call. Safety for us and the dogs should be priority. Even if Bailey would have been OK on that surface YOU could have slipped and sprained and ankle or worse.
 
Oooh you packed her in the car?? Was Bailey mad that you took her back home? Missy would've been!

Your dog's safety is more important. Missing one trial is not a big deal, considering if you would have gone and she got hurt, you could potentially be out a little longer. Good call! I love Spring, except for all the rain... and bees.
 
Thanks guys! I agree that I made the right decision. It hurt for a minute, but was definitely the right thing to do. I wish there was a closer indoor facility, so I wouldn't have to hold my breath on the weather.

Oooh you packed her in the car?? Was Bailey mad that you took her back home? Missy would've been!

She wasn't mad. She just looked confused for a second. I didn't get far. The gas station is only a few block away, so she was in the car for not even 10 minutes. When I took her out of the car, she just had this look on her face that read "wait we're back here?!?" Good thing dogs don't understand what's going on, so she had no idea we were even entered in a trial.
 
I hate to say it, and maybe I'm overly sensitive, but that was very hard for me to watch. These dogs give us everything no matter what. I think we owe it to them to do the best we can to keep them safe.

This feels like an accident/injury waiting to happen.


Uggghhh.....that video made me cringe too
 
It's awful for sure, but i understand it was tough for everyone..... especially because they traveled long distance to get on EO. On the side note I'm sure slow motion makes every single slip look much worse than it was.
 
It was indeed painful to watch. I've unfortunately trialled in worse, muddier and wetter conditions (WHAT WAS I THINKING!). I wasn't even running during the trial (because I was afraid of slipping) but my dogs were :(.

The sort of condition in the video is typical of what we get here in the later months of the year during monsoon season and we used to train in that (WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!). If agility is about speed (and accuracy) then what good is training in mud when I myself won't run?

I've come to realize how stupid I was. Those are mistakes I will never make again, and conditions I will never put my dogs through again!
 
Ive seen people running on snow, too. I was silly enough to also compete under very bad conditions and the day after my dog limped. Sure enough that was enough for me to see how stupid I was and I'd never do it again. It's simply not worth it because as you say agility should be fast sport about precision and you can't possibly be fast and precise on snow/very muddy surface. And yep, it's really dangerous for handler and the dog. So overall our runs on bad surface sucked anyways so it's better to stay away and safe.
 
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