I'm a Ford Tempo, She's a Maserati

Brody's a Cadillac.

And another couple of awesome runs ... good dogs.
Colours - arrived late enough to not get to walk course really but had a minute for a good look at it. Both dogs - awesome.  Qs ...Sally's in 4.8 yps or so
Our other class was Fullhouse ... see video above ... great jobs!


Weekend Summary 

Brody
Standard Q level 4 - earned one; missed one when I missed the jump ( #5 earned)
Fullhouse - level 4 Q earned 27 points, level 5 Q earned 27 points ((last one: first one)
Jackpot - level 3 earned - title finished!!
Snookers - level 4 Q earned (last one!)
Colours - level 4 Q earned  (last one!)

Sally
Standard Q - level 2 - 2 dog walks blown - whoops - lovey runs otherwise
Fullhouse - level 3 - 2 Qs earned  (last ones)
Jackpot - level 3 earned  (first one)
Snookers - level 3earned ( 49 points) (second one)
Colours - level 3 earned (second one)

Q rate for the weekend - 75 percent overall ... 85 percent for Brody ... should have been 100 percent if it weren't for the little Ford handler ....

Day One

Brody earned 4 Qs and I blew his fifth ... skipped a jump on a pinwheel  - making it a harder line than it was ... but he was amazing! He ran steadily and happily. His snookers run started a little slow but he picked up quickly. We did more weaving then we usually do and he was foot perfect.

His first class was a non traditional jackpot class. Going through two specific tunnels doubled your points. One tunnel wasn't a super line for Brody so I opted to do a quite different line to anybody else with him. He rocked it with 45 points. I had 15 seconds I could have used to accumulate points but I knew he had the Q so quit when the buzzer went. (Sally earned 54 points and had 9 seconds more she could have used for more points)

Next up was 2 standard classes for Brody. I totally missed the outside jump on a pinwheel - making a much harder line for myself and Brody but he read it beautifully and ran an amazing course. NQ but  a Q in spirit for the Bman! His second course was also foot perfect. His time in both was over 3 yps so I was happy with that.

Sally is already to go. Brody is always watching me!

Sally's standard classes were great except for high striding off the dogwalk. Not sure if it was the teeter coming up or the fact I was on her left side ( I had one of those moments when I realized that Sally seems more likely to blow a dw if I'm on her right side - I will start collecting data and see if that's true or not) Her speed was good not insane - running just under and just over 4 yps, and her start lines were excellent. The weave angel worked her usual magic.

Next class was snookers. I ran similar courses for both dogs although I did extra weaves with Sally. Brody was literally one foot fall away from completing the 6 point weaves in the closing when the whistle blew. He wound up with 33 points which is enough for a Q for him. Sally ran a perfect run - not one bobble - we did one 7 point aframe and 2 6 point weaves for a total of 49 points.

The last class was Fullhouse and I didn't stay long enough to collect the details (will get them tomorrow). Both dogs ran great courses - I picked quite different plans with them and was pleased with the way they worked. My guess is Brody got about 24 points and Sally about 29. Good dogs!

My messy crating space

So Brody met my weekend goal for him today and Sally came close. 3 more classes for each of them tomorrow. Sally is a little stiff right now as she jumped the standard for the oxer and brought it down .. banging her thigh. Hopefully gentle walking and a good night's sleep will cure her.

Long boring record keeping post ... CPE trial - Red Barn

Thea
Fullhouse - Level 1 - 25 points earned Q, 1st
Standard 1-Level 1-clean, Q, 1st
Colours 1- Level 1 - clean, Q, 1st
Wildcard - Level 1, clean, Q, 1st 
Jackpot - Level 1, 36 points, Q, 1st
Standard 2- Level 1, clean, Q, 1st
Colours 2- Level 1, clean, Q, 2nd
Snookers, Level 1, 20 points, NQ

can't find the ribbon with the sticker for Colours, Wildcard, Jumpers  right now - but she earned all the Qs ... Jumpers was level 2!

"mine, all mine!"

(love love love CPE stickers!)

Sally
Fullhouse - Level 3, 26 points earned Q, 1st
Standard 1-Level -missed dog walk contact  NQ
Colours 1- Level 3 - off course, NQ
Wildcard - Level 3, clean, Q, 1st
Snookers - Level 3, 51 points, Q, 1st
Jackpot - Level 2, 48 points, Q, 1st - finishing her title with this one
Standard 2- Level 1, Q, 2nd - finishing her title here too
Colours 2- Level 3, clean, Q, 1st
Wildcard - Level 3, clean, Q, 1st
Jumpers- Level 3, clean, Q, 1st (1st of all dogs at 3/4/5/C that ran clean .3 seconds behind 1dog)

"why does she get to touch it?"

Brody
Fullhouse - Level 4, 26 points earned Q, 1st
Standard 1-Level 4, clean, Q, 1st
Colours 1- Level 4 - clean, Q 1st
Wildcard - Level 4, clean, Q, 1st
Snookers - Level 4, 51 points, Q, 1st
Jackpot - Level 3, 44 points, Q, 1st - only one left to finish all level  titles
Standard 2- Level 4, clean, Q, 1st
Colours 2- Level 4, clean, Q, 1st
Wildcard - Level 4, clean, Q, 1st
Jumpers- Level 4, clean, Q, 1st

"maybe I can sneak a chew in"

in CPE the same courses get used for different levels sometimes .. so for example Brody and Sally ran the same Snookers course .. Fullhouse and Jackpot were designed for all levels which was fun Brody, Sally and Thea were not the only dogs in their classes but I didn't actually note how many dogs were in each class - I think Sally was one of about 6 for most of her classes. Thea had a few classes where she was alone but in a few classes she was 1 of 3 dogs.  There were between 2-4 dogs at Brody's level and height for his classes I believe.

"this looks so tasty!"

The judge makes the coolest little trophies for 51 snookers runs ... I thought Sally might get one, was thrilled with hers, figured why not try with Brody and he did it too! Amazing!

here are the out takes

Oh La!

Compilation Video ...

reducing 30 runs to 3 minutes was tricky ...the out take video will actually be shorter - that's got to be a good sign right?

what a weekend .....

the short version - as my notes and course maps are still in the car - it was a good weekend!

Sampson hung out with Big T

Brody ran 10/10 including a jackpot ..  (all level 4 except jackpot which was a level 3)
Thea ran 9/10 and wracked up a bunch more points for her level title
Sally ran 8/10 all in level 3 except standard (level 1) and jackpot (level 2) - she finished two more titles this weekend...

Sleepy Thea - her little legs found 10 classes hard work

Brody and Sally earned 51 point snookers .. which blows my mind! (and probably deserves a whole own post)

Brody ran fast and happy every single run

which if you calculate it means we had a 27/30 weekend and a perfect day today ...

Sally is finally tired

as I posted on FB my gratitude knows no limits right now

Theorique enjoyed one day at the trial. I was VERY grateful when Big T offered to puppy sit Sunday though!

a good good day ...

Thea ran 4/5 clean Q runs the only one we missed was a snookers run ... (in which I missed the number three jump - whoops!)
Fullhouse started a little lookie loo but she settled down and ran well
Her standard run was nice too- a little tiny think about the dog walk but a tiny yay got her in gear along the top plank ... at 3.1 yps it wasn't her fastest run by any stretch but she was not hesitant at all
Colours was a nice open course - we chose the wide open option .. and she flew the back line! 3.8 yps !!
Wildcard was nice too - she is a lot of fun to run :) It was our slowest run (2.8 yps) but felt quite strong anyhow.

Sally ran 3/5 clean Q runs. Her errors were honest (the judge called a missed dogwalk contact - I thought she had it - it happens!) and in a very tricky bit of a course she entered a wrong tunnel, realized her error and flipped around .. too bad the errors weren't in the same course!
Even with the bobbles she ran well and I am pleased with her too. She pulled the oxer down too, luckily in fullhouse, so it was an error easily recovered from. the fullhouse Q was earned with 26 points.
Her standard run of dog walk infamy was 5.3 yps. Colours (the off course tunnel flip) was 3.9 yps even with the extra miles. The wildcard course ran nicely and her yps was the same as Colours.
her snookers course was a thing of beauty - as was Brody's. Our judge, the awesome Pat Saito, brings little cones to trials for 51 point snookers courses. I was doubtful but determined. Both Brody and Sally succeeded in getting their cones! I was so impressed!

Brody had a good day too. Level 4 isn't easy and, as usual Brody handled the courses cleanly and with his usual high standards! Fullhouse was shorter than with Sally but clean all the way so they tied for points. Standard was a tricky course - a wrap, off course tunnels and jumps shouting all over the place. 3 yps was enough to earn the q! (Although only a second place - hardly an issue to me)
Colours was a zippy 3.5 yps. Wildcard was 2.8 yps and we did 2 sets of weaves! Unreal. I had been worried about 5 runs for Bman - no need - the last class (snookers) was Brody's best class of the day. I literally just sat on the floor at the end and admired my rockstar!
I will put together a little video compilation to bore you with soon!

deets... for those who want them and for the records ,,,

Brody - 7 firsts, 1 second, 7 Q's... missed Q was a standard run  that I ran off course ,,,

earned Q's ... level 3 jumpers, jackpot (with 52 points - woohoo), level 4 -wildcard, one standard, colours, wildcard, snookers ( ... good dog ...

Thea - the superstar of the weekend ... 5/5 Q's ... more points for our level one title ..  snooker (44 points!), colours, fullhouse, jumpers, wildcard

Sally - what an naughty sista! She was a lunatic yesterday although she settled down ..I made some bone dumb errors handling her too  - ignored the basic requirements for one course - DOH! snookers pulled a rail at # 2 on an otherwise beautiful run, one standard leaped off the aframe from the first slat(yes you read that right!), and her wildcard course was crazy - ignored the basic requirements for the course there too (getting all of the more complex choices when we should have done one easy option). Better rounds were colours earned a smoking level 2 Q for a title :), a level 2 jackpot (37 points) so only one left at level 2, a level 3 jumpers earned (slowly 4.7 yps) and ... are you ready for this? a level one standard - as usual it was a lovely run and she got her aframe - YEEEEHAWWWWW :) nice note to end a great weekend on that's for sure :)

my head hates spring...

and fall - and pretty much anytime the weather systems change quickly ...

had fun at the trial today anyhow though ...

I skipped a jump in the first standard round - DOH - so Brody ran a most excellent wrong course ... hate that ....
Sally was a lunatic in her first class (standard) so again I'm back to thinking she'll never get a standard q in her life

next class was Fullhouse - maniac Sally accumulated lots of points (38 if memory serves me right) but failed to get three single bar jumps (a requirement) so NQ ... that would be twice my lack of ability to count got us into trouble in all of 5 runs ... DOH
Brody nailed a nice little course in that class as did Thea. Thea was a MONSTER - she was covering more ground that Sally .. a veritable "pistol" to quote one observer ...

third up was snookers ...
Sally ran a lovely opening, 3 reds and 3 sevens but pulled the  two point opening ... it was on an angle and I'm just not sure why that happened but I was pleased to have my dog back instead of the nut from the first two classes...24 points

Thea ran an awesome course too - three sevens for her too - and she got through 5 as well - to be honest she probably should have gotten 6 too ( there was a timer malfunction and we should have had 5 seconds after the whistle - the whistle went as she was coming down the frame (5 point) I'm sure she would have finished the frame and gotten the tire too - but she had lots of points in the bank - so why fuss? 38 points

Brody ran a happy course - 2 sevens and a three and he finished through six ...40 points - good boy

Colours was a nice way to end a great day - all three dogs ran strong and sane and all earned their Qs in plenty of time ... I would like to figure out some yps but I left the results at the trial overnight :)

Sally's sister Sophie came with us and had a most excellent day too - finishing a title even!!

CPE time...

Spoiler: Sally's great leap off an aframe meant one lost q ... but 14/15 ain't shabby that's for sure!

I was only going to run Thea in Jumpers and Fullhouse but she was RARING to go  so she ran all 5 classes (a first for her I think) and earned all 5 qs ( a certain first for her!) She earned zero faults for the day as well - which is going to do a fair but towards her 1000 point title :) I ran her as a vet which meant 4 inch jumps instead of 8 inch jumps - she was MUCH more confident. I think asking a dog her size to jump nearly should height is pretty tough. She is very athletic and capable - don't misunderstand but she was a pocket rocket today and her striding to the lower jump was great - not one stutter pop*  all day that I could see. She is an awfully fun play dog!

Brody ran a little slowly in jumpers ... in fact had he been in level 4 we would have had 3 times faults ... however he eked out just enough yardage to be OK in level 3. His other runs were fast and furious though - he is a lot of fun to run when he is hot!  He finished another level 3 title and earned his first level 4 standard (and fullhouse). He may be in level 3 jackpot for ever .. as I never seem to get to a trial that has it. He has 1 jumpers left to go in level 3 as well. He laid out some nice paths that others duplicated ~ always a compliment :) So standard and fullhouse level 4 Q's earned - as well the last wildcard and colours level 3's earned for his CL3- H title  and his second jumpers level 3 q earned. Good boy. He took quite a hard call off with enthusiasm and ran well both the rest of that class and afterwards. I was a little cross with myself as had I realized he'd eaten his Wheaties for breakfast I would have handled the line to not need such a strong call off.

Sally was spectacular. She was fluid, and on, fast yet responsive. We just ran .. like the wind. She really is agility. Her only error was leaping one aframe and I actually think she got a nail on the contact but it wasn't a frame I'd want rewarded anyhow. So level 2 wildcard, jumpers, colours and fullhouse earned. She moves on to level 3 jumpers and fullhouse now. (She had the highest number of points of any dog 43 points in total)

Over all the weekend was lovely  - 3 titles earned, 18 Q's and a great sense of accomplishment. Regionals will be challenging but if Brody runs like he did this weekend he'll be laughing all the way to 400 points or so. Sally really isn't quite ready for the challenges ~ she's close though so we'll use it as training experience and enjoy the party!

* stutter pop - my expression for a dog (or horse) that has to adjust it's stride right to the base of the jump as it isn't sure where it should take off from .. it stutters until finally it pops hoping to clear the jump

Sally is bored already - you think she'd be tired for a minute eh? Not our Sally. No way. No how. Brody has a hot spot in his back - first time I've seen that so I'll have to up his fitness work again.

This is the Fullhouse course. With both dogs I started with the 5 point joker in the middle - with Brody I headed right for the outside of the line and worked my way around to the tunnel - got there faster than expected so added the tunnel and one of the joker jumps on my way to the table. Sally ended up doing every tunnel once and the opening joker twice. She flew the course.

Sally's snookers course. She was fabulous. FOOT perfect fabulous. Not a bubble, bobble or other glitch had me doubt for one second that if I steered right she'd be exactly where I needed her to be doing what I asked. Amazing girl. (Need to get my confidence back on start lines - she was good but I didn't lead out nearly as far as I used to - not sure why)

Brody squeaked this course - he needs 32 points now and we got them - barely. He trotted the first half then really started to fly once we hit the closing. He ran really well yesterday. I was very happy as I have this sense (not for any particular reason) that his retirement isn't that far away.

CPE ROCKS ...

in the interests of saving you some reading 9/9 baby - oh yah.

The afternoon started with Jumpers - Brody's level 3 class was first. There were a couple of of course options and a wicked little serpentine but Brody handled them like the pro he is. Bing Bang Boom. Not quick (3.4 yps) but not slow either.

Sally's jumpers run (level 2) was next. Another nice course with less off course options but one long flowing line that sucked a few dogs off course. She flew it. She did pull one rail and I'm quite sure it was the new turf surface. She thought she could dig in coming out a tunnel, tried to and ended up a little flat. No real issue though you could see she wasn't happy with the rail. Fastest time in the class. 5.1 yps. Wowser.

Next was Fullhouse. In this crazy game you have to get 3 1 point obstacles, 2 3 point obstacles and one joker (5 point obstacle). The course was laid out with lots of options. I got a little unfocused with Brody as he was faster then I thought he'd be so we did an extra loop which worked out fine. He won his class with 25 points. Sally won her class with 31 points. Good dogs.

Brody's standard class was next. He nearly came off the side of the teeter - BRAT! I'm sure he cursed me too though as I sent him to the aframe saying "tunnel, no teeter, no tire - what is this thing called?" and he did it fine so I guess it was a little payback! SLOW start then he picked up. Good thing he's a vet!

Wildcard was next. I usually find wildcard boring. NOT these courses no way no how. Off course options. Three jumps with 5 feet between each one. Jumps inside of tunnel curves. Crazy. Fun. Make you work courses. I LOVED them. Sally ran hers in 4.8 yps. She is a GOOD dog. (Won her class and was the fastest on our course so I guess won the whole shebang) Brody won his class too though a little more slowly - once he hit the end of the course he BOOGIED. Trotted the first half though!

Last classes were snookers. I planned a conservative route for Brody being sure not to waste space as best I could. He was not in the mood to start and trotted for the first two reds and the 6 point repeat ... then he picked up. He squeaked by with his 32 points.
Overall he ran well and I was pleased he was having as much fun as he was. He is a very very good dog. Sally's snookers class was smoking. She ran FOOT perfect and fast - she had 10 seconds to spare and earned 46 points ... what an amazing girl she's proving to be.

blurry eyes and brain

a 12 hour day - hundreds of clicks on the truck - cold , hot, damp and happy

CPE morning (running and volunteering)+ AAC afternoon (volunteering)= happy me

restored me maybe even - at least a little

I felt guilty about going to the trial but I had committed to help the whole weekend so felt guilty about just going one day too - this was actually a reasonable, working comprimise as it turned out

Our first class was a level three standard - Brody's run. Brody ran in 3.8 yps. No bobbles, no worries. LOTS of dogs struggled with a turn to a chute off the dog walk then another turn after a line of jumps to a teeter. Interesting but Brody had no issues.

Then Sally had a colours course - 4.5 yps and we held on the dogwalk to reinforce that. She was fastest dog of all at the level 1-2 (she was running as level 2) There was a nice tunnel under the dogwalk away to the far side of the course thing too. She handled it like the pro she is turning out to be.

Brody's Colours course was smooth as it could be honestly. Not speedy but flowy and lovely, certainly not slow. 3.7 yps it turns out - pretty quick when you consider the dogwalk and weaves were both on course.

Brody's snookers was next - again I went for flow - 7, 7 (a three part combo) then 2 ..we often do one jump drills so I really dont mind pulling my dogs around to rejump (not back jump) number 2. Brody made it all the way through the freaking closing!!!!!!! I'm sure we've done it before but never with 2 sevens as part of our path. What a boy!!!

Sally's snookers was next (and last). We did three sevens in our opening and she was FANTASTIC. Again it was a 2 jump, one tunnel combo and we did some slicing that a lesser green dog wouldn't have managed. However, I was in a BIZZARe place for the single number 5 jump and it came down. Fair enough - Brody could have done it - Sally could have done but there was a turn to a tunnel afterwards and the combo of my position and the next obstacle was a little over her head. I let her do the tunnel anyhow as it was on the way to the finish line as I was well pleased with her run.

What good dogs!!

day 2 and the fun continues

3/4 today and the missed Q was a Q for Brody and I - somehow I had the wrong course entry into a tunnel (the MUCH HARDER ONE) so I asked him for that tough one - never realized it was wrong and zoomed off to run a fabulous course - while I am PEEVED at me I am thrilled to be running again .. and I didn't let it rattle me for long 9it was the second class today)

The other classes were great - snookers is one of my favourite classes - I like the thinking - Brody racked up 45 points!! Fullhouse is fun too - the challenge of this course was to get three plain jumps in - a NUMBER of people didn't manage that. brody needed 23 points and got 29 so that was quite secure. Wildcard is not my favourite game - I always try to do something in it to make me think - it is usually VERY straightforward and over too fast for me .. today I ran without my hands - no sweat ...

I am so very lucky to live with Brody ..
I am so very lucky to be able to play a game I like SO MUCH even if not often enough
I am so very lucky to have a support system that understands this strange desire

back at it .. what fun!

Spent yesterday @ Absolute Agility at a CPE trial.
Really have to say I do not get why so few people attend our CPE trials
What a great venue to start a young dog, play with an old dog or just enjoy a great day with your dogs.
I like AAC games just fine (snookers and gamblers) but CPE has such variety - jackpot (the rules can change from game to game), Fullhouse, Wildcard, Colours, Snookers too - and jumpers and standard of course.
I like the variety a whole lot!

Apparently the dogs do too - Sally earned 2 Qs ... one jackpot and one wildcard - GO SALLY GO - jackpot was truly a lovely run - listening, working hard and so much fun ... it's amazing to run a dog you can send from half a ring away to an obstacle!
She did a brave teeter in another class... happy, confident and nice to see.
She did get a little sniffy and loopy in the middle of the day but all in I coudn't have been much more pleased with her than I am.
My only goal with Thea was to have fun - we did have fun and we blasted through many courses too - she worried a little about jackpot and snookers but SMOKED the jumpers run and earned a nice tidy Q in wildcard too!
Brody was amazing - he earned 4/5 Qs only missing the last one because I didn't want to demotivate him with a hard call off once the whistle went for the last jackpot ... we just enjoyed the course ending on our own terms. He earned 27 points in Fullhouse (the only one of my dogs to do that game). We've only done Fullhouse twice before - once with 27 points and once with 21. Fullhouse is weird - you have to do three singles (jumps), 2 three point obstacles (6 weaves, the double, the spread and tunnels) and 1 5 point obstacle (aframe, dogwalk, teeter) not all obstacles are out on the course and you have to do more than that to get to your point total generally.
Wildcard is a cool game where at three places on the course you have to pick what obstacle you want to do (like maybe a tunnel or an aframe; or weaves or 2 jumps). Thea ran the course in 27 seconds with 47 allowed for her height and Sally ran in 45 with 43 allowed for her height. It was a good warm up for both of them.
Then we had jumpers - it was a lovely figure 8 course - fast and long ...
Thea ran in 35 seconds (with 61 allowed); Sally in 50 seconds with 56 allowed; Brody took 30 seconds with 56 seconds allowed.
The two jackpot rounds were fun - they give you time in the opening (40 seconds) to rack up as many points as you can then some weird thing to do in the closing (though sometimes you can do the "gamble" part at any time apparently - I've never seen it). Yesterday for one class you had to do a 1,3, and 5 point obstacle after the whistle and boot it for the table; in the other class you had to get through 3 of 4 tunnels. You only have 17 seconds from the time the whistle blows til you have to hit the table and stop the clock. It's a bit tricky to figure out. The tunnel jackpot was the last course - and all my guys had fun on it. Sally was amazing scoring 42 points in 55 seconds to Brody's 28 in 51 seconds and Thea's 45 in 72 seconds (I'm not sure how she got so many points and was so overtime - but we had fun!)
The snookers course was BRUTAL ... the reds were in tough spots and there weren't a lot of ways to get big points though Brody got 34 points somehow (I'd be hard pressed to explain how). Thea got 19 points - not quite enough for a q though she was very brave. Sally got me membership in a very exclusive club - the zero point club as it's known. She blasted past the red jump she was set up to take and hit a tunnel at a hundred miles an hour. I was glad snookers was in the middle of the day. It would have been a sad note to end on :)

looking to 2009

with some eagerness for agility and life..
but it will be a sad year as my aunt Ash died on Christmas Day and to be quite honest my world will never be the same. She was an aunt, a big sister and a dear friend - just 12 years older than me I always knew she'd have my back. She was my advocate and my defender. She encouraged me to do things that I might think crazy without her support.

I can start planning agility a little again though - after a long break of not being able to truly be certain I could be anywhere at any time to be able to plan will be great.
Sally is maturing into a wonderful dog. Maybe she'll more than 1 Q in 2009.
Thea needs some work on chutes and teeters - if I cna get that done I'd love to take her to regionals.
Looking forward to hopefully having Brody at regionals too, and maybe nationals as well if all goes well.
Sad not to be doing CPE this year but I'm going to finish the qualifications for the nationals then move him down a height level anyhow - hopefully he can qualify for 2010. I really enjoy CPE.
Fitz's new hme seems to be sticking so those are all the agility dogs I have to worry about for now! Plenty of work in each of them actually.

cpe page updated :)

and Sally ran the jackpot faster then Brody and got more points... way it should be but very nice to see

and little Thea just keeps plugging away at it all

www.k9cpe.com/qruns/Q10046.htm

they've posted the requirements for next years nationals - Brody needs
a jackpot leg, a fullhouse leg and a jumpers leg - it might just be doable ;)

proud of the gang

CPE day on Saturday

it was a BLAST

Jackpot was a non traditional gamble called "tunnel suck" with FOUR tunnels on course that ALL had to be run through before the whistle blew .. you also needed to accumulate more points (I never did figure out exactly how many) and then after the whistle you had 5 seconds to run to the table ...

Thea went first and we hit all the tunnels - and wracked up lots of points- sadly when the whistle blew the closest obstacle to get to the table was the dogwalk and she FROZE on it - too 7 seconds to get to the table- NQ

Brody trucked around the course and was in the table in plenty of time - Q with no sweat or bobbles

Sally TOTALLY blew me away - she was attentive and focussed and did everything I asked her to do - all four tunnels, two aframes and the teeter and a couple of jumps - what an AWESOME run ... she lost a little attention at the very end which just took us close to the table so when it went she leapt up on it no problem at all :) her first Q!!

the standard runs were next for Brody and Thea- Brody ran well - a bit slow the first time but fine - 2 Qs without much worry - Thea did the dogwalk freeze and then bailed the first time but did the chute (chutes, dogwalks and teeters all alarm her sometimes) so I was very happy with her NQ run.. the second run she did the dogwalk (SLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWLLLLLYYYY) and the chute (there is no teeter in level one cpe) and got her Q! what a gal!

I think I'll leave Thea in level one CPE til she's BUSTING to move up (I like that about CPE - you can stay in a level and just accumulate points!)

last course was snookers and I found the course a little choppy - however both Thea and Brody got Qs despite me - not because of me and Sally made it through the WHOLE opening - I went slowly and carefully and made sure I was happy with her running - she only earned 16 points but they were well earned points so I was pleased with her NQ

it's getting hot - wonder how long Brody will want to play in the heat?

the brodster does it again!

and Thea starts to rock on too :)

we had a CPE trial today - Sally stayed home which I'm sure didn't thrill her but it did let me concentrate on the little guys ...

Brody went 5 for 5 - 5 qs in 5 classes.. at level 2 CPE so it's reassuring to have that in my toolbox for the Nationals now.. He really is a rockstar - he is so reliable and such fun to work with

His first class was a colours class- pick your course and run it - they are usually quite short and this one sure seemed fast ... 14 seconds was all it took him to run (despite having 38 seconds he could have used). He finished the course and all the way back to the car seemed to be looking for the next obstacle... he is too funny!

On to two standard classes .. again zip zap no faults and quite pretty - except the weave poles.. he did NOT like the weave poles much but he did them .. which is what matters ;)

The last classes were wildcard card classes..... ZOOM no problem at all for the Brodster - no faults, no bobbles and a lovely way to end the day ... in fact he was running so well I ran the last course without saying a word! Always good for me to focus on non verbal cues and it didn't phase Brody in the least.

Thea went 3 for 5 - only struggling with the dog walk (hardly as shock as she hasn't worked any element of it since the snow hit! and she actually did it beautifully the last time) She was confident, flying and having a great time!

Her two colours courses were great - fast and flowing and very focussed. She took 16 and 18 seconds respectively (with 41 seconds allowed!)Her first standard was great except for worrying about the dog walk .. the second run the dog walk was no problem but she was so excited about getting it she did two extra tunnels .. she is too cute- the little crowd pleaser had everybody eating out of her paws.

Her last class was the wildcard class - it took her just 7 seconds longer then Brody and she had to really think about the tire jump :)


It was great to run at a new venue - both of them weren't phased in the least .. and so nice to see familiar faces too .. CPE is such a friendly place to be ;)


loads of fun - and I'm exhausted :)