SAAC - March 2-3, 2013

A bit of a mixed bag for the boys this weekend - though we were all over the board in the Q department, I felt like Teller and Kip had really solid performances in every run. Teller is really moving out there and Kip is coming together with every run, is starting to see lines and turns. Contacts...a work in progress. He's still not giving me his training contacts in trial, I'm not asking for the 2o2o because I want him to move through the contacts - particularly the a-frame.

Saturday we finished the day zero for four. Silly things really, Teller deciding that taking a tunnel was more fun than stopping to take the table (good lord, what have I created?) and then taking an uncharacteristic (for him) knocked bar in JWW.



Kip had two solid runs on Saturday - in standard he got a bit of the lookie-loos and came around the panel after the teeter (R-W-F) - BUT I was impressed at how he went ahead of me off that line to the teeter. "Got it!". I pushed his weaves at the end of the run and he came out at pole 10 to take the dogwalk. OK, we've got a hole there in trial. I'll work on it. In JWW later that afternoon he was in a cookin' run and came out of the weaves in the same place - not once, but three times! I initially thought it was that we were heading to the wall, or pressure from the judge - but now I think it was something else entirely. He was exceedingly wound up, he was running beautifully and that last line was calling his name. And since he got to cheat in the morning, why not cheat in the afternoon. I'm not inferring malice, because that's not his personality in the slightest - I think the weaves were slowing him down and he wanted to GO FAST!


Sunday as always is a new day. Teller finished his weekend with career QQ #71. We're off for the rest of the month (except for that thing in Tulsa) so it was a good way to go out. Woo had an 11 point JWW run and an 18 point standard run - AND while he didn't go into his 2o/2o - he did pause and wait to be released on his dogwalk. I really needed that stop ahead of our trip west. I didn't get video of his JWW run - which was just smooth from start to finish, but standard is below.

Kip got a new big-boy leather martingale collar.
One of our trial friends made it for him this afternoon.
What a lucky-lucky golden retriever!

Kip had a great day of his own. I goofed in JWW - stayed too long with him in the weaves after the faults on Saturday and ended up way behind him and out of position to handle the next line. As a result I had to throw in rear where I'd planned a blind and he just didn't read it well. He's not at the point where I can throw him at a jump and expect him to see the new line. He curled off the jump to me, we corrected and finished the rest of the run cleanly. He didn't take my mistake personally and he didn't miss a beat. A bit of unexpected maturity from my boy who isn't even two years old yet (mid-April). Kip's afternoon standard run was a bit of a 'hot mess' - with a couple of saves (one to each of our credits I think) - but good enough for 3rd place in 24" Masters and 14 points - I'm quite sure that we added about 30 yards to the course.

And the best part? Getting home early enough to meet some friends for a romp in the schoolyard before heading home to do chores, unpacking, laundry, dishes, etc. There was much making up for two long days in crates with retrieving, rolling in the snow, running around and a general sense of insane silliness!