Still haven't found favor with the Agility Gods
 But we had some very close runs and I was overall happy with our teamwork. Here are some of the better runs with the unfortunately Not Qualifying fault of a dropped bar (or two). Sunday's Jumpers With Weaves course - Sunday's Standard course - Monday's Standard course - Apparently he thought sitting on the table was optional in Springfield  And I let him get away with it because the Q was still on the line  Now for our closest run and the reason we went to this trial...... FAST. They don't offer FAST courses at most agility trials and it is our favorite. We are in the Excellent level and the courses have been so hard at this level that frequently there have been few exhibitors qualifying. That makes me feel a little better about our lack of success because at least I know it is not me. The courses do not usually flow making it harder but I couldn't believe our luck as Monday's course was too good to be true with the flow. You have to work distance and the handler cannot cross the line to handle the dog in the bonus area which needs to be completed in order to qualify. But you can have dropped bars in the rest of the course because it is about gathering points so there are no faults there. Perfect for Harry. Well.......... he ran it beautifully but in the bonus area I did not tell him "out" or make it clear enough for the third distance obstacle and as he came to me he stepped over the line even though I was able to get him to go back to and over the jump without him leaving the area. Therefore an NQ.  My heart is still breaking over this because he accumulated all the points we attempted on the rest of the course. Of course the irony wasn't lost on me that he did not drop a single bar on the course where it didn't matter  or that we would be so lucky when it did  Here is the FAST run from Monday: Since our teamwork is constantly improving we will not give up even though we don't have any rewards to show for our efforts |
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I love watching your video's of Harry!  Great job!  Cindy |
| Great job. I'm impressed you could keep up with Harry...love listening to him talking to you, reminds me so much of Asia, my "talker." Thank you for sharing. |
I get so much joy watching you and Harry. I LOVE the way he goes through the weave poles. I know that the gods are being cruel, but if it makes you feel any better the rest of us mere mortals get enormous inspiration watching you and Harry and watching you persevere through all of these challenges motivates the rest of us to continue trying.  |
| I know very little about agility, but you both looked great too me. A few little bobbles but a job very well done. Keep up the good work and in no time you will have rewards for your hard work. Start building the trophy and ribbon case  |
| Sorry the last post was from me. See, you and Harry can manage that agility course and I have trouble logging into this forum. |
| gods, including agility gods like to mess with people, until they can't. if the human is a perfectionist they have a blast. they're getting nowhere with harry, he's about as into it as a dog can be. ease up on yourself a lil, it's gonna happen, both of you are determined to make it happen. i luv watching these performances. thanks. |
| I realize you are frustrated, but Harry is having a blast! I'm not sure the need to climb the achievement ladder is greater than watching your dog completely enjoy himself! |
| Ah, but I think you have. Each set of runs of late are better than the last. You're so close, that's what's frustrating. He looks great!!!!! I would work on three things: 1) rear crosses - your timing is still a hair off. He saved your butt, twice, which is a real testament to his althleticism, but an added challenge you don't need. 2) timing on verbal commands - don't call his name in mid-air. One bar was due to that. As soon as I heard "Har..." I knew that bar was coming down and it did. They can't change their trajectory easily in air, though he's responsive enough to try, so therefore the dropped bar. Have done this to Sybil numerous times. The time for a verbal is BEFORE take-off. Depending on the dog and the committment to the obstacle, you may be looking at well before the upcoming obstacle and in Harry's case I'm willing to bet the earlier the better. With Sybil it's a fine line as she tends to respond almost instaneously so I have to support what she is doing with one arm while say indicating a turn with the other and use verbals only very carefully. I think you'll probably find you have more latitude with Harry, but it's trial and error, which is better worked on in class or at home, obviously. I still inadvertently call Sybil off an obstacle here and there and PRAISE her when I do because she did what I asked. 3) spreads - specifically the triple. Technically, this is one of the easier jumps - certainly it is with horses- nice gradual rise, lowest bar drawing dog in to the proper take off spot. Doubles are more intimidating to me and I've had more problems with them with Belle, Mad and Mace all, but Sybil and Harry, apparently, like to be "special". I'm not sure why he's taking the last bar down because his take off seems pretty OK to me, though I'd want to look at it in slow motion, but with Sybil from day one the triple intimidated her and her response was to take off way to early. She's better with experience, but as late as this spring in a trial she took off waaay to early. As soon as she started to lift off I knew it was going to end badly and, sure enough, she didn't just take the last bar down, she landed on it and then face planted. Scared me half to death as she is one of those dogs with a strong sense of self-preservation, rarely found in the breed, and certainly among my dogs. It shook her up a little, but after that she's seemed to judge take offs better, so....maybe some jump chutes/grids involving the triple to build his confidence? You're so close I'll be very surprised if you haven't found favor with the agility gods during the next couple of trials. Kristine |
I think Harry is awesome and I like to watch the videos!  |
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