One-Day USDAA Trial

Our club (The Bay Team) experimented with a masters-one-day, advanced-and-novice-one day format. It seemed to work pretty well with a 2-day trial up in Santa Rosa. Long way for me to drive--nearly 2 hours starting at 4 a.m.--which is beyond where I usually arrange for a hotel overnight. But since it was just a one-day trial (I entered Tika on Saturday), I just came on home when we were done. Fortunately I have a cousin in Richmond who was home and offered me dinner on the way home, so I got a break at about the 1-hour point, also avoiding some horrendous traffic going south on 80 early in the evening.

Tika

Tika did very well--6 runs and not a single Q among them, but none-the-less I was fairly pleased.

She stayed sitting still at the start line in all but one case, where she stood up and I let her go anyway (dumb dumb dumb) but it didn't seem to affect her the rest of the day. I didn't do much in the way of long lead-outs, so that she could succeed at staying in one place and get to run. So this made me very happy, considering where we were in November at our last competition.

She got all her weave entries beautifully. She did all of her contacts fast and waited--although she left early a couple of times, one of which perhaps contributed to her going offcourse on the next tunnel.

She didn't knock the first bar in Snooker, even though I led out considerably. That's always a pleasure. She knocked 2 bars in Jumpers although the course itself worked quite smoothly--which was OK because about half the class went offcourse on that Jumpers course, so I guess we did good!

And in gamblers she got a difficult turn over the first 3 obstacles but then didn't carry out (on the "easy part") to the last 2 obstacles. Still, lots and lots of dogs missed that first part, so she looked OK there, too.

So--offcourse in one of her 2 pairs run (partner went offcourse in same place in the other one!), 2 bars knocked in Jumpers, I messed up on calling her in Snooker for an early exit, Gamblers she got lots of opening points but (as I said) missed the complete gamble; Standard missed the up on the dogwalk (this is looking really ugly again lately) and then offcourse into wrong end of a tunnel. But she was fast and attentive and I had a good time.

Of course--I don't know how many 0-Q weekends I can handle and still feel cheerful.

Jake

This was Jake's first weekend not competing. I think he seemed confused about getting out, doing tricks, playing a bunch of frisbee and tug of war, and then going back in the crate. But maybe I'm the only one who's confused.

In class last night, where his formerly foster mom Nancy taught our class for the first time in many many months, she said that he looked the best she's even seen him. He is running *really* well in class. I'm still second and third and fourth-guessing whether I'm doing the right thing by not entering him in competitions.