Bay Area Ridge Trail Attack #2

SUMMARY: Hiking with the dogs for a long-term goal.

The Bay Area Ridge Trail is an attempt to link ridge tops allllll the way around the San Francisco Bay with hikeable trails. Some ridges already had trails, but not all of them. The first section was dedicated in 1989 and the list of trails has kept growing; there are now about 330 miles of the 550 planned miles.

One of my agility friends decided it would be a great goal to hike the whole Ridge Trail, one segment at a time (when not off doing dog agility).

We got our first 6-mile segment in on July 31, without dogs (not legal there). That went across the Golden Gate Bridge, up into the hills along the Marin Gate/Coastal Trai, to the SCA Trai, to the Alta Trai, to the Bobcat Trail, to the Marincello Road, to the Tennessee Valley trailhead. (You can download a map here.)

Another 6-mile section opens here in San Jose in October; that might be our next trip.

Today, we did a section on which dogs are not only allowed, but allowed off-leash. Because we did a loop of 9.1 miles, only about 4.75 of it was Ridge Trail, but that counts! At this rate, yeah, it's a multiyear project, maybe even a multidecade project. Maybe the whole trail will be done by the time we're ready for it.

At the beginning, we're all eager and ready to go (can't see The Other Ellen, who's taking the photo...)--Susan, the ringleader, is indicating "2" for the second segment of the trail.

This is my view of the rest of the group as we pass our first trail sign and the dogs will very shortly get to go off-leash, yeah!

Most people don't see The Back Side of Chabot College Observatory.

Even fewer people see Ellen Taking Pictures Of The Back Side of Chabot College Observatory.

Quite a bit of the trail was among second-growth redwoods (meaning at some time in the past, someone cut the huge old ones down for lumber). Here, you can see that Steven is almost as tall as the redwoods.

Not really.

Heading along a redwoody trail.

Guess who!

Kinetic points out the blue Bay Ridge Trail marker. Kinetic walked the whole 9 miles. Never let it be said that Papillons are wimpy small dogs (besides being amazingly fast and agile in agility).

Me, hiking.

The trail sign says "Monteiro," which looks very different from what's on the actual map:

Me: "Hmm, I guess 'Monteiro' is the same thing as 'Montiero'..."
Tika: "I can't believe you're really thinking of taking that trail that goes straight up..."

Uphill...gasp... I haven't calculated our cumulative elevation gain, but it had to be several hundred feet--at least 300 (1200 to 1500) in the first 2 miles, then down down down to what looks like about 750, then in the space of a mile, back up to 1500. So, yeah, I'd say well over 1000 feet cumulative.

Our route was (thanks EllenC -- and you can download a Redwood Park map here):
Skyline Gate
West Ridge Trail
Golden Spike
Then up up up
Montiero
Dunn
Baccharis
back to the West Ridge Trail
back to Skyline Gate

(And thanks to Lisa and EllenC for their photos interspersed with mine.)

Weekend Steeplechase and Grand Prix Report

SUMMARY: with videos

Actually I don't have all that much to report.

SW Regional Steeplechase Round 1

I think the toughest spot was getting the dog into the right (right) side of the tunnel, but if you launched the dog to the jump after the Aframe and then turned and ran straight (as I did), you'd be aiming the dog straight at the correct side of the tunnel. It was a smooth and doable course--about half the dogs made it to Round 2.

Tika did fine, placing 5th of 16. But then, so did most everyone else in her 22" Performance group: 10 advanced to the second round.

However, in watching videos, I notice that she seems to hesitate or slow in several places in such a way that makes me think "she's not getting the right information from me fast enough." I've thought for quite a while that she's slowed down to accommodate me rather than me learning to handle her speed (and I fear that Boost may be getting to the same place, dang). This video shows it in several places. (And again we won't mention standing up at the start line to sniff for treats--)



Boost's run--well--some nice bits, except when I had to yank on every invisible rope in the universe to get her to come in over the 3rd jump in the pinwheel--a known issue, when she's blasting full speed ahead and I ask her to come back in to me (e.g., with serpentines, too), she keeps runnning in a big loop rather than trying to come in over the jump that's between us. And immediately thereafter runs past the 4th jump in the pinwheel. Yeh, could be she's not getting the info she needs either. Plus two knocked bars, the second on a rear cross after which she pulled in to me instead of going over the next jump that was, yes, right in front of her.



For comparison, here's our classmate Kicks! winning that class (22" chamionship). 30 of the 60 22" dogs moved up.

Grand Prix Final

I tried to push myself and Tika as hard as I could. Funny, watching the video, I look like I'm just loping along, but I *felt* like I was running all out. I clapped my hands a whole lot more than I think I usually do. Also funny, Tika's weaves look fast in the video, but the difference between hers and Boost's is amazing--with Boost, I have to run full speed to get to the other end before she does, but with Tika, I just jog gently.

We ended up 3rd, but the Malinois and Border Collie who beat us were 5 (!) and 4 seconds faster than we were. Still, we easily qualified for the Nationals Semifinals--but, no, we're not going to Kentucky.

(Will add map when available.)

Agility Addiction

SUMMARY: You know you're an agility addict when...

Thanks, Julie Rice, for this addition to the list (see Addiction link above):

...You panic at the sight of an "empty" weekend on your calendar.

Weekend Snooker Report

SUMMARY: With videos.

Team Snooker:
This was a 3 or 4 reds class; I couldn't come up with anything I liked with 4 reds that was comfortable enough for Team, so I opted for 3 (with 6-7-7 in the opening):

• Tika: When I sent her to one red and then turned and ran, she turned also before taking the red and I had to get her turned back around to take it. As a result, we ran out of time partway through #7 in the closing, which dropped us from winning to 4th of 13 dogs.
• Boost did an OK opening, but then, in a weird flashback to last weekend where #4 in the closing was also two jumps and the first one was also basically parallel to our path, I did not succeed in pushing her out over the jump for a refusal, so whistled off. 

Sunday Masters/P3 Snooker:
This one had only 3 reds--thank goodness, I'm just tired of always having to decide whether a 4th red will help me or hurt me on top of the basic strategy. I had a 7-7-7 (double tunnels) opening plan for 51 pts and a 7-7-5 (5 was Aframe) opening plan for 49 pts. I figured that the first was completely doable for a fast dog but probably not for Tika any more, so didn't want to try it unless I had to (meaning other dogs had done it successfully).

• By the time Tika ran, most of the dogs in her class had already run and only one--a very fast Catahoula--had gotten the 51, and the next highest was 46. I wanted Top Ten points, but decided that 2nd place (for 5 top tens) would be plenty good enough and stuck with the 7-7-5. We made it with only a couple of seconds to spare, so I'm glad I didn't get greedy. (We won't mention where she stood up from her down-stay to go searching for treats. At least she didn't take off after me.) And look at that nice right-angle rear cross approach to the weaves! She's such a good girl.
  
  
• By the time Boost ran, there were already 9 dogs with 51 points, and only 12 super-Qs available, so I went for the 7-7-7 plan. I was glad to get all the way through it with her--unfortunately, we ran out of time as we started our final #7. That's because we had trouble getting to and from the farthest red (the 3rd one we did), plus she turned the wrong way after #2, slowed to look at me for a while before #4, turned in front of me before going to the weaves at #6 and all those little things added up to the time we needed to complete the course. So 44 points for a Q but no Super-Q. Frustratingly, no one else got 51 and a 49 (my 7-7-5 plan) would've been a superQ. So close!
  
  

Monday Masters/P3 Snooker:
3 or 4 reds again. I decided on a 6-7-7-2 plan for the opening.

• Boost: A couple of wide turns, a knocked red that I recovered from but not gracefully, she didn't catch a rear cross and turned the wrong way--again, we got through to #7 and ran out of time about pole #7 of 12, sigh. In this case, Super-Qs were 52 points, so even if we'd completed the weaves, without our 4th red and that extra 2 points, we'd have not Super-Qed. But so close...but just a 43-point Q. But check out those great, difficult sends to the weave poles then executed at a distance! Happy weave pole mom!
  
   
• Tika: Well, after that first red where I pulled boost between the next red and the Aframe to the teeter? I pulled Tika the same way but hadn't stepped far enough towards the Aframe, so instead of the teeter, she did the red. Whistle. Crap.

Weekend Quick Summary

SUMMARY: USDAA Southwest Regional is over.

I am pooped.

Tika, competing in 22" Performance,  Qed 12 of 15 Q-able rounds (but sadly only one of the two dang Snookers I was hoping to collect some Top Ten points on), and placed:

• 4th of 13 in team gamblers, jumpers, and snooker
• 2nd of 13 team standard
• 5th of 16 round 1 steeplechase
• 3rd of 29 in team relay w/teammate Brenn
• 5th overall in team (29 teams) w/Brenn
• 3rd of 17 in sunday's jumpers
• 2nd of 17 in sun's Snooker (super-Q)
• 3rd of 15 in sun's standard
• 4th of 16 in gamblers
• 2nd of 14 in mon's standard
• 2nd of 12 in mon's jumpers
• 3rd of 13 in the Grand Prix regional final round, yeah!

The one Snooker Q completed her Perf Snooker Ch Silver (25 Qs) -- now she needs only one more Standard for her Performance silver ADCH, which would match her Champion Silver ADCH.


In steeplechase round 2, she was doing great until she really whacked a foot (or two?) on the broad jump and slowed almost to a stop, so lost time plus the faults, so no $$ for us this time around.

But overall, I think I could safely say that she had a good weekend.

Boost, meanwhile, Qed in pairs Backfill: oops, updated 9/6 9a.m: and both Snookers (but not Super-Qs).

And there we have the weekend in a nutshell.

Random Things

SUMMARY: About dogs and life and this weekend.

Yes, once again, the magic of Blog-o-scope gives you my very thoughts and words even as I am miles from any known Access Portal.

• I apparently threw out my custom orthotics with that pair of shoes that was annoying me.
• Now is not a convenient time for the light fixture in the side yard to decide to cease functioning.
• Why does Tika bark at every noise, even if she's heard it a million times already this evening? Does it solve anything, Tika? No, the noise keeps happening.
• Boost likes cardboard boxes, but she especially likes them if she's feeling ignored and thinks she's not supposed to have them.
• I can hardly wait 'til next weekend, when we do our next leg of The Bay Ridge Trail, with dogs. 8 miles. I can do that!
• I'm long since out of room on the ribbon wall and it's only Labor Day. Guess I really need  to take down Tika's ribbons from 2010, photograph them, and take them back to the Recycled Ribbons sprite. Mind you, I'm not complaining. 
• How could I have possibly forgotten to charge the camera batteries? Not going to try it now, or fer shure they'd still be sitting here when I arrived at the trial site for a 3-day stay.
• Walk-throughs don't start until 8:15 Saturday morning! How cool is that? I can actually sleep in until 6ish!
• Reports are that it's "freezing" overnight at the trial site. Guess I'll be glad for my thermal underwear, down comforter, and extra blankets. (Translation: 55ish (17.7ish C) and foggy damp.)
• Potluck tomorrow night with friends on site! Fun times will be had by all.

Soutwest Regional Preview a la Taj MuttHall

SUMMARY: Statistics, titles, blah blah blah.

First, of course, the agility wonk combs the Bay Team archives to compare this year's Regional to prior years. Think back! Reminisce on all those fun times!

Number of entries (dogs) is about the same this year as last; runs are more I think because of the addition of the Friday night IHC classes.

Year	Dogs Entered	Runs	Days	Rings	Site	Judges
2011	340	3475	3.5	5/4	Manzanita Park Prunedale	Tom Shultz, Tammy Domico, Evelyn Robertson, Jessica Ajoux, Leslie Bickel
2010	331	2913	3	5/4	Manzanita Park	Michelle DuBois, Tom Kula, Evelyn Robertson, Les Sanders, Karen Gloor
2009*	426	3577	3	5/4	Manzanita Park	Scott Chamberlain, Mark Wirant & Sharon Wirant, Adrienne Lynch, Tammy Domico
2008*	484	4183	3	4	Manzanita Park	Scott Chamberlain, Mark Wirant & Sharon Wirant, Adrienne Lynch, Karen Gloor, Tammy Domico
2007*	527	4896	3	4	Twin Creeks S'vale	Scott Chamberlain, Mark Wirant & Sharon Wirant, Sandra Katzen
2006*	475	4863	3	4	Twin Creeks	Scott Chamberlain, Kim Donnell, Frank Holik, Sandra Katzen*, *Scott supv
2005*	467	4348	3	4	Twin Creeks	Tom Kula, Peggy Hammond, Merlene Stiles, Jim Hibbard,*Candy Gaiser and Merlene Stiles supv
2004*	415	3939	3	4	Twin Creeks	Patty Drom, Jean McKenzie, Debbie Berkley*, Chris Vaught*, *Candy Gaiser and Patty Drom supv
2003	293	2583	3	4	Twin Creeks	Janet Gauntt, Frank Holik, Valerie Reiner, Tim Verrelli
2002	335	1260 (?)	3	4	Cal State Hayward	Harry Guticz, Lori Montana, Eric Bruce*, Dave Grubel, *Candy Gaiser supv
2001* (non-Reg.)	375	2961	3	3?	Cal State Hayward	Darlene Woz, Debbie Berkley, Gary Visintainer, Tom Schulz

* West Coast Nationals

And how about this year?

Of the 340 dogs entered, 159 will be Border Collies, one of them a very cute and hopefully not bar-knocking Booster-Girl!

The next-most-common group are the All Americans, 14 of which registered as such, but also these highly individualized designer breeds:

• 3 Aussie Kelpie
• 2 Border Kelpie
• Border Aussie
• Border Corgi
• Border Staffy
• BC/Australian Cattle Dog
• BC Mix
• Beagle mix
• Chihuahua mix
• Craussie (that would be Teeeeeeka!)
• Eskie-huahua
• Pinchippet (min pin/chihuahua/whippet)
• Rock'n'Roll Retriever
• Shelt-inu
• Siberian Bulldozer
• Sweet L'l Monster
• Uma Thurman Dog

Weather

We are expected fog and overcast all weekend, woo-hoo, maybe Tika will run fast!

Dogs per group and age

No, no, I'm not going to do all of them...you can go download the interesting statistics list or the running order catalog if you really want to, from The Bay Team's event page.

But I will note that Tika, in P3 22", will be competing in a group of 12 to 17 dogs (hrmhrm top mumble ten points hrmmmm).

Boost's group size is around 80 dogs. Dang 22" Masters.

As for age groups (not an offical group, but fun to note anyway): 41 dogs Boost's age, 14 Tika's age, and only 11 dogs older than Tika (out of the 340 entered). The largest age group is age 4, with 56 dogs.

Ring conflicts

I've been so spoiled by rotation groups, which many clubs use around here for the larger trials (which includes most of ours and SMART's). No conflicts, ever. But last weekend they did NOT run rotation groups, and since they tended to split the rings like this: 22/26" masters and everyone else -- that put Boost and Tika into different groups and I hardly had a moment to sit down. As score table czar, I think I missed two entire classes (run one dog in one ring, run the other in the other ring, run the 2nd one in the first ring, run the first one in the second ring...).

I also managed to miss one walkthrough entirely, and missed another walkthrough later but at least got to walk that one with the different group and just ran my dog late.

This weekend we'll largely be doing rotation groups, but one class each day is split the same way as last weekend, so I'll be back to managing conflicts.

And what about the Merle Girls?

15-16 runs for Tika, 14-15 for Boost (depending on Steeplechase Round 2); Boost didn't earn a single Grand Prix Q all year, so she's not eligible to run Grand Prix this weekend, whereas Tika earned a bye (3 of them, actually) into round 2 so doesn't have to run round 1 at all.

That makes, for me -- ergh-- well, a lot of running and hope the knee & hips continue to hold up, is all I can say! And we didn't even sign up for the two classes offered on Friday night.

Possible titles:

• Tika: Perf Snooker Champion Silver (one needed, two chances)
• Boost: Standard Champion Bronze (one needed, two chances)
• Boost: Snooker Master (two super-Qs needed, two chances) (I must add, "when heck freezes over")
• Boost: Jumpers Master (two needed, two chances) (and, yeh, ditto)
• Boost: If she completes the latter two--ADCH. (Gosh, how weird to even be able to say that it's within statistical possibility, because for so long it hasn't been! Of course when I say "within statistical possibility," in this case it's like the statistical possibility of Tika fetching the newspaper on command...well, OK, actually, it's more likely than that. But that still doesn't make it very likely.)

OK, Agility Boys and Girls, that's plenty for now. Wishing you all a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

On Speed

SUMMARY: heat, age, toenails, prednisone...

I knew that Boost's toenails had gotten long again, before last weekend, and I meant to trim them. Carried the Dremel tool with me all weekend, but nooo.

Finally got around to it today.

So, tell me, how do Tika's toenails stay fairly well worn down all the time, but Boost's front center toenails were, please forgive me, at least half an inch beyond the quick?! It took a while to hone them all down.

Maybe that's why she was running a bit more circumspectly this last weekend--toenails uncomfortable?

Or was it the prednisone?

Or is she just getting better from running in agility circles around the yard rather than focusing on specific drills?

Tika was pretty danged fast the first two runs Saturday, then slowed down a bit, then sped up for the 6th run of the day. Fairly fast first thing Sunday, too, and had slowed significantly by the last run of the weekend.

The differences that I noticed seemed also to correspond to how cool and foggy it was: The cooler & foggier, the faster she got. So maybe it's not vision or arthritis, but simply that, as an older dog, she no longer has the tolerance for heat, even minor heat, that she once had. Given how much she flagged on the last hike we did, I'm realizing that I just might not have a fast dog when the cloud cover clears away. So strange to be saying this, as Tika was always On On On and the weather be danged.

So, anyway, the mysteries of my dogs' changing speed and successes keeps me guessing, but I am once again mostly looking forward to this weekend, and a large part of that is Boost having done so much better than usual last weekend. Hope it lasts.

At Safari West

SUMMARY: Mostly wordless Wednesday.

Cape Buffalo
(This animal kills more people in Africa every year than any other animal except one; I knew which one, do you?)

Demoiselle Crane

Mother and child

Cheetah

Monkey baby
See how I processed this photo

Flamingo

Flamingo with a throat tickle

Cape Thick Knee
(Also possibly Cape Grumpy Face)

Immature Scarlet Ibis

Blue-Crowned Pigeon

Dama Gazella

Giraffes

Greater Kudu

Giraffe

Watusi Cattle...with an itch

Damara Zebra

Ellipsis Waterbuck

House Sparrow

Another View of the Weekend

SUMMARY: From Team Small Dog.

Which includes a photo of me and Boost, too. http://blog.teamsmalldog.com/2011/08/2-whole-days-of-usdaa-with-team-small.html

Enough With Data and Statistics

SUMMARY: There were, gasp, other super people and dogs at the trial, too!

Here are some of the smart people, Wings' and Team Small Dogs' persons; I'm sure they're strategizing their super Steeplechase runs:

The person belonging to Kidd and Boss, listening carefully at the briefing in case anyone wants to buy super fund-raising salmon treats.

The Turlockians, aka VASTards, also my super teammates for next weekend's Team event at the regionals (Brenn, Quik, and Quas ("kass")). They always smile when they see my camera, which is too cool.

Gustavo of Team Small Dog gets ready to keep his brain together for a really fast run where his tail flies out behind him and he looks like he's having the most super time of his life. Also Belle the super tiny min pin sneaks her person into the photo, too.

Jeepers, "Me run *now*! Me super run now!"

Our secretary-of-all-trials goddess and super secretary-at-this-trial share secret incantations about computerized scoring.

Sparkle's person and Gwynyth's [not actually shown] person are having a super time.

Heath and Beadle's person has some of the most super tie-dye shirts in the known universe.

At the score table, there are some other super things that are almost as colorful.

Super vendors supply a vibrant array of dog gear.

Honey thinks it's super that someone might have treats.

Tika thinks it's not so super that no one is offering to let her do frisbee or even eat at this particular moment.

Someone is super hungry.

Stetson's super elevated humanoid transport device gives him the best view of everything.

We had best be super careful around this visitor.

Boost's mom, Tala, is Tika's age (10 and a half) and yet had some super runs at 22" championship, winning and placing left and right.

Boost's Uncle Greg has done a super job of training and handling Tala.

Denny has a super difficult time holding still long enough for the camera to focus, but finally manages it.

And here is Clark Kent the rescue Pom and his human.

Stats From The Weekend

SUMMARY: An assortment of numbers and points.

This might not be very useful because I hardly ever do it, but it is worthwhile to me because it shows how very few issues Boost had this weekend.

Boost

	Qty Done	Issues/ Numbers	Notes
Weaves	10	1	oddball pop in the very middle
Dogwalk	6	0	Still 2o/2o over side instead of end, though
Aframe	9	0
Teeter	5	3	Came off middle 2x, left w/out going to bottom 1
Start-line stay	11	0
Bars	lots	3	Pairs, gamble opening, Std--double on bad front X
Runout/ refusal	-	9	2 in Sat jumpers, 2 in Sun jumpers not "legal" ref's so didn't count, 1 relay so still Qed, 1 snooker closing, 1 gmbl closing, 2 GP
Other faults		1	Offcourse in Sat's jumpers after already 2 runouts, handler issue
Tables	2	1	elbowwwwwws
Q-able Runs	10 (out of 11)	4 Qs	Pairs, Std, Jump, Stplchase
Steeplechase Rd 2	6th seed	$18	2nd place!
Top Ten placements	9 possible	2	Stplch 2nd, jumpers 3rd
Titles	1 possible	0

Tika

	Qty Done	Issues/ Numbers	Notes
Weaves	8	0
Dogwalk	6	0
Aframe	8	0
Teeter	5	1	Inexplicable abandon in gmbl
Start-line stay	11	0
Bars	lots	1	Snooker 1st red
Runout/ refusal	-	0
Tables	2	0
Other faults		1	backjumped snooker red#2
Q-able Runs	10	8 Qs	missed snooker, one gamblers
Steeplechase Rd 2	3rd seed	$9	2nd place
Top Ten placements	9 possible	7	Stplch 2nd, GP 1st, Std 2nd & 3rd, jumpers 2nd & 2nd, gamblers 2nd, (also pairs 3rd)
Titles	2 possible	1	PF Jumpers Ch Silver

Prednisone

• Stops itching: Check
• Drinks more: Check
• Pees more: Check
• More restless: Check
• Stops dropping bars and starts going ahead to jumps instead of turning back: ...huh?! (She'll still be on pred for this coming weekend's 3-day Regional. Will be interesting to see how that looks. And then will be interesting to see what happens when it's all done with.)

USDAA SMART Day 2

SUMMARY: Another day of wonders.

Tika was back to her normal self, Qing in all four Qable classes, plus 2nd in Steeplechase Round 2.

Otherwise continued her not-quite-1st-place runs:

• 2nd in Steeplechase, even though she ran pretty fast first thing in the morning, to a really nice run by Kidd
• 2nd in Gamblers by several points to Chaps.
• Oh, wait, we did win Grand Prix! For the 4th time this year, after never doing so pre-2011.
• 2nd in Jumpers by less than a second to Kash.
• Then, last run of the day, slowed way down in Standard and took 3rd, wayyy behind Chaps and just a smidge behind Mike.

Here's Tika's money run in Steeplechase (although you can't see the tunnel in one corner where the dog has to take the opposite side from the one they're running straight at):


As for her Top Ten points, picked up 0 for snooker, 3 in Gamblers, 4 in standard, and 6 in Jumpers.

Boost amazed me again by mostly keeping up her bars, finished 2nd (!!!!!!) in Steeplechase Round 2 with a really nice run on a really fast course--here for your viewing pleasure (from a different angle from Tika's run, but you STILL can't see that tunnel):


And she actually earned a Jumpers Q! Third masters jumpers Q ever!  Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah, and other crowd-going-wild noises. Furthermore, it was 3rd place in 22"! Our run wasn't exactly "clean"--a bit sort of smudged around the edges and I thought we came off the field with a couple of refusals, but noooooo, plus also only 5 out of the 30 dogs in her class ran clean,  so there we go, now only 2 Jumpers and 2 Super-Qs away from the ADCH.

Yet another video, how about that? (The whistle you hear on the first messy spot is in the other ring...oh, and now you can see a tunnel that the dog has to take the opposite side.)


Standard was an "almost"--she crashed a double after I made a very awkward front cross and might have been flailing my arms, legs, and other body parts. Gamblers opening was nice but I mishandled the entry to a [sigh] very doable gamble. And in grand prix, two runouts on jumps, then she came off the teeter from the side when I rear crossed, for the 3rd time this weekend, so I told her uh-uh, took her off the field, and put her away. 

Time to get the teeter-totter out in the yard again.

But mostly I was very happy with many parts of all of her runs. But here's this little nagging thing: Keeping the bars up--doing courses--steeplechases and jumpers--compliments in class last week and a ton of perfect runs in class this week--I have admitted not practicing anything or working on anything--so WHY?

I find it hard to believe that, at six and a half, she's abruptly matured or figured things out.

I did make the sudden connection today that this has all been since she started the prednisone for her itching. Could there be something going on there? Don't know what.

USDAA SMART Day 1

SUMMARY: The good, the bad, the inexplicable, and the--erm--Musings upon Top Ten.

Well, another day, another 12 runs--rackin' up that experience, I'm telling ya! Remained foggish and overcasty most of the day, which kept it cool and pleasant.

The Good

Boost had two amazing lovely clean runs today!

• Standard: Well, she did come off the teeter without even going all the way to the end, but it was legal. I made her stop for a few seconds anyway, and we continued, and Qed. This wasn't one of those ugly Qs, either, where you're constantly recovering from this or that almost-error. Nope, a really solid run. 8 seconds slower than the winning dog, but I'll bet 4 of them were that Post Teetermatic Syndrome.
• Steeplechase: I had resigned myself to a disaster, but Lo! It was not! Qed and even placed 6th of 32 22" dogs. Three seconds behind the winner, but there were two Aframes and I held her on both in her nice 2o/2o position and told her "Good dog!"
• Bars: Knocked only 2 in 6 runs, which is pretty darned good for her. 
• Start line-stay: Didn't break once in 6 runs, yeah!

Tika sometimes amazes me for a ten-and-a-half-yr-old:

• Ran very fast, almost over the top with excitement, the first two runs of the day (while the fog was still in). Slowed down a bit when the sun came out, but picked up as it cooled off in the afternoon. So, who knows why she was so slow those couple of trials in june/july. Maybe she just can't run through the heat like she used to.
• Standard: Had a perfectly nice  run, Qed, and placed 2nd, less than a second behind the winner.
• Jumpers: Had a perfectly nice  run, Qed and placed 2nd, although I was late on two consecutive front crosses that slowed her down visibly, and we were only 0.13 seconds behind the first-place dog.
• Steeplechase: Had a perfectly nice run, placing 3rd (just 0.6 behind the 2nd place dog) and Qing. 
• Pairs Relay: Very fast, overran the teeter but didn't get called for jumping on the side, and with our partner's nice, clean run, Qed and placed 3rd, even with my long lead-out as the 2nd dog.
• I don't believe she missed a contact all day, and it wasn't because she was slowing down to get them, so maybe the contact work is paying off a bit. Some were actually really nice running contacts (yes, no, we were not *practicing* running contacts).

Me:

• Knees and hips haven't been this pain-free in I don't know HOW long. I don't know why the change. I am grateful. First time at a trial since I can remember in months or maybe a year or two when trotting, jogging, or running didn't make me alter my stride to try to ease the stress.  (That's not to say that I'm a super runner or didn't get tired, but I felt good out there.) Big win!

The Bad

Tika:

•  Snooker. Knocked the first red, backjumped the second. What can I say? Off the course in about 10 seconds with 1 point.

Boost:

• Relay: Knocked a bar, ran past a jump. All in 11 obstacles. Bad way to start the day, but fortunately our [also] very fast partner was clean and so we eked out a Q even with those 10 fault points and my long lead-out as the 2nd dog.
• Gamble: Well, good and bad: Had a really nice smooth opening. Knocked one bar that we took twice, so that's 2 points that we didn't get, but still was the 4th highest opening points of all 40 22" dogs. Even sent out to a couple of jumps, no refusals or runouts.  The gamble? I swung her around, sent her over the first jump, and she just looped back and looked at me. Even when I finally ran out into the gamble zone and put her on the teeter directly, she hopped off the middle of it.
•  Jumpers: Gah. Don't want to talk about it. Good thing she's cute.

The Inexplicable

Boost:

• Snooker: Well, good and bad again. The first 3 reds and follow-on obstacles were fast and smooth and working at a distance and just perfect, all the bars up. Red, jump-jump, red, Aframe, red, weaves, red, weaves... and in that second set of weaves, she popped out in the middle! I can't figure out why--I wasn't going to veer away or anything, and it was the same weaves she'd just done, in the same direction, with me on the same side. Not even popped at the end, which is her usual thing if she's going to pop. Then took 3 tries to get her back in, for which I was going to get no points anyway, and by then it was all over for a Super-Q and I may have let up a little and over-pulled her off a jump in the closing.

Tika:

• Gamblers: Perfect opening. Actually did everything that Boost did (this was an early run and she was running very fast, even thru the contacts), was in perfect position for the gamble, turned and lined up straight and went right onto the teeter and the rest was a piece of gambling cake--except that she jumped off the teeter's side and came straight over to me!  Of course I forgot my camera and there were no videographers there today, so I have no idea what that might have been. SOOOO atypical of Tika in a gamble.  Sigh.

Day Summary

Both dogs will be in Steeplechase Round 2 first thing tomorrow morning--that doesn't happen often.

Can't complain about many very nice things that Boost did today, with Qs in Pairs, Standard, and Steeplechase--although, really, I wanted a Q in Jumpers and a Snooker Super-Q. :-( Trying not to be greedy, but 3 jumpers and 2 Super-Qs are all that continue to stand between us and our championship.

Tika didn't win all day, but mostly got beaten by different dogs, so it's not like she's getting beaten up by anyone in particular. And it was great to see her really excited and running through her contacts in the morning.

Musings Upon Top Ten Standings

Through continuing inexplicable Snooker happenings with Tika, we remain unable to even buy Top Ten points and continue to not show up even on the Top 25 list.  So much for being #4 in the country last year.

Some comparisons:

	Our points this year before today	Our points at this time last year	Our current placement	Placemt last yr at this time	Ended year at
Gamblers	41	26	3rd	11th	46 pts/ 6th
Jumpers	33	38	2nd	4th	63 pts/ 4th
Snooker	11	30	below 25th	5th	42 pts/ 4th
Standard	19	27	13th	12th	48 pts/ 5th

I'm not sure what it all means. I don't know why Tika seems to be racking up the 0- and 1-point Snooker runs this year. I don't believe that (mostly) I'm doing anything weird or stupid. In the last two years, it has taken 30-31 points to be in the Top Ten, and I'm only planning on 3 more USDAAs this year--if entries run about what they've been running, and even if we won all 3 (unlikely), we'd have maybe 15 more points and still be way out of the running. Funny.

In Gamblers this year, so far we're doing much better, also for no apparent reason (oh, well, until today). Last two years, it has taken 30 or 37 pts to be in the top ten--I'm guessing we're probably safely in there for this year even if we don't get any more gambles, although that would be embarrassing.

In Jumpers, it has taken fewer than 30 points to be in the Top Ten in the last 2 years, so when you add our current 33 to today's 3 more, I'm guessing that we're also probably safely in there as well.

For Standard, funny that our points are very different from last year but our placement's about the same. It has taken 34-36 points in the last 2 years to be in the Top Ten, and we are still a long way away from that--although last year at this time the #10 dog had 28 points, and this year the #10 dog has only 20. So maybe the numbers required will be lower this year.

It's USDAA Time Again, Boys and Girls

SUMMARY: Another weekend of fun in the sun.

I am feeling more optimistic about the weekend than I have in a long time. A mere two weeks of Boost running nicely in class has probably raised my hopes beyond what I can rationally expect, but at least I'm not dreading our time in the ring like I so often do lately on Friday evenings.

Other than working on nose-touches to targets, the only other thing I've done with Boost this week is to run her full speed in a circle, sending her ahead of me. Just two curved tunnels at either end of the yard, with two jumps on one side of the yard and two on the other--not in direct straight lines, and not perfectly straight, but enough so that it's possible to just keep going comfortably in a loop...tunnel jump jump tunnel jump jump and la la la like that.

Did that four days this week with her, twice each day, each about 2 to 4 times around the loop, fast as we can go. She'd been turning back at the one difficult tunnel entry several times, but fewer and fewer with each repetition. And today she didn't knock any bars, either!

Sooooo, welllllll, we'lll seeeeeeee...

It should be a quick weekend-- the usual 6 classes on Saturday (in 2 rings), but only 4 on Sunday (plus Steeplechase Round 2). They're expecting to be done by 1:00 or so. Wouldn't that be nice, to be home and still have the afternoon free?! Oh, I hope I hope I hope! I *so* did not enter the extra fun match run that they added for Sunday afternoon.

Possible titles:

• Boost needs 2 Standards for her Standard Ch Bronze (15 total)--same 2 she's needed for ages. Two chances this weekend. How'd we get 13 and can't get any further? .....
  ...Oh, I can tell you how. Looking backwards, in reverse chronological order: 6 NQs, 2 Qs, 9 NQs, 1 Q, 11 NQs, 1 Q,  17 NQs, 1 Q...[stops there]   Hmm, that's painful, but could it be that we're getting better?
• Tika needs 1 Snooker for her Snooker Ch Silver (25 total). Only one chance this weekend. We haven't been doing as well in Snooker this year--IN 2010, Qed 15 of 25 (60%), 8 (32%) of which were SuperQs; 9 of 16 (56%) this year, but only 3 (19%) were SuperQs.
• Tika needs 1 Jumpers for her Jumpers Ch Silver (25). Two chances.

Hope you're all having a lovely saturday, sleeping in, enjoying the 90+ degree heat or hurricane [choose your favorite weather extremity], and lounging with your furbeasts, while I'm out at 5 in the morning, alongside the cool coast, running my dogs and through the magic of Blogger posting this while I'm miles and hours away from my computer.