April 25, 1998
Keystone Agility Club of Norristown
Crumpet's Second Run
First Qualify
I hope you all had time to read this one!!!!!!
I guess by now, everyone receiving this email knows that the Crump guy and I performed in our second trial and that the C Man
got his first �leg� out of three for his first level agility title. If you did no know, read the above line.
Not only did we get our first �leg�, but took Third Place in our height division. The below is the full,
blown out recantation of Saturday morning.
Susie Ellis ( a woman that I train with and breeds Corgis under the Datelis Kennel Prefix ) and I drove to the trial.
Susie felt that her Corgi, Ethyl ( Ch Datelis High Octane ), was not feeling well ( and two days later still is not -
Ethyl passed away a short time later to Spleen complications ) and decided to pull her from the day�s events.
Crump dude and I were to run second instead of third because of Ethyl�s being pulled, but had the 8� class of nine in
front of us. There really was no time to get nervous, as soon as I got to the ring it was basically our turn.
This is a sport that moves pretty quickly.
The Course:
Two jumps, ( Traps � Tunnel, Dogwalk, and correct course of A Frame ) the A Frame, the Chute ( right turning,
the Tire Jump, the Teeter Totter, the Pause Table, (right turning, the Doggie Walk, ( right turning with the above
�Traps�) the Tunnel, Three Jumps and��over the Finish Line.
Does everyone have the vision on this one? I considered this course easy since all of it could be run with
the doggie on the left. The last three jumps could �crossed-over� ( Rear Cross ) and the four legged runner
could end up on the right. Originally I elected to keep Crump on the left, but��I am jumping ahead of myself.
The course started out well. We got the two Jumps done, but Crump being Crump, decided that the Tunnel was better
then the A Frame. Called him back and he was back on course. We did the A Frame, the Chute, and then the missed
the Tire Jump. Called him back again and he went through.
On the Teeter Totter or See Saw, I saw the impending �fly off�, that is, the doggie not waiting for the end to
come to the ground. The wonderful command of �W�.A�I�..T!!!!!� came out of my mouth, conjured up from the deep
pit of all training logic, and the funniest thing happened. Ever see the cartoon where the character slams on the
brakes and flames and smoke comes from under his feet? Well, that was Crumpet. Came to a dead stop in the mist of
a full tilt run. The See Saw came to a pleasant drop and we were off to the table.
The Table. Hum. In this test, the �Down� was the required position. ( In some trials �sit� is substituted. )
As Mom and Julie know, two weeks ago, I used a technique inspired by a story recanted by Julie�s mom. Crumpie
learned the Down in less then ten minutes and seems to have gotten the general idea. Now was going to be the true
test. The Little Man was traveling so fast that he jumped on the Table and went flying off the other end. Back on
to the Table and da da da�.did it! The Judge started her five second count. I do not know about you guys, but
those five seconds, plus the time for a two syllable �G�O� is incredibility long. You could read a five hundred
paged book in the time the Judge counts. Done and we were off to the Doggie Walk.
Over the Doggie Walk ( roughly twelve feet long and four feet off the ground with a level surface and two ramps ),
through the second �Trap�, the Tunnel and then on to the three Jumps.
Crumpie came flying out of the Tunnel and was over the first Jump just as I was getting to it. My early decision
to remain on his right flew out of the Tunnel with Crumpie and I found myself performing the cross over ( Rear Cross )
and yelling the commands for the next two jumps while running to catch up. Julie would have been proud to see that her
drilling the cross-overs ( Front and Rear Crosses ) into our heads paid off because the whole set was beautifully executed.
The whole thing was done before it started. As I bent down to hug my youngest four legged son, I thought that we had
failed. I thought that Crumpie�s running the Tunnel when he should have gone to the A Frame was considered a Refusal,
which you are allowed only two. The missed Tire and over-shot of the Table were two refusals. Still, I was incredibly
proud that Crumpie had done all the obstacles and that despite the mistakes, had remained focused and had fun. I walked
out of the ring with a smile, a swelled chest, and tears in my eyes for his love of the adventure.
After a few more dogs had their run, I went over to check to make sure that my limited knowledge of the judging system
was correct. There was no point in sticking around if we did not qualify and we were going leave. I found the desk
and asked the nice dude in the chair if we qualified. He responded that we had qualified and we were currently in Third
Place. I asked him to do me a favor and check that again. It would seem that the Tunnel run through was considered a
�wrong course� and that meant points off, not a Refusal.
Three hours later, with a lot of waiting around and talking to new people with cool training ideas, the awards were
announced. Out of 100 points, Crumpie had a score of 95. I do not remember his time. Out of ten or so doggies, we
were number three for the 12� class.
Just for extra information, twenty miles away, at the same time, the Raven the Rottweiler that I co-own with Betsy,
took Reserve Winners in the Conformation Ring at Fort Washington with some stiff competition. Not bad for her fifth
or so show and not being fully developed! Sunday, she repeated her first place win in the American-Bred class, but
did not go anything further.
So that was our weekend. How was yours?
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Last Updated on April 19, 2008
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