February 17, 2001
USDAA Keystone Agility Club
No Mike, Beanhead's MY Son Today
Yup, it is that time again. Today kicked off the beginning of the 2001 agility season.
Hurray for everyone!
Elaine and I headed out to Norristown for the Keystone USDAA three day trial. Nan and
Crumpie got to hang out together and we got to see the people that we
have not seen since October. The stress that I normally go through
finding crating was not present as this was an indoor show and there was
plenty of space. No tent putting-up for us.
Harry has been out
with a conformation handler and I have not had time to work with him
since last October. (Harry has just recently received his
Championship�hurray for Harry.) Time for the off-lead fun stuff.
We got set up, had an
hour to hang out, and then it was time for us to run.
The venue is USDAA.
This was our first
time out in a while and my expectations from Crumpie were low.; I will
admit, there weren't any at all. I figured that "Beanhead" would be the
battle cry all the way home, so I walked the two courses with this in
mind.
Saturday
Advanced Gamblers
Crumpet
I wish I could say
that I found some kind of flow to the Opening sequence, something I desperately need.
I have a hard time with courses that I have to plan because I like things numbered.
Since I have to plan my own course, I have learned a simple trick. Find the mini-course �Standard� and run it.
For this opening sequence, I came up with the best idea I could and
went with it.
I wanted to skip the DogWalk and that left me with an Opening that I did not like.
I wanted to avoid the DW because I noticed that the first time over it each day;
Crumpie will get the contact. Every time afterward we try out for the Corgi Air Force.
The other thing that I really did not want to do was to have the second obstacle as the weave poles.
Crumpie and I have been to a few classes, but not as many as I would have liked.
I knew that by making him perform an obstacle that was slower it might throw my little buddy over the mental edge.
I planned it anyway with the idea that if there was a problem at the poles and Crumpie popped out,
I was going to move on.
The closing, or
Gamble, was a backward "S". Send dog over a jump, right, over, left,
tunnel, back over the second jump, right, table. In my opinion, this
one was difficult because the "get out" to the tunnel was a good 30 feet
and there was a ghost jump to avoid.
It was our turn and we go. Crumpie slams into the poles and flies through them with no problems.
We haul around my little made up course with no problems (only one bar down for no points).
I am really surprised because I was expecting an unfocused doggie.
The whistle blows while I am two jumps out and we get into position, first jump, right, over, left����and
I learned that when the dog is heading to the tunnel, do not call out "tunnel".
Sounded good to me because I wanted to re-enforce the tunnel, but Crumpie got himself upset and became Velcro Dog.
He came back to me and blinked. Okie
Fadokie "GET OUT". Crumpie promptly gets out and does that ghost jump.
Haul butt to the table to stop the clock.
NQ, believe it or not.
1st place.
Advanced Standard
Crumpet
I got to thinking about it and realized that Crumpie and I have been hitting all
of these USDAA trials and we have not Qed since February of last year.
Hum. We have a leg in all the Advanced games classes, run in Masters Pairs, and not one leg in Standard.
What made me thin
k that today was going to be any different?
The course had a "smooshed and twisty" beginning with a lot of jumps and tunnels.
After we got through that it was time for the DW.
So far all the bars are up. Crumpie is not happy about the DW.
The look on his face as he is hauling is comical, but he GETS the contact and starts to bark.
The barking is his way of telling me that he was not happy about the control he feels I have been demanding lately.
Bark, bark, bark over the next jump and bark making a left to the table.
Bark on the table, but he is totally shocked that I say "Good job".
I meant "good job" for the DW contact...call it delayed praise. Not kidding,
I took the barking out of his little sails because he actually shut up.
We go on, circle around to the Frame, get that contact.
Now all that is left over is the Weave poles and a slightly offset jump.
I cut the angle too much on the pole entry and Crumpie ran right by them.
I called him back and once again, Crumpie slammed through the poles and sailed over the last jump.
All bars still up and all contacts made. Did we make the tight course time or did we
get called for the "lag to the table"???????
Yup, we made course time and No, we did not get called for the lag to the Table.
For once we Qed!!!!!!!!
Our first leg and a 1st place.
Time to go home and to have a very yummy steak meal that Mikie made for me.
(There you go Dave and Hugh....I made a Mike reference.) : )
Fear not, there are another two emails coming. Tomorrow yields three runs, one in Master Pairs, one in the "Grand Prix", and the third in my favorite�Jumpers. Monday yields another Standard run and one Snooker run (my personal favorite...NOT).
Hope everyone enjoyed this cold afternoon. You know we have.
Joyce, the Surprised Captain of Team Beanhead.
Today He Is Your Son, Mike
Today was one of those days were Crumpie was both My son and Mike�s.
I left the agility site with the feeling that our day was a minor bust for Qs,
but major for something that happened, basically first thing in the morning.
It was a good thing
that when I went to buy a new knee brace that I also bought a screaming
yellow thermos for coffee. Seriously. Elaine and I packed up the car
once again and headed out.
Sunday
Masters Pairs (Relay)
Crumpet
I think I need to change the way I look at agility.
I forget how competitive the upper level people can be.
I suddenly have this thought when we get to the trial this morning.
This was the first time Crumpie and I were going to run in anything Masters for USDAA and of course
it would have to be with an unknown teammate.
Not knowing anyone with a �mini� dog�.and Treffie the Corgi still running in Advanced,
I put �draw� on the entry form. And drew they did. I hoped that the person they teamed me
up with would not be focused in on the 1st place Q. Last thing I need is stress. : )
My teammate is a woman I recognize as one of the Mahas.
I have seen her around, but thought that it would be awesome to have some �stress� for competition reasons
and I lumped her into the category as �Minor Mahas�.
I meet up with her to walk the course. That is when she says that Miss Penelope,
the Jack Russell Terrier had major issues with the
Frame. Ok, I can handle that end of the course. She also warns me that Penelope has developed issues with the
DogWalk and people. We both look over to where the DW is and realize that it is
located close to the wall and people are lined up along it. Okie Fadokie.
I am really easy to get along with and I understand the importance of getting a dog back on track.
(Long story but Penelope had developed these problems when she had been �attacked� by two
loose dogs twice last year while on course.) My response? You get the dog to do the DW and no
matter what we do (Q or NQ) we will call that the �personal Q� for the team.
The good thing is that while waiting for our turn, Penelope wants to meet Crumpie and
then wants to meet me. Hooray for Penelope. Crumpie of course has to bark while he is
watching SOMEONE on HIS course.
Bark, bark, bark. We go.
Penelope hauls her LITTLE, tiny JRT butt around the course
and DOES the DW. She never looked like she had a problem at all.
Mommy hands me over the baton and Crumpie and I are off.
He flies over the first jump and hits the Tip. Hooray.
Over the next jump and I see him step to the right.
I call him off and he heads to the correct jump, second guesses himself and starts
to head to that �right� jump. I call him off a second time and we incur a five-point penalty.
We get back on track and haul around the rest of the course.
Off for snacks back at the crate. A few minutes later, Jeanette finds me
and we hug for the DW that Penelope did and for both of ours runs.
I am talking with another friend about 20 minutes later and Jeanette comes
up and announces that there is good news and bad news. I respond that the good news
is that we have a personal Q, the Bad news is that we have no real Q.
No, she says, we Qed
and she thought it was a second place. There was no bad news�just her
sense of humor. In the meantime, the other woman I talk to realizes
that Jeanette was my Pairs Partner and goes white. Off Jeanette goes and
Nancy then asks me if I know who she is. Nope, I respond. Nancy
laughs. Seems that Jeanette is not a Minor Maha, but a MAJOR one. One
a few people around us heard, the laughing started and I felt my fingers
go cold.
Q and a 2nd place.
Since when do the Maha have 12� dogs????????????
Grand Prix Regional Qualifying
Crumpet
Issues, issues, issues. We have two of them and they come in the form of two
other Corgis that are allowed to bark while waiting outside of the ring.
I know that if either of these dogs is anywhere near me in line,
Crumpie goes bonkers and the run is lost way before it even starts.
Today was no exception.
The Grand Prix was open to all dogs, regardless of title level.
It is a Standard course without the table, so the dogs in question were entered.
Crumpie and I head to the line and he is already barking.
I lose my focus and we make it to the third obstacle before the first off-course happens.
No Q for the Nationals for us. We make it to the 10th obstacle (the poles)
when we get whistled off the course.
E is for Elimination.
Betsy and Jenny arrived just in time to watch Crumpie haul his butt around the Jumpers course.
I was glad that they could make it. The other thing that was neat about this was that having
Betsy ringside has always made Crumpie too full of himself. Have to show Mommy Betsy how cute
I look doing my job�.. Jenny helped to raise Crumpie so I had the double factor going on.
Advanced Jumpers
Crumpet
As I am walking the course, I am seeing bars fall.
Honest to god, this course was beyond twisty and I do not think I can even describe it.
Crumpie was super focused and came flying off the line.
The second bar went down because Beanhead me called the �left� while Crumpet was in the
air and well, he turned left�..dropping his back left leg a bit and along with it the bar.
Hey, it is only a bar. Crumpie, I think, sensed my disappointment through my body language
and really tried his heart out. If you want to talk about being in the zone, we were.
I do not think that he could have given me a better performance then what he did. He kept up the
triple with me doing a cross behind and kept up the double the two times a he had to go over it.
I even got in a blind cross (that is the cross where you turn your back to the dog, put out your hand,
and hope to god that the dog follows it).
NQ and 2nd place.
(The other dog that ran got a Q and the other two were absent.)
That�s ok because if we had to reserve today�s Q for Master Pairs, then that is what we will take.
I was glad to have Betsy and Jenny see Crumpie work.
Jumpers is our course and what seemed like a slow run actually turned out to be really fast.
They got to see Mr. Beanhead in action with only one dropped bar.
Tomorrow yields two more runs�.Standard and Snooker. I am hoping that with us not having to the
DogWalk at all today (we got whistled off before that obstacle today),
Crumpie might be willing to keep it together.
I learned two things from Karen and Mozart (the Papillion) this weekend.
The first one is that when you cannot get your dog out to the tunnel during the Gambler� course,
use the �little kid� bowling hand signal. No joke, it works. Both Dolores and I were VERY
impressed that Karen did this and that Mr. Mozt �got out� and did the tunnel.
The second thing I learned�..when your four legged kid is a city dog and NEEDS a fire hydrant,
not horse farm smells, find the Flaming Orange barrier between the two buildings.
Well, that was my day. Hope you all had a great day. : ) You know that Beanhead did.
Joyce, I got whistled off the course with WHO?
He Might Just Be Our Son, Mike
Day Three and the final one.
Monday
I had to laugh because as I was getting ready to get going,
Crumpie watched every one of my moves. When the jogging pants were put on
there was this glimmer of hope that went across his face, but he was still unsure.
It was not until I made the phone call to Elaine to let her know that I was awake, that
Crumpie realized that to his good fortune, yes there was another day of agility.
Poor Trooper, he was dive-bombed while hanging out in the middle of the living room.
Actually, the noise the cat made was unnatural, but I knew that when I heard him hit
the arm of the couch and Crumpie returned with a smiley face, that the message was clear.
�Hurray for my little doggie ME!!!!!!�
Off we go��..
Monday
Advanced Standard
Crumpet
I really liked this course and I thought if anything, we would have an awesome run.
The two parts that I thought I would have problems with were the entry to the poles,
which was at a bizarre angle and a �trap� box right after the table.
I thought that there might be a third place��a double tunnel combo, with the
second being four feet to the outside of the DW. I was going to remedy this with making
it as CLEAR as possible that the tunnel was it.
We go. Crumpie handles the weave entry like a pro and we haul around.
He gets the DW contact. We head to the trap box and I have to call him back to the Tip,
but he is in control of himself. Bars are still up and into the first tunnel.
I am in position, stretched out, hand signal clear as DAYLIGHT. As he comes out of the one tunnel, I call tunnel.
Simple, right? Aaaaah. No. Mr. Beanhead here thinks that I cannot possibly mean Tunnel,
I have to mean that thing that mom is stretched out in front of. He runs behind me and
puts two paws onto the DW. Off course. Just as gently as he did this, he moved each paw
off, turned, and headed into the tunnel.
We continue and what do we not do????? Jump the contacts OR drop a bar.
No, we NQed because of an OFF COURSE in the stupidest of fashions.
NQ and a 1st place.
(We were the only one of three 12� to get a ribbon.)
Advanced Snooker
Crumpet
Ohhhh my favorite. Not really. This is that course with the three
"red� jumps that you have to alternate on. I admit it, I am getting better at this,
but this is NOT my forte. I walk the course with knocked bars in mind. I have the plan,
the back up plan, and the back-back up plan. What do I actually do? The plan I had not thought of.
I realize that it would be worth the risk to do two sets of poles and
then run across the ring for two tunnels�..make it across the ring a second
time for the start of the Closing Sequence. I also realize that this plan is much better
I Crumpie drops on of the Red jumps.
We go. Over the first red, miss the pole entry. Get the poles and head to the second red.
It stays up and we head back to the poles. We get that and �snooker� it across the ring to the third red.
Hooray, it is up. Crumpie does two tunnels in combination and I lose it. Is there another obstacle or is
it the closing? Golly geez, I have lost myself.
While Crumpie is still in the second tunnel,
I am going over the entire course in my head. I think it is the time for the Closing.
There is only one way to find out�..we head towards the first jump. I wait to hear a whistle�..and nothing.
Left, Tire, double tunnel, Frame, Left, Weave�..Crumpie is in the tenth pole of twelve (6points) when the whistle blows.
We haul to the finish line to stop time.
NQ and 1st place.
(Sadder still, if we had completed those last two poles before the whistle�.we would have had a Q. Ce la vi.)
Elaine and I had an awesome weekend.
Crumpie got his two Qs in Masters Pairs and in Advanced Standard.
Nan got two Qs in Advanced Standard and Advanced Jumpers. She was also one of the few dogs to make it around the entire Grand Prix course.
Dolores had her two guys, Treffie and Shane entered, but nobody Qed in their runs.
Karen and Mr. Mozart had some great runs, but Mozt decided that it was not his weekend to run fast. I cannot remember if they Qed. : ( (Karen, you did a great job with the handling!!!!!!!)
Well, guys, hope you all had a weekend like we did.
Joyce, the Captain of the Jigglypuff-like Team Beanhead.
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Last Updated on April 21, 2007
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