May 19, 2001
AKC - The Grange
Ut oh, Joyce is slipping. No Beanhead email on Saturday or on Sunday. Must it
be a quiet weekend? Nope, Joyce was just waiting for the rain to hit. There is
nothing like writing or reading email with a cup of coffee next to you and
sporting your favorite �wooly� jacket pullover. It is also nice if Joyce is
able to keep her eyes open when writing. You think her spelling is bad now, you
should see it then.
Elaine, Susie, and I headed out for yet another agility trial. Susie invited us
to stay in her motor home for Saturday night and I decided to take her up on the
offer. (Thank you Susie, as it is always fun to share the bed with three of my
favorite Corgis�..out of twenty.)
The weekend was long, the days even more so, and probably this email. Sorry,
but at least you guys get the short edition. : 0
In the order that I ran them��..
Saturday
Novice Jumpers
Harry
Harry was screaming through the course and I have to say that for the first time
really, Harry and I were connected. Not having either Fred or Harry living with
or me working with them other then at trials, building team spirit has been
difficult. This new attitude is what I have been waiting for because now I
could start to demand more.
Since this was the Jumpers course�and you all know how much I love Jumpers, I
let Harry gooooooooooo. He did run around a jump and then back jumped it and
after one try he did the weave poles. There was no way I could even think about
keeping up with him so I �gambled� a lot with huge distances.
I
have to say that if someone says that their �novice� dog is teaching them
nothing, they are not listening. Handling Harry has made me braver with Crumpet
and more trusting. I have learned a lot.
NQ
Excellent A Standard
Crumpet
This was a wacky course. Tight as all get out in the beginning and open at the
end. It made no rhyme or reason, but while walking the course, it flowed. The
one draw back? A yummy tunnel under the DW coming from the Table.
Here we go.
Just as I get to the Line, I hear a voice say that the only way for me to get my
lead back is for us to Q. I look up and there is Maureen (the girl I had the
�four jump led out� contest with last fall.) with a huge group of people sitting
ringside.
�Funny,� I replied. �If we Q we get the AX and I am going to the Bar
afterward.� It got quiet for a second while the peanut gallery digested that I
have come into the ring with pressure already.
�You Q, you get the �wave�,� Maureen yelled back. The small crowd grabbed the
arms of their chairs to show me they were ready.
Time to be serious and Crumpie and I go. Crumpie was hauling, but not as fast
as he normally does. He was being calculated with everything and that is fine
by me (we still came in 20 seconds under course time)
He gets the weave pole entry and gets on the Table. No barking.
I walk out halfway to the DW and call �walk�. He is committed to the DW and I
start to move. At the last foot placement, the dork goes into the tunnel. The
crowd goes �ooooooooooh�. Crumpie comes out of the tunnel with the �oops� look
on his face. He is very serious. I pray to God and call �walk�. He does it.
(We are allowed one off course).
Just as I give my marker word of �yes� I hear the judge right behind me do the
exact same thing. My heart swelled because I knew the judge was behind us.
Crumpie gets the DW contact. Left jump, go jump, left��.I hear the falling PVC.
We finish off the rest of the course in new style. I handled Crumpie from a
good thirty feet away and he carefully kept the poles all up.
Perfect run, one knocked bar.
Yet another NQ.
No wave, but I did get my lead back.
**sigh**
Excellent A Jumpers
Crumpie
My, my, my, my, my. Typical AKC course. Tight, twisty, and dumb. I was
petrified of getting lost. Crumpie handled like a dream and did some get "outs
and heres" without taking the jump in front of me. He got a severe weave angle
without a refusal, but had dropped the bar right before it.
NQ
Novice Standard
Fred
Fred. I love Fred.
I
love him despite the fact that he took out the first three jumps and had to play
games on the Table and refused the Tire. (because dumb handler Auntie Joyce
forgot which dog she had and did not call a �tire� command.)
The cool thing is that he did keep up the last five jumps. I think part of
Fred�s problem is that not only does he really not know how to jump, but his
excitement keeps him from thinking about jumping. Add in some insecurity in our
team work and we have a problem.
New ideas are floating around in my head�..and I kept Fred and Crumpet
separated. Did not want Crumpie telling Fred about how determined I get.
NQ
Now even the new people love Fred.
Novice Standard
Harry:
I
had made the serious decision that if Harry jumped off of the Tip, I was ending
the game. The Tip was one of the last obstacles on the course so I would not
feel bad about Harry waiting all day long just to be pulled off the course.
We go. He knocks the second jump and jumps the Frame contact. Hum. We haul
around to the Table where it took me forever to get him to down. (My mistake, I
said �good job� and Harry jumped off the table. Nope. He jumped back on and
went right into a down.) On to the DW. While Harry is hauling along the DW
something Susie said to me popped into my head. She said she makes him wait at
the bottom. Okie Fadokie, but I do not want him to wait, just get the
contact.) I call out an �easy� and that spurs Harry on. He jumps the DW down
ramp all together. How a Corgi can do this is baffling to me, but he did it.
�Lay down,� the words are out of my mouth before I can even think about what I
have just said. I cannot use down as a �punishment�, but without thinking, I
gave him Crumpie�s bad doggie command. I have to enforce the easy command so
off the course we go.
Poor Harry, no Tip jumping off for him.
NQ
Salmon Dinner, Good Wine, Good Company, and Dog Pile on the beeeeeeed.
Sunday
I
walk Crumpie out to the tent only to find that it is gone. To add some humor to
the Event Table, I ask if anyone has turned in a lost tent.
Hee hee hee hee hee
Found it on the other side of the field wedged under a short tree with a rip in
the roof. You would think that I normally stake the darn thing down, that I
would do it this time around too. It does not take two mistakes to �learn the
littl� Lady�. It gets staked always�.and the rip can and will be fixed.
Hooray
Excellent A, Standard
Crumpie
One look at this course and oh no comes to mind. In short, another tunnel under
the DW, but with a little more room.
We go. I had to do a two jump led out because of a handler restriction and as I
see Crumpie go over the third jump, I hear the crowd gasp.
�NNNNNOOOOOOO!�
I silently screamed. �I had the downed bar planned elsewhere on the course.�
Tunnel, two horseshoe jumps back over the Frame. At this point I have a view of
those four jumps. They are all up. That was fast. We continue on and Crumpie
does the DW without looking at the tunnel and gets the contact. Does the table
without barking and gets another �left� weave entry. It is during a messy
�because I planned it that way� part, that Crumpie drops a bar. I watched as it
gracefully falls. Yeaaaaa for me, I got to watch the NQ in slow motion. I am
the Captain of Team Bean for a reason�..
The rest of the course is perfect. As we come out of the ring, there is a crowd
standing there. They asked me if I saw the Afghan Hound that came into the ring
just as we started. �Nope,� I replied. �Neither did your dog.� They laugh.
So the crowd was not gasping at the supposed knocked bar, they were gasping
because Crumpie was being hunted down by a big dog in the ring.
What is going on? Rottweilers, small kids, and Afghan Hound, Oh my. This is
not the yellow brick road year.
If anything, Crumpie�s run this weekend brought people out of the woodwork for
me. Got to meet more people from Elite B�the same ones that half the time do
not give you the time of day because you are Piddly A.
Whatever.
NQ, like you were surprised?
Novice Jumpers
Harry
Hum. We were back to Harry playing some games. The good thing was that he did
listen to every command�..except for the weave poles. When we got through I
heard the judge clap.
The thing that I am really pleased with is that Harry is listening and the team
is forming. You have no idea of what a relief that is�especially at Mach 17.
NQ
Excellent A Jumpers
Crumpie
The course was plainly dreadful. The good thing is that Crumpie did a RIGHT
weave with a yummy tunnel right in his path and did a yummy tunnel call off at
the end of the poles. He did drop a bar, but he ran with perfection.
The thing that was scary was that I heard Crumpie �ticking� about six bars. I
was shocked to find only one F on his run sheet. (One bar) He kept them all up.
NQ
Am I tired at this point? Yes, is an under statement.
Novice Standard
Crumpet
Fred, everyone loves Fred. He dropped the double jump and decided hearing
Crumpie barking outside of the ring was more interesting while on the Table.
I
love Fred.
NQ
Novice Standard
Harry
We haul around, only to knock a bar. We go this one part with a tunnel�.and
are you ready? Harry ran RIGHT PAST IT. Let me grab my heart and drop now. A
Corgi that missed a tunnel.
The funniest part�..Laura it was just like my joke about �Snow Frisbee� with
Crumpie in deep snow. All I could see of Harry because he was on the other side
of the tunnel, was his ears. And they moved too. It really does happen!!!!!.
If I was not as focused as I was, I would have died laughing.
Anyway we get to the Tip and the most amazing thing happens. Harry stayed on.
He got the biggest �yes� and we went on to the Table. He was so pleased with
himself that he wore the biggest Harry smilie face during the count of five.
Good Job and of to the DW.
Are you guys ready for the second heart attack?
Harry slowed down for the contact and got it! �Yes!� and he got to finish off
the last two jumps. To say that Harry was pleased with himself was also an
understatement. I have never seen such a happier dog in my life.
NQ
So, with all of this typed, it was another weekend of an empty Ribbon Clothes
Line. Kind of bumming, but in all honesty, I am very pleased with everyone�s
runs. Crumpie only NQed on dropped bars alone. Harry got the Tip and the DW
contact in ONE course, and Fred was loved by everyone.
That is my kind of weekend�so much so that I am looking forward to the three day
weekend where we have three days of showing. Plus, my mom & dad, my older
sister, and possibly my aunt all might come to watch their four legged relative
run his heart out. Maybe the family being there will make him keep the bars up.
For those who know���.
Elaine and Nannie-poo had NQs too, but their runs were really good. Elaine
really did a great job on the Excellent courses.
Susie and Beamer made it around one course, but there is still time and
seasoning. It was not Susie�s fault either, as her handling was dead on too.
You cannot help playing with the Rubber Band of the Team.
Dolores and Treffie NQed too. Treffie can now knock bars. (That tells you how
tight some of these courses were.)
Now you can understand why my adventures of the weekend are going out on Monday
night. I got home and could not stand up straight. You know it is bad when the
love seat in the living room offers comfort.
Hope you all had a great weekend. You know that we all did!
Still tuckered out Joyce
and
still passed out Crumpie
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Last Updated on April 21, 2007
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