Mocca happy with her win!
Just a few weeks ago my Border Collie Mocca and I *FINALLY* were able to achieve a clean run in our Excellent level of AKC dog agility. I think it took us about 12 trials to get to this first ”Qualify” so we were really excited! The excitement held and this past weekend at another trial we did it AGAIN! Mocca and I had another clean run- again in the Jumpers with Weaves course. It was so exciting and fun: the run was as perfect as it gets – smooth, fast and felt “easy” when we did it. We even ran several seconds under time and again got 1st place in our height! The course was challenging but fun and it seemed perfect for us. I wish they were all like this!
I was so hopeful to get another clean run now in the next course: Standard agility. This course is our weakness. We always have Q’d out of Jumpers quicker than Standard. Mocca just plain & simple enjoys jumps the most so she excels at Jumpers. Standard is more challenging for us. Some dogs it is the other way around. All depends on your dog!
When I walked the course, I got confused a couple times and wound up WALKING IT WRONG TWICE. Once I realized my mistake I was horrified, and this turned into mad worry on my part that I would surely screw up like that when we actually ran the course. So of course….I screwed up. It was inevitable I think – since it was in my head that I didn’t know the course as well as I should. I will say though – it was a TOUGH COURSE. Probably one of the hardest we’ve run. In fact, very few dogs Q’d in this course at all. In particular the last jump-jump-jump-chute sequence at the end of the course threw off a lot of dogs/handlers. Although the jump-jump-jump sequence was run EXACTLY the same earlier in the course, and nobody had issues with it – at the end a chute was thrown in behind the last jump. So handlers were anticipating calling their dog back around the last jump to the chute….and dogs were sensing the anticipation and hitting the chute instead of the last jump! Dog after dog… Thankfully, Mocca and I at least pulled this part off! I mis-que’d Mocca after the A-Frame (due to my earlier walking confusion). In addition, we missed our weave pole entrance, and had tunnel issues. I was trying to do front crosses at the A-Frame & Teeter, and obviously, we need to work on that more. Hopefully we can get better. I was able to get a friend to record this course so please watch below and enjoy. Sorry it’s not the beautiful Jumpers course!
It will be awhile before our next competition, but hopefully we can continue to ride our good vibes in Jumpers, and maybe even get to a clean run in Standard soon, too!
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Congratulations again!
Quick is starting on contact equipment, wish him luck- he’s too big for hoops (NADAC) lol, it’s adorable.
Congratulations on your Q’s. It looked like Mocca was having a lot of fun.
I’m thinking about agility for Ilka also, once she finishes growing. She love to run and jump after a ball in the backyard, and has the funniest “pounce” just like a cat, but I don’t want to start her over jumps too soon. She’s only 8 months old, so there is lots of time. Right now, I have 10 year old Lucky in basic obedience, mainly for social skills. He already knew sit, wait and a few other commands, but he tends to forget everything when he is around other dogs. Ilka will be starting up class again in September most likely.
We have (all 3 of us) started walking again, now that school is back in session. They keep trying to take me for a drag, instead of me taking them for a walk. We have spent quite a bit of time either turning around or standing still. This is, however, the first week back, and we didn’t get a walk in yesterday. Once they get used to the idea of walking almost every day, they will start doing better. I hope.
Thanks guys! Brittany have fun learning contacts – Mocca caught on pretty “quick”. LOL… I love that name! Keep us posted on your progress.
Rosemary – sounds like you have great plans for IIka! I bet she’ll be a great jumper. It’s great of you to keep your older dog active and having fun. Keep us up-to-date, I love hearing about them.