Previously Wags for Wishes, held last year at Rawhide, Paws for a Wish was held at PERA Club in Tempe. I forgot my page with the ring schedule (the order that things happen in each ring) and there were three rings, so I checked what was happening in each ring. I was wearing my new Vibram Five Fingers; the grass was wet and it was cold, and I wondered if I should have worn socks--but then they would be wet, so maybe not.
Teka ran in Open FAST. We have been working really hard on her "out" but I know it's still hard for her. I took her over a jump, into a tunnel, through the tire, leading into the send bonus area starting with a jump, to the A-frame, then to a jump, all at a 10 foot distance from me. As she came down the A-frame, she started coming towards me; I tried to keep her focused out, but she came into me. I was able to get her over the out jump on the third try, but I did get a fault. I ran her through the rest of my planned course; she missed one jump, but otherwise did very well.
Cassi ran Excellent Jumpers with Weaves and was just spazzy and unfocused. She started out okay, but after a few jumps, she did a spin before jumping, was sniffing, popped out of her weaves, and then, when she was nearly done, she ran off toward the entrance. It was disappointing, but I guess she had fun.
Excellent FAST was running a little weird since Excellent JWW and Excellent Standard were running. My husband and I had a breakdown in communication and he missed our run. Cassi did really well, even doing her 15 foot distance four obstacle send bonus. The judge even commented on our "perfect timing" as we hit the last jump as the buzzer sounded.
I was nervous about Cassi's Excellent Standard run since she would have to do the tire twice. The tire was not her issue; she was sniffing the ground and completely distracted. She started okay but got an early refusal, then went back onto the teeter when we were going to the table, then jumped back over the jump she just did instead of wrapping it. On the other side of the A-frame, she completely lost her focus and made her own course, even going around the finish jump.
Teka's Open JWW course was similar to Cassi's until more than halfway through. I had to cheer over every jump. She missed her weave entry but I was able to get her through. Near the end, she picked up speed and energy. The judge clapped for us, but I later found that we did not get a Q. I should re-read the rules, but I think she was just too slow.
Her last run was Open Standard. She needed even more encouragement to start. When she went over the jump to the tunnel, she wasn't paying any attention to me at all and went into the wrong end. I sent her back in; when she came out, she would NOT do the weaves. I ran her past and kept going. She did everything, but just wasn't into it. I got a clap from the judge at the end, I think just that he was glad to see she did it, although she couldn't Q without the weaves.
I was really disappointed that she did not get any Qs. I was disappointed that neither of them were really playing on the same team with me, except for Cassi's FAST run. For some reason--the judge didn't review the results after the class closed--that was the only run I had that didn't have the results posted when we left several hours later. I was really disappointed that I did not get confirmation that we got our Q, so I did not get a ribbon, I have no photo, and I have no video.
The highlight of the day was actually not agility related. We decided to take Teka to the lure course, and she went insane. She loved it. She went nuts for that little "mouse" on the pulley. We actually had trouble catching her--she jumped over the fence, through the fence, around the fence--she was just crazy for that "mouse." It was the best $7 we spent all day! If she could run next to another dog, I would LOVE to run her in lure courses. I'll have to just keep an eye for this type of event for her.
I'm pretty certain that I'm going to retire her from agility, I was thinking when I retire Cassi, but I'm thinking this might be her last season either way. She's so great at it when we aren't at trials, so it's so disheartening that she doesn't really seem to like it most of the time in public. And she's SO fun when she does like it. *sigh* I'm considering retiring Cassi too as the times may be too short for her in Excellent, but I think she likes it, and several people have asked me about dropping her to Preferred heights, which would mean starting over at Novice, so I have more to consider before the fall.
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