Mr. Super Q & such...

Triumph earned his very first Snooker Super Q last night...I love snooker and LOVE to run Burn in that game...he's a great snooker dog...I usually go for all 7s with Burn but decided to be a little more conservative with Triumph as I wanted him to have a successful run and still qualify...I wasn't even considering a SQ or even placing so I planned a course that "flowed" but was an easy 4, 5, and two 7s...he still ended up with the Super Q and a 2nd placement in an unusually large 26" class...

It helps when you never have to worry about a bar coming down...Snooker hasn't been the most fun or easy game for me and Triumph mostly because I worry about his jumping - taking a bar or crashing a jump...but last night I felt more comfortable and I think Triumph did too...





Mr. Handsome - Labor Day morning in the yard holding his favorite ball...

So I didn’t accomplish all the goals I set for myself this weekend – neither of my boys qualified in Grand Prix or Steeplechase and not for lack of trying…Burn displaced the break-away tire which I can’t remember him ever doing and then he took a bar at the end of the run but it was the back side of a jump and I really haven’t practiced that with my dogs very much…but then in Steeplechase he completely blew his aframe contact and then cut across my path and took an off course jump…bad dog J

Triumph had a nice Grand Prix run going but did not take the back side of that back-side jump and took the side I presented – good boy J - he had a nice Steeplechase run but cut through the broad jump and I didn’t fix it – bad handler!  I really need to train the broad jump especially considering how HUGE it is for the 26” dogs!

But most importantly, Triumph’s jumping at 26” was so very nice – his take offs were appropriate, he did not over jump, and he only took two bars one of which was on a bounce and the other was that giant triple jump they had that was going into an empty dark corner of the ring.

I went in to this weekend really okay with the thought of moving him to Performance 22” had he had any major jumping issues…I struggled with that and actually agonized over it for some time…but I came to realize that it would make absolutely no difference to Triumph whether he ran in Championship or Performance…he would get to play and run for me and that is all that would matter to him…I was very pleased with his jumping efforts this weekend and I now have more confidence with the idea of continuing to run him in the 26” Championship classes for this upcoming season…

I continue to remind myself of how fortunate I am that all of my dogs are happy and healthy…every time I trial, I think of my good friend Neta and her fabulous dog Toast that she lost so tragically not that long ago…not only is she my friend, but she is one of the agility people I have known for many many years and I truly admire for many many reasons…doing well in agility with our dogs is really just a bonus...and so are rubberized contacts!