Not a good way to start off the year but I may have had such a bad day because of lack of sleep and psyching myself out while I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. Not good. I only chose to do one day of this trial as I wasn't sure what the crating space would be like and how the weather conditions would effect it.
It was pretty cold outside, in the low twenties but sunny and the wind had died down a little. Inside the barn was pretty cozy but crowded. I could still feel the cold coming up from the ground through my shoes so I was curious how the surface would effect Ruby's running. Ruby's last couple of trials have all been on dirt except for Hounds. This facility is a sand and crushed rubber mix; some dogs like it, some don't. She hasn't been at this facility since the first weekend in November and I remember her knocking a bar the first time she ran inside here when it was cold. Sure enough she knocked a bar in Jumpers our first class of the day. I could tell she was slipping a bit and adjusting during that first run but she ran the rest of the course great and I got in all my front crosses as planned.
Standard was next and I took a lead out to a "C" shaped tunnel. She was a little antsy at the start line, scratching, pulling and barking. Took me a minute to settle her enough to sit while I led out. I released her and she took the wrong side of the tunnel! All points except one told her to go into the correct side of the tunnel: my shoulder was open briefly as I released her but my feet, hips and hand were pointed the correct direction. Who knew? The rest of her run was nice and fast and I got a lead out from the table so I was happy with how she was working.
FAST didn't go so well. We haven't done FAST since the East Lansing trial back in November and I actually had to yell "Go jump!" at her so she would at least take the first send obstacle. Oh well. Not a big deal but I got to retry the lead-out I messed up in Standard and she did it correctly this time. 0 for 3 this trial. Hopefully that won't happen again and I have to say it's been a LONG time since we haven't at least Q'd in Jumpers.
We have four days of trialing coming up and I can't wait! We're back on dirt and should have some great judges.
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