What an amazing weekend! The ABMC put on an amazing show at a grand facility, World Equestrian
All the dogs had a blast and Leo had some fantastic runs! I needed to be reminded on the 2nd day that he is new to the game and I think I let him down by not doing FEO but next runs will certainly contain an FEO.
As for his runs he earned his Novice Standard title so he is now
Trisorts Fake It Til You Make It From Misty Morn BCAT CGC TKA NA
It was so much fun to earn his Novice Agility title at the National. We also acquired our first 2 legs in FAST as well as 1 additional novice leg in Jumpers.
That Jumpers leg... It was an amazing run and it felt so comfortable and when all was said and done it was, you ready, 6.24 YPS. YES, 6.24 YPS. I was asked if I ever ran anything that fast before and I had to go look up Rigel's records and see what he ran. My records were not the best, but on what I did record he ran in the mid 4's with a few in the low 5's but never anything close to 6, WHAT did I get myself into? A whole lot of fun is the answer to that.
The Standard run (For the title) wasn't as fast but it was quick! He listened and enjoyed himself in the ring, and so did I. I went into all of his runs with three goals and he exceeded them all with FLYING colors of Black, Red, and Gold.
His FAST run far exceeded my expectations for the first run of the weekend! He got 65 points, and apparently was pretty impressed with himself! I was just going into this class with just FUN in mind as it was a new place, we had been on the road for two days, hotel stays, and a HUGE facility with lots and lots of distractions. Well he was a champ, just running around the ring.
Now onto Saturday - I was on a pretty decent high from Friday as you can imagine. We moved up from Novice to Open Standard and were hoping for the Jumpers title but after his Q in FAST I should have listened to him tell me that he was DONE. Did I say he told me he was DONE and I didn't listen, well I didn't and in Jumpers he blew past the weaves and stuck his head thru the gate to look at the other dogs. His Standard run - we played but not with a toy (like I should have) and he did better. He came back to me and got back in the game quickly.
I can't say enough about ABMC, the facility or the people I met this weekend. I met new friends that I hope to see again soon and a desire to show at WEC again. I try and always take away something from everything and what I learned is the following (1) always have fun, cause no matter what happens you are still going home with your dog, friend, and partner in the game; (2) sit back and listen from time to time and adjust that against your goals and adjust if necessary, it will only make you better; and (3) remember that every experience builds a better team and you always (if you let it) come out the other side better than you entered.
