Admiral Perry Obedience Training Club AKC Agility Trial

Judge Janet Budzynski is always one of our favorites. Her courses are quite technical (and we often get far fewer points than usual), but my dogs seem to do well on them, plus Janet is always delightful to show to, fun, energetic and very positive.

We had a double double Q Sunday, the last one of those was a double double Q Friday just two weeks ago! The girls ran so, so well, Zhora would have had two double Q’s if I hadn’t pulled her off a jump in Jumpers yesterday. Bad handler! But I didn’t fix it because she did exactly what I told her to do. Good handler!

In case you are wondering why I ask my dogs to lie down at the startline instead of sit (as many handlers prefer), it’s because some dogs end up leaning so far forward in a sit (because they want to get going), that they are “downhill” (to use an equestrian term, meaning that the center of gravity is shifted forward and more of their weight is on the front legs than normal) and this can make lifting off to get over the first jump difficult and more likely to result in a knocked bar. Theoretically, popping up from a down should allow the dog to keep their center of gravity in a more normal position, and make jumping that first jump easier. That’s the theory anyway! It also seems to be a more “grounding” position for my dogs, which seems to make the stay a bit easier to hold. I also like to set my dogs back at least a couple of strides from the first jump, to let them start running before they have to jump. I find they seem to get faster times if they have room to get some momentum going before they start the timer, and more importantly I think it’s easier on them physically.

Zhora Saturday Standard (Q, first place, 26 points):

Zhora Sunday Premier Jumpers (Q, second place):

Zhora Sunday Jumpers (part 1 of QQ #43, fifth place, 14 points):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (part 1 of QQ #16, second place, 16 points):

Zhora Sunday Time 2 Beat (Q, first place, 10 points):

Nina Sunday Time 2 Beat (NQ but some nice stuff there, she sometimes doesn’t want to lie down at the start, and then she thinks about biting my shoes!):

Zhora Sunday Standard (part 2 of QQ #43, second place, 26 points):

Nina Sunday Standard (part 2 of QQ # 16, first place, 27 points):

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