This Part I will include some photos, and explanation. Part II will not go up till Sunday; that will include some videos.
This has been a hectic week!
Saturday, Oct 13, I had no intentions of entering any trials! Next day I went to observe one based on an email someone sent me. It was fun, fascinating, overwhelming. I was there 2 hours, asked loads of questions, and was talked in to entering this one. I ran home and got Willy, so he could poke around and be a bit used to the atmosphere.
All week I was busy, reading the NADAC* rules on line, reading the premium* for this trial, and chatting with folks on line and at the place I take classes.
Note: There are at least 4 groups which run Agility trials: NADAC - North American Dog Agility Council - is the one with the most trials in my area. Other parts of the country may have more trials by AKC, USDAA or by CPE.
Note: the"premium" is what I would call the program for the trial. Sets out the location, date and time of the trial, what the runs will be, registration form and so on.
So this trial is 2 days, Sat and Sun, but I only registered for Sat; didn't feel I could coordinate more, what with Dad, needing to be there between 7 and 7:30 AM, and having 3 other dogs plus the cats. I registered us for 5 course runs: Touch N Go, Regular 1, Regular 2, Tunnels and Jumpers (I will explain those with the videos). I did not enter something called Chances, based on what I saw last weekend. It requires the handler to be able to send the dog a distance away and still direct the dog to one of 2 different obstacles. Willy and I are not even able to work 6 feet apart yet ha haaa. We entered at Novice level, which among other things means we get extra time for the run. And at age 9, Willy qualifies as a Veteran, which means he jumps at one step lower than he would normally. Normal height is based at the dog's height at the withers. Willy has been jumping 8 inches in class, but with this Veterans category, he jumps at 4 inches. More time, lower jumps, it all sounds good ha haa.
The timing of this trial was critical in my decision to give it a shot. Willy had xrays in Sept, he has arthritis in his knees and hips. He is now getting Adequan injections, the start up is 2 shots per week, then after 4 weeks you go on to maintenance, which is one shot per month. His last start up shot was Thursday. I had great results with Adequan when RB Marlin used it (4 years) and I was seeing improvement in Willy, so that was a big factor in my decision to try him in a trial.
Each trial is hosted by a sponsor Agility club. The club hosting this week's is very active, and does quite a bit of decorating of the facility. So we got some photos (bet you were getting tired of reading!)
This trial is held at an indoor sports facility. (Some are outdoors and you are lucky if it is not pouring rain!) The facility has 5 fields, and has lots of soccer leagues (gives you an idea of the size of each field). The agility club takes 2 adjacent fields. We use one for crating our dogs, and one for the course. The club also has to arrange for a judge. This judge came in from Texas. They had 300 runs today, which is not a small event though the club can handle up to 500 in one day. This is our set up:
Willy and Dad
I do not crate my dogs, never have. This is a crate I had in the garage from my days working with feral cats. Perfect for this event!
Sorry some pics are blurry; no flash is allowed inside, as it could distract the dogs who are running a course.
Today I learned that a trial involves long stretches of sitting bored, mixed with short 3 minutes periods of high activity. Just prior to that, for about 10 minutes, you the Handler are running around getting the dog outside, getting yourself to the bathroom, and then the 5 minutes allowed to walk the course. In between, you spend lots of time keeping your dog active, and making sure your dog does all business outside. A dog who 'goes' on the course is immediately disqualified from that run. NOT what you want. This facility has some lovely areas to poke about, Willy approved.
Now. That is all I have for photos. I gave my camera to various folks to video each of our 5 runs. Apparently, I need a new camera. It would suddenly shut down on them. Some people would start it up again, others didn't know to do that. So my vids are crazy and I have to sort them out and match up the few which are "continuations" with the proper first part.
We had a long exhausting day, kept busy, met loads of dogs and folks. It is now after 10 PM and I have been up since 5 so the rest will have to wait. I will say this: Willy is now the proud owner of 3 blue ribbons and 2 red ribbons! (blue - 1st place, red - 2d).
Part II with the videos is here: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...-trial-Part-II
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You have blue ribbons in my book, even if you aren't competing for anything. 
Congrats Willy!!! I knew you could do it.!!!
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