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Gaining in more and more confidence every time we run and finally actually using our tight turns verbal in trials (over 22" jumps) and nailing 36" DW contacts that I could only hope for Still plenty of improvement to be made both in my handling and her skills/confidence but Tess is just doing so good and growing up so much in the ring... Look at that baby go! Big plans for the nearby future... some big enough they scare and excite me all at once Runs from our first "big" event together, USDAA Central Regionals. If you flip to Team Jumpers or MC Standard or either of the Steeplechase runs (Rd1 or Finals) those were some of my favorites from the weekend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3SRMndkvow&list=PLQ6PCskz-11xsMmZ1tjLua01TCWGiyZkS&index=4

And of course couldn't forget the crazy blonde beast She managed to forget her running contacts AND decide it was fun to FLY off the teeter just a week or two before Regionals so lots of cheese, turkey and Peanut Butter and that seemed to refresh her memory She's still happy and crazy as ever but was feeling a little "off" over the weekend causing her to not be quite as crazy as her normal (no near teeter fly-offs Doodle?) , run a little slower and not jump/turn quite as well as she's typically capable of... but she is/was still bouncing happy and biting my arms on the startlines so what more could I ask for? Gotta love this crazy beast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFlDgG3Q_1A&list=PLQ6PCskz-11wGlYjepL2vMlLvfkpZysGf


TCrown

How fun! Makes me miss it so much. I ran my mom and dad's Great Dane. My boys now showed no interest bummed me out. Next time. lol

I'm almost ready to start competing with my dog, but still need more work on teeter and weaves ... don't worry, I'm not going to rush her . How do you run in that long skirt?!! I would get so tangled with trying to turn myself, I would end up flat on my ass!! Your dogs are very fun to watch.

Nice runs and great evaluations of your performances. I love the handler-critiqued runs because it teaches and give room for great critique in return. I second the comment on your skirt... TALENT!!!

Some of the rules on USDAA are a little off for me (I've only done AKC and ASCA. More so ASCA because of the "more for your money" deal, but when I am able to afford more in time and cost, I will likely focus on AKC/ASCA). But I love a lot of the international styled handling coming into the States. I would love to learn more, but many ASCA competitors just simple don't do it, or need it for that matter. Another reason I think I would focus on AKC more. Maybe get into USDAA sometime later.

Great work, best of luck as your team continues to grow!

Thanks everyone!! The skirt is actually VERY easy to run in... people always comment that they'd get wrapped up in it but I've never found that to be the case, even with the fact that I like to wear my skirts long enough to nearly touch the ground. Now if I'm bending a lot with the turns sometimes I might step on it by accident but that usually only causes a quick stumble and off we still go. And another thing people tend to be amazed by is the blind crosses with the skirt...? If anything the blinds keep me from twisting around or bending over so less chance of stepping on the skirt as a front cross would, love me blinds (though need to work on actually trusting the baby Tess to read them) . But thanks so much for the compliments! I'm curious how much a skirt might affect my handling if I were running a small dog, simply due to the size the dog might cue off feet/legs more but I'm sure with practice we'd adapt to one another

Oh and actually Tess could barely get through her weaves just 2 trials ago... not due to lack of training but rather ring-stress would shut her down and she couldn't handle her weaves. After getting her stress under control (Cortisol inbalance)her weaves keep getting better and better and I simply don't try to push her by doing anything challenging with them yet in a trial, let her gain confidence in her own abilities and we'll slowly see how far we can fly Also teeter is still an issue for us but it's more of a balancing issue between "I wanna GO!!" and "must meet criteria so slowllyyy tip, wait for bang, then go..." . We've earned ourselves some fly-offs but I've opted to let experience bring us the Qs and simply let her figure out her timing while keeping that fun enthusiastic attitude The one time I started making her realize her criteria and focus on meeting it better she caved under the pressure and started poking across the teeter to make CERTAIN she'd meet criteria, no happy attitude or enthusiastic performance so... I'll take the occasional fly-off/NQ so long as she remains happy

Had a LOT of fun with the girls, only thing I would change is having Doodle at 100% and a whole lot more of her typical crazy over the weekend. But she was happy and we got to play together so I'll take it Her reduced speed threw my timing WAY off and might've been part of the reason her collected/shaped turns went real wide still...

On the other hand she bit my arms/hands over and over again during this morning's training session and she was SOOO crazy to get started even if we were only wrapping jump standards without a bar (just working on obstacle focus and simply *doing* something together for the fun of it- she really doesn't require any "upkeep" training at this point in her career) so I am thrilled to see that crazy spark and brainless enthusiasm again Hate it when they're sore and you can't help at all except through rest... Love my crazy girl! Wun wabbit, WUN!!!


TCrown