# Not one of our better days (agility)



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

So we got to the trial a little before noon today, figuring he'd run about 1:00 or so.
There was no power in the building, which meant no lights and no heat. So they had opened up the huge overhead doors on all sides of the building to try to provide some light.
Now this would be fine, except it was ELEVEN degrees out. Needless to say, it was pretty darned cold in there. The lights and heat came back on about an hour later, so it went from frigid to just freezing.
For whatever reason, he didn't run until almost 4:00 for his first class, 4:30 for his second one. So he laid on the cold floor for almost 4 hours before he ran. He was zoned out, not real thrilled with the whole process.
Standard run came first. Tito did a nice job in standard, but he missed the weave entry. Oooops. Then he popped out of the weaves at the 10th pole. NQ.
His jumpers run was spectacular. He really was spot on. Until he got to the weaves, which came right after the tunnel. Yep, missed the weave entry. Twice. Oooops. NQ. Now in all fairness, of the 9 dogs in the class, only 1 got the weave entry right after the tunnel. 
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed, because he did great on the weaves at our lesson on Wednesday. He had been off for 3 weeks, so the trainer said that if he was rusty or needed more work we could do another short lesson on Friday (yesterday), but he did such a fantastic job on the weaves, taking entries from all over, several obstacles away, etc., that neither of us thought it was necessary to do another lesson!
Ah well, tomorrow is another day. I'm still trying to thaw out.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am sorry you had a rough day - it must have been cold!! Do you have the fireplace a-blazing?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Wow.... I think you deserve kudos for sticking it out all day. Take a blanket tomorrow.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I'm sorry about your day!!! 

We also had a lousy day at our agility trial. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.....


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

If I didn't have to go back to work yet, I'd go hop in a hot bath, but that will have to wait until about 9:00 or so


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I will be thinking of you tomorrow, and hoping we BOTH have better days!




Laurie said:


> I'm sorry about your day!!!
> 
> We also had a lousy day at our agility trial. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.....


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## rhondas (Sep 10, 2010)

@ Barb

I am so happy I pulled our entry for this weekend - I was concerned about weather etc.
We are entered for next Saturday only.

Don't feel bad about the day. Open is actually harder than Excellent in many ways. 
Most of the time it's the Excellent course with a couple of jumps removed making for strange turns and weave entries. Also, when we got into Open I had to adjust how we did weaves. As long as I was no where near him and said go weave he was fine so maybe there needs to be an adjustment in where you are before he enters the weaves.

Jake did Novice in three straight like Tito and everyone told me the horrors of trying to get out of Open but we did it in 3 straight (at Manhattan outdoors) after 2 NQs. 

And two of the times Jake was the only dog in Open to Q out of 50 dogs and the other time he was only one of 2 dogs out of 50 that Qed in Open. I'm telling you all this because the Q rate in general is very low in agility but while I was in Open it was on average 5%. 

All this means is that he'll get Qs next time and get out of Open ).
Now that we're in Excellent and have 1 leg, I can tell you the courses are easier, doesn't mean you Q all the time but they are easier. 

Don't worry he will Q next time.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

I am sure he will do better tomorrow!

Do you have weave poles at home? It's something easy to practice daily! I work weaves almost every day, especially on my lazy days when I cannot think of anything else to do 

Good luck tomorrow!!! :crossfing


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I'm sorry it was not the best day. I hope you warmed up and I will send positive thoughts for better days ahead!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Tito is underprivledged, we don't have weave poles (or any other equipment) at home. He gets to do agility 3-4 days a month, for 1/2 hour each time. Poor guy would like to do more, but it's not going to happen. I wish I had weaves poles at home, I'd be practicing them this morning before today's trials!!!!!
I was a bit disappointed only because I know he can do better. But overall, I'm incredibly pleased with him. We're still really new to this, and he's really done very well.





sammydog said:


> I am sure he will do better tomorrow!
> 
> Do you have weave poles at home? It's something easy to practice daily! I work weaves almost every day, especially on my lazy days when I cannot think of anything else to do
> 
> Good luck tomorrow!!! :crossfing


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Hey the most important thing is to have fun. He's a good dog, and even good dogs have bad days. Here's hoping you kill the course today!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Poor Tito...Poor you! What miserable conditions! I hope you were able to warm up and give er another try today.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

we're leaving here in about an hour to head for today's trial. hopefully a better day. Don't get me wrong, he did a great job yesterday, especially on the jumper's course where quite frankly he had a spectacular run...EXCEPT the weave poles!!! 
Hopefully we won't have to sit around and shiver for as long today before his turn!


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

Good luck! I think you need to get him some weave poles of his own!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

ya know, I really didn't have fun yesterday. I was FREEZING, my feet were wet (we have about 6 inches of snow on the ground), there was no place to put our chairs so I had to stand for 4 hours, no place for the dogs to lie down and relax, too cold to hang around outside, they ran really, really late, and so on. Hopefully today will be a better day.




GoldenSail said:


> Hey the most important thing is to have fun. He's a good dog, and even good dogs have bad days. Here's hoping you kill the course today!


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