# A miracle happened today!



## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

OMG, someone check to see if hell froze over about noon today! Ruby got her first AXJ leg (and her first MXF leg) today. Jumpers has been our nemesis from the get-go, but in the last year we've really been on the cusp of qualifying in most every run. But of course in Excellent, you don't get any mistakes. I was so thrilled with Ruby-doo today. She listened so well and had a couple of really hard call offs. She even hit her weave entrances in all three classes (and both times last night in the match!).

Now just to get the baby dog trained! We got home early enough to practice a bit and I'm super excited about Piper's contacts. I've been using a board and the Manners Minder inside this winter and it transferred very easily to the contact trainer outside! I was grilling my supper while I was training her and once when I went to check the grill she would NOT leave her two-on-two-off position (and I left for at least a couple of minutes). I just have to finish teaching the weaves and work through Susan Salo's jump grids a bit more and she'll be ready to join Ruby's weekly class.


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Congrats... don't ya just love it when a plan comes together.. WOOOHOOOO>> way to go ladies!


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

WOO HOOO! Congrats on your first AXJ leg!!! I am sure there are many more excellent legs to come!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

yea! great job!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Congrats!!


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

No love today-I caused a refusal and a dropped bar in Standard and she dropped a bar in Jumpers for some reason and she had major tunnel sucker issues in FAST. Oh well, the Standard and Jumpers runs were *really* nice other than the bobbles!


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

Just focus on those nice parts!  Agility is one of those sports with so many factors, the perfect run can be allusive sometimes! Part of the fun in trialing is learning what both your strengths and weakness are and taking that into the ring with you for next time! Good luck tomorrow if you are showing again!


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## Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom (Jul 16, 2008)

SO GREAT! Good for you both!


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Good luck tomorrow. Congrats on the things that went well.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

Holy cow! BEST WEEKEND EVER! Ruby got a double Q in Ex. A today (no FAST on Sunday). So now we have 2 AX and 2AXJ legs! Can't believe that soon we will be in Ex. B. I doubt we'll ever get consistant enough for a MACH but it will be fun to get MACH points. I'll miss placing though! We got 3 firsts and 1 third this weekend. Once we're in B, we won't have much chance of placing-we're fast, but not border collie fast.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

That's great Sarah!

How is Piper's elbow doing? (it was her elbow, right?) Are you jumping her full height yet?


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

IowaGold said:


> Holy cow! BEST WEEKEND EVER! Ruby got a double Q in Ex. A today (no FAST on Sunday). So now we have 2 AX and 2AXJ legs! Can't believe that soon we will be in Ex. B. I doubt we'll ever get consistant enough for a MACH but it will be fun to get MACH points. I'll miss placing though! We got 3 firsts and 1 third this weekend. Once we're in B, we won't have much chance of placing-we're fast, but not border collie fast.


Whoohooo  Congratulations! And don't discount Ruby placing over the fast Border Collies - they need to Q too.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

Loisiana said:


> That's great Sarah!
> 
> How is Piper's elbow doing? (it was her elbow, right?) Are you jumping her full height yet?


Pi is doing pretty well. Yes, it is her elbows. I didn't really do any agility work with her this winter besides work on a little 2o2o on a board. Obviously around here all agility either stops or moves indoors during the winter and I didn't want to jump her at all on hard surfaces. I just set up all our jumps yesterday and am starting teaching her to jump. I didn't work on jumping foundations enough with Ruby (actually didn't even know there was such a thing until she had been in agility class for a year or two) and I have learned my lesson. And since her elbows are questionable, I want to make for certain that Pi understands how to use her body properly. 

We're also plugging away at weaves and contacts. I really think she's going to have beautiful contacts (I also learned my lesson about teaching those...). I am hoping that she might be ready to take classes this summer and maybe trial a little this fall. I'm planning to at least start wtih Preferred and see how she does. If she does well and passes quickly, I may move her into regular Novice after she gets her NAP and NJP just for more ring experience with Novice courses. If she can handle regular height (20" for her), I will probably stay in regular until she lets me know that we need to drop down again.


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