D&S Jumpers Trial

The D&S Jumpers Trial was held this weekend in Saskatoon. Romeo and I participated and it was a lot of fun! Great turn out, I think they said that this was the biggest AAC agility trial (apart from Nationals) held in the province EVER! Very cool, and a great way to celebrate D&S's 10 year anniversary (congrats Shirley and Diane!).

Romeo had a rockin' Starters Jumpers run on Saturday, taking his first Q and 1st place! Our Starters Standard round on Saturday was less than stellar. Romeo did great, but I wound up pulling him off a tunnel by turning too soon. It was all downhill from there. But these things happen, right? He did really well for the first half of the course, so we will take that success.

Today, Sunday, we were entered in two Starters Jumpers rounds. No Q's again, but Romeo pulled off some really nice stuff, nonetheless. The first Jumpers of the day would have been glorious, but again more tunnel woes. We are definitely going to be working on tunnel value over the winter!! Unlike most dogs we run into at agility, Romeo is not a tunnel sucker. Good in some cases, but very bad in others. I can easily pull him back out of a tunnel with just the slightest movement, and he will happily choose a jump or a contact over the tunnel, as happened in the second Jumpers round on Sunday and our Standard round on Saturday. Not cool. So we are going to work value value value over the winter!

I've heard rumors in the past about Saskatchewan having the nicest agility folks around, and I definitely saw proof of that this weekend! I'm lucky in that I know a lot of people there from other dog sport venues, but all of the new people I met were so helpful and friendly, fun to joke around with, and just really great to spend a weekend with. The weather SUCKED on Sunday, very very gusty and cold, but all of the participants were cheery and upbeat despite the frigid temps and winds that sent jumps, pylons, and plastic chairs flying across the ring at inopportune times.

All in all, Romeo took two 1st place ribbons and a 2nd place ribbon, with one qualifying round out of four. Not bad for our second weekend out! Definitely a lot of successes to be proud of, and a great trial to introduce us to the world of competitive agility! Thanks to everyone for helping us out, explaining what the heck Gamblers is all about, showing me tips on teaching directional cues, cheering and clapping after our runs ...

... and especially to Mike who took these BEAUTIFUL pictures of my boy!

TABLE!

TIRE!
A very fluffy SPREAD!
FRAME!
CHUTE!
HUP!
Another SPREAD!
TEETER!