It's amazing what a shower and some food can do for your mood! At the end of day 1 the heat had pretty much taken it's toll so it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy a nice meal with friends after a refreshing shower. On Saturday night we got a taste of what Sunday would deliver with pouring down rain and a nice lightning show. No one can say that Ontario Canada didn't present us with some weather challenges ;-). When we woke up Saturday morning the temperature had dropped by about 10 degrees but the ominous dark clouds and spitting skies didn't bode well. They decided to run the same format as day1 with cattle and ducks going simultaneously and then move on to sheep. Diva and I were making the move up to Advanced ducks and Open cattle for day 2. Gone were the nerves. They had been replaced with a sense of calm and purpose.
Ducks: Day 2 for the ducks was a completely different feel. The ducks were basically done with the trialing game and your dog had to be exact. The room for error was very tiny and in most cases as soon as they cleared the first panel they made a beeline for the back fence. Diva was just a little to pushy so we had to adjust a couple of times before we got them going down the fence to panel 1. I also made a very bad handler error when it came to set up for the center obstacle. Diva has a very good sense of balance and is a pretty strong fetching dog. Instead of staying on the right side of the center chute I moved over to the left which had the ducks missing the center and splitting between Diva and myself. Things got messy and the ducks got stuck at the back fence so we didn't get any through the center. No Q for our first advanced run. On the second go I was determined to utilize my dogs natural talents and I got a group of ducks that was pretty decent. Diva walked and the course flowed very nice. I remembered to stay to the right of the center and when I flanked Diva on the away she brought them straight to me and 3 went right through the center while 2 skimmed. I was so excited and made a big deal over Diva after the re-pen. We ended up with a nice score of 103 and our first leg of ATDd!
Cattle: As luck would have it the cattle were appreciative of the cooler temps and the misty weather so I thought that they worked as well on day 2 as they did day 1, if not a little better. Our first cattle run was so nice and I do have a video of it to share below. Diva was working fantastic and she was definitely growing in confidence. I was able to send her out to cover and she did so easily. We got 2 through the center and got our first Q. When it came time for the second cattle run Diva was still working great. We drew a group of all Dexters and since we were the last cattle run of the day they were moving a bit pokey. Diva really had to push and I was very proud of how she stayed committed to the task and got things done. There was one point at the re-pen when I thought she might grip but she was still looking high and in the end I think it's better that she didn't. While the scores weren't terribly high I was still so proud of the way Diva had worked. She Q'd all 4 cattle runs over the weekend and on Sunday we earned her OTDc.
Sheep: What can I say about the sheep on day 2? Did they improve? No, and to add to the chaos the skies opened and the lightning flashed. I really thought about pulling my runs there was so much lightning going on. It really didn't give you a good sense ease to be standing in the middle of the field with your hand on a metal gate ;-). Just like day one the sheep bolted from the take pen towards the first panel but today I had a new plan. Instead of sending Diva on a go bye and bringing them down I just told her to walk up and trusted her to go with the sheep while I closed the gate. I was soaked and I didn't really want to stand around any longer than necessary. It worked great and Diva was very good about staying on contact without chasing. The cross drives on both runs went well but on run 1 I buggered my chute set up (again, lol!) so we only got 2 through. On the second run my brain was back and I stayed on the right side while Diva fetched them straight to me and 3 went right through. You take what you can get under conditions like those and so we re-penned and got the heck out of dodge so to speak :-). I really only needed the 1 leg in Open sheep for a title and could have moved up for that last run to advanced but when it comes to the last run out of a 12 run weekend with stormy weather I just didn't care! There are always more trials and Diva had done so well she had nothing left to prove to me or anyone else. With my clothes and dog soaked completely I closed the last gate and gave Diva a huge smile. 2 Q's and OTDs but even better than that was the fact that Diva rose to the occasion and worked for me even when the going got tough.
So all total for the weekend Diva earned her STDc, OTDdsc, and one leg of ATDd. She Q'd 9 of 12 runs with 2-1st, 1-2nd, 2-3rds, and 3-4ths. Both judges scored pretty tough but in the end I can appreciate that for what it is. I learned a lot about working the center chute and have a good idea of what it is I need to work on before we step out again in advanced.
Open Cattle: Score 96 under judge Neil DeShazo
I liked your comment that your nerves were replaced with "calm and purpose." That makes a huge difference, doesn't it? It's so hard making the switch from started to open and trying to remember to correctly set uup the center obstacle. It's a wonderful help that you recognize Diva's strengths and have planned to use that to your advantage for the center obstacle. That's a nice bit of handling/partnership on your part. It's so hard to remember to do those handler things to help when just watching these dogs work is amazing.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading your adventures in prepping for Advanced.