The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hi,
Yesterday was ideal agility weather. Sunny, temps in the high 60s, and a steady breeze. Perfect weather for the Supreme Empress of the Universe to earn her 24th QQ, but more importantly a whooping 16 MACH points. The MACH March Coundown is now at 153 points. Oh, I also attended but didn't do very well. I got caught in the chute and then whacked the panel jump (again!) and did a few other errors in standard. My jww was fine until I dropped the second to last bar -- a single bar on a straight away! Mom is trying to figure out what happened there. I did all the real hard stuff and didn't drop a bar on the triple which was the last jump .

We are taking today off (Saturday) for Mom to recover. We are entered tomorrow and it is going to be an adventure. The weather for tomorrow includes "High Winds Warnings" -- gusts up to 20-30 mph in the morning. Rosey HATES the wind (it really scares her) so Mom is hoping that they can make it through the courses well enough to earn a few more MACH points.

I plan on blaming the wind for all dropped bars tomorrow .

Solo

Hey Solo! Wind is good when it knocks the bars before you jump them.

Big-Sis Rosey, that is impressive! Good luck tomorrow and don't think about the wind.

Star

Sunday update -- Rosey earned #25QQ and 14 MACH points, including a SECOND place in Standard and a FOURTH place in JWW. When Rosey gets placements you know the courses were twisty and technical. The fast, drivey dogs can't do these courses, but Rosey can. The wind wasn't a problem but it was very sunny and got hot by our standard runs (mid 80's). I dropped bars in JWW and missed the weave entrance in STD.
There is a video of that NQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY60II91rYU

The March to the MACH is now 611 points of 750. We take next weekend off and then compete both days the following weekend.

Solo

Well done to both of you!

Yay, Solo! You kept all those bars up in Standard! Huge big deal these days...

Bis-Sis Rosey, that was better than your average points, pretty soon it will be less than 100 that you need.

Wow, your mom was running in shorts and mine had 3 layers on.
Star

After some in-depth analysis of the points per run, it is becoming apparent that Rosey gets a few more points when running outside if the following conditions exist: flat ground with no critter holes, temps in 50s - 60s with partly sunny to cloudy conditions, DRY, and minimal wind. Unfortunately, those conditions aren't happening again anytime soon. The next trial is at a site with unlevel ground, but the other conditions are possible. Then we move inside to the City of Industry Arena. Rosey tends to Q at that site, but just earns fewer points. Some people believe the wheel works differently on dirt and it artificially under measures the yardage; hence shorter SCT. Mom is willing to cope with a earning a couple less MACH points if it means she doesn't have to worry about the weather!

But you were running in doors

Solo

Hey Solo...
Thanks for posting and keepin us up to date on Rosey..celebration day will be soon! And I just LUV watching you run....you're so handsome! Mommy says I can debut as soon as I behave and stop breaking my wait, and stop entering at pole 5 or 6...she has so many rules, it's ridiculous. I have a "pefect" brother named Andy...he does everything right and is almost in EXC, and he is trained through something called "Utility"..he sniffs and gets these dumbells with numbers on them. Mom must have some sort of ideas for me as she bought those same dumbbells in pink and they are tiny just for my mouth...uh oh..
Love, Your Girl
Gemma

Hi Gemma,
I am started "utility" obedience a couple of weeks ago. Not sure why since I haven't gotten out of "open" yet . I have dumbbells' but they are boring steel gray and brown leather. Actually, they are in a bag and I don't know when the instructor will tell us how to use them. Frankly, I don't think we are going to be spending much time on obedience because it is now "tracking season" in Southern California . Unlike obedience and agility that we can do year-round, we can only do tracking in the winter. We have to wait for it to get cold enough for the rattlesnakes to go into hibernation and for the rains to start and knock down the foxtails in the wilderness parks. Mom is taking me tracking in a "somewhat" wilderness area tomorrow. We need to practice in those conditions because that is what the real tracking tests will be like.

Got to get to bed -- we get up early to go tracking.

Solo

But you were running in doors

Solo[/quote]
Yes, but it was freezing inside. The building may not have had heat. It was much nicer outside in the sun.

Star