Wow, what a weekend! I couldn’t have ended it on a better note. Last night Wynston and I walked away from day two of the Club Doggie Intro trial with a first place ribbon and another qualifier! Good gracious. I can only handle so much excitement.
Saturday night was the first day of the trial and Wynston and I ran a gamblers course for the first time ever in a trial. We had so much fun and ended up with second place and a Q! I did NOT expect that. I was just shooting for finishing the course correctly! For a recap on day one of the trial, read my post here!
Last night was our jumpers run. Now, for my very first agility trial in March I ran a P1 jumpers course. I was really mad at myself afterwards because I ran past a jump. How does one run past a jump?! Who knows. Nerves. I was tired? Anyways, my goal with our jumpers course this time was to not run past a jump. I didn’t. It was already a win!
Wynston had a rough start line. I had noticed on Saturday that when it got dark, he got very nervous. Wyn started shaking and acting anxious. Luckily we ran gamblers in the sunlight. By the time our jumpers run came around on Sunday, it was dark out. Although the ring is completely lit, I think the dark was still making him nervous. So…Wynston broke his start line and began the course without me.
I was able to recover (surprisingly because he’s fast).
He also got distracted by a smell around one of the curved tunnels, which surprised me because that typically doesn’t happen anymore. He used to get distracted by smells but he grew out of it as we became more involved in agility.
We recovered quickly. Again.
After that it was smooth sailing into the very last hurdle. Sausages for Wynston!
Despite our rough start and distraction, we landed with a first place ribbon and a Q! Like I said, I was just thrilled that I didn’t run past a jump. That’s going to haunt me forever!
In the meantime, I had two goals this year: to compete in an agility trial and win a blue ribbon. Well, it’s April and we’ve done both now! I’d say that’s pretty sweet. I couldn’t be happier. My boy is so amazing and I look forward to many more fun agility trials with him. I placed his ribbons on my DIY dog mom bulletin board for now until I find a better place to display them!
On a side note, Club Doggie is so incredible. I feel so blessed to have found an agility school five minutes from my house. And the best part is, I’ve made some of my closest friends there! Everyone is so helpful and friendly no matter what. I just love them!
Here’s a video of our run!
Jessica Shipman | Beagles and Bargains says
Congrats on both your ribbons and Qs! Watching you two really makes me want to get off of my butt and try agility with Luna. I know she would love it and it would be a great experience for both of us. Thanks for being such an inspiration!
Amanda says
You really should Jessica! It’s become Wynston’s favorite thing in the world. Even if we never compete at a high level, it’s just so much fun to watch Wynston get happy and excited! I bet Luna would love it!
DZ Dogs says
Way to go Winston!!
Looks like so much fun!! 🙂
Amanda says
It really was! Thank you!
Kama says
Sniffing doesn’t go away with maturity, it goes away with training. So, take credit for his progress! He has stopped sniffing, because you made agility more valuable to him. Good job! And way to go at the trial this weekend! Huge improvement on your confidence 🙂
Amanda says
I definitely noticed a huge improvement in my confidence and I had so much more fun because of it! I’m always learning 🙂