Livin on the edge

Last Sunday was huge fun in the agility ring with Sonic and I managing two out of three quallies AND I didn't have to drive all the way to Geraldton! The class we didn't get a quallie in was my own very big LOSER fault when I pulled Sonic off a jump that I'm sure he would have taken if not for my meddling. It was almost a complete reversal from last weekend and even during runs where things went a bit wrong we still managed to qualify. It also included yet another opportunity for a slow motion moment in our video's from the trial courtesy of Sonic's over exuberant exit from a collapsible tunnel. There was a face plant, a roll and much gasping from spectators involved... That was after one of the most poorly timed pull throughs I may ever have done. Somehow though we still managed to come third out of about eight or nine quallies. Phew! I wasn't too worried that he was actually hurt. Stacking it is part of an average day for Sonic when he's racing around at home.



I do think that Sonic may need a few extra massages this week.

Old man Murphy has been in for a spot of surgery recently. He's had a wart above his eye for a while now which he managed to knock all the time. After getting the all clear from his regular "geriatric" vet checks and bloods we decided it was a safe risk for him have surgery to have it removed. As expected surgery was a complete success and he has recovered beautifully. Stitches come out this week and he should end up with a very manly scar above his eye which I'm sure will impress the other boys no end.



Daisy Peel hits Perth this coming weekend. Although I'm not doing the handling component as it's all Linda Mecklenberg stuff that I don't do I'm very much looking forward to the running contacts session. Quite a few people in Perth are now trying running contacts with their young dogs so I'm really interested in hearing what Daisy has to say and advise that she gives. That is definitely the upside of new training methods happening BEFORE you get your next young dog. You get the benefit of watching what does and doesn't work for everyone else first before you inadvertently screw your own dog up. I have to be honest I really have no idea about training running contacts at this stage of the game. I can't wait to see all these young dogs hit the ring when they are old enough. Just in case our WA dogs aren't fast enough, they are going to be out of sight as this new wave of running contacts start to come through!

Sometimes losing aint so bad!

You'd think that after spending five hours in the car driving all the way to Geraldton, competing in nine classes over the course of the weekend, not managing to secure even one agility or jumping qualifying card and then driving five hours back to Perth might make a person slightly frustrated and annoyed. Nope, not me! Sonic was great and I had an incredibly fun time running him. His enthusiasm was contagious and he was full of gusto out on the courses. Massive kudos to the judges as all the courses over the weekend were thoroughly enjoyable being both challenging but achievable (well maybe not for me...). I do have one success to mention and that is that Sonic and I teamed up with Cathy and Snazzy to go clear with a first place in Excellent Strat Pairs.

The first run that Sonic and I had on Saturday was a super run but as he was going through the weavers they started wobbling and he literally got bounced out of the poles! It was like revenge of the weavers. With that sort of luck I had to wonder if perhaps we may be going to have "one of those weekends" and I quite possibly inadvertently jinxed us. To top it off in the last run of the day on Sunday I thought we'd finally gone clear only to realise that Sonic had knocked a bar!



So you have to wonder if sometimes things just aren't meant to be. But if all his runs are as much fun as what I experienced on the weekend then who cares :-)

A Modern Woman?

Is the epitome of the modern woman working in the city by day donning makeup and heels while managing the statewide pharmacy application. Then by evening donning flannelette's and work boots while using power tools and lawn mowers, living a semi rural existence? Some may just call me mad...



After this evenings mowing the agility lawn is looking awesome. If only it would rain on a regular basis I could pack up the retic and start to use it. It's hard to imagine what regular rain even feels like anymore. Mind you I think I'd rather what we have than the cold, wet and windy conditions a lot of the cities over east are being pounded with of late.



Agility itself is cruising along right now. I had a feeling Sonic was sore last week but couldn't put my finger on anything in particular so I booked him in for some muscle therapy. We went to training on Tuesday and Wednesday to target some specific areas of agility that I think need the most work a lot of which don't involve equipment. On Wednesday we'd done a few flat work sessions and then I decided to fit in a couple of seesaws before finishing up for the night. After the second one Sonic started actually favouring a front leg so after a mild panic attack I comforted myself with the fact that he was already booked in to be looked at the next day. In the end it doesn't appear that he was lame but rather his muscles were so damn tight that he was suffering from overall muscle soreness. After the treatment he was a different dog and back to being happy and relaxed. I was pretty careful with him before heading down to Bunbury for a trial on Sunday and he was banned from all silly running around in the meantime. For some reason he has been mega over the top at home lately so being "quiet" has been quite a challenge. My main concern at the trial was making sure that he was completely warmed up before each event. And of course we have another visit scheduled this week for a follow up treatment.



At the end of the trial I was pretty happy. The only run I thought was "bad" was Masters Agility which was our first of the day. I was so distracted by him being warmed up properly I handled him rather poorly to say the least. I was hanging back and nowhere near where Sonic needed me to be for a decent run. Thankfully after that I pulled my socks up and he went clear in Open Agility and just a bar down in Masters Jumping. Open Jumping wasn't bad but he didn't get the distance challenge. He responded well to my handling so hopefully the recall work I'm doing with him is starting to pay off. At the moment everywhere we go we are working on those recalls!



This weekend is Geraldton so Kriszty and I are going to head up on Friday afternoon with Sonic, Terra and Shimmer. The only downside is that the World Agility Open is on and I really want to try and watch as much as I can. So the laptop will be coming and conveniently the hotel has free wireless internet...

GO TEAM AUSTRALIA!!