Qualifying Trial #1 - Friday Night
We had quite a wait before our runs and then they were almost back to back. First was Excellent Jumping. A lovely course set by Judy T. Nice and flowing but with a couple of tight turns / crosses which caught out a number of people. Nix wasn't running her best - a little distracted and I really had to work hard at the start to keep her focus. None the less, we gained a clear round and FIRST PLACE!!! Also a spot in the finals.
Next Novice Agility. Again a nice flowing course, set by Cindy D. Nix was happier in this run and worked beautifully. Unfortunately Nix had a sniff in the weavers and missed the second one. Other than that she ran beautifully and I was very happy.
Home sometime after midnight and on too much of a high to go straight to sleep!! Big day ahead tomorrow though!!
Qualifying Trial #2 - Saturday Morning Ok - so after 4.5 hrs sleep and my 7th alarm has gone off I finally wake up (I had a feeling it'd be a bit diffucult to get up) quickly get ready and load everyone back into the car for another big day.
First up again was Excellent Jumping. A nice course from Vicki N. Some great handling challenges with nice sections for the dogs to stretch out in too. nix was running better today than last night - more stretched out, responding better to my signals, and it just felt nicer. Another clear round, and, her Excellent Jumping Title - Yay Nixy Pixy!! There were lots of other clear runs too (well done everyone) but we still managed 6th place overall and 4th in height class.
Last of the qualifying runs - Novice Agility. As we stepped up to the start Nix was even happier than her previous runs and I had everything crossed for a nice clear run, Nix didn't dissapoint, her first pass in Novice Agility - finally. Thanks to Sarah W for such a nice course. We also managed 3rd place overall and 2nd in height class. Along with.... A spot in the finals!!
State Agility Finals - Saturday afternoon So after quite a break from the end of the qualifying runs, and watching a number of the other finals it's our turn. Really wasn't sure how Nix would go after such a long break and a bit of a snooze in the car. I shouldn't have worried. Nix got out of the car and was sooo happy and just full of beans - awesome!!
Novice Agility - Judged by Gail B. Unfortunately not a clear round - sorry Nix. It was all my fault, poor dog with the dodgy handler. I was thinking an obstacle ahead (the weavers) as Nix is always consistent on her A-Frame. I got myself a little too far ahead and as such I inadvertantly caused her to jump and miss the contact, and then put her in the wrong position to get the weaver entry. Sorry again Nix. Unfortunately for Gail there were no qualifiers at all in Novice agility.
Excellent Jumping - Judged by Cindy D. I think this was Nix's best run over the entire weekend, she was happy, she was fast, she was focused and she was having fun!! An interesting course with a number of spots where it could all come unstuck. Luckily for us it did not!! Nix had a beautiful clear round - woohoo!! Being second dog in I had to wait and watch as a number of fantastic dog and handler teams took their turn at the course. Unfortunately for them they were unable to manage a clear round.
Presentation time...... First was presentations for agility. They started with Novice and no-one was sure who would win as everyone had a penalty, or two, or three!! Well didn't I get the shock of my life when they called out Nix and I!! I remember looking at Graeme next to me and asking him if I heard right. WOW!! We won. I was so surprised. Good girl Nix!! Being the only clear in Excellent Jumping I was pretty confident in winning that one - Yup. Again such a thrill to hear Nix and myself called out as the winners, I think I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat after that. So after a long weekend..... Phoenix is.......
2010 WA STATE WINNER NOVICE AGILITY
2010 WA STATE WINNER EXCELLENT JUMPING
Way to go Nixy Pixy :-) Such a good girl. Congratualtions also to the winners of the other classes a fantastic effort!! Thanks also to all of my fellow competitors who made the weekend so much fun. The atmosphere was fantastic - so friendly and encouraging, great work everyone!!
Thanks go to Robyn Evans & Graeme Fairley for the pics. To Graeme for the You Tube Vidoe of all of Nix's runs, and to Linda W for the video of Nix's Exexellent Jumping Final run which Graeme couldn't quite get all of. Thanks everyone.
