Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Tuesday August 15th 2006 - Advanced II, class #6 (last class)

Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)

Being the last class, it was games day: Gambler's, Standard, and Team Relay. Note: Jumps/tire were at 16", weave-o-matics were used in place of weave poles, and see-saw and a-frame were set lower than regulation. See diagram below for course set-up!



Gambler's: 50 seconds to rack up as many points as possible; tire 4 points, mini-gamble (6 points) is jump #1 to tunnel and you can't step beyond the jump. Then 18 generous seconds to do the gamble: jump #9 to to table, you can't step beyond the jump. We got 43 points including the mini-gamble, but missed out on the gamble. Obviously we need more work on distance! One dog out of the 5 in today's class got the gamble, a keen and speedy black/tan aussie.

Standard: Follow the numbers on the diagram to see the course. Walter did it in 66 seconds and we got a clean run, yay! (He had a refusal at jump #11 but that doesn't count as faults at the starter's level. When doing this serpentine he often has trouble with the middle jump which he did on the first try so I probably let my guard down for the third.)

Team Relay: Paired with flyball teammate Abby, Walter took the first half of the standard course up to the table, then it was Abby's turn to take the rest. I think our team's time was 76 seconds. Abby scored clean but Walter got 5 faults for off-course by taking the wrong tunnel entrance. I will take the easy route and blame it on the baton which was a chuck-it, proving a bit of a distraction to Walter. I probably should have taken the time before starting to show him that there really and truly was no ball in it.

It was a fun class and Walter didn't have the sniffies at all while on course. (Note to self: Took him to the field before class where he played with the black labs and a new dog, a whippet.) We will certainly continue with classes, hopefully the next session in September if schedules cooperate!

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