Happy Dog Agility USDAA Trial
Moorpark, CA
May 26, 2007

Memorial Day weekend is always hard for me – I have to decide whether or not to do the 3-day USDAA event down in Moorpark (one of my favorites places to trial) OR to do the ASCA Trial up in Cayucos (another favorite place.) This year I decided to do both: one day of the Happy Dog and then up to Cayucos for the ASCA.

Lynn Sigman was the judge and she is one of my favorite people to trial under: her courses are always challenging but reasonably fair if you can get your butt into the correct place. It was interesting to know I was only going to be there for one day so no set up, ez-up, crates, etc…it was wonderful. The van is ideal for a situation like Happy Dog!

Gale was LOVELY – picked up her 2 nd Masters Standard leg (now she only needs one more for the MAD) and another Jumpers leg. Jumpers is definitely our forte. Gale ran her half clean in Pairs but I am pretty sure her partner had too many errors so we didn’t get the Q. I can hardly wait for her to get two more legs so I can just pair her up permanently with one of Mia’s dogs (like Max and Cinder) and know the $$ won’t be spent in vain.

Patches was her usual charming self – even though her mother (Betty) was there. She gleefully leaped the dog walk in PIII Std J - I actually like the fact that the old gal (over 11 years old) still has so much fun at this game that she likes to be “bad.” She dropped a bar in PIII Jumpers (looking for mom) but pulled it together to pick up another PIII Snooker leg and another Performance National Standard leg (for her Accomplished Tournament Dog title.) Yay Patch!

Cinder was AMAZING. I know I say that a lot but she truly is a remarkalble little dog. In all her classes (except Masters Pairs – more on that later) she not only Q’d, but she won the class! She also won the Performance National Standard so now she has two byes for regional events. Makes me think of Texas….

So – a quick Masters Pairs story. Mia and I (with Max and Cin) are trying to finish up their Relay Bronze titles. Usually we do quite well. Both of us had an issue with multiple dogs running back to back so asked Betty to hold dogs for us. I ran Gale, came back to find Cinder upside down (in a VERY uncomfortable position) in Betty’s lap. Now, Cinder and I always do “upside down dog” before runs but she is my dog and I sit in such a way that she is happy. She was NOT HAPPY that Betty made her do this – I am still pissed off at Betty about it, can you tell? Needless to say, Cinder was brain fried when we went to the line (have I ever mentioned how soft she is?) so we incurred a refusal at the second jump and then Max had a refusal so we just missed making time L Sigh. That’s the last time I ever ask Betty to hold my dog.

Overall, the show was a screaming success and I can hardly wait til their Masters Only Trial at the end of July!