We had the ADCQ comp on over the weekend; a double-header. There were 3 advanced runs over the two days, so I thought Jonty had a good chance of achieving his International Agility Dog title if I got it right. When we returned last year from Uralla and the sheltie nationals I knew I had to stop focussing on smooth clean runs and start increasing our speed and drive on course. So when we started back training in February, after a long break away from agility over the summer, we started working at home at building intensity and speed with really short "full-on" sessions and only rewarding fast attempts. We've also gone back to our circle work and speed circles of hurdles and tunnels. It seems to be paying off, on Saturday night he ran like a dream, in terms of attitude. I made handling mistakes with him though in our earlier runs to collect 5 faults in agility and an E in the advanced agility. He came away at the end of the night with a quali and win in open jumping; but two E's in each of the advanced runs. Despite the E's I was exceptionally happy with all his runs as he was motoring and getting closer to the drive and speed I know we are both capable of.
On Sunday I was pleased with myself for maintaining our contact criteria in the first run in open agility. This paid off for the 2nd run in advanced agility as he stuck his contacts beautifully and ran fast (seven seconds under time) and smooth for a win and our IAD title. YAY! One outcome-oriented goal for this year achieved.
Yet, I know he can cut another couple of seconds off that time yet; that's an ongoing process-oriented goal. And while the advanced was an awesome and enjoyable run; his best run was the last one of the day in open jumping as a round of the medallion stakes. We serpentined the opening sequence running a very tight line and kept all our turns around the tunnels tight. It was a nice run, fast and clean and very enjoyable with his times comparable to the winning midi dog times. Felt awesome.
So the little man is now Jonty IAD AAC MAAD7 SD
This is a video from March showing Jonty having a tidy and consistent snooker round, typical of the type of round that earned him MAAD7 but lacking the full-on enthusiasm and drive I am now seeking from him (as the relationship on the start line shows AND what was I thinking with the rear-cross on the flat after the dogwalk??!!)
This is a video of open agility from the competition on the weekend. Unfortunately I don't have his advanced run or his open jumping run which were his best; this one is a 5-fault round (Great Dog, shame about the handling!). But I think the improvement in his rate of travel and enthusiasm is apparent even since March. Now I just need to keep that improvement happening (and stop flipping my dog away with a C-arm!!!).
