Well, back from Bundaberg double-header over the Queen's Birthday weekend. I left home needing just 8 more quali's for my Gold Handler Award. I thought there was a good chance I might acheive it over the weekend. I also had Zoom with me; she was entered in two runs each day. She is currently stabilised (and quite happy) on 5mg of prednisone per day- next week we start increasing time between doseages till we get to 36 hours then 48 hours then hopefully we'll be able to completely withdraw it. So I took the opportunity of a moment of stabilisation to bring her out to play. Her calcinosis is starting to clear up- her skin conditions in general are improving and her coat is starting to grow back. I'm seeing light and the end of the tunnel and am so glad Chris Zink convinced me to have faith that I could bring her through this.
Anyway, back to Bundy- Saturday and my first run was advanced jumping. Eliminated with both Missy and Jonty; though both had nice sections. Second run was open jumping- clear with both Jonty and Missy; then it was Zoom's turn. It was a really nicely flowing course... and my girl just absolutely flew- she attacked the course with vigour and seemed to be having a ball; our only fault was her foot on the first plank of the long jump. I came off the course struggling for breath, not so much because I'd run hard but I couldn't get a breath past the tears that were streaming down my face. My girl is still alive, still with me and running with joy- what a feeling! Unfortunately I missed getting it on tape- Murphy's Law: the best runs and special moments are never recorded! The feeling however will never be forgotten.
Zoom had one more run later in the evening in open agility- it was not such a great run, without the same boldness of her earlier run, and with 5 faults, but it was still nice to be out there with her; you can see the video of the end of the run below- the lighting and quality are not good unfortunately.
So I ended the night with 5 quali's in total- Missy got open jumping & open agility; Jonty got open jumping, open agility & snooker. But the highlight for me was Zoom's open jumping run!
Sunday dawned and I still needed 3 cards. First run was gamblers and I miss-timed the gamble with all three dogs, though Zoom again had a blinder of a run and was oh so close. Open agility and both Jonty and Missy had contact issues... I was pleased though that I maintained my criteria instead of allowing them to continue to run. This worked well for advanced agility where Jonty nailed his contacts with speed and accuracy- but I failed on a pull-through, same issue that I'd had on the advanced course on Saturday, so I found a hole in his understanding that will need some remedial training. So 7 runs for no quali's yet.... that Gold Handler acheivement might need to wait till the next comp!
But then a change in rings and Open Jumping- Missy ran clear and under time (just)- not her best run of the weekend but consistent and a card. Two cards to go (omg how outcome focussed had I become!!!). Jonty ran hard and fast, but I muffed the course, forgetting to pull away from the weaves to set him up for the next obstacle and ended up causing him to drive past it for a refusal... sorry little man... great dog, shame about the handler! Zoom also ran hard and fast but took an off-course option due to my very late timing with a false turn- at least it shows she understands to drive to the plane of the next obstacle.
One course left- Helter Skelter. Two cards required... three runs to get them with... and a "deceptively" simple and super-fast course.
Missy was up first- she flew; best run of the weekend for her. Clear and well under time. One card to go!
Jonty next and he carved up Missy's time, but again I muffed my handling of one challenge causing a refusal. I actually noted all weekend that my timing is off with this new fired-up faster Jont-man and the Zoomy-pup; something for us to work on. One card to go and only Zoom left to run!
And run she did. She just ate the course up. The same off-course from the open jumping was still there, but my timing was better for this run and she turned off the obstacle and nailed that weaver entry. She did the tight turn out the back and kept the bar up; correct tunnel entrance and then that 10m long "deadly" flat-out run to the last hurdle...the bar was still there! Clear! I didn't need to check time, I knew it was fast enough. Oh, go you good thing! How Poetic, that my Zoomy, the girl I nearly said goodbye to 6 weeks ago, and who is still not 100% fit and healthy, just scored the 300th quali card for me and earned herself immortalization in a portait (based on the above photo). More tears! And a dog that is very happy to be back playing with her Mum again; her smile was like a cheshire cat. It was definitely a golden moment!
