Monday, February 8, 2010

USDAA - Lawrence, KS - Feb 2010



Lawrence in February…….WHAT!!!!



Did Bill NOT point out the trip to Wentzville two years ago where:

Terry, Barbara, Carrie and I drove white knuckled home through an

Ice Storm on Super Bowl Sunday?


Okay..it wasn't quite that bad!

Okay, so I really wanted that last Qualifier in Grand Prix for the USDAA Nationals.

As you know, there are only so many weekends in a year,

and for many of them there are conflicted with other venues and other goals.

So….off to Lawrence we went.

The trip down Friday afternoon wasn’t too bad.

It got a bit wet (rain/snow mix) about 60 miles from our destination.

We stopped by at the trial site to ‘secure’ a crating space.

Off to the hotel, that’s lot was in the process of being plowed after the 2-3” of snow they’d gotten.

On the way we drove by the “Village Witch”, it’s a shop, not a person! G

Someday I really do want to stop in there and look around.

Right now the road is torn up all around it and by the time we’re done running it’s closed.

Lawrence interior roads really need some SERIOUS work!

You could loose a large dog in some of those pot holes! YIKES!


Our “Team Iowa” included Wendie and Dervish, Laura and Toss, along with Seeker and I.

Bill was our official film director/crew.


Carol and Shenna (MN) were also there with Seeker’s relatives,

½ Sister Pirate, litter Sister Shiver and Cousin Rio.

We all had a pretty good weekend.

The MN crew Qualified for the Team event for Nationals on Friday.

GOOD JOB YOU!!


Seeker and Dervish both picked up a couple Advanced Standard Q’s.

Derv got a much needed Starters Snooker Q, under his 3rd judge, to earn his AD!!

GOOD BOY!

Seeker earned an Advanced Snooker Q, and an Advanced Pairs Q running with Sister Shiver!

THANKS SHIV!


Toss earned a Starter Standard leg, along with a lovely Q in Starters Jumpers!


Both Dervish (1st place) and Seeker (5th Place) achieved a Qualifier in Steeple Chase on Saturday,

earning the right to ‘run for the money’ on Sunday!!

Dervish took an ‘off course of death’ on Sunday to eliminate their team from the dough.

Tammy over handled Seeker in a couple spots, but ended up in 6th place and won $7!!!

Hum, maybe I should start listing Seeker’s earnings under his name like the do with race horses!! VBG

Better that than the entry fees!

Cousin Rio won the Steeple Chase and the BIG BUCKS!! YIPPEE!!


Seeker also got his Grand Prix Qualifier,

which totally made the trip worthwhile.


I learned a lot!


Seeker did very well and Qualified 7 of the 9 times he ran.

The two he didn’t Q on were my fault!! I

know people say that it is always the handlers fault…but these OBVIOUSLY were MINE!

We had the most lovely Adv Gamblers run going and then instead of sticking

with my game plan I went for more points via a tunnel that took him across

the ring in the opposite direction of the gamble.

Right as he entered, the buzzer sounded and our 16 seconds to the gamble began.

We got the gamble, (tunnel, weaves and two jumps), but were .66 seconds over time.

Yes, I’m STILL kicking myself.

In Jumpers, I pulled him off a jump that I thought he was committed to.

Then just flicked him back over and he dropped it. MY FAULT! O

n the plus side, all my ‘come into hand’ work as has been paying off on some tighter turns.

We still have room to improve, but it’s getting better.


I need to DRIVE THE DOG for speed,

and not worry about the Q!

Here are some of our runs from this weekend!


(Please note in the 2nd and 3rd run Wendie and I were BOTH committed to getting the

front cross after the blue tunnel. You just gotta MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Wendie was planning a blind, she had it and at the last second was concerned about her body!

Thus, she threw in a late front cross. She GOT' HER DONE!)








What GOOD DOGS!!!


The trip home was a bit ‘Western' at times; with snow/rain mix most of the way.

It only took about 40 minutes longer than normal.

Luckily, Bill drove…listened to the Super Bowl on the radio.

I read a book and kept my eye on the depth of the ditches.


2 comments:

  1. Good dogs and good handlers!! Glad you are all home safe and sound and ready for another snow storm!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fun stuff. Looked like fun courses. Good job to you all - ESPECIALLY, the camera man/dog manager!

    ReplyDelete