My 5th A1 Entry at the HSV Dortmund-Wickede-Asseln, June 2004
Normally our alarm rings early when we are entering an Agility trial. Sometimes even more early than weekdays when Mistress has to go to work. This time the alarm rang only at 6.30 am. We nearly had a lie in ;-)
When we and several of our friends arrived at ten o´clock in Dortmund the weather was not promising. It was cool and looked a lot like it would rain. In between the sun came out and the weather did not seem to know what it wanted. We were not impressed. Mistress always says: "For dog-people there is no bad weather only bad clothing!" And she did not know how right she would be ...
Master went to get coffee and rolls for his wife. So we had breakfast all together. When Master had succeeded in coaxing half a roll into Mistress the course builders were nearly done with their work. Astoundingly Mistress was not nervous at all and we managed the jumping well enough with only one refusal at the weave poles, (they were position in an awkward angle from the jump ...) and two fallen poles. I am telling that just on the side since the test run is the theme of this article.
After several breaks caused by heavy rain, thunderstorms and hail storms the time came when Mistress and I could enter the course again. When number 32 started (we were 33) Mistress borrowed a hat from our trainer. Mistress was afraid she might not be able to see with all that water on her glasses. When she placed me in front of the first obstacle it was raining heavily already and a thunderclap boomed.
I sat tense in front of the jump when Mistress went to her position next to the dog walk. She signaled me and I flew over the jump, over the wall and stormed towards the dog walk in a slight arc. Oh my ... that was slippery ... My speed and the centrifugal powers made me fall of the dog walk (don´t you worry I did not hurt a thing). I looked somewhat irritated and zoomed up again at the same break neck speed. Mistress was directly next to me when she shouted "eeeehhhhhyyyy ... tack, Missy lay down you know it is slippery!" I laid well mannered on the contact zone!
At her "fine ... tunnel" I sped away. Behind the curved tunnel were the weave poles and I snaked through without slowing down. Mistress did not have to show me the next two jumps. I saw them to my left. I heard her "Niiikita" just when I wanted to take the long jump diagonally, which would of course been wrong. Mistress came running and I circled her panting. She waited for my nose to point the right direction and her "hopp" made me go on. The jump was far from the other obstacles ... Mistress bellowed "tunnel - hopp - loop - tunnel" and I vanished in the first tunnel. Where was Mistress? I could not see her and when I emerged from the second tunnel I only heard "up" and saw the a-frame. I looked a bit perplexed when I flew over the top of the a-frame and saw Mistress. She finally used my working distance and did not follow me. She took a short cut to place herself at the contact zone of the a-frame.
Slowly I creeped down the a-frame and over the contact zone. Mistress got out of the way and I took the next jump. "seesaw ... stay!" I stood and waited for the seesaw to sink down and Mistress to come up next to me. "Fine ... Go on ... wiiiide". I forged on and I rearly did not need a command for the long jump and the wall but Mistress called "run ... run!" When Mistress finally arrived at the finish we go out of the rain. Though we were wet to the bones anyway?!
Mistress was crazy that we made it through the course without being disqualified - though I had a mistake at the dog walk and had thrown down two poles. My big advantage is that I won´t jump anything without being told when Mistress manages to break my speed. She always says the dog is super, but in this run she was pretty good herself ;-).
Monday we went to the Fressnapf (a pet supply store (the translator)) to make good Mistress promise. "If you do well, don´t go crazy, listen to what I say, and works the contact zone well we will go to the Fressnapf on Monday for a treat..."
I chose a bone that was so big and heavy that I was barely able to carry it ...
