And last, but not least, here are the official videos from
4 Legged Flix from the Challenger's & Finals rounds.
First, the
Challenger's Round:
Notice all the patented "pulling-up-my-pants" moves? :) I am so glad that could be recorded forever!
Seriously though, how do people wear those spandex pants all the time & not have that problem? Between that & the fact that they have no pockets, I am not going to be wearing them at any more trials! (I did try at the Cardi Specialty the other weekend, thinking maybe they had shrunk since I washed them... Nope!).
Like I said before, one of the toughest courses that I've run. There were a few small places where I could have made different choices & had tighter turns, but I also was still a little freaked out about our
Hybrid run that morning. So I played it safe where I felt I should... And ran balls to the wall on the straight-aways (pulling my pants up along the way!).
So after we won the Challenger's Round, I did our usual "corgi cool-down" routine, walking Porter around, feeding him snacks, slowly making our way back to the stall. But apparently they were calling for me over the loudspeaker to come get my
Finals shirt.
So I put Porter away & headed to where I thought the shirt people were. But they weren't there anymore... Anyway, I ran into judge
Blair Kelly in the hallway & told him, through near-tears, that I just won the Challenger's Round. He was so nice & congratulated me. Then I remembered why I stopped him :) "Uh, where do I get the shirt?"
He took me to
Gail Storm, who I said one of the stupidest things ever to...
She gave me my shirt & I asked her if I still needed to attach my number to it.
She told me yes and asked why I wouldn't.
I said, "Oh, I thought everyone would know who I was now."
I really didn't mean it like that. I thought they would announce it over the loudspeaker when I ran & there were only 4 of us in 4" Finals... But she didn't know that. I just looked like some arrogant idiot :)
No, I'm just an idiot.
So onto the
Finals video!
This is the round that I ran like no one else :) I squeezed myself between the weave poles & that wall...
I have been burned many times (mostly in practice) by that kind of threadle set-up (with the a-frame jump, weaves). So I knew I did not want to try to pull Porter to the correct side of the jump (he would never make it). And I knew if I pushed to the backside of the jump, then I would screw up either the rear cross to the weaves or do some funky weird front cross before them... So why not just run the weaves on the other side? Perfect for Porter!
As a side note, a lot of people wasted a lot of time by pulling to the correct side of the jump. You could tell those who had actually trained a threadle from those that were faking their way through! Definitely something I will continue to work on...
Porter did come out the chute wide, looking at the dogwalk. And I think that's why I did that late front cross to the teeter... Other than those 2 things, I was extremely happy with our run :) That whole jump, teeter, tunnel discrimination gave me fits when I walked it. Talk about an abundance of choices, for all 3 times you went through it!
So at the end, after our victory lap, they presented me with the jump bar.
Being the first one to finish, I didn't know we got a bar. I've never received a bar before.
As
Carrie DeYoung (Very Important AKC agility person) handed it to me, I said "I get a bar??" She says yes. I say "But I don't even own a jump!"
She & Gail Storm just kind of looked at me...
When I ran out of the ring into the hallway with Porter & my bar, I repeat the story to Megan & some lady standing there from one of the agility equipment suppliers. The lady kind of looked around at her stuff, and was about to offer me a jump (I think)! Then Megan says "You better not be planning to put this bar on a jump in your yard!!"
Oh yeah, I guess that's not what you do with them :)
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