I thought it was cold on Saturday! It was 32 degrees on Sunday morning, and it took a long time for the sun to come out. Extra brrrr!

Sunday Ken and Jolt had no Qs, though he got through his opening in Snooker and through 4, and then timed out, with 34 points. Ken’s goal for snooker was not to be whistled off the course, so that was good. And I’m the snooker queen, so I can criticize, right?

Genie sat in the van all day Sunday and finally ran Snooker and then Jumpers. She was quite full of herself. After her Snooker run in which she said “no” to the weaves after several attempts to enter them and ran into a tunnel, she and I played with her monkey on a stick for a while, but she was still running some of her own course in jumpers. She was happy, and really was a good girl. No hurry for a baby dog.

Jig was awesome all weekend. Both days he sat ringside for long periods with me with nothing in his mouth except occasional cheese that I gave him for looking at a dog and then at me. He was calm – for Jig. Being first in our jump height really helped, too. The whole experience at the trial was fantastic for him.

Jig did beautifully in his snooker run on Sunday. I opened with a jump to the weaves (12), which were right next to a tunnel. A little tough getting into the weaves, and he popped at 11, but got him back in and got that 7. We then got the rest of the opening and through 6, for a second place Q.

His jumpers run was awesome. He held a three-jump lead-out to a front cross (which was poorly executed as demonstrated by the fact that he landed past me, but for once I held my ground and he came back and did the cross). It was a moderately difficult course, but he kept all the bars up and read all the numbers correctly, so that was a Q – third place. I am very proud and pleased with him.

I had another hooray! moment with Jig when we were running the Advanced Standard course on Saturday and they were running something in the next ring with tunnels and contacts – all his favorite sounds. At the start line, which was just across the tape from the Masters ring (20 feet away, just like at Hog Dog when he tore away from me and chased down Sally Josselyn’s Aussie),  his eyes kept deviating toward the Masters ring. I left him with trepidation. He held his stay and came over the jump and onto the dogwalk like the good dog that he’s going to grow up to be. Is he finally really getting it?

These personal Qs rock! I think they’re what validate all the work we do, especially with these challenging dogs.

It was a nice size trial at a fairgrounds near a mid-size town, lovely weather once it warmed up, first run at 9 AM (!), outta there by 4 PM both days. Can’t ask for better than that. They were generally lacking workers but like most USDAA trials, people worked. Enjoyed, but probably won’t go back – but just because of the distance. It was a 10 hour trip home from there.