I entered Scoop in 3 classes at the USDAA trial in Woodland CA last weekend. He was 18 months and a few days old. I only entered gamblers, snooker and jumpers since I haven’t finished training his A-frame, weaves or teeter. The gamblers class did not have many options for jump sequences, so I decided to give the DW a try which Scoop can perform reasonably well at home. The first attempt he ran right by it, but on the second try he got on happily and even did his multiple nose touches at the end. We did a few more jumps and left when the gamblers whistle blew since I was not even considering attempting the gamble.

Snooker the next day was fun and easy. I did not try to qualify, just wanted to find a logical short course for him and luckily their were no weaves, and the frame was 7 so we just skipped that and left after the 6 combo. Jumpers was really our first attempt at a real course where he was able to do all the equipment since there are no weaves in USDAA jumpers. We had a nice run with a couple rear crosses which he accomplished easily, but in seeing the videos I think I did not execute as accurately as I would have liked. We pulled a bar after I decelerated right over the top of it, I would have liked that decel to occur while his feet were still on the ground.

Here is my first attempt at including a video in this blog, it was so easy I wonder what I was waiting for.

Scoop was a good boy, he played with his leash as we entered the ring each time, and played again at the end.  He stayed nicely at the start in jumpers and snooker. In gamblers I went back to him to reset him after he moved, then I led back out to my pivot position and he was fine. All in all it was a successful first event for an immature boy who hasn’t done much agility away from home.

I hope your first event with your puppy leaves you feeling as hopeful as I am now about your own training progress and competition future!

NJG