Agile Raff!

Finally, I've competed in an Agility trial with a Keeshond! This is only a dream I've had for, say, 10 years or so. Just a dream come true, that's all. No big whoop.
He did really well. After a shaky start (he ran around the second jump, so I brought him back to try again), he stayed with me remarkably well. He didn't knock any bars, either.


We had to skip the Dog Walk and the A-Frame because we just haven't had enough training time on either of those for me to feel he could accomplish them safely. So our run was just FEO (For Exhibit Only...no scoring), but I was still very pleased to get him out there and see what he could do.

In the pinwheel, I did a rear cross after the first jump. I'm kind of proud of that move because I anticipated (correctly) that he would shoot out ahead of me after that jump, so I could easily cross behind him and then get him back on track with me in time for the second pinwheel jump. It worked! I also knew that I wouldn't be able to get the rear cross in BEFORE the first jump b/c we always end up waaaaay too close together (as you can see in the picture above.)

This is the third to the last jump--he went way out after this jump, ignoring all my cues that he needed to collect and turn right away...but I was able to get him back to me pretty easily, and he didn't take the off-course jump that was right in front of him, so all was well.

We finished our run just fine, thank you very much. And he really enjoyed himself, despite having to wait about 4 hours before being able to run. Unlike Sheila, who got so stressed out, he stayed pretty calm in the car. And I am amazed at how focused he actually was once we got into the ring, especially since he'd never been at this facility before, and had never trialed before...so he really had no idea what to expect. If dogs expect things, that is.

Our next trial is October 5th...CPE Level 1, Standard and Jumpers, NOT FEO. Yee-haw!