Trial: Agility Club of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN)

Overall a very nice trial. The club members were friendly and had a lot of fun doing neat things for the 07-07-07 trial day. My only real issue was the footing - I love natural footing (dirt, grass, etc), and this was indoors on Astroturf. It was surprisingly slick (I found myself sliding on it a bit, and Merlin was as well [not a blazingly fast dog by any means]), and I was amazed at how much my feet and legs hurt by the end of the day! Other people seemed to be oddly sore as well, so I can imagine the dogs were probably feeling the effects from jumping on that surface as well. Glad to hear the next trial this club holds will be at a different location on the better Astroturf (with the pellets for cushion and traction). The Merrillville trials use that footing and I absolutely love it!

Hawk got her first permanent card measurement first thing Saturday by Gail Storm at 14" exactly. She quickly got accustomed to the trial atmosphere and settled in to her crate for a nap while I walked the course and then ran Merlin in Standard.

Merlin had a nice run other than skidding off the pause table (I didn't realize the table was slicker than he was used to). Quite satisfied with that! Later in the afternoon Merlin ran in JWW and had another nice run, and qualified for his 4th MXJ leg! Woohoo!


Hawk's first run was in JWW. It was a very open course which she thought was a riot. Other than missing a jump and going back for it (and me trying to put in an ugly front cross) it was a lovely run, especially for her first time! I couldn't have been more pleased with it. Then in Standard she did it again with another lovely run on a challenging novice course, with just one refusal again (on the aframe). She qualified both runs for her first leg each, as well as a first place in both classes!


Sunday seemed to run better as far as ring conflicts. Merlin ran in Standard and was raring to go, with a lovely run to get his first MX leg! He just wasn't the same dog in JWW though, and our teamwork fell apart. We missed course time by 3 seconds, and Merlin is now sitting out of agility for a while. His back appears to be really bothering him, and his shoulders and neck are stiff after the bad slip he took landing off a jump in that JWW run. I'll post more updates on his recovery process as we go along, but I'm definitely pulling him from the CISSC's agility trial this coming weekend. Tuesday he's got an appointment with Karin Gose for some Reiki, and that should hopefully help him until his veterinary chiropractor (Dr. Mark) comes back from PA.


Hawk had very nice runs on Sunday, with one refusal in JWW (just didn't see the tunnel) and two in Standard. Strengthening her ability to go looking for the correct obstacle is on our list of things to work on. She again Q'ed in both runs for her second leg of each title, and again with first places in each!


Overall it was a rollercoaster weekend - between Hawk's awesome first weekend and Merlin's injury, it just goes to show you should never take ANY run with your dog for granted. I believe there's a saying, "life's a journey, enjoy the ride." Couldn't have said it better myself.