Defeat, Snatched from the Jaws of Victory!

This has been a tough trial.

It's Sadie's first time running AKC outdoors, and there's a million things going on. Two rings running, people and their dogs milling around, loudspeaker announcements, and new smells are just a few of the things she needs to work through.

I entered her in JWW, STD, and FAST on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Yesterday she completely blew me off in jumpers. We started together, ran a few jumps... kinda. Then we did some stuff... kinda. Then we finished together. FAST was pretty good, especially considering I didn't even know the rules until that morning. We ran strong, even getting the send bonus, but just couldn't stay connected enough to get the 50 points or finish in 30 seconds. Standard was awesome except for one little problem. She launched off the A-frame a few inches too early. So yesterday was one bad run, and two almost Q's.

Today was even more heartbreaking. In FAST we were together, we were focused, and we were accurate. I even managed to follow my plan! Too bad she refused the dog-walk on the bonus. We got a little lucky that the timer didn't work, so she couldn't time-fault. Standard was next. We hit our contacts (yay!) but had three refusals and went over time. Then jumpers. Ah, jumpers. The one run I was really counting on, and her chance for her first title. We went in strong. One refusal when she disconnected a little, and a moment of panic on my end when she got distracted by something outside the ring, but otherwise the course flowed like water. BUT SHE WOULDN'T WEAVE! Everything after the poles ran like she'd been born doing agility. Her finish was just... magnificent. So our card says "R, F, W." The F and W are, of course, the non-weaves. So friggin' close! If she'd weaved, it would have been a Q and her NJP title.

At least we won the NQ raffle today. Got a bottle of wine, a squeaky toy, a roll of poo bags, and a handy carabiner.

I know I should be thrilled with her performance today. Her jumpers run really was pretty spectacular outside of the weaves. But it's frustrating to know we were that close to the title and just couldn't do it.

Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the trial, but not running, so Sadie gets a day off. I'll bring the pups to hang out, and I organized a pot-luck lunch with my classmates. Then we have one last chance to get her NJP this weekend when we run again on Sunday. Pray it doesn't storm!