CPE Agility Trial Last Weekend

Well, last weekend BRAG hosted a CPE agility trial, and I decided to enter Popper. It was the first trial either of us had ever been in, and while Popper was bouncing off the walls, I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up, pass out, or just soil myself. Yes, it was that scary for me.

I entered Popper in two events - Standard and Colors. He'd never run a "full length" course before, nor had I, so I was pretty sure it would be interesting. We got out there and he instantly knew something was different... he quickly started losing focus when I took his leash off (and for a half beagle mix, that's a HUGE NO NO!!!). I didn't even bother doing a start line stay for fear he'd completely zone out. I took off right away, with him hot on my heels. Oh, boy - that dog can RUN! The excitement fueled him, as he leaped, looped, and otherwise made a mad dash for each obstacle. In the first run, we did have a fault for off-course - at the time I thought it was my mistake, but upon review of the video, Popper was a bit distracted by having a huge audience and simply wasn't paying attention to my signals. But it's all good. It is a learning experience and it's for fun - which we had a lot of!

Ending the day, we qualified in both our runs - a HUGE achievement, especially for our first trial!

Popper wasn't ready to go home, but I had only signed him up for those two runs, so away he had to go. He was strutting and prancing along and you know he had a great time!