Flying Poodles

Well, that was interesting!

I have NEVER before gone to a trial and left before noon. But somehow my two runs today were scheduled early… I ran Excellent Jumpers and Open FAST with Dancer and failed to Q either run. In FAST, the send was impossible–jump to A-frame to tunnel on the FAR side of the A-frame–which didn’t matter because Dancer didn’t get her A-frame contact. Again. So I asked for a teeter and she put both front paws on it and gave me THE LOOK. So I called her off it and sent her through the other end of the tunnel and run her out over a nice line of jumps.

Only an hour later (yes, only! it was an AKC trial), we ran in Excellent Jumpers. The course started with a pinwheel-serpentine to the weaves, and Dancer found that so annoying that she stopped dead in the weaves to glare at me. I took off running and so did she, doing a lovely line of jumps, including a very nice rear cross, and around a long loop of jumps. Around obstacle 15, when things were going well and she was running well, I stepped into a VERY soft bit of dirt with my left leg, and my foot just sank right into the dirt, stopping me dead and shifting all my weight onto that knee.

I said “SHIT!” very loudly, as pain shot up my femur. I then said “SORRY!” and kept on running. The judge thought about it, apparently, and whistled us off–as we went over the last jump. (Swearing in the ring is considered poor sportsmanship and a cause for elimination.) After I’d found the coursebuilder to let her know about the soft spot (I was the last dog before the next height walked), and I’d given Dancer some treats for being such a good girl (after the weaves, that is–she ran perfectly after that), I found the judge and apologized to her for swearing in her ring. She smiled and asked if I was all right. I explained about the knee, and then thanked her for taking a moment before whistling me out.

So no Qs today, and that makes the second time since my knee surgery that my knee pain has made me swear and gotten me whistled out. How embarassing!