Flying Poodles

Four Paws Fur Fun CPE trial

I’ll just say that level one CPE has really low standards. Dancer Qd in 9 out of 10 runs; Elly Qd in 3 of 5. Elly had a pretty good weekend, feeling good enough that she did four runs with enthusiasm and verve… I took her off after the first obstacle in one run, gave her a massage–she recovered enough to win in her next run.

The high point of my weekend was a pair of standard runs. Dancer got her level 1 standard title on Saturday (cheap thrills, two runs, two Qs, one title) and there weren’t any moveups so I thought I’d really push the envelope on the two Sunday runs. On the first one, I led out lateral to the third obstacle–it was two jumps to a tunnel–as we’d been working on. I was about twenty feet lateral. I released her and she just flew down the line, got the “out” jump after the tunnel, and cantered over the dog walk… and I forgot to say stop and she missed the contact (but great opening!). 27.3 seconds for 121 yards. The course was reversed, so the next round began with jump-frame. I led out to the end of the frame, and then I tried to move as fast as I could, with as much distance as possible. She did the course in 26.01 seconds, and I remembered to say STOP on the dogwalk and she did get the contact. It was fun pushing us both that way. I have videos of both runs and I’ll try to get them up on Youtube sometime today… That’ll be a learning experience for me.

(I also got a huge kick out of the being the only handler in level 1 to attempt and get the 7-point obstacle in Snooker.)

The low point of my weekend: there were FIVE standard poodles at the trial. Four of them from Elly’s breeder (and closely related to Elly). Two of them have hip dysplasia–diagnosed with x-ray. And I had the sad task, after watching a 19-month-old standard refuse to jump, of asking the handler if she’d considered the possibility that her dog also has hip dysplasia. Great way to introduce yourself to someone. “Hi, my dog is related to yours and she’s got all these health problems, some of which are genetic. Have you thought about the possibility your expensive dog might have some genetic problems?”

Official results:
Dancer completed all legs in level 1 so she now has a new title: CL1:
Standard level 1: 132 yards, SCT 59 sec, 33.09 sec, 1st
Standard level 1: 132 yards, SCT 59 sec, 34.08 sec, 1st
Standard level 1: 121 yards, SCT 54 sec, 26.01 sec, 1st
Jumpers level 1: 90 yards, SCT 33 sec, 19.08 sec, 1st
FullHouse level 1: 23 points, 35.39 sec, 1st
Wildcard level 2: 91 yards, SCT 41 sec, 44.39 sec, 3 faults, 1st place
Colors level 2: 77 yards, SCT 39, 21.26 sec, 5 faults, 2nd place
Jackpot level 1: 41 points, 39.55 (time permitted 40 sec), 1st place
Snooker level 1: 44 points, 39 seconds, 1st place

Elly:
Standard level 1: 121 yards, SCT 54 sec, 41.27 sec, 1st
Standard level 1: 132 yards, SCT 59 sec, 58.58 sec, 5 faults, 2nd
Wildcard level 1: 91 yards, SCT 46 sec, 47.61 sec, 1 fault, 1st