I started to write a whole weekend wrap up but found it to be too long and cumbersome as one post so I am going to break it down by doing one post (this one) that focuses on Tali's weekend and then another one that focuses on the other 3 dogs that went with us and our experiences.
Friday was a disc dog seminar with Ron Watson and Apryl Lea of Pawsitive Vybe. What a great experience. More on that in the next entry. Tali was kind of a putz (in other words distracted and not drivey) at the seminar but we really didn't work the dogs much at all so it was OK.
Saturday was the CFDDC Challenge and AWI qualifier (Ashley Whippet Invitational)... Jack hoped they'd do well but didn't really figure they'd be able to make the top 5 considering who all we knew was coming to the competition. For their freestyle round Jack wasn't at the top of his game (he was sick with a sinus infection and had been all week). He didn't get off a few of his tricks and sort of fumbled a few others but none in a way that caused bad tosses or dropped discs. In fact several folks complimented him afterwards and we both were kinda like "???" BUT I guess when they don't know the routine by heart like Jack and I know his you don't really know what was missing! As for Tali's portion of the routine... she was on fire! She was drivey, focused and accurate. The best I've seen her do yet I think. Jack and I both felt really great about that but still didn't figure they had finished in the top 5. Tali definitely carried the team though and in the end they actually ending up placing 5th in the AWI qualifier! We were shocked to say the least! Below is a pic of Jack with the other qualifiers... Congrats go out to Danny Venegas and Jumpin' Jack, Gary Duke and Bayer, Angela Ewtushik and Rally, Donna Schoech and Diva. And also there is another pic of Tali during freestyle that day.
Sunday was the quad. Ruckus is on R&R for a bum back right leg (recurring injury spot) so Jack had to choose between playing Maximo and playing Tali. Max hasn't really practiced the long bombs with Jack so Jack played with Tali even though the Quad has never really been her thing. As is normal for her in the quad she wasn't driving to get the discs and as such had a lot of misses. In her 1st round with Jack he just had to play safe to move on and that worked out fine, but when he needed her to go longer she just wouldn't kick it in high gear. She was the same way with me last year though we still managed to make it to the finals. It's strange since the quad field is so wide and there is hardly any crowds on the sidelines. She can do regular D&A in a more crowded environment just fine so there must be some sort of vibe going on at the quad that makes it feel different for her. Who knows... no big deal though as neither Jack nor I have the distance in our arms to win our divisions anyway! It's just a lot of fun to play and especially to listen to the trash talk! :)
Sooo... overall a great weekend for Tali. I'm really anxious to see the day when both Jack and Tali are "on" at the same time during freestyle and see them play in a competition like I see them play at home all the time. That hasn't happened yet but someday when the planets align just right it should be quite the thing of beauty! :) Oh - and of course Jack is already tweaking their routine with stuff he learned at the seminar. That should be fun to see the outcome of as well!
