Clean Run Magazine - January 2010 - 75

13 14 1 12 4 5 6 15 16 9 10 8 15 7 11 16 3 8 10 9 17 2 18 1 17 11 12 18 19 1 S S 4 5 7 3 2 20 1 F 6 1 Please go to the line when dog on course takes #15 2008 American Kennel Club Agility Invitational December 13, 2008 Round 1 - Excellent Jumpers with Weaves designed by Keith VanHousen Please go to the line when dog on course takes #19 2008 American Kennel Club Agility Invitational December 14, 2008 Round 3 - Excellent Standard designed by Denise VanHousen each breed will advance to the final round, so outperforming the other Springers is important. Back to the budget hotel and another take-out dinner, then to bed. Megan and I fall asleep to the late news, each with a dog in the bed. In the morning I awaken early, eager to prepare for the final two qualifying runs. I shower and then discover that there is no hair dryer included in budget motel amenities. In its air-dried state, my hair resembles a thousand tiny corkscrews, jutting from my head at odd angles. I try but I cannot contain them within the flimsy hair clip. It is a great look for finals, should I happen to qualify. Confident the bad hair will insure a TV spot, I gather Riley and head for the convention center. the staKes get higher For the first time I am very nervous. The courses have become progressively more difficult and the stakes are higher. I have seen the course map for Round 4 and I am certain we can qualify. It’s a Jumpers course that incorporates oddly angled, wide-winged jumps with two separate 270° turns, but the course design consists primarily of double-box work, requiring skills Riley has grown up with and practiced endlessly. It is Round 3, a Standard course, that concerns me. The course requires dogs to execute a 180° turn, or wrap, on landing from a jump facing an off-course tunnel. This configuration is our nemesis, because Riley enjoys tunnels and my deceleration skills in this situation are less than stellar. Without embarrassment I very publicly call upon a universal energy to assist with my mental game. I envision my famous, world-class agility instructor; I ask for communication with my dog, confidence in our teamwork, and courage to follow through. I imagine my dog running with me, connected as if by an invisible thread. Now we are ready. Riley and I warm up as usual and I practice wrapping and decelerating in the warm-up area. As we step into the ring, the handler behind us wishes us luck. I leave Riley in a sit-stay with much confidence to take my position three jumps beyond. Riley, Over, I call and he strides toward the first jump, picking up speed as he runs. Riley decides to take jump #3 and at precisely the right moment, I pivot, showing him the turn to the tunnel. “Riley, Riley,” I call to indicate the pinwheel before the dogwalk, as he charges out of the tunnel at full speed. He gallops the full length and pauses briefly at the end, two little white feet on the matting and two hind feet on the board. I release him, and as I overrotate, he heads for the off-course seesaw. Come, I bellow and he does, just slicing the big triple and heading for the chute. I manage to decelerate, bringing my inside hand up to indicate the seesaw and he turns toward it with full understanding. O.K. is his release from the contact and I send him to the next jump, then round the corner to the A-frame. Time stands still as I carefully execute the most difficult section of the course. I decelerate, then verbally command the jump facing the off-course tunnel. He comprehends and flies toward the jump; I step backward and laterally, showing him the turn before he ever leaves the ground. Ears straight up in the air, he soars over the jump, never even looking at the off-course tunnel and following my motion into the turn. Before I know it, he is in the weave poles driving the line, clearing the tire jump, and rounding the corner for home. “Yes,” I shout as he crosses the finish line and Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” rings in my ears. Carefully I swing my back to the exit gate, keeping him in the ring until I can place the lead over his head. We dance our way to the crate where Riley relishes his food reward. The time is good. We have three clean rounds and are in the top position for English Springer Spaniels. my goals, i belieVe, are modest aNd reasoNable: i do Not eXpect to wiN, but i hope to show well, to ruN iN the zoNe with my partNer, to eXperieNce what sports psychologists refer to as “flow.” if we haVe flow, aNythiNg is possible. January 10 | Clean Run

Clean Run Magazine - January 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - January 2010