Out of retirement

I ran Rye in a Nadac trial yesterday. The last trial he ran in was last year June, his "retirement" run in AKC. I wanted to be able to take Indi to see how she would do in that environment and also felt that Rye would like something fun and familiar to do. We ran Hoopers and Tunnelers.

Hoopers was a mess but he had SOOOO much fun. I had never done it before since I don't do that many Nadac trials. It was harder than it looked. The hoops are very close together and it requires a lot of control. He was all over the place. But so fast! I wish I had a video of that run. It was hilarious. He would take two correct hoops and then an extra one on our way to the next correct one, then another couple off to the side, then another correct one. He had me cracking up by the end. He was so excited to run back to the crate at the end to get his treats. He has not changed with his anxiety at being left in a crate though so I tried to stay close to him as much as I could. It was a small trial and it went very quickly so that was good for Rye that we didn't stay all day.

He ran Tunnelers next and got a blue ribbon for it. He wasn't as fast as in Hoopers but still had lots of fun.
Here is a video of that run. I love his tail at the end.

I've missed running him! I forgot how fun he is. Even when he doesn't qualify he is very joyful and it's pretty cute. I have never felt nervous to run him like I used to with Amber. There is something very "not serious" about him that transfers to myself and how I run him. I may have to enter him in an AKC trial in October. He can still jump 20 inches in my backyard. We would need to brush up on our weaves and contacts before then and I would need my husband to come to the trial and sit near him to keep him calm.

Indi did very well. She only knocked her crate over once. That was when Rye was playing tug of war with HER rabbit toy right in front of her crate. She didn't freak out over anything and ate lots of treats and was very focused overall. I really like her!