This past weekend Freddie and I were entered at West Valley Dog Sports' USDAA trial. It was raining, but fortunately it was held at an under cover equestrian facility. I think this was our 4th USDAA trial, the first we've been entered in since October. It was quite a memorable experience, for lots of reasons....in addition to Freddie, I brought Gus so he could hang out. It was great...Gus was quite the mayor, barking, smiling (all teeth) and wooo wooing at everyone he knows (he remembers people most.....if he ever met you, you are his next best friend...).

Saturday night all 4 of us (me, Matt, Gus & Freddie) went to Anaheim to see Billy Joel in concert (well, the 2 boys had to stay in the car...), and it was fantastic! We stayed at a local motel, and needless to say, Sunday I was a bit tired, but it was well worth it!

Okay...the trial.....finally, I met Jean! It was fantastic to watch her and Bailey. What a great team they are! Video just doesn't do justice to the real thing.

Yang and Olga were on their game, and had a GREAT weekend, as did Gina and Tim.

As for me and Freddie, I was very happy with how things went. It wasn't all roses by any means, but so many good things happened in our runs....

Although Freddie had previously earned his AD, I had decided to keep him in Starters games until he earns his titles in each. The reason for this was to gain ring experience (not just for him, but for both of us, since it has been a couple of years for me, too). This weekend he did so in Pairs, Gamblers and Jumpers. He also earned his 2nd Snookers leg, so one more to go on that. He got his first Q in Advanced Standard on Saturday (I have to mention that we placed 2nd behind Gina & Tim, whose time was 9 SECONDS faster than ours...YIKES! That is an absolute ETERNITY in agility! What the heck were we doing in those 9 seconds????? Way to go Gina & Tim!!!). We were also entered in Steeplecchase and Grand Prix. Although we didn't qualify in either, I was really happy with the runs.

One really interesting thing...this venue has a metal roof. Saturday morning everything seemed to be just fine, but when I brought Freddie to the ring for our first run (Advanced Standard), his ears layed back, and he broke his start as soon as I left his side (no WAY are you leaving me, mom!). I realized that the echoes of the venue were something he wasn't used to, and so I spent quite a bit of time with him in the ring area over the course of the weekend, to acclimate him to the sounds. He got better with each run, and by the end of the weekend, he seemed to pretty much ignore it. This was a huge lesson to me...I need to be more observant about the surroundings and how they might be affecting him.

The thing I'm happiest about was the enthusiasm that Freddie showed throughout the trial. He had 8 runs over the 2 days, and he came to each one with great cheer, ready to go. He was as enthusiastic in his last run, as he was in his first run.

In the end, Freddie earned 5 Q's out of his 6 regular classes, with 2 first places, a second, third and fourth. I know this is unusual for a single trial, and have no illusions that this will be typical. But I am VERY proud of my little guy, and the trust he has in me. It feels like we are really starting to come together as a team, and it is a TOTAL blast.

Most of our runs are up on Eric's website. I just looked at them, and it's funny...when I watched the first time, my initial thought was that it FELT faster than it looked (I wonder if that is just me, or if that is normal???). Then I watched again, and put my head back in the place it was during the runs. In doing so, I realize that we are coming along just fine.

Becky