Abby qualified for Nationals!
I am still shocked and amazed that we did it so I'm going to write it down here so I will have something to compare to in following years.
Saturday:
Gamblers: Our group ended up re running this at the end of the day since there was controversy over the curvature of the tunnel. We chose to rerun and came out with a point LESS than we had originally. Both times Abby came out of the tunnel turned the right way to go out over the jump (the turn was what I thought would be the hardest part) and then she just stood there while I yelled "get out - over!! get out....OVER!!. So total = 34 points.
Jumpers: I don't really remember what happened in this run but we had an off course and some refusals so total = 45 points.
Standard: I stupidly was wearing a bad shirt/pants combo at this point in the day and as I sent Abby over a jump I pulled my shirt down to stop it from riding up. Stupid me! I pulled Abby off the jump and she put a toe on the walk-it...so total = 70 points.
So by the end of Saturday we had 149 points - 26 points less than half of the 350 needed to qualify.
Sunday:
Jumpers: Abby knocked a bar in this run and I was so surprised that I turned around to see what the noise was and pulled her off course. Total = 40 points. At this point we had 189 points and I had lost all hope for qualifying. We still needed 161 points and I really didn't think we could pull off a 100 point standard and a 30 point gamblers (or so) with the gamble but...
Standard: Abby did an awesome run and only had 5 faults for missing the weave entrance! Points - 95. I crossed awkwardly twice to do same-side weaves but probably didn't have to as demonstrated in ..
Gamblers: This was the run that made my weekend. There was a 16 point mini gamble that consisted of a jump, off side weaves and a walk it. Abby did this twice. No hesitation or anything. Right into the weaves, wove perfectly and went over the walk it and hit her contact. She did the other mini gamble worth 6 points (tunnel, out jump) once and a few other things resulting in a huge 47 point opening! And then..she did the gamble! It was a jump, tunnel, out teeter, out hoop and Abby did it perfectly. She even stuck her teeter contact until I released her. I was so, so happy with her. I think we ended with 366 points. 31 dogs in 22" regulars qualified out of I think 70 or so. Abby came in 28th.
My little mutt is amazing! I am so happy with her that I want to cuddle and squeeze her but since she doesn't like that smooshy stuff I have to take it out on Ryan instead.
The only bad part of the weekend was that my car overheated on the way home and I had to be towed to the nearest mechanic. The driver invited Abby and Ryan to ride in the cab with us and he fed them his roast beef sandwich while telling stories about his dogs. It was a strange end to the weekend and I still don't know what's wrong with my car. Sigh.
