Wow! I had such a blast. It really made me feel like I could be a good handler (We've been considering a BC ) . I noticed how big a difference a good handler could make...the dogs that did the best had handlers who were calm, very good at keeping the dog's attention with clear signals, and who had figured out ahead of time how to stay out of the dog's way! I'm curious, does a dog have to be purebred or registered to compete? I didn't see any mixed breeds around. I think my favorite part was this: many people were complaining about the weave poles in our arena (one of two) listing to the side, and being confusing to the dogs, and I did indeed see many dogs have problems who ran a beautiful rest of the course. One BC ran the course and missed the last pole, which was VERY crooked from where I was sitting. He finished the course and seemed to get a good score, but boy, he knew something went wrong, and he was MAD! He chewed his owner out (two or three good barks with his tail tucked) at the end of the course. It really felt like he knew that course was messed up and had some choice comments to make. I can't wait to see more agility trials. I was fascinated by how focussed some of the borders were just before their runs...they didn't appear aware of anything but the course.
Saille.