MX for Bo!

Well that went far better than I had hoped.  Bo and Tip brought home a stash of ribbons and rosettes. 

Bo and Tip with their satin haul from the Belgian agility trial (September 2012)

I am not sure:  Was the high point the fact that Bo had a perfect start line down-stay on every single run (6 all weekend???)  Was it how spectacular Bo's runs were?  Was it Bo finishing his MX with a 4th place run that earned him 29 MACH points in a class of 22 8"Exc B dogs?  (A run that had the judge stop me later to comment on it?)  Was it the fact that Tip came home with 3 first place rosettes from Novice?  Decisions decisions.... I have no idea -- it was all good.

I realized the command "wait" on the start line actually means "jump up and down and bark madly".  Funny what you unintentionally teach your dog.  In all other instances wait actually means ... quietly hold position until I tell you otherwise.  But I put Bo into a down and a stay and he ... held his down until released.  I even did lead-outs!

Then there was little Tip.  He didn't Q in T2B, simply because he cannot do 12 weave poles in trial setting yet.  But he gained confidence all weekend.  I flubbed up our final run, because otherwise he would have finished his NA title.  However, despite my handling blunder it was a great run -- lots of energy and a fair bit of speed, and quite a bit of assurance.  Once we have those weave poles down, I think he will be meeting up with Bo in Excellent quite soon.  And I fear he will be quite consistent (unlike Bo who is so very brilliant).

Bo = Ferrari (Italian, flashy, fast, breaks down, but everyone wants one the second they see it!)
Tip =  Audi (German, machine-like, well engineered, reliable, very functional)