This past weekend my friend Bari and I discovered a new trial venue that is now one of my favorites – Ernie J Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates. What a beautiful, relaxing place, if you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t guess that it is surrounded by city. The show rings were set up on a baseball field with nicely groomed grass, not too far from a horse barn and dirt arenas. All day long, riders were training in the arenas, headed to the trails, or returning from their outings.

On Saturday we showed in Novice C, hoping for that last RN-C leg with a score of 190 or better under a third judge. Unfortunately we only ended up with a 188, after 3 points each lost on one retry and doing the moving sidestep “AKC style” (in front of the sign, passing it on the left) instead of “ASCA style” (keeping the sign on your right). The other deductions were for Quigley touching me, heeling too close, an out of position sit, and a slow response on a stand. The judge is a very nice lady and I enjoy showing under her, but she is known for scoring very strictly.

Saturday afternoon’s run started out really, really well, but unfortunately we had a mishap and were excused. Just before we were to enter the ring – running as first team in Novice – my car alarm went off and being out of range for the remote, I had to run over to turn it off, then hurry back and grab my dog.

Can you guess what I forgot?

It was a warm day, I had fed lots of treats, and Quigley drank a lot of water. I gave him opportunity to pee frequently, but apparently not frequently enough, and not right before going in the ring. So about 3/4 of the way through the course, he stopped and just let it run. In a way this was kind of funny, after our episode in Chula Vista, where the judge falsely claimed that he had peed. This time it was very obvious that it did happen and I took my excusal in stride. I doubt I’ll forget again!

For Sunday’s trials I moved us up to Advanced B, since we had already earned two RN-C legs under this judge as well as one other, and need a third to meet the title requirement. The RN-C title is on hold until I can find another trial with a judge we haven’t earned a C leg under yet.

We had an ok run in the morning trial, getting our first ASCA Rally Advanced leg with a score of 186 and second place after losing 10 points for an incorrect performance (Quigley, having a terrier moment, insisted that the call front, 1-2-3 steps back was supposed to be a 1-2-3 steps forward and kept finishing left each time to face forward – including on the retry) , an additional retry, and one head bump. I was completely surprised when we were called back to the ring at the end of the trial, and awarded a pretty rosette and a crate fan for “High Scoring Other Breed”.

In the afternoon trial we earned our second RA leg with 194 points, 2nd place, and again High Scoring Other Breed.

Most amazing thing I saw this weekend: one handler getting perfect scores with all 3 of her Aussies in the Rally Masters class.