Water Trial Weekend

Returned home exhausted last night from a weekend at the PNWPWDC water trial, but pretty pleased with how things turned out for most of our canine "family". In alphabetical order for fairness sake (VBG):

• Bella (Kilo's daughter/Chili's sister) and Mandy got their Courier (CWD) title on Saturday (and I got to steward for them!)
• Cooper (Kilo and Stoker's son/Ecko's brother) and Julie earned their Apprentice (AWD) title on Sunday after a super effort on Saturday that fell just short of qualifying
• Ecko (Kilo and Stoker's daughter and our "great white hope") and I earned her Junior Water Dog (JWD) certificate on Saturday and AWD on Sunday
• Pansy (Kilo grand-kid and daughter of Mandy's girl Bella) and Mandy earned their JWD with great enthusiasm
  
• Rebel (Kilo grand-kid and son of Mandy's girl Bella) and Jessie earned his AWD title on Sunday after coming REALLY close on Saturday

We're super proud of family members Martha and Sailor (Kilo grand-kid and daughter of Mandy's girl Bella) and Val and JoJo (Kilo grand-kid/Chili daughter) who both had super and enthusiastic performances but had just enough go awry to miss out on that elusive "Q".

Some random "post-trial" thoughts:

• Those in our training group that were fortunate enough to "Q" were NOT those that did the best in training during the summer. There is a definite element of luck involved sometimes!
• The Deep Lake trial site was a stressful one for Ecko and perhaps for other dogs as well. It has a curved shoreline and is surrounded by trees - much less open than any place we have trained. Having strangers floating in boats and standing quietly on the shoreline seemed to unnerve her when she had practiced with people she knew all summer. I've only worked this site at the upper levels before with more seasoned dogs so didn't anticipate this.
• Sharing a common interest can make an opinionated bunch of people from different walks of life come together and work like crazy toward a common goal quite successfully.

Trial photos will be posted on the photographer's website at http://www.petscapesphoto.com/petscapesorderinfo/ when they are available. Can't wait to see them!