This year Dudley participated! We've been having some training issues lately plus my husband was in the hospital after the last trial so our training plan got scrapped. Because of all this I didn't get Dudley weaving by the time the trial rolled around, so I didn't plan on running him. The issue we've been working on is Dudley running out of the ring during a run. If Dudley sees what he considers an exit, he takes it. I discussed it with my instructor and we decided that it would be best not to trial Dudley until we resolved this issue so I really didn't plan on running him. But I was going to have Dudley measured for his permanent height card while I was there. Dudley just had his second birthday in November and this was the very first AKC trial he'd been at where there was a VMO. Not only was there a VMO, there were two! We could get both our measurements and be done! Woo hoo! However a woman at the trial made a bit of a stink about measuring my dog when he wasn't entered (but he was, I just wasn't going to run). Then she made a stink about having him measured when I wasn't running so I decided that this was just the type of person to make trouble so maybe I'd better run him at least once.

I'd already missed the Novice run on Friday so I made sure I got to the trial early enough on Saturday to do the Novice walk through for our event, JWW. Guess what? No exit to be seen from the course! I couldn't believe it! How perfect is that? There actually was a huge opening but the gate was angled in such a way that from inside the ring it looked closed. I couldn't have asked for anything better. I ran Dudley both days. We just made our best attempt at the weaves possible given the little bit of training he'd gotten on them. So, of course, we didn't qualify but he stayed right with me and did the courses perfectly! I even did 2 rear crosses on the Sunday course and he read them without a hitch. What a good boy!!!