WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
Honor Q'd on her second run at the rally trial this weekend! I am SO proud of her, and am really excited that we got out there and did it!
I was sooo nervous going into the first run, and I think Honor could really pick up on it. Plus we had almost a two hour wait before our first run, and Honor was totally unfocused and wired after that wait. Despite my best efforts to prep Honor and get her focused, we went into the ring, me a basketcase of nerves, and Honor on a sniffing spree. Honor was hysterical in the first run. If you could hear her thoughts, they probably sounded like: "Oooh, look a the FLOOR, there's a great SMELL on this floor, I love
smells, I really --- who's THAT?! a JUDGE?! hellooooooo judge! I will
stare at you....so much that I won't do a call front sit because i'm
STARING at you -- WAIT! this spot on the floor smells like dog
TOO...mmmmm".
Lol.
Needless to say, we NQ'd on the first run due to a mutual lack of focus and connection. But I took Honor to run in a fenced-in area before her second run, and I think getting all of her excess energy out was good, because she was a TON more focused in the second run. And I was actually very calmed by the fact that our first run was probably the worst that could happen, so I went into the ring more relaxed. And the combination worked, we got our first Q! 
And now I'm reeeally addicted. The trial was SUCH a good time. The atmosphere of APDT is very comfortable, and the other competitors were incredibly nice. I had lots of good conversations, and several people offered great suggestions on how to relax (since it was our first trial). There's another trial in December, and I'm hoping that Honor and I might be able to get our last two legs there.
WOOHOO! Go Honor!