Meltdown

Funny how stress creeps up on you and makes you do strange things. We had an agility trial at the Quarryplex Soccer Dome in Kingston this past weekend. Not many Qs but some fairly important ones.
Tanja was recruited to run with Trudy in team. They had earned 2 Qs together at Dreamfields in November. Trudy just needed one more for her title. They had three chances to get it on Sunday. First run, both dogs not very fast, but clean Trudy wouldn't go back in the box for the exchange so that ate up time and we ended up 5 secs over time. Next run, Trudy ran first again. Same thing, wouldn't go back in the box. Finally Michelle caught her and shouted "Go, Go! Go really fast!". Well, we tried. Really stepped on the gas. Unfortunately didn't make up the delay and finished up over time again. Third run. This time Tanja was running first so Michelle wouldn't have to catch Trudy at the end of her run :-) . Well we did it! Michelle happy to have her title at last!
Next tale - Tyra and Keya were partnered in team. Neither dog had any Qs, both needing three for their title. First run, Keya clean, Tyra knocked a bar. Thought we might have been fast enough to make up the fault but didn't dare celebrate until we found out for sure. Turned out we were ~20 seconds~ under course time!! Next run was fast and clear for both teams. Batting 2 for 2 with one to go. Well, the stress was too much. The course looked brutal on paper and we were far from confident. Heather & Keya ran first - the pressure would be on BIG TIME if she ran clean - after all it was for our titles and Keya's ATChC. Stress won out. Heather crossed when she shouldn't have and sent Keya into the wrong end of the tunnel. Game over, pressure was off. It didn't matter how Tyra ran our half of the course. So we ran it with a big smile and threw in some faults of our own along the way :-)
We'll get another chance in April. Stocking up with valium in advance.