This was our first move up to Pro-Novice and it was quite a jump. In reality we probably were not ready but did not want to remain a perpetual novice.
And as I told anyone within ear shot if we did well we would celebrate by going wine tasting and if we did poorly we would commiserate by going wine tasting. So there was really no way to lose.
Well - by most standards we probably would not be considered to have done well - but I was very happy with both dogs. Piper was up first (18th overall) and she was only the second dog all day to "Go Bye". Her outrun was gorgeous - wide, deep and a lie down at the top. Unfortunately she came on a bit too strong on the lift and I was too inexperienced to tap on the brakes before things got a bit out of control and she gripped out on the lift.
Maggie was up about an hour and a half later. Her sheep broke toward her on the outrun but she continued wide (not quite as wide as Piper) and came up on balance for a nice lift. Maggie was one of only three out of sixty dogs to score a zero/zero on her outrun and lift. Unfortunately as she was coming down the fetch line the sheep wanted to escape to a corner where they had escaped on many dogs. I made a misstep by trying to get Maggie around to the other side and when she hesitated and released the pressure her sheep got away from her.
I am told that at least one person who has seen Maggie since we started going to Novice trials commented that it was the best he has ever seen Maggie. So progress.
As planned we celebrated with a toast of Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc methode champenoise.
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