Today I am delighted

On Friday, I said I’d be happy if Cooper and I qualified in one (out of three) Rally Advanced B trials this weekend. Cooper qualified yesterday, so I went into today’s trial feeling happy.

If we qualified twice, I said I’d be delighted. And tonight, I am not only delighted, I am really, r-e-a-l-l-y delighted.

In today’s trial, Irish Water Spaniel #2418 got 99 out of 100 points.

And that 99 put Team Cooper in 1st place. I am not only delighted, I am amazed at how well it all went. The judge took only one point off for Cooper’s being slightly out of position on a Pivot Right Forward.

One of my fellow exhibitors commented to me that our run looked very smooth and easy. And you know, it felt smooth. Cooper’s brain stayed with me, his body mostly stayed in heel position, he got to do some fun things like leap over the bar jump, and I didn’t lose our place with all the curves and turns we had. It was fun, we both enjoyed ourselves, and I think it showed.

Of course, feeling like we’d done well didn’t stop me from exclaiming, “Oh my God!” when I saw the score and realized there weren’t any other higher scores on the board. I had to look at it several times. I even asked the steward if that little green “99″ went with the blue “2418″. She smiled at me for a few moments before she said “Yes.” All I could say in response was “Oh my God!”

Here’s the course, if you’re interested:

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