After having tried freestyle just two weeks prior to this event it was clear that Bandit has aspirations of being much more than a toss and fetch machine. I learned this because he did extremely well at the FDDO competition in Roanoke Rapids where part of the rotation of events is a 60 second Freestyle routine. I pulled a cd out of the bag and gave it a go with Bandit and after all was said and done he performed fantastically and actually placed 2^nd for the freestyle portion in our class for that day (Advanced).

We headed home and got straight to work trying to figure out some moves we could bust out at the FWA which was only 2 short weeks away. I quickly learned he does not like to drop at a distance however after having taught him nothing but D/A for the last 3 years this is completely understandable so it appears we have out work cut out for us there. Also, for whatever reason he won’t invade my space so getting him up for a back stall has been a pain and one of the reasons I gave up on having him to freestyle in the first place but he seems MUCH wiser now as he has just turned 4 and is really paying attention more and more.

Day one was freestyle and each dog was supposed to run 2 freestyle rounds and a toss and fetch round for a total of three rounds for the day. Bandits first round of freestyle went very well and had we not had rain on Sunday (and I mean a ton of rain) I would be able to post his numbers but he did pretty good for our freestyle round and hit 16 for our toss and fetch round. We would have had a better T/F score if I could have kept it on the field however my mind was just not into it as I had a little run in with Tracy Custer 1^st thing in the morning which threw my day off completely …. Not a personality run in mind you nothing like that as Tracy is about as cordial as they come and just a complete joy to be around during competition weekends …. I REAL run in as I clipped her van trying to make a very tight corner (too tight as it turns out). That kinda thing really messes with your head, all I could think of was apologizing to her profusely for being an idiot and how much this weekend was REALLY gonna cost me now.

It looked like torrential rain late in the day so we were not able to complete the 2^nd freestyle round and Bandit’s scores were better than Kota’s at the end of the day as Kota and I had an absolutely DISMAL T/F round and only got 3.5 points. So Bandit was top dog in the pack leading into day two, which we were to start early in order to complete everyone’s 2^nd freestyle round.

Sunday was much better as I was able to sleep off some of the shock of my previous days mishaps and Kota and I were up 2^nd in the rotation (worst to first … so what does that tell you). The field was extremely wet and VERY slippery and about midpoint in our routine I put Kota up too high for a flip and she tried to catch herself however I watch in o horror as her leg slipped right out from under her and she did a complete face plant … she popped right back up and I gave her a little pat and she looked at me like “Why are you stopping ! WHAT ARE YOU DOING” so I went on with the routine but no more big air. Bandit was middle of the pack somewhere so I went back out there and did my best with him and COMPLETELY forgot one of the disciplines we can do easily (overs) but he is such a good dog he managed a catch ratio of like 75 percent and he was very attentive of everything I put in the air although we did have a little trouble with dropping for just a bit. Again because of the rain later in the day Sunday the score sheets I had for our freestyle rounds got ruined and I can’t post.

Toss and Fetch started just after noon. I signed up both dogs (Super Pro) and Kota signed up with Colleen Hegyi  (Super Pro) and then Bandit signed up with Mike Dillon (Pro).  Although I was able to keep it on the field this time Kota was still having troubles connecting and had somewhat less than a stellar round but a descent showing with 16 points and Bandit got like 19 points on our first rounds … not bad at all !!! Mike and Bandit were second in the standings after the first round and Colleen and Kota had trouble as someone had dropped treats ALL over the field right where the dogs return and Kota is so food motivated it completely halted Colleens round … SORRY COLLEEN !!!

The second round of action was very exciting as Bandit and Mike were up before us since they were in the pro division.  Mikes throws were petty damn good with the exception of the second throw which was lofting over towards the sidelines right in front of the bleachers and true to form Bandit kept his paws inbounds as he reached for AND CAUGHT the disc. Mike recovered very nicely and launched the rest right down the middle of the field. I went about an hour later and Bandit and I were hitting on all cylinders. I was very gunshy after throwing discs out of bounds the day before was conscientiously not putting anything into hurling the discs … I get too excited and end up hooking them right and left and did not want that to happen again dammit ! I don’t really remember all my throws except for the last one. Bandit had already made 5 catches and this was a “bonus” I could really go fot it with which I did and we hit dead center of the bonus zone behind the 40 yard mark … the crowd went wild and so did I !!!!

After all was said and done we were not sure WHERE Mike and Bandit had ended up so they called everyone up for the Medals ceremony for the Pro division and we listened as they started calling the names off. All I really remember was hearing them say “IN FIRST PLACE IS MIKE DILLON AND BANDIT” Mike had a grin ear to ear and as he went up to get the medal I asked Kat to release Bandit which she was kind enough to do for us and Mike got his picture with the other competitors who plaved and got medals in the pro division. As for Bandit and I  we ended up in something like 6^th place and considering the all star competition in the field I think that’s pretty damn good.

All in all a wonderful weekend !!!!!!!