Trialing outside in the rain

We train and run in light rain. I run slower and smooth the turns out. I will not run if it's pouring, if the course is mucky, or if there are high winds.

It's no different than being the first run of the day at 7:30 when the grass is wet with dew.
 
Trialing outside

FutureMACH said:
We train and run in light rain. I run slower and smooth the turns out. I will not run if it's pouring, if the course is mucky, or if there are high winds.

It's no different than being the first run of the day at 7:30 when the grass is wet with dew.
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It is alot different.Yes,it is still slippery and wet but downpour the ground is more saturated and most likely alot more muddy.JMO
 
Yeah but I said I won't run in downpours or if it's mucky. :)

Sometimes there's just that annoying drizzle or a passing shower. I'm pretty quick to scratch if there's something I don't like. But wet grass or wet equipment (depending on the equipment!) isn't an automatic scratch for me.

I evaluate every course and conditions separately. I might run a smooth jumpers course in the rain but scratch from a twisty jumpers course in the same conditions. If there's a big mucky spot in a take off or landing zone or where the dog will need to turn, I won't run that (though if there's a mucky spot where I need to run, I will just try to be careful!)

It just all depends on what I see when I get out there.
 
Totally depend on the rain conditions and the field condition, I have run In heavy rain NO wind and a solid non muddy field with no problems whatsoever, we had to remove the chute and replace it with a tunnel but other then that it was fine, I have also had light rain on a field that was so slick, Clay Based that you could barely stand up let alone run on it so I think it a total Judgement Call on your part as the handler to deem wether it's will be safe for both you and your partner. Cosmo I would run in more difficult conditions as his speed doesn't warrant as much concern as Storms where she only has one gear and that's High. Actually one of Cosmo's better weekend's was at a trial where it Poured all weekend But the field High, Hard and shedding water very very well he was running much faster in order to get thru the course and back to his warm and dry Kennel, the handlers were actually having a much more difficult time of it then most of the dogs were as most were equipped with flat rather smoothish runners, I opted to dig out my Golf Cleats from the trunk of the car worked great.
 
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I had to make that decision today and likely tomorrow with Birch.

It rained over night and the ground was quite wet this morning. I went to the trial to check the conditions. Luckily the trial didn't start until 11am. I found the ground damp and wet but the footing good not overly muddy or slippery, grass was a good length and in good condition. All the contacts were bone dry and the courses were smooth and flowing. It was overcast with a good chance of rain but not raining, so I went ahead and ran him. Jumpers was first and though the ground was damp, he had no problems. Did take down a jump but it was a front cross timing issue not the conditions. By the time Standard and FAST were going the grass had dried. Tomorrow it may rain again and I will play in by ear again.

I will not run my dog in the pouring rain, muddy fields or over wet contacts. Though I did run Diva in JWW once in while it was raining. It was light and it had just started to rain 2 dogs ahead of us and the ground was still in good shape. I questioned it there but Diva always ran with good control of herself. Birch is not so controlled so I worry about him more.
 
I wouldn't trial in pouring rain but I have in a drizzle and in muddy wet conditions post rain (it stopped being "agility" because I had to tip toe around puddles and there was no speed).

On hindsight (and having since had my close encounter with Juliet) I won't be doing that again. And it's not like we don't get a ton of practice in mud (which I always wonder is even real training because again, no speed, and I wonder if pushing off in the mud puts too much strain on the dogs' joints and muscles.) I have come to the painful realization that the worry and heartache I get from anything happening to my dogs far outweighs any joy or happiness from trialing or winning.

So only dry sunny conditions for me. :lol:
 
we don't practice in the rain and we wouldn't compete in the rain....
it did rain yesterday but we were competing in a covered arena
 
This has been a hard decision for me this year, because of the amount of rain we've had, the scarcity of trials in our area, and the distance we have to travel for trials.

Our local trial is outdoors, as is the next closest trial (4.5 hours away). After that, we're travelling between 6-8 hours to trial. I don't mind pulling my dog from the local trial if it rains, but it sucks to travel so far, and spend so much money, and then not trial. On the other hand, I don't like putting my dog at risk, so I try to balance the two out. It's further complicated by the fact that I don't usually travel alone, so deciding at the last minute not to go, or turning around isn't really an option. I did pull Starr from the Sunday of a rainy trial this year, and then had to sit around in the tent for 6 hours until my traveling companions finished trialing.

The biggest factor to me is that Starr doesn't like running in the rain. We do train in the rain, and I adjust my handling and expectations to reflect the weather, but the bottom line is my agility partner deserves a "vote".

So, from now on, except for our local trial, I won't be trialing outdoors. I feel bad, because I would like to support the trial closest to us, but it's not fair to my dog.
 
I would not trial in heavy rain or steady rain. Light ran that just begun, drizzle or morning/evening dew has been fine for us. Our training classes are at night & outdoors, so in the spring & fall there is always dew on the ground. We are used to running on grass that is damp.

I don't travel more than 90 mins for a trial, so I have no problem pulling my dog at the last minute or deciding that morning that we're not going to go or even driving there, seeing how the weather is and then deciding that moment.

We have been lucky so far. Most of our trials have been dry. We had two trials canceled because of rain, one of those was Superstorm Sandy. Two more trials left before we take a winter break. fingers crossed I don't have to make any weather decision :fl.
 
I ended up pulling Birch from his Standard run on Sat. The course was very twisting and the approach to the contacts quite steep. It had not been raining long or heavy but the grass was wet and so were the contacts. It had started raining about 2 minutes before his Open FAST run and I could already see he him sliding on the teeter(non rubberized).

Alot of people where like well standard is jump jump stop jump jump stop and i will go conservatively. Well my dog is young, green and has a shocking lack of concern for his personal safety so it was not worth it to me.
 
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