Dean had strong races each day, and left no question he was the fastest, as he was generally a third of the track in front of the others. However, he also showed that there's more to racing than speed, as he had a race each day where he was defeated or almost defeated due to having a softer temperament. On Saturday, he ended up boxed in by two of the girls due to a strange moment where he slowed up suddenly without obvious cause. Once he was boxed in, he wouldn't push his way through to pass them. On Sunday, Evie pulled a brat move and started harassed him right out of the box. He moved all the way to the outside with her, and then ended up behind two of the other girls. In a similar move to Saturday, once he was behind them, he would not pass them. It made me realize that he's always been so far ahead of the other dogs during racing that he isn't used to being in the middle of a group and he just doesn't know what to do with himself once he's there. Regardless, he won both his other races both days by a very long lead, and ended up as the meet winner for both days. Evie has been retired from racing - she's just too easily distracted by the other dogs when she's muzzled, and she tends to play fun police. Fortunately, she enjoys lure coursing even more than racing anyway.
Another win of the weekend was watching Kayla's girl, Azula, come into her own. Azula was a very timid girl and lacked the confidence to run with other dogs a few months ago. Evie was a huge boost to her confidence in general, and specifically in lure coursing. Azula has been gradually getting more and more confident, and she was a strong runner all this weekend. It was a treat to see!