The Third Time's a Charm - Starters Gamblers Title!

Jefferson and I earned our 3^rd “Q” in Starters Gamblers at this weekend’s LCDA Trial.  It was our Starters Gamblers Title and a long time in the making – one year to be exact.  I was so proud of my pup that I actually cried tears of joy (and relief) when I saw the “Q” pop up on the computer screen.    We got the gamble –  again, not our problem since we excel at distance work – but I was not sure that we had accumulated enough points in the opening.  Our start was great and Jefferson was running fast.  We had a beautiful running dogwalk (the 5 point obstacle:  1, 2, 3, 5 with a 30 second opening) and I had planned to run him back over the dogwalk but Jefferson had his own plan.  So, I went with his plan and got him to take the tire and tunnel – in between his standing around and peering at me with “that” look I have began to dread.  Luckily, we had enough points in the opening.  When the buzzer sounded, I ran him to the closing and we had a great gamble.   I am so proud of our run!

Here’s the video:

“That” look was our theme for this weekend’s trial.  It is so very frustrating to know that your dog has demonstrated excellent agility skills and can perform all the obstacles without fault during practice; yet, during the trial – especially at our home and practice field – shuts down and will not run the courses with me.  We practice 4-5 times during the week, some structured classes in which we almost always accurately perform the skill sets, and other times on our own.  We have not missed our 12 weave pole performance during our practices in months; yet, we only weaved one time during a trial in our last 2 shows.  Exasperating to say the least.  To be honest, I have contemplated quitting the sport and retiring back to my life as a couch potato and casual, weekend runner and beer drinker.  But, once you have been bitten by the agility bug, it is hard to imagine your life without agility in it.  There is no greater feeling than to run a course in synch with your canine partner.  So, we will persevere and keep working through this minor set-back.

As lady-luck would have it, we had a private lesson with dog agility great and IFCS World Agility Championships team member, Stuart Mah on Monday after this weekend’s trial.  It was our good fortune that he had witnessed Jefferson’s shut-downs and trial behavior.  Stuart had us re-enact the trial atmosphere and trigger the same shut-down as we have experienced in recent trials at our home field.  Although the shut-down during the lesson was not as dramatic; nonetheless, Stuart gave us expert advice and a plan to implement to get past this roadblock to our progress.  More than that, he gave us hope that we can run a course together as a team.  It may take us a bit longer to move up the ranks like our peers, but it can be done with patience and revising my training methods.  His encouragement and belief in our skills appeared to me at the right time.

As the old saying goes, things happen for a reason.  I believe that all circumstances in our lives serve a purpose to teach us something.  You just have to be willing to look for the lesson and be open and trust the process.  I am excited about the possibilities of Team J-Dawg and look forward to future clean runs. 

"Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this.  For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward."
~Henry Ford