Chuckanut Dog Training Association
Ferndale, Wa. July 17, 18, 2004
This was a two day trial limited to 300 runs per day. Judged by Sherry Porter.
The trial last year was fun and we decided to camp out and do two days this year. The trial was small and low key, and the grass was nice last year. We arrived with a lot of optimism. Small dogs went first on Saturday morning so Al was about the 8th dog to run, after an 8AM start.
This was Al's first time in Excellent B for the Standard Course. He had two great runs the previous weekend, and I was hoping the streak would continue. I barely noticed what was going with the dogs ahead of us, except I noticed that there wasn't much enthusiasm by most of the crowd, which meant no Qs. When we ran, I realized why.
The course looked like it would be pretty fun. It was a down on the table. We had a pretty good stay at the start line and Al got the bottom contact of the A Frame, but when he hit the ground he smelled something and I lost him for just an instant. We then went on over two jumps and the next obstacle was an easy weave pole entry with me doing a rear cross. When Al started to run to the poles he caught the scent again, and hesitated so I almost ran over him as I was starting my rear cross to the weave poles. He didn't stop completely, but it caused a problem. He went into the poles and sniffed the ground at the second weave pole as he ran by it, and then about pole 6 he pulled out. We went on. I should have made him go back and do them properly, but I didn't. Everything was OK until about #10 where he was back to the area where the scent was. This is where I lost him completely and he went over to the spot he had been previously interested in. Since he was in the neighborhood, he thought he would just stop by and sniff and dig a little. I got there just as he was about to scratch the ground into which he already had his nose buried, and picked him up quietly, and carried him off the course. Sherry Porter had the most sympathetic look in her eyes as I walked by her. It was like "I'm sorry".
It turned out that only one dog qualified in 12" Excellent A or B that morning. Everyone had trouble with their dogs sniffing. It was a total disaster. The one dog that Qd was a slow Papillon being run by an elderly woman who is 80 years old. She is incredibly slow, and with the 2X bonus of a first place finish, she accumulated 8 MACH points.
Al didn't quite get it. This was the first time ever that I had picked him up in the middle of a competitive run. He was still excited, but not quite so. I was silent as a morgue. I carried him to the van, opened it up. Said to him that if he wasn't going to pay attention when we run that he couldn't play ( like he was going to understand) and left him there to think about it for about 10 minutes with Grace. No Treat Bag, no celebration dance, no hugs or kisses, nothing but the comfort of his bed in the van. When I came back 10 minutes latter, Al knew something was up. He just wanted to be loved. He didn't care about the small morsel that I gave him and he accepted happily. What he really wanted to know was that I still loved him, which I did, but we still went for a subdued walk down to the beach on the nearby river. This was our morning.
It turned out that the Agility Courses were set up 80-100 feet from a river with lots of vegetation between, and not many people use the park, so the area has a lot of "wildlife". People thought that the "spot" everyone was interested in could have been from an animal. Who knows. Anyway at least "everyone" had trouble. Perhaps some of the people who are so careless about throwing food treats around agility courses when they train now realize what happens when they loose a dog during a run to a distraction like an irresistible treat or an incredible smell!! "High Drive" agility owners; welcome to the world of the "rest of us".
A couple of hours later we were ready to run again. Al had recovered most of his enthusiasm, and I had forgiven him (almost). It was hot and muggy, bright sunshine at 11:30AM. Everything started out great, but after a few jumps Al turned away, put his nose down, and started to look around. I was horrified. This was the third consecutive run in which he had quit during the run. I walked over to him again, picked him up, and carried him over the nearest ring barrier and headed straight to the Van with him in my arms. No talking, no eye contact, into the van, close the door, and goodbye. This time I left Al for about 20 minutes before I reappeared. No treats, no loves, just silence. Al was really affected by this. We left the trial grounds about an hour later and spent the afternoon making up in Bellingham. We went to the museum, the art gallery, while Al stayed in the van. Al knew that I had forgiven him and later we went for a walk at a beach park, and then had a nap on a blanket in the shade, and Al cuddled up with me trying to figure out what had happened, and trying to make amends.
I let Al run in a safe place off leash, playing with Grace, and getting to chase a squirrel, and attempting to climb a tree to get to one. Then it was back to the campsite for dinner, and finally bed. He was really trying to make up, and I was wanting him to try as hard as he could. We had a nice sleep, and Al was buried into my side the whole night (he is always there, but that night he seemed to be much more interested in full body contact).
I decided that at this point, I would only pick him up again if he blew off me and the course, and didn't respond to the first time I called his name. I was dreading that I would have to do this again on Sunday morning, as the Judge had refused to let a dog onto the course to locate the spot, and nothing had been done about it.
The start line was good for Al this morning. He let me lead out perhaps 3 feet. Then it was a tire and straight into the weave poles after a small turn. Al was flying through the tunnel, and took the hardest route possible to the weave poles, he veered hard to his right, crossed behind me and then went into the chute??!! When he came out of the chute he turned hard 180 degrees and came back to me and then he did a 180 degree turn into the weave poles, just like we practice. It was a great entry, and he had a great run from then on, with the only mistake being mine when I caused him to back jump a wrap around a jump. Totally my fault. No Q on this run, but Al brought it all today and there was a big celebration afterwards.
No 12" dogs Qualified on this course. Standard Course time was 71 seconds (165 yds.). Al's time was 65.98 seconds. Slow, but I didn't have to pick him up. No Qs in Excellent B?? Something was wrong on the course.
This was a fun course and I got to spend a lot of time planning and walking the course. When we ran, someone had just completed their MACH, so there was a lot of excitement in the air. It was also bright sunshine and very humid with no wind. Al had a little trouble at the start as I had decided to do a drop and go start. I dropped him and he went off behind me in another direction. I grabbed him quickly, and we restarted and then everything went very smoothly. He had a clean run! His time was good but not as fast as I know he could have run it, but he paid attention, and most of all he had fun and knew he had done well!!
Al placed 3rd, getting his first Placement Ribbon in Excellent B JWW. The SCT was 46 seconds (149 yds.) Al's time was 37.54 seconds.
