We participated in our first trial in Sanford, NC at Bon-Clyde Learning Center in July of 2019. Right off the bat, we got 2 qualifying scores in Novice Standard. Bon-Clyde is similar to where we train in Wilmington, so transitioning to the space was not too hard. Focus was definitely an issue. She was distracted by a ray of sunshine that looked like a piece of cheese on the ground. I think we lost some points for that.
Our next trial was in Concord, NC in August, 2019. That was a disaster. Ann hated the venue and couldn’t wait to get out of there. She was spooked by the teeter and the digital timer. She would go over the first few obstacles and then run to the exit and sit there waiting. On one of the runs, she went to the bathroom right in front of the teeter. She was so stressed out that I thought this might be the end of our very short dog agility career. All of the professional dog agility photos we have so far are actually from this show, which is funny because they are amazing photos and it looks like she was doing great, but in reality, she was not having a good time. Boo.
Once home, we trained hard and went over all different kinds of teeters. Our next trial was in Columbia, SC at the end of September, 2019. This was an outdoor ring with a dirt floor and a roof but no walls. I was a little apprehensive about this venue, but wanted to give it a shot. We got our third qualifying score in Novice Standard and our first title! We also got our first “Q” -as it is called in the dog agility world- in Novice JWW (jumpers). I was so relieved that she was able to get through those courses!
We have 3 trials coming up in the end of October and beginning of November. One of them is a USDAA trial so we’ll see how that goes!
What a Wonderful journey. Who was intrinsic in getting you interested in showing goes and trials? Could you have done it without her? I think Ann is poetry in motion.