Ahhh, the ups and downs of agility trials. When you get to the top levels of competition, there is no room for error, it’s all or nothing to earn those elusive championship qualifiers. I liken dog agility to gambling, every so often you hit the jackpot that keeps you coming back for more. In this video you see my 10-year old, normally consistent, cocker spaniel having a wonderful run until…

Since TJ is not the high drive border collie (especially in a big and somewhat overwhelming arena), I did a restrained start to get the motor running while whispering “ready, set, go”. He had a beautiful start making it past the “C-shaped” tunnel which I was extremely nervous about him taking the wrong end and even through the dreaded weaves (his least favorite obstacle). Once we completed the weaves, I thought to myself “yes, we are going to qualify” and with the adrenaline pumping we started into the closing loop of jumps. Just as I started to think we were home free, TJ turned 180 degrees to take a jump off course. I was so bummed.

What went wrong?? After watching the video, my hypothesis is two-fold.

1. I took my eyes off TJ for a second losing that all important connection. My mistake was thinking that we can run a sequence like this in our sleep so I started to let up.
2. You’ll notice that the chute tunnel is pointed out of the ring as if it is the last obstacle. I suspect that TJ thought he was finished with the run and he was trying to complete the final jump sequence as I have trained him to run ahead to finish the course.

Although I was disappointed, it was a great run with my best buddy who is quickly reaching retirement age. Any day I can run with him is a good day.

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This past weekend was the Colardo Kennel Club American Kennel Club trial at the National Western Complex. Many of my agility friends love the excitement and energy of this show as this arena is very large and there are usually a lot of spectators. For me, this show is extremely stressful because my normally consistent cocker either becomes frozen with fear or makes unpredictable choices.

Given that TJ is 10 1/2 years old, I have a 1 year old baby, and I was volunteering as a chief score keep, I decided to only enter TJ on Friday and Sunday. On Friday, I planned to run per the usual with lead offs and distance work – result – TJ froze on the startline because he was stressed and I was too far away. Needless to say we walked away Saturday without qualifiers.

On to Sunday… I decided to do restrained starts by gently pushing on TJ’s chest and whispering “Ready, Set, Go” before running off the line. This worked great to get TJ running comfortably on the course. We were able to navigate the course traps and even perform the weaves successfully (the 1st obstacle to go south when TJ is stressed)! However, three obstacles to the end, TJ apparently thought we were finished and turned 180 degrees to take a jump near the ring exit. I was totally unprepared for this off course because TJ is normally very tight and attentive. Needless to say I was bummed!

In AKC when you reach the top levels the only way to make progress towards a Championship is to qualify on both the Standard course and Jumpers course on the same day. Consequently, TJ’s jumpers run in the afternoon was essentially just a practice run. This wasn’t all bad because we were able to successfully practice layering a jump which I would never do if I needed a qualifying run. Although we didn’t qualify this weekend, all was not lost because I learned how to keep TJ motivated in a stressful environment and I got layering practice in.

Lessons learned – success doesn’t have to equal qualification – success can be defined as making positive training progress.

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Our baby started crawling two months ago.  Up until now, the dogs have been able to out run the baby.  Just recently he has started to pull on the dogs and chase after them.  My youngest Golden Retriever is extremely tolerant letting our baby crawl over him, hug him, and pull on him.  I wish I could say the same for our other three dogs who look like they are being tortured.

A few days ago, my cocker spaniel started growling and nipping at the baby.  Our first instinct was to scold the dog, after all the baby’s safety is first priority.  We then started giving our dog options for escape such as going outside or laying on the back of the sofa.  This worked for a little while, but the baby is persistent.  So, I have started to train our cocker spaniel to respond to the baby’s advances by giving kisses.  The dog licks the baby’s face, the baby laughs and then goes on about his business – so far, so good.

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TJ earns his USDAA Agility Dog Championship!

This is an amazing accomplishment for dog that was initially labeled as “not championship quality” – afterall Cocker Spaniels aren’t exactly the agility dog of choice (hmm… Border Collies?)

My husband and I started dog training because TJ was very eager to learn new tricks. TJ learned the obstacles quickly and was very willing to please. Unfortunately, TJ was also somewhat fearful so we had to overcome a lot of confidence issues. We had our ups and downs over the years. I began to think that earning a Championship was just not achievable. However, at 9 years old, TJ has become really consistent and confident allowing us to earn the last 3 elusive Master Standard qualifiers.

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