Enthusiasm.

I think everyone who competes in a dog sport wants a dog that is enthusiastic about the task at hand. And yet, at agility trials, we’ve all seen a dog or two or three that is not interested, thank you very much. Just before I retired Elly, she was one of them. In practice, with a warmup and a chance to go slow and no pressure, she was fine, even danced a bit with excitement from time to time; at trials, not so much. At the end of two days of trialing, Dancer isn’t that excited to be coming to the line for the tenth time, either.

I think training a dog so that, every single time, the dog thinks “oh my bone my bone my bone, this is the best damn thing in the whole world” as they come to the line is possibly the hardest thing ever. It means, as Debbie Berkley says, that when you’re playing tug with your dog in the presence of agility equipment, you can’t scream when your dog bites you instead of the tug toy… because you want the dog to think playing with you is always always really amazing. It means, as I’ve observed Paige do (not say), that your dog needs to be having fun. And as she says… it’s the dog that defines what’s fun. For Dancer, that means a lively game of keepaway is a fabulous reward; for Rush, it’s chasing a ball. (He brings it back, though, because that means he gets to chase again.)

And it means you don’t slow your dog down just because it would be easier; it means you figure out a way to let your dog be fast and focused.

I’m working on the fast and focused part with Rush right now. Today we played with tunnels and jump standards and going away from me to go into a long straight tunnel. Oh yeah, and a few foot targets at the end of the dogwalk. At this point, all he’s doing is the last three feet of the dogwalk, but Debbie insists that he go right to the end, no hesitating. The target is definitely helping with that!

Dancer did have some runs. She ran Tunnelers first thing Saturday and came in fifth in her class (which was actually quite competitive), running 5.9 yards per second. She had two Weavers runs, both of which were NQs; she had two Touch N Go runs, both of which were NQs. Sunday, she had two Weavers runs, both of which were NQs, and two Touch N Go runs, one of which was an NQ. Don’t get excited, because the other one was an E. We finished up the day with a Q (unbelievably) in Tunnelers.

The E run in Touch N Go was both a flaming disaster and highly successful. The course was hoop-to-a-frame and of course she jumped the contact on the a-frame. I stopped her, made her come around, and she jumped the contact again. I stopped her again, brought her around again, and that time she stuck the contact nicely. I let her continue over the top of the course, over the dogwalk, and expected her to stop there too. She did. That was a very nice contact, and so I was very pleased, indeed.

If I hadn’t been an idiot and let her contacts slide the first run, the second run, and the third run in Touch N Go, perhaps I would have gotten better contacts on the fourth run. I am an idiot. I have to remember that the next Qs are more important than the one Q. She did come close to qualifying in one of the earlier TNG runs, though; she was over time by 0.49 seconds. Maddening.

Saturday went well. Dancer Qd in Level 3 FullHouse, completing her Level 3 requirements; she Qd in Level 3 Snooker, completing her Level 3 requirements there as well (and the teeter was part of the closing, too). Then we got to Standard. It was a straightforward course, no really scary traps or likely off-courses. 17 obstacles, if I remember right. It started with a jump and the a-frame; the teeter was in the middle somewhere; the dogwalk was the second-to-last obstacle. A mere six weave poles. I planned to micromanage Dancer so that she didn’t have a chance of messing up. I was incredibly nervous; I walked the course until the judge threw me off.

When I came to the line, it was close to the end of the class and most people had Qd without difficulty. Dancer did a nice a-frame contact; the teeter wasn’t great–she was hesitant to tip it, as usual–but she did do it. Her weaves were lovely and fast.

And she jumped off the dogwalk from about two feet above the contact line. People groaned. I stopped her, let her do the last obstacle, and walked her out of the ring. No one spoke to us, because what was there to say? They all knew I really really wanted that Q. The scribe said “it was a beautiful run, except for the dogwalk.” It was true, and I was glad she reminded me. I was proud of Dancer for doing the teeter.

She redeemed herself, however, with a first place in Level 4 Jumpers. Jumpers is always her best class: no contacts.

Sunday I was up at five and left the house just after 6. First dog on the line, slightly more than an hour’s drive away, at 8 AM; walkthrough at 7:45. I got there early enough to let Rush and Dancer play for a while in one of the corrals. Dancer was early in Level 3 Jackpot–tenth dog, I think–and I did my best with her. She missed her a-frame contact, and ran around the double and the tire, costing us 11 potential points. I left the ring knowing I’d finished in plenty of time, but not sure if I’d gotten enough points; the last trial, I got optimistic and got a ton of points–and went over time by one second. You can’t Q in Jackpot if you go overtime.

She got the Q; she needed 40 points, and she got 40 points.

Standard Level 2, the Q I really really wanted, was next. Another straightforward course. A flip-away into the tunnel after the dogwalk. I really pushed her into the tunnel; I didn’t want her to turn back onto the dogwalk and get an off-course. She got the dogwalk contact and I breathed for the first time. From there it went smoothly; they’d adjusted the teeter and Dancer didn’t mind it so much. The a-frame was well away from the spectators and she didn’t perch on the top to check things out.

In short, nothing went wrong, and Dancer got that Level 2 Standard Q. Finally. That completed her Level 2 title, qualified us for Nationals, and I went home to make dinner for friends, skipping the last two runs of the day.

Official results (except for Standard, where I forgot to write it down):
Snooker, Level 3: 45 points, 33.86 seconds
FullHouse, Level 3: 27 points, 35.87 seconds
Jumpers, Level 4: 119 yards, SCT 32 seconds, 29.17 seconds (4.1 yps)
Jackpot, Level 3: 40 points, 40.15 seconds
Standard, Level 2: Q (and completed level 2)

I went to the trial Saturday morning, needing just one Q in level 2 Standard to qualify for nationals. Deadline to qualify is February 27th, 2012. I left the trial Sunday evening, five Qs to the better… and still needed just one Q in level 2 Standard to qualify for nationals. Arrgghh. Dancer had four off-courses in the first Standard run on Saturday (but got all her contacts and did the teeter besides); every single one of them was my fault. Sunday’s Standard run was a huge improvement. Nice contacts, great weaves… and only two off-courses, both my fault, of course. That is, of course, what happens when you really want a Q; your handling goes to shit.

Dancer, November 2011, photo by Joe Camp

Let’s see: Q and 1st in level 4 Jumpers; Q and 1st in level 3 Colors; three obstacles and out in level 3 Snooker (it was a tough snooker!); Q and 2nd in level 3 Jackpot (a gift from the judge, who missed Dancer’s leap off the a-frame–or maybe she got a toenail in, who knows); Q in level 3 Wildcard; Q and 1st in level 3 Fullhouse.

I took Dancer alone to the trial today. She was clean but over time in Elite Hoopers, Elite Regular, Elite Jumpers, and Elite Tunnelers. She got all her contacts, except in Chances, where she totally leapt off the dogwalk. (I think she flipped me the bird as she did it.)

Parts of every single run were excellent but I’m too hot and tired to care.

Dancer ran well for the first three runs; she ran clean in both rounds of Regular and made time in the second run (getting her contacts both rounds); she Qd in Jumpers. In Chances, however, she was slow and distracted. Since she came home and pooped an enormous wad of grass, I think I’ve got that problem worked out. Anyway, I’m glad I brought her home.

Elly ran in Chances, and it was sad. She trotted slowly over the dogwalk, then around a jump, then wandered a bit. The only time she seemed to be having a good time was when she went through the last hoop and spotted Paige, standing there with her leash. It’s a good thing she likes Paige so much, given how poor her health is.

The run made me realize that it’s time to retire Elly. She’s not having a good time. This makes me sad.

Joe Camp was there and took some wonderful photos of the girls and of Rush. Here’s Rush, strutting his stuff for the cameras (edit: I just noticed he’s pacing, not trotting, in this photo!):

Rush, photo by Joe Camp

So, a different shot of Rush, trotting in this one:

Rush, photo by Joe Camp

And here is Dancer, showing off her weaves:

Dancer, photo by Joe Camp

And a rather different view of Elly (she was doing exactly what I asked her to do, and no, we weren’t going the wrong way):

Elly, photo by Joe Camp

Photo by Joe Camp.