#agility trial

[fayeandknight]

I am so incredibly proud of Forte and myself.

We got our first Q in Jumpers!

We NQed our Standard run because he stepped on the broad jump and hopped off the table. But he stayed in the ring, didn't visit anyone, and didn't pee on anything. He recalled and was redirected well.

Then we promptly came outside so he could pee on something, lol.

We took a break for a course change and Forte happily rolled around the grass while I told him what a good dog he is.

I didn't run in Time to Beat so my instructor volunteered me to run the timer while she scribed. It was pretty cool to work "behind the scenes" so to speak. I also did gate calls for Open.

When it was time for Jumpers I feel like he and I were both less overwhelmed by all the activity. He did run past weaves at first but we're allowed a retry in Novice. We earned our very first Q! We also got first place in our height class

[blueboyluca]

And here’s the other run.

[ocala-is-calling]

She had a bath and is all fluffed up ✨️

[sheepdogsandsidesaddle]

Something is wrong with my dog and I'm trying not to totally spiral about it. Just have to make it to the AM to text my vet.

[lloonlloon]

0.20s over time aaaa but I love snooker

[caniscorvidae]

up, over, and FEET

[theadventurek9]

I think I have Aayla's retirement plan solidified for obedience and rally. I've spent a lot of time talking with friends and I really think it's time.

She is starting to appear a little more stiff in the mornings and is starting to struggle more and more with weird phases of utility.

AKC

Aayla is entered in a trial in two weeks for UB/OB, if she does very very well I may try and finish the year out to see if she can get her UDX. Yet I would expect her to have a utility Q rate of higher than 50% so that means over the next two weeks she needs to Q 3/5 times she has between this weekend and in two weeks. If she doesn't, then she is retired from AKC obedience and I will not enter her again.

I will then start entering her in rally only to get her RACH. She needs 9 more 3Qs, and she should be able to get that by May of next year. Then she will be retired from AKC rally. She really loves rally and I don't mind doing rally longer with her.

ASCA

I have a trial this weekend and then nationals planned. Aayla will most likely get her OTCh at a pretrial at nationals and compete in utility finals as her last obedience finals. I will not continue on to Superdog next year. After that I will not long travel for any obedience and we will only compete locally at her home training ring until she gets her UDX, then she will be 100% retired from obedience.

Aayla will continue in Rally until she gets her RTCH title. Depending on how she is doing I may be trying to qualify for rally finals next year, if we get in we will attend nationals for one last time for Rally and maybe Nosework/tracking. Then she will be retired from ASCA Rally.

----

All of these are the longest she will go in these sports. I am prepared to retire her sooner if needed. We have Nosework to pick up and I hope to find someone to help with tracking.

She loves training and working still and it's breaking my heart that it's her body that is slowing her down.

[border-collie]

The biggest thing that sold me on herding? Everyone was wearing hiking boots so I KNOW it's my kind of crowd 😂

[fayeandknight]

We NQed both our runs yesterday. In standard he dropped a bar and in jumpers we got a wrong course because I couldn't cue him away from the weaves fast enough. But I'm still really proud of us.

I honestly did not expect to get a Q at all between both days so that we got one feels huge. Also I got a lot of compliments on our runs from random folks which was flattering.

I did get friendly with a lady who is part of the club and ended up being ring steward for her last Q in excellent. She runs a Giant Schnauzer and it was really awesome to see. Later she introduced me around and people were shocked to find out Forte is my A dog. I explained that I'd practiced with a corgi mix but due to COVID we never went to trial.

Ended up winning the NQ raffle which was nice, got chocolate (yum) and a West Paw lick mat/slow feeder.

All in all it was a good first experience and I'm excited to see where the journey takes us. But I was so tired I fell asleep right after dinner last night, lol. So definitely glad I didn't sign up for three days.

[abirddogmoment]

it's so funny i spent sooooo much time being embarrassed about Mav's normal dog behaviours (e.g. worming in the grass, pulling on leash, soliciting pets) and then he would do something objectively hilarious and embarrassing in front of a crowd of people (e.g. heeling away with the judge during an obedience trial) and it was like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[pfhwrittes]

might write myself a very niche little fic about dog sports….

[whatisshelties]

I have no idea how Mud did at the NASDA trial today, but he GOT TO FIND RATS!!!! That's all he really cared about. All I really cared about too, tbh.

I know we NQd at least one run because he worked a distraction for more than 5 seconds. I vaguely remember reading that rule, but forgot. That's one of those things you read and doesn't sink in until you get an NQ for it.

Advice I received on another run was to work on having him be less aggressive with the quarry as in the upper levels they start to dock points for that and it ends up costing Qs. Many upper level competitors run in a muzzle because apparently that makes it so you can't do whatever with it that they don't want done with it. (Though Mud dislodges things with his paws, so a muzzle won't fix that....)

Problem with training him is there's no opportunities to train this. He was rough with the distraction boxes, which is another lack of practice thing, but he called off them easy. But yeah, I would need a quarry box loaded with a rat because that's when he REALLY cares about it. They do like to see that intense prey drive, but then they also want to see more control. I can think of how I train this to keep the intensity without the roughness. I think it involves a toy reward vs a food reward. I'd really like to to not read as 'scent work' like for him since it's critter related. It also involves being quicker to call him off vs letting him get a hold on the hide. I actually have to reward him for finding instead of letting roughing up the hide be the reward.

Also, this was probably the longest dog show day I've had competing in ages. They told us briefing at 8:45 am. They ran what sounded like record numbers for the region of Shed Dog and Lost Item first, then started rat classes. I didn't run our first runs until almost 5pm. I didn't leave the site until 6pm.

[twobigears]

mmm gotta say, so far there has been no noticeable drama in the MN agility people and while i know it’s far more likely that i just haven’t seen it yet because dog people are dog people…it’s nice

[thelittlespanielthatcould]

Kovu got called a show off by the agility instructor for the 2nd week in a row. There was a sub today so this was a completely different instructor btw he's just Like That

[border-collie]

Everyone wants me until they figure out this is the kind of daily activity I need to maintain mental health. (I rarely get this amount of activity)

[fayeandknight]

I'm still working through the near miss from agility practice. It's been taking a big toll on me and as much as I am loath to admit it - it's because of my disability.

My rambling is going under the cut but that's what this post is. Me trying to sort through why it's shaken me so badly.

There's a few factors all stemming from the same source so I'm going to try to parse them out.

First is the fact that my disability sometimes causes me to lose the ability to move independently and/or speak. I'm lucky that the incident only caused me to be unable to speak. If I'd been unable to move I strongly believe that other dog would have seriously hurt Forte. And it's frightening to know that I can't count on myself to always have the ability to advocate for mine and his safety. It makes me feel incredibly helpless and frustrated in a useless way.

The second is that it dead on hits the mindset I deeply struggle with. This persistent and deep seeded belief that the world is dangerous and I must always keep my head on a swivel and my guard up. That when shit goes down, no one will help me. Logically I know that's not true. I've had plenty of good interactions with others and the vast majority of people are not out to get me. And I have had scenarios where things go sideways and someone does step in to help. But a situation like this preys on my fears that help cannot be counted on. It sends me into a tailspin of feeling like the world is dangerous and the only way to remain safe is to retreat entirely.

The last is that Forte is my big investment into combating that feeling of needing to hide from the world. He's tasks are centered around helping me safely navigate those moments where my disability renders me helpless. So on top of the normal devastation anyone would feel if something bad happened to their beloved dog - I would be losing a big part of my ability to be out in the world at all.

The whole thing sucks and I hate that I'm often pulled to conclusions by twisted reasoning based on fear. But I also can't deny that there is a real basis for said fears when things like this happen. I don't want to give up agility. Both Forte and I enjoy it so much for a multitude of reasons. But part of my brain is screaming that I'm being reckless and shortsighted if I continue. That everything he and I have worked so hard for will end up ruined.

To be clear, I don't think anyone acted maliciously towards me. I think that because the dog was quiet in it's aggression that no one, the handler included, was paying attention. But lack of malicious intent doesn't change that the consequences of my being unable to advocate for myself/dog would have far reaching consequences.

Can I really keep taking the risk in pursuit of something that is, at the end of the day, just for fun? Am I letting my trauma wired brain steer me into a small, isolated life if I quit based on this incident?

I really don't know. And it sucks.