Project Go Dog: They said that about skydiving too...

At only ONE agility event am I semi-ok with being a spectator- the AKC World Team tryouts.

We are quite spoiled in MN- we get to host this event; no VOD for us! No, we get to watch, front and center, live while teams duke it out on the field to win the coveted two spots. This is the most intense, exciting trial I am able to witness.

This year- no exception to that. The courses were INSANE. But in the same way that skydiving is insane- people are still doing it voluntarily, just for the rush. The FUN kind of insanity, from which dangerous, addictive habits are formed. As an agility junkie, I have to admit I felt positively ITCHY to try them out.

But first I had to watch.

Sooooo...cooooool… SOOOO HAAAARRRDDD!

Of course, some teams made them look easy.

Not many though. Very few clean runs each round. Lots of brilliant moments though. I sincerely hope everyone went home happy. (Seriously, even YOU, Exasperated Sigh Lady.) All the dogs did something well; they each survived some disgusting trap, or nailed a ridiculous weave entry or managed to not bite their handler- big accomplishments! This was not a regular agility show! Everyone should be proud just for running at all after walking that first course. Ouch! It takes a brave, confident person to attempt that beast. And if it didn’t go exactly right, remember the brilliant moments and that you tried. Plus, there is always next year, right?

THE Beast- no clue why it's sideways. Oops.

So congrats to all, and thanks for the viewing pleasure. Super congrats to the MN reps and to those who won their spots (some crossover there!). The Dog sends Super Squishy Prideful Sister Congrats to her Brother Dog. (I’m not sure why they are squishy, must be a Sister Dog Thing.)

***

In our humble little portion of the dog-o-sphere, we did set up a lot of the elements from the courses (like I said, agility junkie!). I was really pleased with how The Dog handled them. I can see running these types of courses how much better she has gotten on jumping into me and just plain following my lines. A year ago, I would never have gotten her through the sequence of Aframe-backside jump-post turn and now she can do it easily. Cool.

***

As for The Pup (like I could skip a pupdate?!?!?) she was the lucky dog who got to come with me to watch the tryouts. I am amazed at how well she does, no matter where she goes. She was just fine with hanging out there in that high charged environment- she fell asleep in my purse! And I think that was the record for the longest she has gone without being naughty- the full 9 hour day and she was a model citizen every minute. (OK, except when she decided to steal the treats from my bag. And drag the water dish around. And eat floor fuzzies. But other than that.)

Sadly (???) I think this means she is growing up. I noticed yesterday how very much like a DOG she looks now- if she doesn’t wriggle you wouldn’t even guess she was a puppy still. In general, she is starting to chill a LOT and now she will come lay down in my lap in the evenings instead of finding trouble. She’s making better decisions and is getting less destructive. The biting especially is starting to ebb. Sniff…sniff… soon she might not even want to steal my socks and hide them from me!

Probably won’t happen THAT soon though.

Oh, and her ears are definitely going up. Unless they decide to go back down. While on Saturday they were a bit warped, they spent most of Sunday up. They were still up this morning; we’ll see what happened during the day later when I get home. Hilarious- the sleepier she is, the droopier they get. After the WTTs, they flopped like a retriever's!!

***

I’ll get some video up this week- have to share her awesome progress on pivots (got some advice from ST and now she is following my leg like it was made of socks or something) and on her tricks. Handstand is nearly there, as is the monster trick. (Her ‘sit up-‘ Seriously the cutest thing ever.) I hope I can teach her to speak so she can do ‘monster’ and go “RAARRR!” The Dog is learning to ‘drum’ which is amusing. Anyone know where I can buy a dog sized drum she can’t destroy? Fisher Price obviously didn’t have Border Collies in mind when designing play sets.

***

Time with puppy toys and NO puppy equals fuzzy warm magic happy time...