The highlight of our Regionals for me was running Gustavo. He didn’t run a lot, and he had a few runs I’d like to forget, such as the 8 point snooker, and the delicious bone fiascos part one and deux, but he also had a few runs that were exactly like we train. If he can continue to focus and listen like he did this weekend, I think we are on an agility upswing. Running with my littlest buddy was really, really fun.
The lowlight was my poor Otterpop. I’m not sure what was wrong with her. Sure, she earned another championship title, but honestly, I’d trade in all her Q’s if I could figure out what’s wrong with her. By the end of the weekend, not matter how excited she seemed heading over to the ring and getting ready to run, she could find no joy in the ring.
That’s what agility is all about. The thing I like best about this sport is the whole part where you and your dog learn together, and the whole thing is just one big, funny game. It never feels like work, only fun. It’s how I try to make everything in my life turn out.
My best pal Otterpop, and her amazing weirdness and funniness and barking and fast running and tight turns are what have kept me inspired to keep on trying with Gustavo. She has always been this bright spark of fun that screams AGILITY while she zips around at high speed. Her sonic ability to ace far away gambles and to decode wackiest of euro style courses make her incredibly fun to run with.
It was like her light was turned off all weekend. And I don’t know why, and I know it will be back on when we practice this week, but I don’t know if it will come back on in the show ring. Whatever is worrying or hurting her is getting worse and worse, and I can’t continue trialing a dog that isn’t running for the love of it.
I sure had fun seeing old friends and new friends and hanging out with so many agility pals. What a lot of awesome people I’ve met through agility, and continue to meet at every event. Talking with many of you helped keep my spirits up when I was feeling sad about Otterpop. I learn so much from the sportsmanship of my friends. And I was so happy to see so many of you doing so awesome with your dogs!
I hope everyone had a great time, and if you had a weekend like me, with things not going so much as we had hoped, maybe we can all try to look at those bright spots and get things back on track from there.
Okay, let me go on record that I've never used this woman myself, but many of my friends have with impressive results. http://www.lydiahiby.com/ Maybe Otterpop would tell her what's up.
Oh my!
So last year in Kentucky, Beth was my team partner and I didn't know her very well. She seemed like a cool and smart and reasonable person though, so when she told me she took her dog to the psychic there, Miss Latifah, I was sort of like, hmm….
And then I decided, I should take Otterpop to the dog psychic too.
Like how many chances are there in life to visit a dog psychic in Kentucky?
It was weird. She said that Otterpop was as smart as a person. She sat far away from Otterpop because she said Otterpop didn't like her looking at her. Which is true. I think the only thing I told Miss Latifah was don't touch Otterpop.
She also said that Otterpop LOVES agility. But the only reason she goes to dog shows is because I like them.
Also she said I had to tell Otterpop exactly what the course was and how I was handling it before we went in the ring.
I didn't tell Miss Latifah SHIT! All I told her was don't touch Otterpop.
So that was weird. But maybe she really was talking to Miss Latifah, dog psychic.
Have you been telling Otterpop what the courses are and how you're going to be handling them? 😉
At least a half dozen of my friends have used Lydia and all were very impressed. All my logic doesn't believe in doggie psychics, but I have two Lydia stories that actually involve me. The first was a student of mine who's young dog was melting down in class. The owner was understandably frustrated and I was thinking the dog was just having temperment issues. Lydia said the dog didn't like the class, because she was better than the other dogs and they were jealous (she was the most advanced dog in the group). So, her person asked to move her to a much more advanced class. I agreed, mainly because I was sick of hearing "She only does this in this class!" Since changing classes none of the weirdness has ever returned.
The other Lydia story involves my best friend. She first contacted Lydia after I jokingly suggested it, because of some weird changes in one of her dogs that she couldn't find a medical answer for. After that call, she sent a much bigger check, to get all 6 dogs read. One of those dogs is a fantastic border collie, otherwise known as "the perfect dog" or Cinder. This dog told Lydia that she was mentoring another border collie to be as great as she is. Lydia asked, "do you have her brother?". My friend thought she'd caught her in a misread, since she doesn't have a male border collie, but Lydia insisted it was a black and white male border collie. Just as my friend started to get really annoyed that Lydia wasn't hearing her say "I don't have a male border collie!" Lydia said, "Oh, he's a split-face." Yeah, Vic's a split-face and we have frequently said he's the most like Cinder of any dog we know.
Lady Liberty! all you need is a torch:) well done.