Entering this show before the time, I couldn't have known what an important day and turning point it would be in my Agility career.
For a dog to be a Champion in a discipline, the dog needs three Qualification Certificates (QC's) under three different judges in that discipline.
Baloo has his Champion status in Non-Contact Agility and in Dog Jumping, and he needed one more QC in Contact agility to be a Contact Agility Champion too. When he had a wobble on the dogwalk AND a knocked bar AGAIN, I decided to accept the fact that he will not get that elusive third QC and to retire him at 11 years and 3 months.
Dazzle is still in Grade 2 Contact (the middle grade) at four months short of 8 years old, but he has two QC'S in both Non Contact Agility and in Dog Jumping. We tried really hard this year and I was so hoping for the third QC in at least one of, if not both, those disciplines. But it was not meant to be. I've mentioned this before: he hurt his hips as a result of a fall as a pup, and it is catching up to him. At the show on Sunday, he battled with a spread-jump in Dog Jumping as I expected he would, but in the Non Contact Agility, he ploughed into about 5 or 6 jumps as he couldn't lift himself over them - I withdrew him halfway around the course and am not going to jump him again. It's not worth hurting him. Goodbye to the hopes and dreams I had for him.
This means that at present I "only" have two competing dogs, Ozz and Sparkle.
Ozz is three years old, and a real handfull as Aussies naturally are. He is my first Aussie, and to be honest, I didn't know what I was letting myself in for when I got him. But I am not sorry that I got him - I am learning to work with him and as much as he drives me dilly sometimes, I actually enjoy his drive and enthusiasm.
At the show on Sunday, he had an ok round in Contact Agility - one knock (where I did a backcross) and obtained second place.
The video below is of his Dog Jumping round:
You can see how I felt afterwards - absolutely gutted. I couldn't understand why he went past the last jump and jumped it backwards, causing us to be eliminated. After the camera was switched off, he ran off to go and say hi to a rottweiler puppy, and watching the video, I can now see he had his eye on that puppy the entire round (I count six times that he actually looked at the puppy during the round), and that is what caused him to go wide and around the last jump - the puppy was there. I was at first angry that people had brought their puppy to come and watch, but realised a little while later that he needs to cope with distractions as they will always be there.
In the Non Contact Agility, he made up for it! I very unfortunately do not have it on video, but it was really a phenomenal round from him: he was fast (did a bounce jump at places where other dogs put in three or four strides), responsive (I could recall him over a jump, do blind-, back- and front-crosses, send him to the tunnel where he has always just been velcro etc.) and focussed on me - he got a first place with a qualification. He now has two qualifications in the beginner grades of all his disciplines. So although my two other boys aren't jumping anymore, I have him, my up-and coming star, to work with and set goals for, where in the past I've always labelled him as looney ... not going to do that anymore.
Then, my baby girl of 15 months, Sparkle. She competed in dog jumping for the third time, the same class as Ozz. She knocked the second jump because I was on the wrong side of it - I should have handled her on the same side that I handled Ozz on. And if I had done a cross after the tunnel as I had done with Ozz, she would have got her entry into the weavepoles correctly. But it will come with experience and more practice. I just have to hold on - we WILL get there.
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