It's true. Life is all about decisions we have to make every day of our lives. There are easy ones and difficult ones, but it is never just that black and white. I've had to make some decisions lately that have left me questioning myself and the validity of those decisions. One of them is ending the boys' AKC agility careers when that is the most prominent venue in the area. I have to travel to do anything else. I didn't realize just how much I would miss trial weekends until I haven't gotten to do very many. In truth, it is a financial decision as much as anything else. I can no longer afford to trial every weekend and since I must travel for USDAA and CPE, something had to give.
Decisions are in every part of our life. From what to have for breakfast each day, to how much money to put away for a rainy day. Another of my decisions has been to wait to have a puppy out of Seeker. My house is in balance now and adding a puppy with having 2 senior dogs with medical issues that don't have a tolerance for puppies is just a bad idea. But it doesn't stop me from continuing my search for the right bitch to either buy or lease to breed him to for my eventual pick.
Seeker is an exceptional example of the breed, in my opinion. He has everything I want in a working bred Border Collie. Yes, I am rather biased, but having lived with this dog for over 6 years, and after seeing his puppies born and grow, I have every reason in the world to be enamored of him. He is exactly what I want and SOMEDAY, I will have a son from him to carry on his wonderful legacy. So I wait until the time is right. Patience is not one of my strengths. I am not the only one that needs patience as I have a waiting list of people wanting one of Seeker's puppies. We all have to be patient. It isn't easy.
Decisions are never easy when they are really about something you want, but it is a necessary part of our lives. Until the right time comes, it is back to my existing life and making all those day to day decisions necessary.
It has been quite awhile since I did any formal obedience with the boys. I recently decided to enter them in an obedience and rally trial weekend held locally. Seeker had LOTS of obedience training when he was younger. Then we delved into the wonderful world of agility. The last time he did any rally was at the 2009 BCSA Nationals where he finished his Rally Novice (RN) title. Piper got to do rally over 2 years ago with a friend as I had been injured the day before the trial. He managed to squeak through for RAE leg #3 with her. So, it has been a long time for them both.
I entered them both in the rally trial on Friday and only Seeker in obedience the entire 3 days. Piper earned RAE leg #4 with respectable scores of 95 in Excellent B and 94 in Advanced B. Seeker surprised the heck out of me and won the Advanced A class with a 98! Whoa!!
Putting Seeker into the obedience ring in Novice B was a trial by fire. I had no idea if he would remember the training I did with him when he was younger. Never fear, he did. His scores were okay, not placement worthy, but for a dog I hadn't really trained in several years, I was pleased. Seeker is a character. His personality shines through no matter what he does. Being in the obedience ring was no different than any other activity we do. His personality jumps at you and his enthusiasm is infectious. I truly love this dog. He reminds me of our late, great Kastle... He too was a shining star even when our performance was less than stellar.
He missed some sits, lost focus from time to time, raced me on the fast and bounced me on the recall, but it didn't matter. Seeker had fun and that was all that mattered. It is interesting how much I have grown and changed as a trainer in the 25 years I have had Border Collies. With Kastle and Duncan, I was all about perfection. Questing for that perfect score of 200 was my primary goal. This weekend, I was more concerned that the boys had fun and the scores didn't really matter. Ribbons are nice, but green is a just as pretty a color as blue, red, gold or white. It is still about the journey and not the destination...
MACH ADCH ATCH Applegarth's Quest For The Grail CD, RN, PT, CGC, MXB, MJB, MXF, TDInc, and then some... "Seeker"
I am woefully behind in my blogging. Poor Seeker... I didn't forget our MACH! Seeker earned his MACH at Mountaineer Kennel Club's trials on April 7, 2013. We went in to the weekend needing 3 QQs. I have never earned that many QQs with one dog in a 3-day weekend. I ended Piper's AKC career in February, so only Seeker made the trip with me. This turned out to be a very good thing.
On Friday, Seeker earned QQ #18 with placements. On Saturday, we earned QQ #19, also with placements. I did NOT want to become a member of the 19 or 19 1/2 club. I was hoping to finish his title without joining that club. On Sunday, I was nervous and didn't want to even jinx myself. I did everything the same, from what I ate for breakfast to where I parked at the trial. Yes, I can be very superstitious. This would be one of those times.
Our standard run wasn't without drama as Seeker turned wrong because I got behind, but the judge didn't call a refusal when he saved my butt and fixed the mistake. Whew! What a good boy!! When JWW came, I walked the course for the entire 8 minutes, plotting and planning. This was his kind of course! He did everything I asked him to do, hit the weaves with control and speed and there was only once that I raised my voice to him. I don't need to do that, but my nerves were showing. He sailed through the course, took the last jump and I screamed like a crazy person!! WE DID IT!!! We needed 3 QQs and we got ALL 3!!! He placed in 5 of his 6 runs!
Seeker is an awesome agility partner. He is consistent, athletic, and most of all LISTENS. He can reverse course and save my butt. He seems sometimes intuitive about a course. Most of all, he is an absolute joy to run. He has a blast every time he steps to the line.
I have many people to thank for our continued success. First, I have to thank his breeder, Terri Florentino (Shebaa Border Collies) for giving me the opportunity to have this boy in my life. Second, I have to thank Linda Husson for breeding her awesome Token to Terri's wonderful Meg and producing this gifted, talented and fabulous litter. Many thanks goes to our instructors, Donna Rohaus and Kim and Eric Wong, for helping us become a successful team. This is our third agility championship, with the other two being a USDAA ADCH and an ASCA ATCH.
While our AKC journey is over, we continue playing in USDAA and CPE. We are qualified to go to USDAA Nationals (Cynosport) and are looking forward to going to Tennessee this Fall. We continue working on Seeker's USDAA Bronze ADCH and his CPE C-ATCH. As long as he is having fun, we will keep playing the game. The videos below are of his MACH runs... The second one is just his JWW run and has my crazy, screaming celebration! I am a goofball... but he still loves me. Thank you Seeker! I love you to the moon and back!!!
Seeker is in the homestretch towards his MACH. Only 3 more QQs to go! I am hoping that he does the same thing Piper did and skips the whole "19" and "19 1/2" clubs. This will be his 3rd agility championship to date. We are also working on his USDAA Bronze ADCH and his CPE C-ATCH. When he's older, we'll go back and pick up his USDAA PDCH too. Although AKC is the most prevalent and accessible locally, it isn't my favorite. USDAA has that place and I look forward to competing at Cynosport with him again. I am hoping to get on a competitive team who wants to have fun! My guess it that this will be our last agility national for any venue because I have other things I want to do with him, including getting him back to herding lessons. He enjoys agility, but he doesn't eat, sleep and dream it like Piper does. He does that with herding... So onward and upward towards that MACH!
Gem turns 2 years old today... I can't believe that she is already 2. As the old cliche' says... Where has the time gone? In the last 2 years, I've learned a great deal about Gem. She has made me a better, more patient trainer. I found out that in the beginning, I pushed her too hard and too fast to learn what I wanted her to learn. This caused Gem to stop trying when she wasn't right the first time, disconnect from me, and relieve her own stress by grabbing a toy and running away. It got so bad that I thought she might do better with someone else. I wanted her to be happy.
Gem at 2 years
So, I had to figure out how to teach Gem without
overwhelming her. I had to go back to square one
and begin anew. She is soft... very soft. She is still immature, but is slowly growing up. She likes to think about things and doesn't readily offer behaviors. I had to teach her that it was okay to guess and even if she wasn't always correct, it was okay to keep trying. She's gotten much better since I came to the realization that she needed me to teach her differently. It isn't because she is a female. It is because of who she is and how she learns. We have made leaps and bounds of progress since I changed my tactics with her. She still doesn't like to be wrong, but she now understands that it's okay to be wrong and try again. She still doesn't offer multiple behaviors, but she IS trying and she is much more relaxed with guessing incorrectly.
She loves to "perch". Now that I am teaching her a 2 on 2 off behavior for the dogwalk and teeter, she is learning that she needs to use her back feet. Her first try was amusing. She put her front feet on the board, smiled and wagged her tail. Ta da! Oops... not quite what I wanted. Instead of her shutting down, I lured her into position and clicked. I could see her wheels turning. I tossed a piece of cheese away from the board and she stepped over it, placing her back feet on it. I clicked and treated her for getting it right. She was happy, relaxed and having a blast. I don't drill her. She does a few repetitions and we move on to something new or something she already knows. This is what works for us.
I am looking forward to someday competing with her in agility. I had to give myself a reality check when I started seeing dogs younger then her competing this year. Well, I don't have equipment in my yard, I work another job, so our time will come. It may not be for another year or more and that's okay. I know we will still go through learning curves, but I hope when we do start competing, she will be mature and hopefully won't go through the baby dog stuff I see with other dogs. I know I will make mistakes. However, I know that we are building a wonderful relationship and that she is having fun while she is learning. That is the most important thing to me.
Happy Birthday to our little Gem! We love you so much and we are so happy to be your family. Thank you Vickie for choosing her for us. She is so loved!!
Recently, over the last few days and weeks, quite a few dogs have been lost, most due to illness or old age or even both. In truth, it scares me. Each birthday brings me closer to my own loss. Our dogs are on earth for such a short time. My goal is to make their lives as wonderful as possible while they are here. I have always prided myself in finding what the dogs love to do, and pursuing it with gusto. Piper's joy is agility. I would love to see him be able to do agility until the day he dies, but I know at some time, I will have to retire him from the sport he so dearly loves. After a friend lost his litterbrother at the age of 8 to cancer, every day with Piper is precious. At this time, I can't imagine my life without him in it... his smile, his snoring, his hugs, his snuggles, his woo-wooing, his zest for life. I just can't imagine him not being here.
His soul his old and wise beyond his years... His eyes are the very mirror into that soul. He has the most honest eyes I have ever encountered. Piper doesn't lie. When he is happy, the world knows it. When he is unhappy, the world knows that too. He tells it like it is. If he loves you, he does it with his whole self. He has never met anyone he hasn't loved. He's charming. Even people who don't like dogs seem to like Piper. In that, he reminds me of the late, great Kastle... Kastle could charm just about anybody. Piper is the same way.
Most people, if they are lucky, have one once-in-a-lifetime dog. I have been blessed to say that each and every one of my dogs has the distinction of being that. Each dog has their own personality and temperament. Each dog has their own way of being in my heart. Each one of them is my heart dog. Some are a bit more special than others, but no more loved. Each dog has a different purpose in life. Each dog is here for a different reason. I do believe that dogs come in to our lives for a special purpose and reason. If we open our hearts and minds to the lessons they have to teach, we are raised above being normal humans. We are the chosen that have the unconditional love that only a dog can give.
Each day is a gift. Each step to the line is a gift. I cherish every single moment. My heart is heavy for my friends that have endured recent losses of their dogs. I hope they are able to see through the pain of the loss and bring forward the sweet memories. I hope that I can remember that when it is my turn. Until then, I will so completely enjoy every minute of every day with these special sentient beings...
Piper will be 10 in April. I've noticed that he is slowing down, but still keen for the game of agility. I have been thinking about retiring him from agility and letting him do rally or another less strenuous retirement sport. Somehow, I don't think he would put up with my decision. This past weekend, he earned his very first perfect CPE weekend, qualifying 10 of 10 runs with 6 firsts, 2 seconds and 2 thirds running in Veterans. He is jumping 16" in most venues, with a rare venture into 20" or 22". He qualified for CPE Nationals at the 20" jump height and since he is only running a few runs a day over several days, I'm okay with him competing there at that height. He still needs one more Performance Relay Pairs Q towards his LAA Bronze in USDAA where he must jump 22". Since it's only 1/2 of a course, I'm okay with this too. I see how comfortable and happy he is running at 16".
I worry about him, I won't lie. He gets regular chiropractic care, acupuncture and massage therapy too. These people are integral in keeping not only him, but all of the dogs healthy. They all know them probably as well, or close to it, as I do. I worry that his rear will weaken like I've seen so many dogs do and he won't physically be able to play agility any longer. My "team" thinks I worry too much. I probably do. These dogs are here for such a short time, that I want to make sure that I do everything possible to keep them happy and healthy while they are here on earth.
As long as Piper wants to play, we will do just that. Ribbons are nice, but his smile, wagging tail and woo-wooing is the best reward for me. There may come a day that he is no longer able to play the game, but I hope that day is far away. Until then, we'll just keep having fun.
