a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: Sometimes It's Just Nothing

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Sometimes It's Just Nothing

SUMMARY: Snooker: It's not about the points, it's about the clothing. Specifically, the t-shirt.

The Zero-Point Club: Step right up, join the club! Got a dog that knocks bars? Got a dog that particularly likes to knock the first bar and is so fast that you can't call her off the next obstacle? Well, friends, have I got a deal for you: You, too, can become a member of the Zero-Point Snooker club. To inspire and delight you, here are our bona fide, certified credentials for membership in this popular club:
Points
BoostSnooker4/14/2007DixonUSDAAAdvanced0
BoostSnooker5/5/2007PetalumaUSDAAAdvanced0
TikaSnooker4/20/2003DixonUSDAANovice0
TikaSnooker4/20/2003DixonUSDAADAM0
TikaSnooker10/19/2003MaderaUSDAASt/Nov0
TikaSnooker2/22/2004SalinasUSDAAStarters0
TikaSnooker9/17/2005TurlockUSDAAMasters0
TikaSnooker4/14/2006DixonUSDAAMasters0
TikaSnooker9/16/2006TurlockUSDAAMasters0
TikaSnooker3/9/2008TurlockCPECLev0
JakeSnooker5/20/2001VenturaUSDAAMasters0
JakeSnooker3/27/2004SunnyvaleCPE5Lev0
But we're really special upper-crust club members: DogPlay gave us this lovely t-shirt because Tika is the only dog we know who managed TWO zero-point Snookers ON THE SAME DAY. So there's something to strive for, you young'uns. (And, lookee see, the dog on the t-shirt has knocked the first red and is already in the first pole of the weaves, so zero points! W00t!) 

This doesn't mean that you're bound for eternal zeroness! In his agility career, Jake ran 96 Snookers (combined CPE and USDAA) and earned his Snooker Championship Bronze in both Masters and Performance 3. Tika has run 136 Snookers (CPE and USDAA) and has her Snooker Championship Silver. So Boost is obviously well on her way to following in their footsteps! 

Visit dogplay.com for a wealth of useful information about everything dog. No commercials. As a sideline, DogPlay also runs an online shop; you can order a Zero-Point Club t-shirt like mine and many other agility-related shirts at the Dogplay agility shop. (Disclosure: Dogplay is a Bay Teamer and a friend, but I'm not getting paid for this and she didn't ask me to do it. I recommend dogplay.com for dog info to many people, in particular those getting their first dog or wondering how or where to get a dog.)

5 comments:

  1. Hey I could join that club, I got a couple of those last year. Yeah, I'm a member of a cool club!

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  2. Exactly. Another tip: when you get, say, 50 faults in one run, turn it into a competition to prove that you're a cleverer fault earner than anyone with fewer faults. It's interesting to see people's reactions when I clap my hands and say "Woo! We got 50 points!" on a Standard run.

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  3. Hilarious

    I live with a little dog who has knocked down ONE bar in his whole life so really had no conception of how zero poins was possible til Sally came along - Sally has earned way more then 5 in a standard run ;) and while not quite earning zero in snooker yet has earned a whopping 7 points at least once (jump tunnel - oh that tunnel was fun mum - repeat tunnel - SCREEEE of the whistle)

    I love the way you keep track of your scores - I am bad about doing that but would love to be able to access that info :)

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  4. Well, it sounds like you're well on your way to maybe someday joining this exclusive club. Congrats! Like you, my first 2 agility dogs didn't really knock bars (note that Remington, my first dog, never had a single 0-point snooker run). Jake did it so seldom that I still remember standing there on his second 0-point run, like my life had gone to slow motion but Jake was still running full speed, standing there staring at the bar on the red jump as it went in slow motion to the ground, stunned into disbelief, like, "did Jake knock a bar? I think he did!" and of course by that time while I was still dealing with that stunning occurrence, Jake had already done whatever the second obstacle was and there we were.

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  5. hahah! that is too great. Wicca and I were is starters snooker for TWO YEARS! Before EVER getting a Q. Uh Huh.

    Love the shirt. Freakin' Hilarious.

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