SUMMARY: Regrouping for Boost.
(Repost with corrected numbers.)
(Repost with corrected numbers.)
Do I compete in agility to have fun with my dogs? Yes. Do I compete because it's a good physical and mental workout for me and for them? Yes. Do I compete because I like being outdoors and hanging out with many good friends? Yes. Because I love seeing dogs and handlers working together like clockwork and demonstrating the best that they can offer? Yes.
But I also do it for ribbons and titles. Just sayin'.
Somewhere up there in the fog is the Power Paws agility field.
Plus some mountains and similar large objects.
Plus some mountains and similar large objects.
Now that Tika is out of the picture and will never get her Platinum Lifetime, drat it all, my current next best bet for ribbons or titles is Boost, but we have not done that well as a team most of the time.
Now that I have my energy and enthusiasm back for training a bit, we'll see what happens. Because, for me, competing and repeatedly failing to Q is not fun. Handle it better with a young dog with whom I see progress. But not an 8 1/2 year old dog when we should both know better.
So, again this morning I rented the agility field--getting up there by 8 a.m., groan! --to practice having Boost run on ahead of me. We'll see how that goes in our one day of competition tomorrow.
Looking back down through the fog towards where I took the first photo.
Last Saturday at 8 a.m., it was scorching. I'm not complainin' about the fog!
Last Saturday at 8 a.m., it was scorching. I'm not complainin' about the fog!
Anyway, just a quick regroup on titles that Boost and I *could* earn in the Championship program if our Q rate vastly improves:
| Title Category | Current level | Next Level | Have Qs | More Qs needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Standard | SAM-Bronze | Silver | 21 | 4 |
| Masters Relay | RM-Gold | Platinum | 39 | 11 |
| Masters Gamblers | GM-Bronze | Silver | 16 | 9 |
| Masters Jumpers | JM | Champion | 7 | 3 |
| Masters Snooker | - | Champion, Bronze, and Silver | 26, incl. 2 SuperQs | 1 SuperQ |
| ADCH (championship) | - | ADCH | Everything but... | 1 SuperQ |
| ADCH | - | Bronze (triple ADCH) | Everything but... | 1 SuperQ and 8 Jumpers Qs |
| Tournament | Silver | Gold | 31 | 4 (any mix of Steeplechase, Grand Prix, and DAM Team) |
There are hills beyond those trees? Really?
So, the point is, if I want to satisfy my own cravings, I must concentrate and keep up the energy and enthusiasm and hope that my aging body lets me keep going. Boost is quite willing to keep at it.
See y'all on the other side of tomorrow.
The sun hides in the fog, but wait--
I see a tiny round speck that is the sun, perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel?
I see a tiny round speck that is the sun, perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel?
Dont feel to bad. Miley is almost 6 1/2 and we finally made it to Masters jumpers and standand in akc. We will never get a MACH. Still need one more Q in Advance standard in USDAA. So I know the feeling about not Qing. But she is a lot of fun to run as long as she isnt stressing and running circles around the ring. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diana. I realize that there are lots of dogs who have issues in various ways and that i'm lucky to have achieved what we have done. Still--just one dang Q standing in our way. We didn't get it again today, darn. And Boost, also, is fun to run when she's running instead of trying to second-guess me.
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