Waiting for that Lifetime Platinum...

SUMMARY: It's tiny in the grand scheme of things, but still--

--I did so want to get there. Particularly now that I'm unlikely to compete again, ever, let alone enough to earn all those Qs with a single dog. [I'm not heartbroken about that not-competing thing. But, you know--yes, about that award. ]

  Tika was only a few short of the 500 required when her heart decided that she was done. 

Tika's LAA Bronze (150 Qs)

But then, in January 2020, USDAA announced:

With new crossover rules in effect, these qualifications [counts for Lifetime Achievement Awards] may come from either the Championship or Performance program, and are limited on a combined basis to no more than 3 qualifications per class (the number to earn a class title) for a maximum of 15 qualifications at each level (i.e., Starters and Advanced), for an overall maximum of 30. This is in keeping with the definition of “Lifetime” and recognizing performances from the beginning of a dog’s career to retirement. This change will be reflected at a later date, following implementation of other programming changes. (https://www.usdaa.com/regulations/upload/USDAAChanges01_10_2020_announcement_Update01_23_2020.pdf)

Translation: Starters and Advanced Qs that didn't used to count towards LAA awards now do. And they'll retroactively update the records and titles for all affected dogs... and Tika had 13 Starters  and 11 Advanced Qs!

Tika's LAA Silver, 250 Qs

And then--COVID hit. So, I waited.

A year after that announcement, I finally asked USDAA In January 2021:

Did this actually go into effect? Specifically, my dog Tika had to retire just 12 short of her LAA platinum, but I see that none of her Starters or Advanced Qs are applied to her award.  Is there any action that I need to take?

Tika's LAA Gold (350 Qs) 

The response was:

Thanks for your patience  - we are still completing the work to update the formulas from the January 2020 updates. The pandemic and cancellation of events nationwide required that we shift all programming energies to the USDAA@Home platform.

LAA awards formulas should reflect the change this quarter. Dogs that were competing and earned an LAA at the time of the change will be awarded their plaques automatically.  We are working on a case by case basis to recognize dogs that have earned these retroactively and are no longer with us. Certainly a great accomplishment in either case.

Last year was a rough year for everyone, I understand that. Her record is still not updated on their web site. I am still trying to be patient. Sigh. I wonder how very many dogs are in a similar place with their LAAs of all 4 levels? (oh--wait--now there are 2 levels even higher!)

She was an amazing dog and gave me just about everything I could've imagined in agility.  But, yes, I greedily want just that little tidbit more.

-----

(See previous blah-blah-blah-agility-awards posts on the topic of Lifetime Achievement Awards)

Tika, 2006
Photo by Erika Maurer

Tika's Retirement Run, Part 2

SUMMARY: Video.

Part 1 is here.

She starts out pretty fast. Knocks a bar about halfway through, not sure why (I mean, these *are* only 16" jumps). Then goes off course (before the teal tunnel) when I'm actually turned and calling her and clapping--I wonder whether that was a side effect of all the heart-warming cheering and clapping going on all around us? No matter, a Q wasn't my goal -- I was watching for signs of discomfort or coughing or slipping on the wet grass.

Then she slowed abruptly before the next to the last jump, not sure what that was about--did she think we were at the end? -- so I stopped, so she stopped, and then when she looked OK to me, I popped her over the last jump to make it official.

Notice no excited foot biting at the end, sigh. But she doesn't look particularly *un*happy.

Anyway, it was nice, and  a whole crowd waited to give me hugs and kudos at the exit gate.

Tika's Retirement Run, Part 1

SUMMARY: She's just a good girl

We had our final run this morning pretty early. Fog, as usual, had descended in that area overnight and made the grass quite damp. I saw several dogs slip and fall; didn't want Tika to do that.  Also wasn't sure whether she'd want to run or would start coughing or what, so I tried to take it easy.

That didn't work well at the  beginning--she shot off the startline and I barely got in my first front cross. She slowed through the run and almost stopped before the last two jumps ( after earlier knocking a bar and going off course) but completed it, with a crowd cheering us on the whole way.

She did cough a bit right after that, but not a lot, so it was OK.

I didn't cry too much, just some while I was getting all the hugs from so very many of our agility friends who've been with us through thick and thin; who supported us, teamed with us and sometimes even Qed and won with us, encouraged us, cried with us, laughed with us, and all the rest. What a great group of people.

I brought a cake. A huge cake.

She expressed curiosity about the cake.

I encouraged her repeatedly to put her paws up on the table to try to get a photo of her looking at her cake. I think she thought that this was some kind of trick, but eventually she did.

And she didn't waste any stupid time by merely stupid *looking* at the cake. That had not been part of my plan.

So I cut that huge hunk out and the Merle Girls each got a piece of gooey sugary yummy retirement cake.

Tomorrow, more about the weekend and hopefully some videos.

(Thanks to Jean Danver for the photos.)

Coming Up, Tika's Last Trial

SUMMARY: Well, officially entered, anyway.

I entered Tika in one run this weekend, Jumpers, which was always her favorite. I haven't been doing much with her at all, and she starts out in the yard playing fast and eager but quickly resorts to just digging her notorious hole to china under the shrubbery. Tried running her around a small course today with just a few jumps and tunnels and never did get all the way through it.

So I might just pick a quick few jumps and out. So sad. I'm so very sad. I'll make that officially Tika's last agility run. Here's the age data from this trial's statistics sheet:

I'm not expecting much from this weekend. This week I ended up with a cold, so am tired and congested on top of Boost's insane obsessive scratching and biting the last couple of nights, really interrupting both of our sleeps. She scratched for two hours straight when I went to bed last night, and then another hour after I gave her a prednisone.

Now that she's on prednisone, I hope that'll knock it out quickly so we can both sleep.  Except of course that prednisone tends to make my dogs' bladders work more urgently, which could get me up in the night anyway--so I *do* want to remain asleep-but-alert to avoid having a bed wetting or floor wetting like last time around.

This heavy scratching started (it's been building up by hydroxyzine had been holding it off) after several days of Tika coughing a lot during the night. Now Tika's getting an occasional small dose of hydrocodone/something (similar to what humans get with an intractable cough) and I think that's helped some, not eliminated completely but not interrupting my sleep every hour.

And I've already mentioned that I'm completely out of shape, not doing any running or hiking or anything. My foot and back aren't a lot better--improving, I think, but not there yet. I've put on weight, Boost has put on MORE weight which is a mystery because I've been cutting back her food more. She's now getting only 83% of what she has gotten most of her adult life, and she's up another half pound in the last month! Argh! It is true that she's also getting less activity because I'm doing so much less lately.

So this weekend is really not going to be about me and Boost qualifying in anything because the odds seem slim. Instead, it's about Tika retiring, and about sugar, because that's what I'm bringing to celebrate. Because I need more sugar.

In fact, must go pick up the celebration thing right now.

Wish us good luck in getting a good night sleep, and then in the morning it's off to Manzanita Park.

Checking In

SUMMARY: How's Tika and everyone and everything.

Thanks, everyone who's asked about Tika.

She still thinks she's good, just her stamina seems to be getting lower all the time. She still plays tug with full ferocity; still runs after the toy or frisbee full speed--nothing wrong with her limbs or bones or muscles. But I suspect the heart just makes her tire much more quickly than she'd like. The last couple of days she's been coughing a lot again. Then, tonight, we drove up to class, and I didn't hear any cough from her for three and a half hours. Got home, had doggie dinners, everyone's lying around before bedtime, and now she's coughing again. Maybe there's something in the environment here? Wish I could guess what it is.

I'm still treating my back and foot tenderly, and I'm just dang tired of it. Why don't things just heal up the way they used to when I was 13? Or even 20? Although--well--I still remember, my freshman year in college, the ankle injury received by being between two flag-football player bodies going in opposite directions at the same time. Hurt for months.

Anyhooos-- Because, as one person put it, I have all this money and time just lying around with nothing better to do, I entered Boost in all classes at the two-day SMART USDAA that's coming up in a week, and then also all classes at the FOUR-day Regional the following weekend. I can barely totter around a field, what makes me think I can do four days of agility? At least it's just with one dog.

I signed Tika up for a single Jumpers run at the SMART trial to use as her real, final, complete retirement run. Not sure what I'll do to celebrate that with other attendees--still pondering options. Undoubtedly something with sugar in it. Because that's the way I roll.

Meanwhile, I left the Merle Girls with friends (the family of Bump, Styx, and Dig) for four days...   something I've never done before (dogs have always stayed at my house when I take off for a vacation... and the friends provided photos!

They had trouble finding Boost the first evening--

All the dogs got to go on a fun tour of the Stanford University Campus. Bump *always* has something to say, and Dig is always monitoring the situation.

Wet Booster Collie.

The Merle Girls meet the Rodin Sculpture Garden. What ARE all those giant people pointing at?

Visiting the Stanford family mausoleum.

...while I went off to Tuolumne Meadows at 8400 feet in Yosemite. It was gorgeous. I love it up there.

No mosquitos was a bonus. Walked a very few miles here and there, but hardly anything at all, and my foot and back really felt it quickly.Very glad to stop for lunch in the shade alongside the Tuolumne River.

 Disappointed that I couldn't do more. Couldn't even walk the length of the Meadows and back (well, it's VERY long). But got a lot of photos that I'm still sorting through, and I was VERY happy to be there, and to be there with good friends...

... and nothing to worry about except whether to have a frosty (soft ice cream) cone *every* day. [Answer: Well, duh!]

Hi. Happy 2013.

SUMMARY: Agility class tonight.

Have not been doing or thinking about agility much. Haven't been practicing at home--yard is muddy, has been wet and coldish, I've been busy. Class was in hiatus for 2 weeks, then I had a cough and didn't go the following week, so tonight was the first time in 4 weeks that we've been to class.

Boost was VERY happy to be there.

She ran very nicely, very fast, good contacts, sending away to stuff nicely so I could get into position, etc. Her weave pole speed is still amazing to all who see it. She is fun to run! Our issues were:

• Knocking a bar
• Not being able to enter the weaves correctly when turning left (a known long-time issue)
• knocking a bar
• knocking a bar
• knocking a bar
• ...well, like that.

Since Tika is now retired, I try to think up ways to keep her feeling appreciated and active. While other folks were running, I'd take her out to a couple of jumps (at 12") or tunnel that no one was using and do a tiny bit of agility with her, then a bunch of tricks. Funny thing: Discovered that if I just hold her still at the beginning of a set of weaves and let her go to do the weaves, she doesn't do them. She and I both have to be running towards them.  Anyway, she seemed to enjoy herself, and she got lots of treats.

On the way home down the twisty mountain road, my speed was about 35MPH on a straight-away (speed limit 40) when a skunk ran out of the weeds and straight across the road directly in front of me. By hitting the brakes hard and swerving behind him as he ran, I avoided hitting him. But, as I sat there at a standstill with the car at a bit of an angle on the narrow road, as soon as he got to the other side, he raised his tail in my direction. I managed to burn rubber out of there before he got me. Wouldn't that have been gratitude for saving his life?

Now I can go back to not doing or thinking about agility much for the next week.