Why Even Pro Golfers Have Trouble Getting Their Last Agility Super-Q

SUMMARY: You got all the gambles you need for your agility championship except one, and now for reasons beyond sanity, demons prevent you from getting that last one!

Tika and one of her SuperQ ribbons. 
That 3rd one was our bugaboo.

I'm reading the book Why We Make Mistakes.

Gosh darned innate human response to stress when the outcome matters more than average, apparently. The book describes a study in which the PGA (Pro Golf Association) measured the success rates of only 6-foot putts in 15 pro golf tournaments one year without the golfers being aware of the study. 

One finding--and the most precious to our story, little darlings--was that golfers successfully made the putt if were only for a par score more often than if it were for making a birdie (one under par). Apparently because making par is just “average”, but making a birdie is a highly desirable outcome. And one stroke could make a huge difference in your final position among finishers and your take-home winnings. 

And yet--very shot you make is like that over the whole course, right? Where you might be earning a total score of 265-285 shots.  But somehow labeling the last shot on a hole as a “birdie” vs “par”decreased their ability to make the shot.

It’s like desperately trying to get hat last gamblers leg. That last super-Q in Snooker. That last anything to complete your agility championship. Or any other big title (more advanced championships, or lifetime achievement award, and so on), or cruising through the entire season being highly successful, cruising through the regionals and earning byes for the nationals, cruising through all the early rounds of the national or international championships and getting to the final round, And suddenly… 

BUT WAIT A MINUTE-- How many people get that last gamblers or that last superQ after struggling week after week or month after month (or year after year) and suddenly get the next four in a row?! What happened-- did the next ones just not matter any more?

Given my experience with four dogs, that doesn’t change even after getting those championships with multiple dogs. I’m sure that not everyone succumbs to this sort of self pressure. But it seems to be common, even among excellent teams. Ammiright?

The Jakemeister

So: Jake's ADCH, 2001

Super-Qs were no prob, but Gamblers?! I even started traveling up and down the state for hundreds of miles (which I didn't before and haven't since) trying to get that last confounded Gamblers Q. Then, one weekend in my own backyard (so to speak), my own club's USDAA event... Jake had been on enforced rest for a sore back for weeks and we had barely started trying to run full courses again. He was getting older. I really wanted that Q. I entered him in only that Gamblers class for the whole 4-day weekend... 

...and I was so busy in doing my jobs for the trial that I missed the obscene-colorful-adjective walkthrough and people were already running.  A friend told me from the sidelines what his plan was. The gamble looked nearly impossible to me. I was so sure, given those two handicaps, that I wouldn't get it that I didn't even ask anyone to videotape it. Annnnnnnnnd...

...of course we got the Q and the championship.  I had taken away my own stress level and relaxed because now it was clearly just going to have to be for fun, not for an actual Q.

Jake's ADCH gamblers course

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Tshirt Tuesday Tales: Doggone Good and Cabana Crates and All Those Things

T-shirt tales? Because every t-shirt tells a story, don't it.
And I have so very many of them. Shirts. And stories. ---- Whaaaaat??

All T-Shirt Tales

SUMMARY: Early crate innovator and supplier of so many things Dog.

Way back when I started agility. 1996? 1997? One competitor, Elizabeth Hyenga, another local like me, invented a lightweight, very sturdy, foldable crate so that we didn't all need to haul around heavy xpens or heavy foldable wire crates or bulky not-foldable VariKennel crates. She called them Cabana Crates. At first, she sold them under her business name of Doggone Good! straight to locals at trials. With every batch she made (she worked with a manufacturer who actually made them), she improved the design, which I admired. 

I started agility life with only an x-pen (exercise pen), late 1995. For Remington: Tall, heavy, awkward. Because who wants to leave their dog in a tiny ol' crate all day long at events?! But Remington taught me a lesson about that (see tomorrow's post...after it's posted), which brought me to understanding about crates. Still, her crates were pricey and I already had the x-pen. At some point, I became aware of Cabana Crates and I believe that I already knew Elizabeth and her Corgi, and I figured that, if I were to ever buy a crate, that would be my choice. Luxury AND pretty colors.

After Jake joined me, at events I put Remington and him into the same x-pen. Which worked for exactly 3 competition weekends, and then a big fight at the onset of the fourth such weekend propelled me to buy my first-ever crate (also see tomorrow's post), a Cabana Crate of course. on the spot: Gorgeous teal and purple, exactly my colors! Sized for Remington!

A splurge. On a thing for a dog. That we'd use only on agility weekends, pft, surely there wouldn't be that many (hahahahaha little did I know...). I think it was about $160, which in 2021 would be $255. Huge expenditure. (Compare to now, when I can buy a large wire crate for under $50. And folding soft crates for a lot  lot lot less than that. A huge splurge.)

But I liked it so much that I eventually bought a smaller one for Jake, ditching that huge heavy awkward nasty x-pen-- and then another when Boost came along.  

Tika sitting and looking out the front, Boost in the middle sitting and looking out the back,
and Jake lying down and looking out the front.

Back to DoggoneGood. 

Elizabeth started the business largely because she needed something that she could do from home while raising a young child instead of working for someone else, somewhere else.  When her crates and her bait bags sold well, she branched out into other cool things for dogs, and eventually moved her business into a warehouse and online, and a couple times a year held an open house at the warehouse where you didn't have to order through the web. Very popular events. And she ensured quality materials and quality products, so she did a lot of business. (I swear that I once took photos at the event, but I haven't found them yet--might be just film still--)

Her warehouse was just up the road from where I live now. Of course I attended them all and came away with handfuls of things each time. 

Like more Riot Tugs (because will all that tugging, they'd wear out!). Purple of course! To match the crates! Boost loved them and Tika liked them. That was our go-to warm-up tug toy while waiting for my run, not too close to the ring. (Not sure that they were around when I was competing with Jake, but maybe.)

Or bait bags (purple, of course). Lots of books  and videos on dog training. Lots of other fun toys. Lots and lots and lots. Like the bikini chicken. Who wouldn't want one of these sweethearts?!  (Apparently they are no longer made? Such a loss of a cultural icon.)

Or gear bags of various sizes (I think they came only in black). She carried other brands, like Outward Hound, but made some, too--just don't have a photo at the moment.  

Dog-related craft supplies. Dog treats. Dog training gear. Smaller agility-related items. And on and on.

Ad from 2004

One time, at a huge Bark In The Park event near downtown San Jose, still pretty early in my agility career, I wore one of her bait bags on my belt, and realized after I'd wandered around a lot among the hundreds of people and dogs and activities and booths allllll over the park that I no longer had the bag, because the bag had slipped off  its clip (still on my belt). Figured it was lost.  I walked by her booth on the way out--and she called to me--not only had someone returned it to her booth, but she knew whose it was (because I had bought it from her, of course, at some point in the past, and she knew I was here and there weren't likely to be a lot of agility people there), AND she had added a new clip, and furthermore glued it in so securely that it has never come out again. No charge.

One time, I dropped by her warehouse in desperate need of something, and we chatted, and then she handed me this t-shirt. For being a good customer.

Sadly for me, sometime in the last few years, she sold the business and they no longer have the huge variety, just the some bags and clickers.  And sadly for me, I think that all 3 of my Cabana Crates have been damaged by dogs and it's almost as pricey to have them fixed as to buy one of the many copy-cats or evolved designs offered by others now, so many varieties. In fact, I bought 2. Which Chip and Zorro have damaged already--they have no experience in waiting in crates. :-(  

So now I have 5 soft crates that aren't particularly usable at events. Because I can't bear giving up those early ones.

But I remember her and those days fondly.  

I wore that shirt at a trial in Sonora on the day that Jake finished his NADAC championship, the first championship I had ever earned with a dog.

Just a few obstacles away from a NATCH.
And I have *no* idea what that hand signal meant. Typical.

NOW go see tomorrow's related post. 

Gold!

SUMMARY: We did it!

We entered only two classes today, and Tika Qualified nicely on a challenging Jumpers course, then Qualified pretty smoothly (given the handling) on her Snooker course, making it 3 snookers in a row and completing out Performance Dog Agility Champion (PDCH)- Gold!

That's the equivalent of earning the PDCH (or ADCH) 7 times over--35 each of Performance Standard, Jumpers, Gamblers, Snooker, Pairs Relay, and the Tournaments (Grand Prix, Steeplechase, and DAM Team).

The only thing she didn't do (didn't need to) was to earn 7 times over the number of SuperQs in Snooker--you need only to get three for the first championship, then never have to get any again. But 18 of her 35 Performance Snooker Qs have been Super-Qs, so she was pretty close to doing that 7 times over, too.

Yeah! No more pressure!

[Tika: It's hot. Where are my treats? I'm bored. Can we go now?]

I have NO idea where we came up with this fancy Western Regional doodad for taking photos behind. Pretty cool, though. At least *I* liked it, Tika!

USDAA, CPE, Precious Weekends, and Precious Dogs

SUMMARY: Big decision #1. What to do?

Here's what I'm thinkin'.

Tika is doing pretty good for a going-on-11 dog. She still tugs full out, still runs full out after the toy or frisbee. But I'm seeing signs that signal "old dog" in so many subtle ways. First, there's the mixed speed in competition--still not entirely positive whether it's soreness, eyes, hearing, or what. Then, around the house, there are little things: She doesn't always immediately stand up when I do any more. She doesn't always get up out of her bed when there's food offered unless she's sure it's worth her while (and this from a dog whose #1 priority will always be food). She's been reluctant to come upstairs for bed at night--not sure whether that's soreness, tired of having Boost scratching off and on all night (me, too), or really is more comfortable on her bed downstairs for some reason. She sometimes does the wrong "trick" when I give her a command, but if I say it louder, she gets it right. Maybe just confusion or lack of practice, maybe hearing. Dunno.

Just things like that.

So I'm pondering what to chase in terms of titles.

My working theory is that she'll continue to be happy and healthy doing agility for another year, and that then, that's probably it for us. I mean, I could get lucky and she'd keep on going--but here are the statistics from our September trial:

Age	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total
# of dogs	9	35	31	56	42	41 (Boost)	39	35	27	14 (Tika)	5	3	2	1	340

The odds aren't good that she'll be going a lot longer. Even another year with her in agility would be precious.

So: Do I cram in as much as I possibly can in one year? Remember that I've discovered that my nonagility weekends are also precious; I've been much happier at 14 weekends a year than I was getting to be at 20-some-odd weekends a year. I'd probably be happier with even less.

CPE choice

A C-ATE (CPE agility something extraspecial, or whatever), which is wayyyyyyyy beyond a championship, requires roughly 250 Qs at the Championship level--that means clean runs, unlike Tika's C-ATCH championship, which required only 20ish Qs (at that time), most of which didn't have to be clean. This makes it like a USDAA LAA silver in number of Qs. However, it's also THE highest title you can get in CPE.

Tika currently has 178 Qs, so needs maybe another 70ish-- Actually it's a bit more involved than that--it requires 5000 points and she currently has 3855, so 1145 to go. There are 7 different classes, worth between 15 and 25 points for each Q. Soooo if we could do all 25-point classes, she'd need only another 46 Qs. Of course they won't all be 25-pointers. So, say, 50-60 Qs to finish.

We've been doing only one or two CPEs a year since I cut back on agility. But Tika's Q rate in CPE is generally pretty high, 80-90%. So *if* we could go to all CPEs that offered 5 classes a day (10/weekend), that would be "only" about 5-7 weekends... hmmmm... but I'm thinkin' that most clubs only offer 8 classes a weekend. That bumps it up to 8-10 more weekends.

Either way, that's a LOT of weekends to add to my dozen USDAAs/year. I don't really want to go back up to 20+ weekends of agility in a year.

However, add to that: It would be nice to earn a championship with Boost, and I think we could do the CPE one in about the same amount of time that Tika could get her CATE. For her C-ATCH, she needs:
1 jumpers
2 jackpot
3 each wildcard and snooker
6 colors
8 standard (and most clubs offer at least 2/weekend)

It's doable. The Colors Qs are the ones that are killing me at the moment. But, still, yes, doable.

I just have to decide I want to do a bunch more expensive CPEs (because I don't get free entries at any of them except bay team's). Now that I've actually punched in the numbers, hmmm, maybe I'll go for it. Of course I'm also trying to get Qs in USDAA for Tika's platinum LAA.

USDAA choice

As I discussed in A Woman, A Plan, A Dog, I figure that in a year with 13 weekends of USDAA, Dogs Willing, we could finish her Platinum LAA. That's THE highest title you can get in USDAA.

I'd like to do that, too.

But 13 weekends of USDAA and 10 weekends of CPE in a year, whoa!, that's as bad as my worst year ever--er, I mean, as many weekends as my busiest agility year ever.

It is true that I could work on the CPE title later; she doesn't have to be as fast, and jumps only 20" rather than 22" in USDAA. Hmmm, and maybe (have to double-check the rules) I could move her to Specialist, which actually jumps 16", and keep going, so concentrate on USDAA first and then go back to CPE. But that pulls me out of my tentative plan to just do agility for another year.

Also, that's a lot to expect from a dog's longevity and health. Plus, really would be nice to have a CH for Boost.

Pondering

So--thinking--