July 2010: Bark for Life
By LoriThis is an article of competition in a different context than usual. It’s the competition between human and a very devastating disease, cancer. I would feel it’s a safe bet to say that all of you reading this article has been hit by cancer one way or another; maybe not yourself, but a loved one, a dear friend, maybe even your canine buddy.
Waggles has joined forces with the American Cancer Society to offer a “Bark For Life” event, which is a non-competitive walk for humans and their dogs. This offers each of us an opportunity to, as the ACS puts it “help save lives, and that helps us move closer to our ultimate goal of a world with less cancer and more birthdays.”
While the walk is non-competitive, I am asking that people join in and compete along with Waggles in our fundraising efforts to support this event. To date, many great people from Waggles have come together for a yard sale in the middle of June. This event brought in close to $350. WE CAN DO BETTER! Here are other fundraising events happening at Waggles:
Candy!!! Who doesn’t like candy? If you haven’t noticed, there is a basket of candy bars on the front table at Waggles. The proceeds for the chocolate ($.50 each) will be donated to the Bark For Life event.
Baskets!!! There is a basket raffle. While the baskets are being kept safe and sound, there are lists of the contents of each basket on a separate table at Waggles. If you pop by in the evening, during the day on Friday, or during run-throughs or special events over the weekends, any of the Waggles staff can help you with the purchase of your raffle tickets. Get those tickets today!
Yard Sale!!! It was enjoyed so much the first time that we thought we’d give it another try. Our next yard sale will be held on July 24th, 8:30a.m. – 12:00p.m. There are many cool items with many great deals. Come see and TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
Of course, if you would like to be a part of the Bark For Life in a more official capacity, please be in touch with Lori (lorib20@myfairpoint.net). Lori would love to discuss with you the options that are available. We can always use
Click [here] to get to the Waggles Bark For Life webpage more assistance, and your help truly is appreciated.
Click on the following link to get to the ACS Bark For Life website: www.relayforlife.org/chittenbark
Thank you from your many friends at Waggles
June 2010: Learning the Game: Same Breed-Different Dogs...
By Jill
The thought of competing in agility never crossed my mind- let alone with TWO young boxers. Well, one class lead to another, lead to another and next thing you know we are trialing. Now we are hooked. We try to go to as many trials as money and time will allow. It’s not cheap traveling and competing with 2 dogs especially when trials are 3 hours away or more. Just recently we got back from the American Boxer Club Nations in Fort Mitchell Kentucky where Sophia and Strummer both competed in agility. It was a total blast and an amazing experience. It was so great to see all those boxers running agility all day. We are always “the boxers” at local trials and I have only seen 1 other boxer compete in agility before we went to Nationals.
I originally started to take agility classes with my Sophia just for fun. As a puppy she was a very easy dog to train and very calm and collected, especially for a Boxer. She comes to work with me almost every day of the week and is a really sweet and laid-back girl. She’s an inquisitive problem solver and does not like to make mistakes. She easily passed her CGC test at 7 months of age and really seems to enjoy learning. Agility was the next logical step for us and we have been enjoying the bond that agility brings. After about 2 yrs of training we entered our first trial.
At our first trial I thought I was going to throw up due to nerves but Sophia did amazing well and even Q’d at her first trial. I was hooked. Every trial I got less nervous and we got more confident. We have even made to the excellent level in Jumpes. Oh sure we ran into plenty of challenges along the way. Like now, she’s refusing to do any contact obstacles in trials. She’ll do them all day and night if we are just training. What can I say; she can be a little stinker and such a Dive too. She likes to make ME work.
So right before Sophia turned 2 we decided to add another Boxer to our family. This time I knew I wanted an agility dog. We sought after breeders who bred boxers not only for conformation, health & temperament but also had solid working lines.. We wanted a dog with more drive and intensity. Luckily we found an amazing breed and mentor who we really connected with. So now…Enter Strummer.
Strummer is an amazing and goofy boy with TONS of drive and TONS of heart, what can I say, he’s a total handful! We love him dearly but we always joke and say, “If he was the first dog, there would be no 2nd dog”. It’s not that he a total misbehaved monster (well maybe a little) he just has so much drive, energy, love and zest for life. He’s a lot of dog, all 70 lbs of him loves to crawl up on my lap and sleep or squeak his ball all day long. Yeah he’s a total baby and a total momma’s boy too boot. It’s been very fun and very challenging training in agility. He LOVES it, I mean LOVES it.
Agility is a very fun game for him and he’s starting to really “get it”. We just started to trial with him and WOW has it been an experience. Total different dog than Sophia. Nothing calm and collected about him. He’s kind of like a bull in a china shop except he’s smiling the entire time. I thought for sure he’d be a maniac at a trial- total out of control spaz that would embarrass me. To my surprise, he pays total attention to me and runs the entire course with confidence and speed without zooming off or acting like a brat. Sure he’ll launch over the A frame and blow his down contacts but, MAN he’s so happy to be out there and wants to work and wants to play the game. Someone told me at nationals that once his brain catches up to his body, he’s going to be an amazing agility dog. Yes we have a lot of work ahead but I’m not anxious. I want him to enjoy it.
It’s really been fun and challenging running 2 of the same breed of dog with TOTAL opposite personalities. For instance with Sophia, I need to get her UP and really get her amped and excited before we run. I have even gone as far as to wrestle or pinch her before we start! Strummer on the other hand, I need to RELAX and focus him on me before we run or I may end up with a black eye or a lost tooth! It’s even MORE fun when we run in Standard courses at trials and they are in the same class, sometimes back to back. A woman at one trial told me I was very brave for running 2 boxers. I think she thought I was nuts. Maybe so.
It’s not about ribbons, Q’s or recognition for us. I’m looking forward to becoming a better handler, learning more, connecting and bonding with my dogs and most of all having FUN with them. That’s what it’s all about.
May 2010: Comments on Agility Competition by a Newcomer...
By PamAthletic competition was not part of my childhood. In that time and place it just was not done. I did eventually learn to compete in conformation with my Weimaraners. My husband Al and myself never had the money to campaign a Special at the Sporting Group level nor did I have the handling skills/political connections of the top handlers but we were able to win enough at our level to satisfy. We won Futurities, Maturities, Specialties and made the bottom half of the Weimaraner Top Ten. Our wins were due to several factors. 1)Our Specials were excellent breed specimens. 2)We trained carefully with a happy hand-the dogs had the skills they needed and they loved to compete. 3) Specials were conditioned meticulously with roading up a hill, free running, and massage. 4) Dogs were "warmed up" before competition with walking, stretching and massage. They wore cool out jackets in hot weather and coats in cold weather. 5)I learned the critical importance of the mental flow between Weim and handler and the need for mental energy in competition. 6) I did visualization of future competition with music playing-complete with the judge's picture-on the drive down and then at the show site once I had examined the ring.
As Nettie and I prepared for our first Agility Competition this year the question arose as to what to do. Obviously a new-comer 66-year old running the dog she has, not one selected for the job (a Weimaraner, oops) cannot aspire to be #1. But, unlike breed competition, most Agility is not a winner take-all situation. We could aspire to joy in teamship and look on our first trials as places to figure out what else we needed to learn. Nettie had been trained by Lori Bielawa and Cassy Lamonthe giving her a good skill set. Nettie and I had been training all Winter working on our skills together. Nettie is in good condition physically and gets regular chiro/massage care. I could not visualize competing ahead of time because of the diversity of courses and my lack of ring experience.
I was sleepless the night before our first competition and though of bailing because I wouldn't be able to get through the course. Fortunately, once we got to the trial site, Nettie and I were greeted warmly by Doris O'Brien and Lori and nerves dissipated. The Open Standard course where we would compete was almost identical to the Excellent Course. So, I mentally imagined myself running along with the better 20" competitors in Excellent, breaking off where the courses diverged. I averted my eyes from sloppy runs since I didn't need those images in my head. I noted where consistent problems occurred, different ways of handling tricky spots and thought about what to do. After this I went back to the car and imagined running the course with Mozart playing. Then my husband Al walked Nettie and put her over the practice jump to warm her up while I watched the Open course get built and walked it. Once Open competition began, I got Nettie and played attention games/wonderful dog images while Al watched ringside until there were five or so dogs to go-he then came and got us. Nettie is a soft, sensitive dog who catches mind flow. So, once the course was walked, all my attention was with the dog keeping her happy/myself happy and Nettie tuned in to me. I dared not disconnect with the dog to again visualize the course. Our run featured some handler errors/ sticky spots but did we have FUN!!! Nettie was praised/reward by both Al and myself in the most effusive way after her run. We were delighted with her and told her so.
Finally, I wrote down what went really well and what could be improved. I am not as methodical as I could be but find training records helpful. A video cam to record runs is a planned purchase for the future.
Agility is quite a bit more complicated than breed competition and loads more fun. As Nettie and I gain experience our competition prep will evolve. But, this is how we started out.
April 2010: It’s A Long, Winding Road to a MACH...
By Lori
That’s what it says on a shirt that a friend made up. Indeed, it can be a long, winding road. On that journey:
You’ve begun to play with the big-wigs of agility – world team players, and the like. It can be quite intimidating, until you see that they, too, are not perfect. I’m a believer that in the world of dogs, there is no 100%. I also believe that is exactly what draws us to dog sports, or sports with any animal. It is about the challenge; it is about how much you’ve learned about training, how well you’ve trained your dog, and how you have come together as a team.
As your team learns and grows, your agility runs take on a different feel. You no longer feel as though you are directing your dog around a course. Rather, the two of you are running the course together. A glance your dog gives you on course which makes you understand that your dog knows exactly what she is supposed to do. A feel that you and your dog are the only ones in the room and a sense that the two of you are literally floating around the course. Yes, sometimes it does feel very spiritually. It’s strange, but at the time it’s happening, you connect with your dog on a whole different level. It was at about the time of experiencing one of these runs, that agility really began to come together for me and Hannah as a team.
Then come the speed points, you start to double qualify and you begin to think that maybe I really can do this. You reach a number of speed points, and you hit the 14th, 15th, 16th double Q. “Holy crap, we may really do this!” That moment is a tremendous moment. The feeling is shared not by you with others, but by others with you – others who have been there and had the same realization. You’re just thinking it, but, I guess, not sure you should share the thought. So when someone shares that with you, it’s exciting. They felt it too and they understand the excitement of this moment. Not only that, but they made it – they completed the goal. This is so cool.
More points come as do more double Qs. It comes down to needing a small handful of points and one more QQ. Most people don’t want to end needing a QQ, and I was no different, but it wasn’t my decision. On some of the following runs, the nerves were too hard to contain. At one trial I truly thought I might have a heart attack my heart was pounding so hard. I needed to get myself up, moving around, but settled at the same time. On some runs, it felt like the stars were all in line. Disappointment came a few times, as did figuring out how to deal with the disappointment without letting my dog know. I’m human. My dog knew; she can sense all of my emotions. So, we do the best we can in moving on and playing again another day.
Now it’s promise time. You promise your dog some really cool stuff if she comes through for you – “Please Hannah, if you do this, I’ll get you steak, Dunkin Donuts jelly munchkins and even a new car.” Yes, a new car. We need one anyway, but don’t tell Hannah. Shhh.
The first run of the day is a qualifier. But today, all of the suspicious behaviors were taken out of the picture. We weren’t thinking about a lucky shirt, no lucky hand shakes, nothing. It’s just another run – or so you try to tell yourself.
The run begins with trust. It’s a tough discrimination, but my dog knows this – trust that she’ll do her job. She does. It is a nail-biting performance and a course that seems to go on and on and on. Then you cross the finish line with a clean run – your MACH run. It’s amazing, truly amazing. When I’ve been there for other competitors while they’ve taken their victory lap, I’ve clapped, whistled, hooted and hollered KNOWING what it meant, but now I really UNDERSTAND….
This is YEARS of learning, training and forming your team. The reward is beyond words, but it certainly is SWEET! That lap is a wonderful, fun release and it was a blast to take it with Hannah. I’m pretty sure she was just as excited as I was. She’s really cool.
With us in spirit on our big day:
March 2010: As an instructor...
By Lori
This month I'm writing about competition from the viewpoint of an instructor. There are so many great people who have walked through the doors of Waggles. Many people continue in our classes sometimes not really knowing where they're going to wind up. Some try agility and end up moving into obedience. Some start with obedience and end up in agility. Some folks start in one of our basic classes and end up in agility, rally and obedience classes!
As an instructor, I am proud of the accomplishments of all of our teams - each team has a hurdle that they've worked so hard to overcome. That moment when you have a breakthrough and then finally success, is a moment that we savor along with you. One of the proudest days is when a student approaches me as their instructor asking if I think that they are ready to compete. (I smile as I write this part) That's when I know that I'm steering my students in the right direction. Over the course of months or years I have taught the mechanics of the sport and the students have put in the time and commitment of training, gaining confidence in what they are training and becoming ready for the next level.
There's a moment of truth with all of this and the advice that "you don't know what you don't know." (To some degree there's that same moment at any level of competition in any sport). This is a fun talk to have with my students though. As an instructor, this conversation helps me better understand the goals of the team, and this conversation also assists the handler with moving forward on the path to competition.
Once I know where a team wishes to go, it allows me to instruct on a different level, meaning a student is now ready to begin taking in more information - more details of training and the details of the sport they have chosen. There is nervousness, but also a great deal of excitement. This student is really having a good time with the level of training they have achieved with their dogs and they've discovered that their dogs are capable of many cool things. And it's not only rewarding for the handler and their dog - it's a special thing for us too.
February 2010: Sometimes the race is the journey...
By Dale
My road has indeed been a winding one, as well as a long one. Our lives have been blessed with and by dogs for a very long time - I brought my first Whippet home in 1977. Before that I had 3 Irish Wolfhounds. My kids all grew up with at least one Whippet sharing their beds.
Over the years my dogs and I have competed in several different sports and I found that my dogs and I were
happiest in the “performance” events. Racing is our real passion and we go as often as we can during the season. It doesn’t matter to me, or to the dogs what their speed is or how competitive they are on the race track. I love to watch them do what they were bred to do and they love it.
I will admit that not all of my dogs have shared my love of agility. I am currently lucky enough to have one young girl Brenna who does love to play the game with me. I also have another young girl Kira who is learning that playing agility with Mom can be great fun. The two of them are teaching me soooo much. I love the positive training methods that have become so popular. It makes training so much fun and allows the dog to really develop. The girls and I are not competing in agility yet, and I will admit that I am not in too much of a rush. I am so enjoying the whole process.
January 2010: The many paths we take...
By FranceEven though I don’t think of myself as competitive, I have to admit, there is something about entering a competition with my dog that keeps me coming back. Entering a trial means putting our training to a test, not necessarily about the final score, but figuring out a way to communicate with my dogs under pressure, that when accomplished gives me a certain rush of adrenaline. I don’t trial often, but I know when I return from a trial, the excitement lasts for days as I repeat the runs over and over again in my head.
When I first arrived at Waggles, I had no idea that dog competitions existed. About a year and half later, I was entering my first agility trial with Bonnie. I can still remember getting to the ring and my legs feeling like rubber and wondering how I was going to move forward. We started to run and all of a sudden it was like we were all alone trying to put together everything we had learned. I don’t remember the score, but I remember the feeling of pure joy. I was hooked.
Of course we entered more trials and eventually I also entered with my other dog Clyde and we kept learning. Each dog having their own style, speed and personalities kept me challenged. Then about another year and half later, agility with Bonnie became more challenging, we had to keep going back to the drawing board, trying to figure it out. Even though training was going well, our runs in the ring were not going so well.
One trial that stands out the most for me is the one where each run seemed to get worse as the day progressed, Bonnie kept taking off on me. All I wanted was for her to take one obstacle, and both of us leave the ring on a positive note. Every approach I tried seemed to fail. Eventually the last run of the day, she finally looked in my direction, I pointed to the closest jump, she took it and we immediately left the ring together. I heard everyone cheering us on because they knew our struggle, and knew that small jump was huge. At this point I made a decision to give agility competition a rest.
What would we do next? I knew Bonnie liked to work and rally was steadily growing. I tried it out with Clyde, but my ultimate test would be Bonnie. I have to admit I had doubt. We trained, we learned and I thought I must be losing my mind, but I had to enter a trial. What was I thinking entering a competition again, but how else could I see our progress outside of Waggles? The same feeling came back, I thought my legs would collapse as I was facing this new environment at our first rally trial, then as soon as we started the course, it was like the crowd disappeared and we were all alone trying to put together everything we had learned. I had a new sense of accomplishment and was absolutely thrilled that little wild child proved me wrong and showed me we could play together as a team.
Bonnie did eventually get her novice title in rally, but I’ve never moved to the next level. We’ve entered more trials, but remained in novice. We get to play, I feel safe and we have fun. Clyde also received a title in rally, I’ve not decided yet if we’ll move up. We’ll keep training for now. As for agility, I don’t know if I’ll enter a trial again with Bonnie, but I can say that door is not closed for me. There’s something about competition that keeps me wanting to come back and try again. There’s something about it that never quite leaves the back of my mind. I have a whole new appreciation for those who move on and keep challenging themselves to higher levels, each bump in the road that is overcome. The excitement of competition always stays with me.
December 2009: Why I play the game...
by Erica Ferland
Many of my “non-doggie” friends (yes, I have a few) and co-workers don’t understand why I run out the door on most Friday afternoons. Off to another dog show Erica? Where are you this weekend? Living in Vermont has some perks (summer in Vermont is magical) proximity to trials is not one of them! So a weekend dog show means a three to five hour drive to the show site, a night or two in a cheap motel, quick lunches that air on the fried side, packing, unpacking and lugging crates, tents, coolers and luggage all over New England and then another three to five hour drive back home on Sunday evening.
If you asked me now six years ago if I would ever picture myself as a dog show exhibitor or competitor I’m very sure my answer would have been no!
I’d had dogs all of my life – even as a child I was almost always in the company of dogs – my dogs were loyal companions, protective and patient. My passion as a young-person was horses though – I rode competitively through the end of college so competition was a familiar and comfortable concept for me. Like most people in these sports, I fell into the world of dogs and dog shows quite by accident – I bought a puppy and signed up for a class. When young Murphy showed such promise and enthusiasm I continued on with classes and before I knew it we were training for competition and entered a rally trial. This was 2004.
If it were just about the game it would have to be just about success – but that’s not why I (and most of my road-weary friends) send off large portions of our income to trial secretaries every month. It’s so much more than that. We’ve made so many friends in this journey – some we see every Friday night over champagne and pizza before agility sequences and some we see only at trials a few times a month. Some who call us the week before a trial and ask if they could save us space for our crates and some when we call them devastated because our car won’t start (and we’re going to have to miss a trial) figure out a way to get us there for the weekend – even if that means leaving at 5am for a four hour drive in pouring rain and fog. It’s how these trial friends and trial buddies know what our dog’s strengths are and our weaknesses too - they’re usually very quick to note when training is paying off and that weakness is now a strength.
We laugh at the silly mistakes we make on course, we come up with new ways to help our dogs understand the criteria….and we mourn the loss of our friend’s partners as if they were our own losses – because they are.
And that is why I play the game….