Clean Run Magazine - September 2008 - 79

LB: How did you choose Tiger? SG: I fell in love with him, pure and simple. He’s a Husky/Cattle Dog/White Shepherd mix and he was about 1 ½ years old when we adopted him. He had been running the streets with another dog, Lily, probably his mother. I was a volunteer at the shelter when both dogs came in as strays. Tiger and Lily were inseparable. Tiger was extremely scared of people. I have always had a soft spot for fearful dogs so he became my special project. For four months, I went to the shelter almost every day to work with him. During the first week, he would not allow anyone to touch him. When Lily went out for walks, Tiger would throw himself against the run, barking and crying. When we finally managed to leash him, he would only go willingly with a few trusted people. My husband and I would have adopted Tiger and Lily immediately, but we had cats, and both dogs were terrible cat chasers. Eventually, the shelter decided to allow Lily to be adopted separately. I knew Tiger wouldn’t be able to handle the separation, so we decided to adopt both dogs. It took many months and a lot of work to get Tiger and Lily to the point where they could be left free in the house with the cats. LB: How did you get started in agility? to take a set of weaves on the other side of the tunnel, and then over a jump. Tiger did this gamble without even looking at the tunnel. The “Ooooohhhhhs” were worth all the work. LB: When did it occur to you that Tiger could be a champion? SG: I don’t think I ever thought an ADCH was attainable until we were almost there. I have the slow, but usually consistent dog (including consistently blowing the dogwalk contact!) that never makes it into the final round of any speed class. We ended up needing one Masters Gamblers leg to finish our ADCH. And we needed to finish the ADCH before the end of that year, because USDAA was changing the rules to require tournament legs for the ADCH. There was no way on earth Tiger could ever make it to Round 2 in a Steeplechase. I ended up driving six hours to Madera because the club offered two Gamblers classes that weekend. Unbelievably, Tiger got both gambles. © marie Doremus Tiger By Lisa Barrett Call Name: Tiger Titles Earned: LAA-Bronze, ADCH, C-ATCH, SCH-Silver, JCH-Bronze Adopted From: SG: Tiger was very timid and a behaviorist suggested agility for confidence building. As it turned out, agility worked wonders to build his confidence. Tiger is now much more self-assured and can handle the things that used to terrify him. Agility builds confidence because it’s innately fun and the dog is rewarded for it. Tiger learned he had control over his environment and that his actions could make good things happen. I think distance training really builds self-confidence because the dog is reinforced for making decisions. LB: What was easy about Tiger’s training? Seal Beach Animal Care Center Seal Beach, California Handler: Sharon Golding me, his confidence and speed increased. Then, of course, we had the normal offcourses for several months after he learned to work a bit too independently. I’ll never forget the Standard run where he took an off-course obstacle, tail high, and strutted off the course as if to say, “See, that’s how it’s done!” Tiger is conscientious, rather than a speed demon. Because our early training did not emphasize speed or contact performance, we have struggled with them our entire career. LB: Describe your favorite agility moments with Tiger. LB: Describe your favorite nonagility moments with this dog. SG: Tiger had good focus and attention from the beginning. He really is a Mommy’s dog and that helps. LB: What were the challenges in training him for agility? SG: Distance, speed, and contacts. We still have problems with contacts. Training distance helped us enormously as a team (see Training Notes sidebar). Once Tiger figured out he could work away from September 08 | Clean Run SG: Gambles are the most fun because they have been the most difficult to train. My favorite agility moment was probably when Tiger got a Level 4 gamble in CPE Jackpot and he was the only dog to get it. It was jump, pass a straight tunnel SG: Any time I can take Tiger out in public to seminars or dog events; I am so proud of how far he has come. He walks calmly with me, lying at my feet, never barking or whining. Although Tiger is not overly fond of children, he has a repertoire of tricks he can offer to anyone with a treat. To this day, children who Tiger has previously done his tricks for will remember him and come running up, asking me for a treat so that he will do his tricks for them again. He has come so far from being the dog that freaked out at anyone, especially children, running toward him. 79

Clean Run Magazine - September 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - September 2008