Clean Run Magazine - October 2007 - 27

showing. A few months of Novice-level competition led to months and months and months of Open competition. Once over the frustration of not qualifying every run, you come to terms with enjoying the challenge of the journey. You might qualify on your next run if all the elements of your training match the challenges on course. All those things you and your teammate can do at home are put to the test in competition. You can get the weave entry at home, but will you get it—without a refusal—in competition? The table is no problem at home, but how about with a judge nearby? Expectations are not high, but the possibility for a qualifying exists. This is when you might consider the 12step program. Your qualifying rate is low and months pass without a single ribbon but that one qualifying run brings you to a new high that keeps you coming back for more. Coworkers, friends, and family are the first to notice changes in personality and habits. Instead of asking what you are doing for the weekend, your coworkers may ask where you are taking your dogs for the weekend. Friends ask when the “off season” begins so they can see you again. Your family asks when you are showing before sending wedding invitations. You lightly reply, “Of course we will come. There are plenty of other shows to attend.” I was standing on the clubhouse patio of a very posh country club on a perfect summer evening. The wedding reception grew merrier by the moment as guests talked and laughed. A photographer scurried to collect pictures of as many combinations of people as possible. I sipped an ice filled glass of tonic water with a twist of lime and worked my way through a plate of shrimp. From my seat on the patio, I surveyed the 18th green. The terrain was level and the grass manicured. Maybe it was the bubbles from the tonic water or maybe it was a twinge of guilt for leaving the dogs in the hotel for a couple hours, but I convinced myself this would be a great place for an agility trial. There was plenty of crating on a covered stone patio and a great view of the field. Who would not be happy? There were even ceiling fans for cooling if a pleasant breeze failed to pass us by. My sister sits down: “I am so glad you were able to come to the wedding. I hope Take Cider’s Agility Addiction Quiz Do you have both wire and lightweight crates? Add 10 points. Add 5 points for each crate. Did you purchase a vehicle based on how your dogs would like it? Add 10 points. Add 5 points for each seat missing from the vehicle and stored in your garage. Add 1 point for each bungee cord you own. Add 5 extra points if they are color coordinated according to length. Add 10 points if you have purchased so many at different times that there is no way they could be color coordinated. Add 5 points for each chair purchased for trials and 10 points if you have a matching table. Do you have specific shirts you like to wear for trials? Add 5 points. Add 10 points if there is a picture of your dog on it. Do you prepare special dog treats for trials? Add 5 points. Add 10 points if you do this before preparing your own dinner. If you’re taking this Agility Addiction Quiz, add 50 points. Total Points Agility Enthusiast: Platinum Level over 150 points Agility Enthusiast: Gold Level Agility Enthusiast: Bronze Level 100 -150 points 50 - 100 points you did not miss any important shows with your dogs.” So, she knows. I guess everybody knows. They all know I would rather be standing in the pouring rain with Cider than eating shrimp without her. And apparently it is not a problem. Maybe it is not an addiction that requires treatment, just one of those socially acceptable addictions. I will not need to call the Agility Anonymous Hotline for help. Even if I called, I’d just get the recording anyway. “Thank you for calling the Agility Anonymous Hotline. If you have called for help in reclaiming your weekends for the purpose of spending more time on home improvement projects and less time with your dog, good luck. We are no longer answering this phone because we are either downloading trial premiums or packing for a show. Please do not try to call back. We have put this organization’s remaining funds toward entry fees instead of paying the phone bill. The phone company promises to discontinue our service in 15 days. Remember to train happy. We will see you next weekend.” We could dwell on the unattractive side of this activity and call it an addiction. True, we often put off activities most would consider important like cutting the grass, cleaning windows, or attending a child’s soccer tournament. Also true, this endeavor is a model for negative cash flow. And true, the success rate is low, leaving us more often than not without tangible reward for the effort. We can accept the negative connotation associated with the word “addiction” or we can put a positive spin on our avocation and label it with an oxymoron like “healthy obsession” or the term I prefer: “healthy devotion.” That has an ecclesiastical ring which makes me feel better on Sunday. We find ourselves obsessing about training and competing most any time of the day or night: “I wonder if this technique in training would help. I wonder if I worked that part of the course differently last week would we have qualified.” This activity is replete with intangible rewards. With each run the bond between ourselves and our canine companions grows. Our efforts better our canine communication skills, building a team that interacts on a level far beyond “sit, stay, come.” The real rush is not in parading around with a ribbon, but in completing a course like you had run it together a hundred times before. You trust your dog will respond to your cues and your dog trusts you will bark commands flawlessly. Your movements feel effortless and your dog glides through the course in the path wheeled by the judge. At the finish line your heart pounds: “Did we just have the perfect run?” Your dog wags his tail and looks back at you, “It’s no big deal really. As long as you speak clearly, the sky is the limit.” It does not take long to go from casual observer to moderately interested participant to agility enthusiast. We get together weekend after weekend to bond with our dogs and see who else will have a perfect run. So, when are you getting your next agility dog? D Cider is Bill’s first agility dog. His first AKC agility competition was in Savannah, Georgia, in November 2003. That weekend they earned three blue ribbons in four runs. They would have earned the fourth ribbon if he had been a seasoned, competent handler. The theme of human error holding down the “Q rate” has followed them closely since. In the years since their first agility trial, he has improved significantly as a handler, but hesitates to conjure the notion of being competent, let alone the notion of consistent. Cider has humored and humbled him along the way and still found room to bless him with Novice, Open, and Excellent titles. October 07 | Clean Run 27

Clean Run Magazine - October 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - October 2007