March Madness

I signed up for yet another NADAC show to work on Shane's contacts. Friday, I went early to audit a distance seminar. Picked up a couple tips. Keep moving. Your body position is key. Luckily or perhaps not, Shane has no trouble going away from me. My problem is getting him to come back to me and stopping him from making up his own course.

Friday evening, the club hosted a practice so I worked on Shane's dog walk a lot. He got the contact when there wasn't a tunnel opening staring at him. So at least I learned something that I can work on.

The show was a major success for us. Shane's behavior was incredible. He lunged only a few times, but most of the time he was a joy. We were able to sit near the gate and chat with people without him going nuts. At the end of the runs, I tried a new technique and was able to catch him before he ran off after the dog waiting at the start line. I got a wait at the start line except when the tunnel was the first obstacle. So, to make a long story short, I am smiling instead of crying after a dog show. Finally.
While I was waiting at the gate feeding Shane treats so he wouldn't go nuts, the lady in front of us made a point to show me that her dog had to work for his treats. Lady, if you only knew. My dog is working for his treats. He is not lunging after your dog.

Shane qualified in 7 out of 12 runs and finished 2 titles. Wow! We got 3 dog walk contacts out of a possible 6. Incredible! Knocked only one bar all weekend (that I know of). Amazing! Shane is much happier at 12 inches. Tunnelers is still our favorite game to play. I walk the course to memorize it and to figure out where I can meet up with Shane after he prematurely takes off from the start line. It's a blur. 5.15 yards per second.
I'm still amazed at the condescending bullshit I witness at dog shows. Just because a team does poorly doesn't mean the handler is a bad person. I came upon a gal who seemed visibly distraught over her dog's performance. Man do I know what that feels like. People don't even look at you. It's like you pooped your pants in public. I spent some time sharing my "wisdom" of 8 years of dog shows and let her know that it just takes time. I think I was reassuring myself as well. This was only their second show for pete's sake. Of course 12 hours of agility does take its toll on a person. What a long day. I had a melt-down or two myself.

Our next show is at the same place, but it's AKC so there will be more high-energy dogs there. More challenges for us. I put Shane back to Novice Preferred. I'm going to try to stay in Novice everything until I get this dog walk issue solved.