Back in the Saddle

Saturday we got up at 4:30 am to hit the road for a day of agility in College Station. I decided to just drive in for the day, so I could flee quickly in case Shane did anything stupid. I set up our crate by the door to further aid in our escape.

Not sure why I got there so early. I didn't enter Pairs, which was first, so we sat for a few hours. I was so buzzed from caffeine that I couldn't even nap. Worked Shane a bit on the environment, which was insane. Janice wants us to seek out the crazy dogs and they were here in numbers. Barking and lunging Border Collies crated right next to and behind us. Those damn dogs barked all day. Aside from the irritation and outright rudeness, I wanted to ask the owner if she realized what this behavior was doing to her dog's biochemistry. I realized no one gives a shit, so I just turned up the music.

Shane's first run was Standard and he did very well. Jumped off the dog walk and knocked a bar or two, but he did not run off. We were the only dog in the class, so there wasn't another dog at the start line. I still have that hurdle. Gamblers was next and he did great again. Nailed his contacts. We messed up our timing so even though we got the Gamble, we blew the time. Still I was pleased with his behavior. When the horn blew, I tried to turn him from the bottom of the A-frame to head toward the gamble and he went to the teeter instead. Nailed his contact and just grinned at me. What a guy, but it ate up time. Then he missed the second obstacle and by the time I spun him around and sent him back in, our time was up. He came flying out of the tunnel and looked over to see if there was a dog at the line. I see you buddy! Got him to come to me without any drama.

One run to go and it looked like they were going to wait for Steeplechase, so I decided to get Shane a massage. What a revelation. Ken found a hip problem that I need to investigate further at the chiropractor. Shane's back was totally seized up and Ken recommended acupuncture. Seems like Shane was in pain, which explains a lot. After the session, Shane was relaxed and happy. He was not reactive at all while I was packing up our gear next to those rabid border collies. We skipped the last run.

What a fabulous day! I cannot wait for the NADAC show over the 4th weekend. Maggie's debut and Shane's next test. It's been a year since we had our incident and Shane has really improved. Now if we can only get him to let people touch his head so I can get that CGC!