First thing Friday morning Boogie and I entered the Obedience ring ready to show what we're made of. We'd been practicing our sit and down stays as that has been our only trouble at the previous shows.
From the very beginning it was obvious Boogie was showing signs of ring stress. This was shocking to me as I've been nothing but positive with him in the ring. But who knows what goes through their brain. It wasn't like he was sniffing the ground or being preoccupied with things outside the ring. He was just avoiding looking at me and walking very slowly.
We made it through although certainly not well. He did do absolutely perfect on his sit and down stays....but needless to say, we didn't pass.
Off he went to do agility. He was perfect in his first run of the day which was FAST, getting first place in Excellent. But when the next run came (Standard) he did three obstacles then just stopped, looking worried and licking his lips. Run over.
So in Jumpers Mike had a plan. Since Boogie does about three obstacles before getting worried, Mike made a super short course of three obstacles from the start to the finish line. They did those three, really fast, then partied big time with his favorite ball and cheese. Day over.
Saturday was even worse in Obedience. He wouldn't budge....literally. He wouldn't even look at me no matter what I did. So I did a very nice healing pattern, just as the judge called it. I was awesome....problem was, this is a team sport and my teammate didn't want to participate. So I didn't bother to stick around for the sits and downs. No need to stress him any more.
Right then, I decided to pull him from Obedience on Sunday. So we headed over to agility. Today he was really happy in the agility ring. Like yesterday, we again got 1st place in FAST earning his Excellent A FAST title. Same thing in Jumpers, also earning his Jumpers with Weaves Excellent A title.
In Standard he was running fast and furious. Third obstacle to the end was a tunnel....but Mike accidentally said tire. Boogie screeched to a halt looking around, saying in a frantic voice, "but daddy, I don't see a tire". In AKC that is a refusal so no Q. But they recovered quickly and finished the course perfectly. Bummer.
That was the first time Boogie has ever competed head to head with his dad, Higgins. Higgins ended up winning the class, and looking great, with a time nine seconds slower than Boogie. Darn those refusals.
Sunday he did very well again. Mike was so happy saying "I got my Boogie back". Nothing better than that. Boogie has found his mojo again!
Debbie
8/27-29/10
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