Melanie L Chang said in rec.pets.dogs.activities:

This little title may not seem like much, but you know, for
Solo it's a pretty big deal.

It's a big deal. Congratulations!

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Melanie L Chang wrote:

Solo finished his NADAC Novice Tunnelers title today at the NEMBOC
trial in New Jersey with two qualifying runs and two fourth places. It
was a beautiful sunny day and perfect for an agility trial. The trial
site couldn't have been better and the hosts of the trial went out of
their way to make sure everyone had a good time. The hospitality of the
trial hosts and fantastic attitudes of the competitors more than made up
for the less than pleasant experiences Solo and I had at the last couple
of trials we went to (long story short, I was thinking of giving up on
agility trials altogether). The ribbons are gravy.

This little title may not seem like much, but you know, for Solo it's a
pretty big deal. He did good today and just blended in with all the
zillions of other Border Collies at the trial, and I'm very proud of him.

Congratulations! I can bet I know why you can find trials
annoying--people not paying adequate attention to their dogs, yes? We
had several of those, as usual, last weekend. Fortunately there was
enough room that I was able to keep Cala out of trouble.

Best wishes for future NADAC adventures!

(Melanie L Chang) wrote in news:cm3tms$3tqm$1
@netnews.upenn.edu:

This little title may not seem like much, but you know, for Solo it's a
pretty big deal. He did good today and just blended in with all the
zillions of other Border Collies at the trial, and I'm very proud of him.

Yayyyy Solo!!!!

--
Marcel and Moogli

On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 23:49:48 +0000 (UTC) Melanie L Chang whittled these words:
Solo finished his NADAC Novice Tunnelers title today at the NEMBOC
trial in New Jersey with two qualifying runs and two fourth places.

Yay!

It
was a beautiful sunny day and perfect for an agility trial. The trial
site couldn't have been better and the hosts of the trial went out of
their way to make sure everyone had a good time. The hospitality of the
trial hosts and fantastic attitudes of the competitors more than made up
for the less than pleasant experiences Solo and I had at the last couple
of trials we went to (long story short, I was thinking of giving up on
agility trials altogether). The ribbons are gravy.

Excellent!.

This little title may not seem like much, but you know, for Solo it's a
pretty big deal. He did good today and just blended in with all the
zillions of other Border Collies at the trial, and I'm very proud of him.

The key is what an accomplishment it is for Solo. Things you have to work
at can be much more satisfying that what just seems to come without
effort. Some people have *no* idea what it is like to actually work at
something. If it is hard, they give up.


--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/

"Melanie L Chang" wrote in message
...

Not so much (we've been lucky that way). More like Agility Queens calling
my dog "crap" as we exit the ring because Solo spooked at the judge. They
were lucky I had him with me otherwise someone would have gotten decked.
But, I don't want to teach Solo that violence is a solution.

How disgusting.
There are yucky folks everywhere, unfortunately, but the majority I've found
to be pretty understanding of whatever issues individual people and dogs may
have - as they have their own, too.

Christy

Melanie L Chang wrote:
This little title may not seem like much, but you know, for Solo it's a
pretty big deal. He did good today and just blended in with all the
zillions of other Border Collies at the trial, and I'm very proud of him.


It certainly is a big deal. Congrats!

Mary

Melanie L Chang said in rec.pets.dogs.activities:

More like Agility Queens calling
my dog "crap" as we exit the ring because Solo spooked at
the judge.

A friend's dog was barred from the remainder of one NADAC trial
after Winnie ran up and play bowed at the judge. (Honestly, I
saw it happen and that's all the dog did.) 'course, Winnie has
"double muscle" (yes, that was said) and is brindle to make her
extra skeery.

The only picture of Winnie that I have (she's tormenting sheep
in this one):
http://www.rocky-dog.com/Herding/Winnie01.html

You may recognise someone in that photo. And I keep meaning to
fix the typo.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Christy wrote:

"Melanie L Chang" wrote in message
...


Not so much (we've been lucky that way). More like Agility Queens calling
my dog "crap" as we exit the ring because Solo spooked at the judge. They
were lucky I had him with me otherwise someone would have gotten decked.
But, I don't want to teach Solo that violence is a solution.


How disgusting.

Yes. And amazing. I can't possibly imagine anyone calling any dog
"crap." ANY dog. And if a dog spooks at the judge, we feel bad for the
owner and the dog, but we sure don't feel like the dog is crap!

Now if a dog is out there who just clearly wants to be somewhere,
anywhere else on the planet, and the owner persists in dragging it
around and there's never improvement, some muttering comments might be
made about the owner. But not the dog.

We have our fair share of dogs with issues in the club--I'm sure every
training facility does. We've got Salsa the Weim, who her owner readily
admits is whacko--she's wired wrong and has constant fear/distraction
issues. She used to also have aggression issues, but much patience and
hard work has put that to rest. We have a Springer who lived in a crate
his first 18 months. He's mentally stunted, easily stressed, and when
he's loses it does this weird Stevie Wonder impression with his head.

There's absolutely nothing more satisfying than see these dogs grow and
bloom and gain confidence through the work. Salsa may never move beyond
Open, but Baker the Springer will get there. The first three times he
was in the ring, as soon as he looked at the weaves he stress-pooped.
Now he's at the point where he still doesn't get them the first time
every time, but he can be sent back in and do them right and go on. It's
been a lot of work and effort, but man it's lovely to see.

"Robin Nuttall" wrote in message
news:3LDhd.343953$MQ5.130625@attbi_s52...
We have a Springer who lived in a crate
his first 18 months. He's mentally stunted, easily stressed, and when
he's loses it does this weird Stevie Wonder impression with his head.

Wow. We had a rescue Sheltie with pretty much the same exact history and the
same strange head wagging issue when stressed. I've never heard of another
dog doing that before. There must be some relation to the life in a crate
and viewing the world going by from a static position.

Christy

Christy wrote:
"Robin Nuttall" wrote in message
news:3LDhd.343953$MQ5.130625@attbi_s52...
We have a Springer who lived in a crate

his first 18 months. He's mentally stunted, easily stressed, and when
he's loses it does this weird Stevie Wonder impression with his head.


Wow. We had a rescue Sheltie with pretty much the same exact history and the
same strange head wagging issue when stressed. I've never heard of another
dog doing that before. There must be some relation to the life in a crate
and viewing the world going by from a static position.


Baker is incredibly sweet and he's not really dumb, he just has some
minor but permanent issues. He's easily overwhelmed by new things. He
will be okay, then suddenly will wig out over something (and I do mean
wig out--hysterical screaming barks). The head wagging is sometimes when
he's a bit overexcited, sometimes when he's stressed. It's very odd.