http://sandiegodogtrainers.org/sports/agility.htm

Today’s UKC trial was quite an event for me.

My first run ever went as I expected - not clean but fun. We’ve had a few bad experiences in class with the chute being very wet so early in the morning and sticking - which, for a small dog, is very hard. They can’t easily separate the cloth because there is so much resistance - sort of glued together with water. Our first run started with the chute! Isn’t that sorta hard for the very beginner class? Java wouldn’t go all the way through it and turned around. Then a couple other bugs but overall we had a good time.

The second run we were disqualified before we even started!!! I couldn’t decide whether to cry, faint or scream. Here’s the long background: at this trial, beginners, like myself, were allowed to go out on the field with their dogs and practice before the run. The other thing that was sooo different from any other trial I have visited was that people where allowed 3 tries on every piece of equipment; then people who “struck out” would go around the whole course anyway with their dog onleash; the judge held open the chute for dogs who would not go through. This is the big one. People applauded her for being so dog friendly and doing this for them.

So, for the second run I asked one of the workers if it would be OK for me to have someone hold the chute open for me during our dry run (and this was the only dry run that I did today and the only piece of equipment). She said sure, it was fine - and she held the chute open for me. Well, the judge walked over to me and DQ’d me for “training”. Keep in mind that this was my first agility trial - and given what I saw I had NO idea that what I was doing was wrong. And neither did the worker who helped me or 2 other worker volunteers who looked on. There was so much leeway given to people today that it was ridiculous. Everyone around me seemed shocked that I was DQ’d (the woman who helped me tried to take the blame but the judge wouldn’t hear of it).

I begged the judge not to DQ me. Java was literally the last dog of the day. We waited all day long for this, I told her. I was shocked. How could she do this to me? In the end, she said “OK” but that she had to dock me points. Hell, I didn’t even know there were points to be had! By this time I was furious at having to beg. At the inconsistency and randomness with which she came down on me. There was training going on all over the place on the field. Bob was there and couldn’t believe it either. I almost left but, in the end, ran the most crappy run imaginable. Java sensed my stress, I’m sure. It was awful.

I told the judge that this was my first - and last - trial.

Today I saw a guy kick his doberman in the ribs, so much screaming at dogs I wanted to cry and take them home with me. [name withheld] was so abusive to one of her dogs I truly AM ready to take that dog somehow. Her many dogs run soooo slowly and I know why. They hate it. One literally ran off the field and back to his kennel. She left the field grabbed him, dragged him back on the field, tried to make him finish, he ran off again. She was furious and he paid the price. What about a DQ for THAT!! And there were other examples of dogs running out of the ring and the handlers leaving the ring to make them come back and try to finish. Is this allowed in other venues? Seems like if the dog leaves she/he is telling someone something - like THIS SUCKS.

Maybe I will trial again someday but, boy, I sure wish I’d done that mountain bike ride today instead!

Dennis, my second cousin, sent a set of old family pictures.  The one that I liked the best was this 1948 photo that included the family dog.  The setting is their home in North Beverly, MA.

Calvin, Mame, Alice and their Dog, Trixie - 1948

Mom, Dennis, Auntie Cilla holding Trixie’s Pups