Open Purgatory

Progress, yet going nowhere. That's how I feel about competing in agility trials right now. I have a great time and so does Denali, she runs very well, and that's why we keep competing. We have a lot of fun in classes too. But we're stuck. For those not familiar with American Kennel Club (AKC) agility, here's a fast breakdown. There are 4 levels: Novice, Open, Excellent, and Master. There are 2 different courses (well, 3, but two main ones) which are Jumpers With Weaves (JWW) and Standard. The JWW courses are just jumps, weave poles, and sometimes tunnels. The Standard courses have the same but include contact obstacles (teeter, dogwalk, and A-frame) as well as the tire and table.If you complete the course without having any unacceptable mistakes you get a Qualifying score, commonly called a "Q." Depending on the level you are allowed a certain number of certain mistakes, for example you can redo the weave poles or have a "refusal" meaning the dog went around an obstacle or stopped in front of it instead of taking it.

Denali and I are in Excellent Standard with 1 Q but have stopped competing in Excellent Standard because we're still in Open JWW and have been at this level since September 2011. We usually go to one trial (which is 2 days, Saturday and Sunday) every month to run the Open JWW courses but lately as I've been working Saturdays we only go on Sunday. I try to do one or two trials a month but it doesn't always happen and we've taken a lot of time off, party for vacation time and partly because early last year she was having trouble and getting stressed on course so that had to be fixed before competing again. So while we have been stuck for about 20 months, including our first run at the end of September 2011, we've done 18+ runs. I have 17 Open JWW maps in my folder and know of at least one more where I didn't get a course map. In all of those 18 runs we have gotten just 1 Q.

It can be very frustrating and disheartening. I don't anymore, but there was a time last year when I was nearly in tears because I was so tired of trying and failing, again and again, the Q just barely out of reach. It's always just one thing that causes us to not qualify. One wrong course (taking the wrong obstacle) or two refusals (one is ok in Open, two is not), one bar knocked down. Competing wasn't fun anymore, for either of us.

A few main things happened for us to find the fun again along with many little things. First was to fix her weave poles and she was really stressing about them. That in itself took a few months, during which we didn't compete. I also had to come to terms with the fact that I do not have a Border Collie. I have a Siberian Husky. I do not have a herding dog, a retriever, or any of those dogs who make it seem so easy and natural. I honestly never really thought I'd compete in the first place. You just don't see northern breeds in the agility ring! Malamutes, huskies, samoyeds, keeshounds, all a rare sight. I wasn't going to let stereotypes about the breed or about agility stop me but I was realistic in my expectations. Third, I stopped thinking of it as failing. No, we didn't win, we didn't get a Q, and we are still in Open JWW, but ya know what? One mistake in everything that is happening? Just one? That's not a big deal, and it has been so good for me to focus on the great things she did during her run instead of dwelling on the mistakes. Recognizing the mistakes is crucial to having better performances but stressing and dwelling and thinking "I wish I had [not]..." doesn't help. What helps I thinking "It would have been better to..." It happened, now learn from it and move on! Fourth, I have finally gotten into a groove with Denali in how to prep her for a run. It took a lot of experimenting and time to figure it out. Leslie McDevitt's book Control Unleashed was a huge help. The trial environment is very exciting and stressful. People tug and play and get their dogs excited and worked up. That's how it's done! But that didn't work for Denali. I found it's much better for her to be calm, for me to be present with her and attentive to her, let her walk around and sniff, and to keep a calm, cool focus rather than getting her all wound up.

I've adjusted my goals as we've grown and accomplished but reaching the big four-letter title seems as impossible as touching the stars. MACH. That's the big realistic goal right now, but I've given it up to focus on the current realistic goal of getting her Open JWW title, OAJ. Once out of Open she needs another 3 Q's in Excellent (and another 2 in Standard).

Despite being stuck we have made tremendous improvement. Being stuck doesn't mean we're on autopilot or not getting better. Check out her run from today, May 5th, 2013. She knocked one bar, and even had a crash. She always crashes at this site, especially when there are 2-3 jumps in a row followed by a 90* or more turn. The grass is very straight and slippery, and husky feet are like smooth soles compared to the soccer cleats that herding dogs have.


Compare that to her run on September 18th, 2011. She had "zoomies" where she spazzed out and ran around, she missed a few jumps, she was out of control and didn't have much focus on me, and just finishing the run was rough.


Quite a difference!