This one's for you, Judi
 cheerleading Judi along, because I know first hand how frustrating agility trialing can be. One little thing goes even a little bit wrong and - poof! - you have another non-qualifying score to your name  
Anyway, having been through two girls who each had their own peculiar issues: Belle who never understood the point of setting paw in the yellow and Mad who never saw a bar she didn't think deserved to be slammed to the ground, I wowed I would do better with Sybil. And I have. She's a fabulous jumper and gets the whole contact concept. OF COURSE, there is a fly in the ointment (beyond being SYBIL, that is) - we're in the process (in AKC) of making a move from narrow weavepole spacing (20") to 24". The latter is MUCH better for our big dogs. She was taught on 20", which is what I have at home, but switched to 24" (mainly in class) The first time she went to 24" she was in heaven and increased her speed by well over a second (yes, we timed her) even though there's more ground to cover. She's since become a bit stressed about never knowing which spacing she'll encounter as the rythym is a fair bit different - she has to squish herself for 20" and flows through 24" Add to that you never quite know what you'll see at a trial around here, and I can understand her confusion. Anyway, being Sybil, she cannot get stressed out in the weaves like a normal dog. No, no. I've trialed her very conservatively to try to avoid setting stress behavior. A few times last year when she got her novice standard title. A couple of times this winter, when she started stressing, and then I stopped till this fall. The first time I brought her back out was her first outdoor trial. I was concerned. And rightly so. After all, she IS Sybil. Having been heavily rewarded for contacts, she scans the horizon to make sure they are there. This is, apparently, confusing for her in Jumpers with weaves. Every time she's run this class she's had a melt down. OHMIGOD!!!! WHERE ARE THE CONTACTS??? The two times she's managed to pull it together and qualify, she's won the class, but not without antics such as detouring to kiss the barsetters (always thank your volunteers, you know  ) and just generally running amok (looking for the contacts in my opinion)
Every time I enter the ring with her it's an adventure . The first time outside she hit the weave pole entry and then ran off to roll in something nearby. The crowd was roaring (way to reinforce a natural comedienne   ) Even the judge was laughing. I ran her once inside after that were she got her second leg, but yesterday was outside again and, true to Sybil form, she was going along at a good clip, came flying out of the tunnel towards the weaves when she quick detoured to the side and threw herself down to the ground and started rolling. I begged, I pleaded, I commanded, I cajoled. To no avail. She was upside down in a trance.
Finally she popped up. Oh, good! I called her back to retry the weaves. She came flying at me, past me, ran into the tunnel she had just exited, the wrong way. AWH! An offcourse. Instant non-qualifying score (no offcourses allowed in jumpers) She came back out, I told her to weave again, apparently, unbeknownst to me, I have taught her that weave means drop and roll, because there she went down in the same spot AGAIN, smack up against the weaves, rolling to her evil heart's delight. I conceded defeat and thanked the judge for her time and she reminded me that I could now touch my dog to get her up. Fat chance. You try finding something to grab when your dog is upside down kicking her feet at you. Crowd was roaring once again, even judge was having a hard time keeping it together, lord knows Sybil was enjoying life. Apparently I was the only one who remained singularly UNAMUSED. 
I finally got her out of there. She had already run a smokin' open standard course that morning, but popped out of the weaves. No rolling or shenanigans there since there is contact equuipment to play on so all I have to do is point her in the right direction and give her the command for the next contact or the table and she'll take whatever is in her path on the way to that. Consequently she's a fast little bugger. And her jumping is really lovely. But back to the drawing board to convince her Weave is not a four letter word (which clearly it is not). Nor does it mean ROLL. No video of this latest round, though I do have her first shenanigans on tape for my future bloopers collection
It's a good thing she's cute. I can't walk her back from the ring without her growing fan club stopping her to tell her how adorable she is. I'll have to get an oversized van to be able to accomodate her and her growing head at this rate
All to say: you are not alone, Judi. And I believe you have a brag to share. Hm???? 
Kristine & Fat Head |
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| Kristine you are too funny!
I know, I know you are the only person who was unamused. (snicker, snort, giggle)
Let's face it, the more shenanigans Sybil goes in for, the bigger the fan club she'll get and the bigger the van you'll need.
I not 100% sure but I have a sneaky suspicion it was you who said that trialling sheepies in agility was a lesson in humility. If it wasnt you it should have been. 
Heck even taking Tiggy to basic obedience class is a lesson in humility. One week she'll do a perfect drop on the move every time the next week she's forgotten what drop means, or does a bow as a half assed "oh if you insist will this do" kinda thing. The look on my instructors face. Sheesh. She owns a fat, english type lab who is highly food motivated and loves to please, its easy for her to hint that I'm not showing enough leadership. Patooie!! I LOVE that Sybil. Now Judi where's your brag!!!! |
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Well...Kristine, you did it again!! Made my Monday blues, turn around!! Coffee wasn't ready or the screen would be covered from my laughing!
I can visualize your run, the heck with the video! You and Sybil are a testament to preserverance and determination..You are determined to get a title on her...SHE is determined to have a great time in the ring, and entertain the masses! I really think a book needs to be written about your experiences!! You have a real way with words...and it's not like you have to 'make' any of this up 
Getting back to the main reason for this thread. I know with the love and commitment you have, Sybil, in spite of herself will be titled soon! And, in the meantime, WHAT FUN YOU ARE HAVING!!! I can't wait for Judi to respond to this!! And I can't wait for her BRAG! and you know...just my opinion.................. Sybil and Harry are CHAMPIONS of SLAPSTICK~~~~~~~~~ |
| I only have one eye open, but there's a big smile on my face as I visualize Sybil's own version of agility. Thanks for a great morning smile. |
| Sybil, Sybil, what are we going to do with you?! LOL
Right off the bat, I am extremely happy Chewie doesn't have the family rolling gene.....
Even Simon the basset rolls in stuff more than Chewie does! So, it's not from lack of exposure to seeing another dog enjoying the nastiness!
Chewie and I send congrats to you Kristine and Sybil for the good run you managed to capture in standard Big headed sister and all........
And yes Judi - you and Harry do have a brag out there as well! |
.....  .........
Well I am running the gamut of emotions here and none of them is amusement even though I normally love crazy Sybil stories. I feel like I do whenever I see someone else who has successfully dropped weight slowly putting the pounds back on: "What hope is there for me?" I find success stories inspiring. But.............. these darn sheepdogs and their need for nonsense on the agility field.
One thing is for sure - if the masses want comic relief WE can give them comic relief! Before we retire Sybil and Harry we MUST run them in BRACE just once (with Kristine handling of course). I trying to learn to laugh about it and I am doing pretty good too ... I think. 
In any case, good job on the Standard run. No big brag yet, therefore the beast does not deserve his own thread - so here it is: The results of our trial on Friday. Novice Standard - almost a qualifiying run - just one bar down (the last one of course) but we came very close. Novice Jumpers with Weaves - almost a qualifying run - just one bar down (he took off too early for jump coming out of the weaves) - this was his best JWW ever. Open FAST - a qualifying run (just barely) with the help of my trainer who took me into the fast area to show me that I needed to call him back to me upon exiting the first tunnel to show him the winged (thank God) jump so he wouldn't bypass it before the second tunnel (which was in the dog's direct line of vision upon exiting the first tunnel). good points: very strong "here" bad points: refusing to sit at the start line, letting go of his "wait" at the start line, no stopping for pauses on contacts - all of these due to his lack of impulse control. So we now have our second leg in Open FAST! 
My predictions for the future: Harry will be in Excellent FAST before he even has one Q in Novice Standard or Novice JWW. Even with Kristine's "conservative" trialing and Sybil occasionally acting as the "ring clown" you will have Excellent titles before next year's Nationals. |
| Too funny... love the way you tell the story too, easy to visualize the whole thing. |
 Poor Sybil!!
You know I have seen her run, seen her do a lot of things, I do believe some of Kristine's stories may be exaggerated
Note to self: remember the shirt we bought Francine for Christmas ( http://www.beautyofthebeasts.com/products.php?id=168 ) :Look for one for Kristine at the next show! Judi - nice job. |
kerry wrote: :plead: Poor Sybil!!
You know I have seen her run, seen her do a lot of things, I do believe some of Kristine's stories may be exaggerated Note to self: remember the shirt we bought Francine for Christmas ( http://www.beautyofthebeasts.com/products.php?id=168 ) :Look for one for Kristine at the next show! Judi - nice job. Ditto that! And, no, I don't need to exaggerate in the least bit for comedic effect when it comes to Sybil. Truly. I have a well developed imagination, but even I can't make this stuff up!!!
As for the Praise the Dog - Slap the Handler shirt, one of Belle's agility instructors gave it to me for Christmas!!!! Depicted below.
Seems fitting I wore it at the national the year she went High In Trial in agility. Of course, she was almost ten years old at the time...Took us that long to sort of pull it together
Notice Belle is practically sitting on Linda Zimmerman's foot. I think she wanted to fire me as a handler by then, but, you know, she'd probably figured out she's stuck with me
Kristine |
so its a long standing problem  |
| Keep these stories coming!! They make my day |
| Hey, I think I took that picture (above)
And yes, Belle was perched on Linda's foot... |
Quote: Notice Belle is practically sitting on Linda Zimmerman's foot. I think she wanted to fire me as a handler by then Well, yeah, Belle apparently read your t-shirt and figured Linda would be a good alternative Mum. |
SheepieBoss wrote: Quote: Notice Belle is practically sitting on Linda Zimmerman's foot. I think she wanted to fire me as a handler by then Well, yeah, Belle apparently read your t-shirt and figured Linda would be a good alternative Mum.And she is right!
Linda's been doing agility and obedience for much longer than I have and she's much better at it
And, yes, Kerry, this is a longstanding issue with my poor dogs. Sybil is the first to have something resembling an actual handler. Not that this has any impact on her apparently
One of the things I love about performance. There's always more to learn and each dog is different and adds something new and exciting to the mix. Dawn, most of my best "awards" pictures were taken by you. Mace's CH picture as well!!! I may need to hire you. Should Sybil and I ever do anything picture-worthy. Beyond rolling on the ground that is
Actually, I have to say I love running her. She's a blast. So much fun. 
Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: Actually, I have to say I love running her. She's a blast. So much fun.
Kristine |
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