R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Okay, so everyone loses interest in things.  It happens.  To everyone. 

I lost interest in some agility venues. 

For the most part, I have been quiet about my displeasure, and just slowly faded off into the sunset.  I owe no one any reasons.   I just stated that I am not interested.  End of story, right?

WRONG! 

I have made up my mind:  you cannot polish a turd - it will always be a turd.  Yet, in the small world of agility, I still have people cornering me,  droning on about how great venues are in which I hold no obvious interest.  Unless I have vested interest (READ: I own stock or have other financial incentive), I have no loyalty to much of anything.  Your venue doesn't love you - just your checkbook.  So what is the motive for people without any incentive to try and get me to rejoin the cult?

I just don't get it.  Please, just be respectful of others, okay?

Busy

I've got a couple of things going on right now:

• Trial Secretary business for SWAT
• Old Dinosaur Cake for a friend's 50th Birthday Party

I have some upcoming trials, and I hope to get my video camera out for some strategic runs.

If you have nothing nice to say...

I have two dogs, both are rescues from animal control.  I love them to pieces.

What irritates the hell out of me are people who are such losers that the denigrate my dogs.

Every dog, whether rescued or purchased as a puppy, has a set of challenges.  My challenges including fixing issues that some asshole created.  Scout has "space issues" - she doesn't enjoy the company of 99% of other dogs, and will react to that 99% 100% of the time.  I manage these issues, and most people do not realize that there is one.

At Good Dog Agility's trial this past weekend, they have a Parade of Veterans for dogs 8 years of age or older.  At the end of the parade, an award is presented to a dog that:

1. Contributes to the community
2. and/or has overcome some issue

There is a point system for the award that includes the essay for the above, and points for accumulated standard qualifying runs and titles earned.  Most of the award is purely mathematical.  The essay, of course, is subjective.

Scout won the award in 2009.  It was especially sweet since she was tossed from the club.   The 2010 winner was rescued as a puppy and performs community service by visiting nursing homes and hospitals.

There was one VERY sore loser.  This loser has stated before, at USDAA trials, in front of others, that "all rescue dogs deserve to be euthanized" and that "all rescue dogs have issues."  Loser here has two purebred, purchased-as-puppy dogs.  Loser entered the older one in the contest.  Loser was convinced that you HAD to have a rescue dog to win.

Not true.  The 2008 winner was a purebred, purchased-as-a-puppy that went deaf.

Loser's older dog makes Scout look like a saint most of the time. Loser's dog has attacked and drawn blood on at least one other dog.

My dogs:

• I never had the opportunity to meet the parents and see their temperament
• I have never seen the pedigree
• I have no idea if the parents were healthy or have any known genetic defects for which there are tests
• I risked having to fix problems someone else created

Loser's Dogs:

• Loser was able to meet the parents and the breeder and preview temperament
• Loser can view the pedigree
• Loser has documentation as to potential genetic defects
• Loser had the opportunity to create the dog she wanted

Notice any differences?  Loser got a puppy and had every opportunity in the world to shape the dog's behaviors and attitude as she saw fit, yet Loser chose to create a nasty one, perhaps in her own likeness.  The only reasonable thing Loser did was not make HER mistake the problem for someone like me. Despite having the potential to create a well-rounded dog, Loser chose to create a "dog with issues", overcame the issues SHE created, and still expects to be rewarded for it?

I FIXED two dogs that someone like Loser ruined.  I don't expect to be rewarded externally for it.  My reward is the love I get from these two critters of mine.

Flow is Helpful. Somtimes, It Wins.

Here is Judge Karen Gloor's Masters Snooker course from Driven Dogs on Janurary 29, 2010.



It's four reds (more strategic), with two combos, #5 and #7. My older dog, Scout, will either retire or semi-retire this year. I am no longer going for Top Ten, which she has been in for the past two years. My little guy, Bug, typically gets the same course as his sister because it's easiest one me, though I have been known to run different courses. This time, I chose the same course.

At first I thought I liked the #5 combo. It turns out I didn't, as it covers a lot of yardage. I avoided the #7 combo: jump, weaves, jump. 7c opens to the 5a tunnel. 7a, heading north, opens to the 5a tunnel. 7b heading north opens to the 5a tunnel. See a pattern?

I considered starting out with 1-6 and 1-6. While time was on my side (50-something seconds for jumpers with weaves), I chose something nice for my dogs. It was not a high-point course.

I chose, starting from the left, 1-3, 1-3, 1-5 and 1-4. I ran the outside of the 5a tunnel to get to #4. Combo #7 and #4 were the best entries into the closing.

Most people bit it in the opening, handling the #7 combo. When I said that the combo opened to tunnels, the dogs took the tunnel. Heck, Bug took the tunnel in the closing.

Magic Points: Video Example

This is Lisa Jarvis's Masters Gamblers course at Agility Club of San Diego in January. This post is not about the gamble - it's about the opening.



I filmed several dogs with the intent of showing point-time estimation, aka Magic Points. I filmed Performance dogs, so please don't snort at them. Most of these dogs are older but still have the spunk and desire to play.

Most medium to fast dogs need 15-20 magic points in a 30 second opening. I was unable to add the magic point text to the clips.

When you watch these dogs and see how I counted the magic points, you'll understand why it is often better to avoid the high-point obstacle.


Chute: 1
Jump: 1
Teeter: 2.5 (Most dogs are about a 2 on the teeter)
Jump: 1
Dogwalk: 4
Dogwalk: 4
Tunnel: 1
Jump: 1
Jump: 1
TOTAL MP for 30sec opening: 16.5


Chute: 1
Jump: 1
Teeter: 2
Jump: 1
Dogwalk: 3
Tunnel: 2 (It's a 20' tunnel more than 20' from the dogwalk)
Dogwalk: 3
Tunnel: 1
A-Frame: 2
TOTAL MP for 30sec opening: 16


Chute: 1
Jump: 1
Teeter: 2
Jump: 1
Dogwalk: 3
Messing around after dogwalk: 1
Dogwalk: 3
Tunnel: 1
Tunnel: 1
Tunnel: 2 (Consider the distance between the tunnel under the dogwalk to the one in the corner)
Tunnel: 1
TOTAL MP for 30sec opening: 17


Chute: 1
Jump: 1
Chute: 2 (obstacle completion plus time to get there)
Jump: 1
Teeter: 2
Teeter: 3 (obstacle completion plus time to get there)
Jump: 1
Dogwalk: 3
Tunnel: 1
Tunnel: 1
A-Frame: 2
A-Frame: 2
TOTAL MP for 30sec opening: 20



Chute: 1
Jump: 1
Teeter: 2.5
Jump: 1
Dogwalk: 4
Dogwalk: 4
Tunnel: 1
A-Frame: 2
Jump: 1
Jump: 1
TOTAL MP for 30sec opening: 18.5

The Case Against the Dogwalk
I have one dog that is about a 3 on the dogwalk and one that is a 4. For the same seven points, I can do two tunnels and a jump (look at the tunnel under the dogwalk!) for the same points and 3 magic points instead of 4. Add an extra jump in the mix, and I have 8 points in the same amount of time I can do the dogwalk and get 7 points.

Find a Flow Course. I dare you.

Seriously, I couldn't find a flow course with this one. It was, perhaps, the lowest qualifying snooker course I've ever witnessed.

The seven had to be taken as indicated, and it's a TON of handling. So the seven was out of the question.

All the other obstacles surrounding the cluster of reds were not worth many points. Those are out of the question.

There's a one near the number six obstacle, weaves. I avoid weaves. It was out of the question.

The ONE Run

I'm not going to say much other than I was in shock. Scout had been blowing me off on weave gambles. I didn't bother having anyone film it because I assumed that it would be another weave gamble failure.

I was wrong.

This 4th place run earned the LAA-Bronze and APD-Bronze.

Scout's USDAA Statistics
Standard Level - 39
Gamblers Level 3 - 16
Jumpers Level 3 - 31
Snooker Level 3 - 41
Relay Level 3 - 21
Performance Speed Jumping - 7
Performance Versatility Pairs - 6
Performance National Standard - 22
PVP Standard - 2
PVP Gamblers - 2
PVP Jumpers - 1
PVP Snooker - 4
GRAND TOTAL: 192 PIII Qualifiers!

And something else pretty cool... Scout appears in the San Gabriel (CA) Tribune.