Another Milestone

Been a weird couple months around here, but life is hopefully getting back to normal and we have had a couple significant events in recent weeks.

On October 17-18, we attended Canine Express's annual flyball tournament with Django. Maebe had been signed up for an agility jumping seminar that weekend, but a lesion on her toe that kept getting irritated prevented her from going and participating, so she had a weekend off. Django entered the tournament needing about 480 points for his ONYX title, and I am happy to report that we accomplished that goal during his second-to-last race on Sunday afternoon. As I got Django as an adult, he had a pretty late start to his flyball career, so I was very pleased that he was able to accomplish this.

While most of the gang stayed at home for the weekend, we did bring Cadence up on Saturday to participate in the annual Halloween costume contest. He was the Great Pumpkin.

He looks relatively happy in these photos, but they don't capture all the wiggling and scratching and throwing his body to the ground that he was doing during the parade. I think he got off pretty easy - he should talk to Jade about when we dressed him up as the Tin Man for a Wizard of Oz theme. His suffering paid off though as he won "Cutest Costume"!

The true highlight of the weekend came as a big surprise. Every year, the Canine Express team honors a rescued flyball dog with the Brenda Bailey Inspiration award. The award has been given for the last three years, in memory of a teammate who died from cancer. Teams can nominate eligible rescue dogs for the award, and I was touched that our team captain chose to nominate Django. I was asked to write up a description of Django, so I retold his story a bit - how he was picked up as a stray on the streets of Detroit, and bounced around through shelters and rescue foster homes before he found his way to us via his wonderful foster mom, Chris. I mentioned how Django means "I awaken" and how much he has truly done that over his time with us. I always love sharing Django's story, but I did not expect for a minute that we would be chosen for this honor. I know there are a lot of great rescue dogs out there with other great stories, but I was extremely touched and honored when they read my and Django's name out on Sunday afternoon. Being recognized in this way is probably the best achievement I think I've received with one of my dogs. It really put the point- and title-chasing in perspective and reminded me that the true reward is the bond we form with these canine partners and companions.

Good old Django - I can't wait to see the photo they took for the plaque. He had no idea what the fuss was about and I'm sure he'll look terrified in the picture (any uncertainty tends to cause Django to get a really worried look in those green-yellow eyes of his - it looks much more dramatic than it actually is as far as I can tell from his behavior).

We followed up that exciting weekend with a nice day of agility this past Sunday. Django ran 5 for 5 all day, and placed in every class. He does seem to actually be speeding up even this late in his career, but I think I will move him to "Veterans" for our next trial. He clipped a bar with a toe in his last Jumpers run, which is odd, so I'll give him a little break for a while. He's been a great little athlete all year, and achieved a major title in both of the dog sports we participate in. I think he has some well-deserved pampering in store for him now as we enter in to fall and winter!

Learning Opportunities

Been a busy few weeks here lately, with lots of travel and training opportunities. It has been taking me a while to process some of our recent experiences, and have been thinking and planning a lot lately around my training goals.

Two weeks ago, Cadence and I headed to his homeland (Canada) for a three-day weekend at Susan Garrett’s Puppy Camp. The focus of puppy camp is to learn skills and exercises to set the groundwork for agility specifically, but good “life skills” in general. As Susan stated early on, the same characteristics that make a great family pet make a great agility dog. So, relatively little of the weekend was actually spent on agility-focused activities. Instead we worked on relationship-building, impulse control, building drive and enthusiasm, and developing our skills as trainers. I have been drawn to Susan’s books and DVDs for years, as I appreciate her focus on operant conditioning and positive reinforcement, and her basis in actual learning theory. With Cadence, I am really trying to break my old “luring” habits, and to develop my skills in shaping. It really is fun to watch their little gears turning as they offer different behaviors and figure out what you are looking for.

We returned home from that weekend with heads spinning and carrying a long list of things to work on in the coming months. But, as if our list wasn’t long enough, we set off last weekend to Midland, Michigan to attend a two-day “Get Connected” workshop with Brenda Aloff. This was not necessarily an agility or performance dog-based seminar, but was very much about building a strong relationship and ability to communicate with your dog.

I have seen Brenda speak almost every year for the past 7 years, but have never worked with her. I could listen to her lecture for days, she is so engaging and insightful and humorous, but working with her this weekend proved to be even more of a thrill. She is truly delightful, and Cadence and I had a blast.

While there were occasional slight differences, it was interesting how many of the themes were consistent between the two weekends. Impulse control, structure and consistency, and focusing on your relationship with your dog first and foremost were the common threads that were emphasized again and again.

I learned a lot about my little noodle over both weekends, and am really grateful for these opportunities as I see where our strengths are and what I need to continue to focus on with him. So, I feel good that Cadence is getting off to a good start, and am excited to try some new things with the adult pack as well.

Williamston CPE

This weekend we entered Django, Maebe, and Tristan in the Williamston CPE trial put on by the Capital City club. This is always one of our favorite trials each year. The site is a YMCA day camp for kids, and is really a pleasant facility. There is a ton of area for setting up tents, and a nice little hiking trail along a river for walking/swimming the dogs during down time. Plus, this club is filled with friendly, fun members who put on a great event and spoil the workers with an amazing spread of food! As always, we had a wonderful time.

I would say this is perhaps the best weekend I have ever had trialing with Django. I was so proud of him. He qualified in 7 out of 8 runs, and even our NQ was a very successful run in my eyes as he surprised me by overcoming some things that have been challenges to us in the past. He earned three first places, one second, one third, and one fourth.

Since Django isn’t a super-high-drive Border Collie and can be sensitive at times, I think there have been some points in our training that I have tended to baby-sit and not challenge (or trust) him to develop. A main example is the effort I often go to prevent having to do off-side weaves, since they aren’t his strong suit. Consequently, I sometimes play things safe and probably end up slowing him down rather than risking making an error. This weekend I decided to trust him and to trust in the training and teamwork we have and to see what we could do together. He surprised me multiple times, and we had some of our nicest runs this weekend. It makes me realize that it is never too late to keep learning and training and improving together, and I am excited to see the ways he continues to get stronger in his performance.

The biggest landmarks for us were successfully performing off-side weaves multiple times and (essentially) completing the Jackpot gamble, which requires distance and obstacle discrimination and often gives us problems. Technically, he got his one NQ in Jackpot as he missed his A-frame contact (which is fairly rare for him), but he still performed the sequence correctly and at distance, so I count it as a big step forward for us as a team.

Maebe was entered in all the games, but we are keeping her out of Standard runs until her A-Frame performance improves/becomes less terrifying. She had her only NQ in Jackpot, which did require an A-Frame this weekend. As we didn’t want to rehearse a poor performance, and as it was raining and Maebe’s speed + wet contacts scares the hell out of us, Lowell intentionally ended the run early and omitted the A-Frame. Otherwise, she ran great and is definitely keeping bars up and spinning/barking much less and following Lowell’s line better and better. She really is a lot of fun to watch.

Tristan’s Q rate was not as high as the others (about 50%), but he had some very nice runs. He cleaned up on the Jackpot course, and got the maximum number of possible points in Snooker (which is always Lowell’s goal). He was weaving great this weekend, and, most importantly, held up for 8 runs over two days just fine. Since starting his acupuncture visits, he has been moving better than he ever has – it really is amazing the effect it seems to have had.

Cadence and Jade were able to go for some walks on the trail and Jade even took a dip in the river over the weekend. Cadence got to socialize with some friendly dogs and lots of people, and we had some little training sessions in between runs. He really is doing great. He handles trial environments very well, and is able to focus and play with me when I bring him out on breaks. I am very pleased with the drive, motivation, and attention he has been showing me, plus he is the silliest, cutest thing ever and he cracks me up constantly.

We came home Sunday evening tired but feeling happy for the great dogs and great friends that we have, and very grateful that we got to spend a weekend having such fun with all of them. I will spend this week getting ready for next weekend’s excursion, as Cadence and I leave for Puppy Camp with Susan Garrett at Say Yes! on Thursday evening. Should be another fun experience and I am looking forward to learning a lot over the three day camp as I lay the groundwork with my next agility partner.

C-ATCH Django

This weekend, we competed at the Stony Creek Canine Academy CPE trial. We entered Saturday and Sunday as they were offering Jackpot both days, and so Django had two chances to earn his C-ATCH.

Saturday's course was a traditional Jackpot and particularly tricky, with a challenging send out to off-side weaves. Not Django's strong suit, so we had fun, gave it our best try, but I wasn't surprised with the NQ. Still, we had another try Sunday.

Sunday's course was a non-traditional Jackpot. The team had to earn the required number of points (44 for Level 5), and also in the process successfully complete three designated obstacles at any point before the time limit. The three required obstacles were an A-frame, tunnel, and jump. So, not too bad of a Jackpot course. The main risks would be blowing the A-frame contact, dropping the bar on the jump, or not getting enough points in the time limit. I planned out a nice course that would get us enough points, so just had to keep fingers crossed for a successful contact performance. Django is pretty reliable with his A-frames, and rarely drops bars, so as long as there was not too much silliness in his first run of the day, I felt optimistic.

As we stepped to the line, I kissed him on the head and whispered to him that I loved him and that we should just go have fun. I led out past the tire, and was happy to look back and see him intent and focused on me (sometimes I look back and he is making googly-eyes at the leash runner or something). The A-frame was our fourth obstacle, and he solidly hit the contact zone. I breathed a little easier at that point, but still had a lot of points to get so couldn't relax yet. Overall, the run continued to go smoothly, with just a little Django silliness with a dogwalk/tunnel distinction. He REALLY wanted to do the dog walk for whatever reason, but I called him off as I just couldn't diverge from my plan. Of course, the couple seconds spent there felt like an eternity, but we just needed another jump, teeter, and one more tunnel after that. Once back on track, the ending went smoothly and as he came out of the final tunnel, I cheered him on telling him what a great boy he is. We took another jump for good measure and headed to the table to stop our time with still a few seconds to spare.

He hit the table, sat and looked at me. I said to him, "Good job, boy - that's your C-ATCH!" and gave him a hug before taking a quick victory lap. As I leashed him up afterwards, I gave him a big hug, buried my face in his beautiful red fur, and told him how proud I was of him. Then we proceeded out of the ring to get him a big reward of chicken!

The great thing about dogs is that all he knew was that he was having fun running with his mom. It was just another run to him, though when it was over, it became obvious to him that everyone was making a big fuss over him, coming up to congratulate and praise him. He didn't know why, but he knew he was quite pleased with himself and lapped up all the extra attention.

This trial marked the two-year anniversary of what I think of as our serious agility career. We had trialed some with our first dog, Jade, in the past, but he always preferred flyball. Tristan and Django had started to compete a few years ago, and earned up to about Level 2 titles. Then in 2006, we took some time off when we bought a new house and moved. After a few months we were preparing to get back into it, but then I broke my arm and so was sidelined for another few months. Once life settled down a bit, we had to re-hone our dogs' now-rusty agility skills for a few months, and returned to showing again at Stony in July 2007. So, it was fitting that we were able to earn this title at one of our favorite venues, under a judge that we trial under often.

Django may not always be the fastest agility dog out there, but he is reliable and forgiving on the course. More than anything, Django has the greatest desire to please that I have seen in any of our dogs. He wants to be right, and will not stop trying until he gets there. I believe he would do anything I asked of him. He has come a long way from the shy but loving street dog we met a few years ago, and he makes me proud and happy every day. I absolutely adore him.

Many don't know that he is named after a famous jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt's hand was seriously disfigured in a fire, yet he went on to become regarded as one of the best jazz guitarists of all time. The name, "Django," is a Gypsy name that means "I awaken." I have always thought that it was a fitting name for my guy, as he has come out of his shell and blossomed so much more than I even could have hoped since he won me over with his playful grin years ago.

Titles aren't what it is important, by any means. I treasure all the time I spend with my dogs having a good time with them, and the wins, points, Q's, and other achievements are really just nice things to strive for. But, this weekend's milestone represents to me a lot of hard team work on both of our parts, and I will always treasure the time and fun we have on the journey for a title.

Here is the video of Django's C-ATCH run. As you see, there is a little snag as I have to convince him that we are not, in fact, doing the dog walk, but otherwise he ran very nicely. What a good boy!

Summer Camp

This year marked our eighth year of taking the dogs to DSA camp for a week in July. It has become a fun tradition, where we get to spend several days visiting with old friends, making new friends, and just training and spending time with our dogs. Every year is a bit different - some years we are focused on participating in all the new activities and training opportunities, sometimes we work on our own training goals, and other times we just spend time hiking in the woods and swimming at the lake with the dogs.

This year, we mostly did our own thing as far as training. Lowell spent a lot of time working on Susan Garrett's Crate Games with Maebe, Tristan and Jade. We did some agility work with the adults, and got an introduction to competition obedience with Tristan and Django one evening. It seems clear that obedience may be a great activity for Tristan when he can no longer compete in agility. He loves the rules and structure of it and loves heeling. I think he would really enjoy Rally-O one day.

It was a great week for Cadence, filled with new experiences and people and dogs. Our campsite neighbor had a new Lab puppy, Indi, who was born on the same day as Cade. They became fast friends, and would start up an impromptu wrestling match at every possible opportunity.

Cadence also became a "Pup Scout." To do so, he had to pass a little temperament/obedience test. He had to demonstrate that he knew sit, down, and come, he had to show that he could interact with other dogs appropriately, that he could be handled by other people, that he would accept grooming and body handling, and that he could remain calm when I left him alone with a new person. He passed with flying colors. I thought about testing him to become a full "Scout", but wanted to wait until his heeling, "leave its," and stays are more reliable. They are coming along nicely, and if I got him in the right moment we might have passed, but I didn't see the need to rush it.

I also learned what Cadence's nutty Border Collie obsession is: water. His brain just switched into another place at the beach. All my dogs are devoted water dogs and love nothing more than to swim, but even our Lab took a bit longer to become crazy about the water than our little noodle did. Apparently he is fascinated by splashing. He started making splashes with his front paws, then snapping at the spray, and would continue farther and farther until before he knew it, he was swimming. Snapping at the water all the way. It was a bit crazy, and rather lacking in form, but he made up for it in enthusiasm.

Maebe got to try Puissance Jumping, and easily cleared 36 inches - over twice her shoulder height. She also accompanied her dad on the overnight backpacking trip that he led this year, and somehow managed to not be completely eaten alive by mosquitoes. I think it was close though. Apparently she was not terribly pleased with the tent accomodations in the woods at first, until she discovered one of the other campers had brought along a tennis ball and all was well with the world again. She also got to flirt with Brutus, a 130-pound Rott(?) mix, who is the gentlest giant you'd ever want to meet. They make quite a pair. Still, when she returned to the camper the next morning, she curled up on my pillow immediately to tell me all about the hardships she endured for the previous 12 hours in the woods. She is forever the princess.

All the dogs did a ton of swimming, running, hiking, and playing and we all had a great time. We returned home exhausted from all the revelry (and especially from the late-night campfires that Lowell would tend - we had quite a fun and raucous group of fire-goers this year). Already looking forward to camp number nine in 2010!

Dog Sport Weekend

Busy holiday weekend this past weekend, filled with all sorts of dog activities.


On Friday, we kicked off the long weekend with a day of CPE agility in Dexter. I was very excited about this trial, as they were offering Jackpot, which is the last class Django and I need to finish his C-ATCH title. Of course, Jackpot was the last run of the day, so we had many hours of waiting for the big moment. Since Jackpot requires speed and distance, I decided to only enter Django in one other run that day. On long days of trialing, Django sometimes will start to work pretty close to me in the last couple runs, so I have more luck with Jackpot if he is fresh and full of energy. We started the morning with a "Q" (and fourth place) in Full House, then let him rest up the rest of the day.


Meanwhile, Tristan and Maebe each got a few runs in with their dad, and had some nice performances. Tristan was well on his way towards having another beautiful Standard run, when his handler forgot the course . . . again. So, still a nice run, just not technically correct. :-) Maebe had a blazing fast Standard run (24 seconds), but demonstrated that her contacts are not, in fact, fixed as we had hoped. In fact, she showed us that she can do the A-Frame while missing the down ramp altogether - not something I hope she ever does again! Nevertheless, she continues to command attention on the course, and Lowell had hours of conversations with other trainers with ideas, suggestions, compliments, etc. The little girl can move, that's for certain.

Django's big run came at the end of the day. I was nervous stepping to the line, but tried as much as possible to relax so he wouldn't feed off my stress. His opening sequence went beautifully - he was moving fast and following me perfectly. In fact, we actually ended up ahead of where I thought we'd be when the whistle blew - rare, as I have developed a good sense of how much we can do in the opening time. When it came time to do the Jackpot (a jump, A-Frame, far end of a curved tunnel, and jump), we started off strong. He came off the A-frame nicely, but headed to the wrong end of the tunnel. I pulled him back, re-sent him, and he headed once more to the near end. Called him off again, but he decided then that clearly he was not supposed to do the tunnel at all, and cleared the last jump. I didn't care though, I was so proud of how nicely he worked for me. I knelt down, hugged and kissed him, and told him we'd just try again next time. A spectator near the exit gate said to me "You couldn't have tried any harder for that - that was a nice run and you should be proud." I agreed completely. Lots of friends patted us on the back, and though Django still can't yet add those five letters before his name, there is always next time. Looks like the Stony trial in three weeks has TWO Jackpot offerings!

After visiting with lots of friends, we packed up the dogs, went home to hook up the camper, and headed down to Sandusky, Ohio for two days of flyball racing with Django and Maebe. When we arrived, we learned that there was an empty back-up spot on a team with some green dogs, and do to various injuries, etc., the team was short. We decided to let Jade step out of retirement for a weekend, and listed him as the back-up, so ended up with three dogs on teams.

Django and Maebe got to race on the same team together, which was very fun. The team was a nice one, with very reliable, consistent dogs. Unfortunately, we were seeded towards the bottom of the division, so had to really fight. And fight we did, running some nice close races and putting in some good times. Maebe ran several 4.3's with passes (over 10-inch jumps, not her favorite), and Django ran a couple 4.4's with passes, even towards the end of Sunday. The team ended up third, but the dogs all earned a lot of points for one tournament, putting Django even closer to getting his ONYX.

Jade had a lot of fun warming up a couple times and running in a few heats, but thankfully the novice dogs held up all weekend, as my decision to retire him was confirmed to be the correct one. Of maybe a half dozen runs, he only carried his ball past the line once or twice. After earning over 40,000 points, I know he knows how to play the game, and physically he still looks great, but somehow his heart isn't in it the way it used to be. I think his stamina just isn't what it was, and he is tiring quickly. Nevertheless, it made me happy to take him into the ring a few more times, and to know that we are making the right decision for him. He has had a great flyball career, and he has earned the right to spend his days now lounging on the couch and barking at squirrels.

The Noodle (Cadence) had a nice weekend as well. He saw flyball for the first time, and handled it well. He was a little surprised by the noise at first, but relaxed quickly. When the racing started, he looked up like "Oh, running dogs, cool" then instantly turned his focus to playing with me. Which, since I was not armed with a tug toy, meant trying to rip my watch right off of my wrist, but I appreciated the sentiment - that even in the presence of high-level distractions he is choosing to play with me.

Overall, a fun weekend of playing with the dogs, camping, and visiting with friends. However, I may re-think doing a tournament on July 4th weekend again, as Saturday night was spent holding Tristan while the fireworks were being set off. He held it together pretty well though.

Lots more camping, trials and tournaments in the coming weeks. Going to have to try and rest up this week in preparation!

"T"

On June 5-7, we made a road trip to Greenfield, MA with the three Border Collies in tow, in order to compete in the CPE Agility Nationals competition. All in all, it was a successful weekend and great vacation, with all of us achieving some goals, making new friends, and having a good time.

The highlight of the weekend, however, was Tristan placing in two standard runs at Nationals, and receiving the High in Standard Veteran award for his level. It was a proud and poignant moment when they read his name off at the late-night awards ceremony Sunday. Tristan has had quite a road to this point – he is a dog with the drive, determination and work ethic of a champion, but sadly with a body that has often limited him. I’ve frequently been moved and inspired by what this dog has taught me about strength and courage, and this weekend felt like the reward for all that he has been through.

When Tristan was about a year and a half old, he started to become intermittently lame on his right rear leg during exercise. He would often come up non-weight-bearing after running with us or playing flyball. We rested him, tried various therapies, and consulted with various vets and specialists. In April 2003, he was diagnosed with a partially torn cranial cruciate ligament in his right knee, and underwent a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy Surgery. We were told he would have six weeks of strict crate rest, and then could slowly begin normal activity again. We were also told that a TPLO would give him the best chance for returning to performance eventually.

The six week recovery went fine, and he appeared to have healed beautifully. Unfortunately, as we started trying to take him for short leash walks again, we found he could not tolerate even a 5-10 minute stroll up the block without coming up lame. Thus began a year-long struggle to figure out what was going on with him. To make matters worse, he was not only coming up lame on his surgery leg, but would at times limp on his left rear leg or his front legs.

For months we sought out second opinions from other orthopedic specialists. We had complete spinal and hip x-rays taken and reviewed by surgeons and radiologists. We took him for a neurological evaluation. We had a second surgery performed to remove the hardware in the knee. Unfortunately, all this was before there was much interest or knowledge in veterinary physical therapy and rehabilitation. We only really had veterinarians at our disposal, and they eventually were stumped.

Finally one day I learned of a clinic that had opened a new physical therapy center at their facility, complete with an underwater treadmill. We took Tristan for an evaluation by the PT there, who immediately pointed out that Tristan had lost 40% of his muscle mass on his right leg during his recovery period, and consequently was very weak and was having his whole body thrown off balance.

For three months, we would drop him off at the rehab facility three times a week to spend the day working with their therapists. This meant 4+ hours of driving each day, but the clinic was wonderful about letting me drop him off before they were technically open, and picking him up late after work. We also had several exercises to do with him at home, and Lowell especially was very faithful about making sure T did his “homework.”

Finally the happy day came when the PT noted that his leg had regained its normal muscle mass. Tristan was once again able to go for walks and exercise without lameness. We continued to ease him into higher-impact activities, and in March 2005, almost two years since his surgery, Tristan competed in a flyball tournament again. Eventually we got him back into agility, and had to do a lot of “catch up” work, as he was pretty novice at the time of his initial injury. There were some wild runs at his first few agility trials after his long hiatus, but we ironed out the rough spots, and he has proven to be a very nice-running agility dog.

Tristan only competes in CPE agility, as they have lower jump heights and allow him to run as a Veteran since he turned six years old, meaning he can jump 16” instead of 20”. I have been very grateful that this organization exists, as otherwise I wouldn’t be comfortable asking Tristan to do the heights that would be required of him in other organizations.

Flyball continued to be difficult for T’s body, and he slowed down quite a bit after his surgery so we limited how much we ran him. But in agility, our bionic dog continued to amaze us. He frequently places in competition, and several times has been the fastest dog across all levels to complete a course. He is extremely willing and attentive, and a blast to handle. For a few years, Tristan continued to compete soundly, without injury or lameness.

In June 2008, he and Django competed at CPE Nationals in Mason, MI, and Tristan surprised us by earning Reserve High in Standard Veterans (basically runner-up) in his level. As we made plans to attend 2009 Nationals, we assumed that I would bring Django and Lowell would bring his up-and-coming dog, Maebe. We were proud of Tristan and would continue to run him, but thought Maebe would be the one most likely to shine at a national competition.

Luckily for T, Maebe decided to take about a 6-month break from coming anywhere near the yellow zone on the contact obstacles, and consequently was not eligible for entry in Nationals. Tristan was still holding up well, so we decided in the winter that he could come instead, while we focused on fixing Maebe’s contact issues for next year.

In late winter, after the entries had been sent in, Tristan started limping on his front right leg. We assumed he slipped in our yard, which was an ice field at the time. It took a while to resolve, and we were increasingly worried about him being healed in time to be ready for Nationals. We couldn’t do too much high impact training with him for several months, so Lowell focused intensely on flatwork with him.

By this April, Tristan was moving OK, but seemed a little “off” still. We had been hoping to get him to his flyball ONYX title, but sadly decided to retire him about 4,000 points shy of that milestone. Still, he had earned about 12,000 points since his surgeries, which made us proud as we once thought he would never run again. Flyball just proved too hard on his body though, and he has always been a much better agility dog, so we decided to work on preserving him for that.

In May, Lowell took Tristan for a structural evaluation by Debbie Gross-Saunders, a leading expert in veterinary physical therapy. She noted that he has very limited mobility in his lumbar-sacral area, which may be due to a genetic spinal condition. Though painful to hear, it also explained a lot of Tristan’s ongoing problems over the years. Lowell asked if Tristan should be retired. Debbie responded by asking if Tristan loved agility and lived for it. The answer was an obvious “yes,” so she recommended we keep at it. She gave us some home exercises for strengthening and stretching, and suggested acupuncture to keep him running strong for a couple more years.

Though I admit to being a bit of a skeptic initially, we took him to his first acupuncture appointment a week before Nationals. Right away we thought he was moving much better – was no longer “crabbing” when he ran and seemed quite smooth and balanced.

Feeling optimistic, we headed to Nationals. On the first day, Lowell and Tristan ran the nicest standard course I have ever seen them run. Tristan had barely been on obstacles for months, and hadn’t competed since December, but he did everything perfectly. I don’t think I took a breath the entire time I watched the run – which ended up earning Tristan a third place ribbon.

Tristan continued to do excellent the rest of the weekend. He only had three NQ’s, but two of them were due to Lowell forgetting the courses! In his final run of the weekend – another standard course – I waited anxiously to see how he would finish. We realized that this could be his last time running at a national event, and really wanted to go out on a good note. This run again was virtually flawless – Tristan turned a little wide on one corner, but overall was perfect and earned a fourth place ribbon for that performance.

Do to computer glitches, the awards ceremony was delayed for several hours as results were calculated. We were still camping on site though, so wandered down for the ceremony to cheer for the successful teams. Lowell was stunned to hear Tristan’s name called when they got to the Veterans’ awards (I admit I was less surprised – I knew how great they performed all weekend and thought it might pay off).

Tristan had another acupressure treatment while at the event, and continues to look good. We are optimistic that we are on a good path now to maintaining him physically, and hope to have many more runs with him to come. Still, we know that his body may eventually tell us one day that it is time to ease up, at which point we may try his paw at Rally Obedience. Ironically, the new worry is not so much his knees or back, but rather his eyes. He was diagnosed with juvenile cataracts years ago, and last year our vet noted that they were worsening a bit. She stated that she was “pretty sure he can’t read” as his fine detail vision is probably pretty impaired at this point. In recent months, as I watch Tristan jump I worry that he is not judging his timing as well as he should be, which can indicate vision problems. Then again, yesterday he was tracking a bug moving along the upper part of our living room wall, so he may be doing OK.

It has been a long journey for Tristan, and he has continued to amaze and inspire me over the years. Today his two plaques sit on our mantle as proud reminders every day of his tenacity and heart. I’m grateful that we got to experience this Nationals event with him, and will always be proud of our little dog that doesn’t give up.