SoloRiver Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Garden-Variety Mishaps An agility story, by Melanie and Solo 11 December 2004 I took Solo to an agility match today, signed him up for all three runs. Walked the course about a zillion times, until I could run it with my eyes closed. Loaded up my pockets with treats and tug to take advantage of any training opportunity that presented itself. Solo felt good and was raring to go. First run. Solo's on the line. We take the first four obstacles, and then there's the table. He skids to a down on the table and the judge counts: "Five... four... three... two... one..." I lead out a few feet and release Solo, and turn toward the next jump, briefly taking my eye off him, and I take a couple of steps with my hand out. But Solo doesn't come. Behind me, I hear someone call urgently, "Check him!" Oh geez, I think. He's eating a ring crew person or something. I turn, and Solo's crouched down on the ground, tail curled around his hindquarters, growling, but not at anything or anyone, just growling. The expression on his face can only be described as pissed off. He's covered in dirt, but doesn't appear injured and walks off the course just fine. I take him outside, trot him around and let him lope at liberty, and he continues to look fine. All he's got is a little boo-boo on his chin. Whew. People tell me that Solo launched himself a bit too enthusiastically off the table, slipped, and took a nose-dive into the dirt, somersaulting once. It must have looked pretty bad because everyone thinks he's hurt his neck or something, but Solo is made of some pretty tough stuff (all of him other than his brain, anyway). That's when I realize what Solo was growling about: "Stupid $#&%!!! table." One of the great beauties (and paradoxes) of Solo is that equipment incidents almost never faze him, no matter how bad they are. Our next two runs went without incident and he hopped up onto the table (and launched himself off) with no hesitation. We failed to properly discriminate between the A-frame and tunnel entry and missed the weave entry both runs, but other than that he was great and I took the opportunity to reward every contact. His contacts were perfect. He didn't notice the judge. He ran happy. I much prefer these kinds of garden-variety mishaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Heh, heh. Lovely story, Melanie. And just when is Solo's book coming out? That's when I realize what Solo was growling about: "Stupid $#&%!!! table."Of course, it could have been "Who moved the d**n earth?" Seriously, it's great that Solo doesn't have problems after equipment mishaps - and that he can run agility etc. apparently without worrying about the judge, steward and so on. Must be very satisfying after the work you've put in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 LMAO! Oh my, I just love expressive dogs. Picturing him hunched down growling because he fell... that's just priceless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenotri Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 That's a classic story, I agree, you (with his help of course) should write a book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anngreenthumb Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Lani gets that same pi***ed off expression whenever they lift the tire up higher at practice. She will run at it as usual, stop and look at the new height, give me a dirty look, then back up and jump it. It knocks time off, but I love the expression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.