As I mentioned in my previous post Menchi has a habit of embarrassing me, actually going out of his way to do it, well that is what it feels like anyway and he always has this look on his face like he is the victim so you can’t really stay mad at him.
Menchi was also the first dog I trained and started dog agility with, we did quite well and he enjoyed it but typical terrier he also had a very lazy streak doing only what he felt like doing, so if he didn't want to jump then he would just refuse, this he mostly did with the A-frame, for those not familiar with dog agility equipment, the A-frame is a big upright structure with two sides, usually wooden where the dog is supposed to go up one side and then down the other side, it is also a contact obstacle meaning that there are marked areas on the bottom of both sides where the dog must touch going up and down, the dog obviously loses points when he jumps over these marked areas. Menchi did do the A-frame after a couple of tries where I had to run back shout Menchi A-FRAME! He would just stop in front of it, I tell you some days it felt like I ran that course three times before we got to the end of it with him stopping at every second obstacle and we had to do it over and over before moving on to the next obstacle and other days he did a clear round and everybody was amazed, maybe he thought he needed to keep me fit.
A typical dog agility A-frame photo courteously from http://agilityagogo.com/
Eventually I decided that the time was right to start entering competitions, our club had an open show coming up, so I decided it would be the perfect début into our amazing agility career ( I was very optimistic then) and did some extra training and preparation before the show that was on the Sunday. By Thursday I had butterflies in my stomach but Saturday was our last show training session and all went well so I felt a little more confident.
Sunday the big day finally arrived and I was there bright and early, to help the club set up some of the rings and just helping out, the agility judges also arrived early to set up the rings for the agility. To mark out the course and setting it up is quite a long process and a big job, I must commend the dog agility enthusiasts out there, agility is hard work not just the training but setting up courses and equipment, a lot of effort goes into it
Finally it was the medium beginner dog’s turn, you get to draw a number and in that sequence you compete, but first you get 5min to walk the course and plan your strategy. When it was our turn I set Menchi up at the start, we had the first jump then another jump and then the A-frame the rest of the course I can’t remember as I never even got that far! Ok so this is how it went down, I sat Menchi up and walked over to the other side of the jump, turned and called him to jump, well he strolled right up to the jump and stopped, I called again but he just stood there, looking around casually as if he was out on a walk, I called again in a more demanding voice and could feel my dignity disappearing fast as there was now sniggering around the field probably from the professional agility people, finally Menchi decided to jump over the jump and I just felt a rush of relief although our time ran out long ago and we were disqualified we were finally moving, he jumped over the second jump – great! But then he sniffed his way over to the a-frame, sniffed the a-frame and stood there looking at it, I couldn't handle it any more so I just picked him up and left the field. I ignored him for the rest of the day, I was so disappointed, he on the other hand decided it was time for a nap.
Menchi at the clubs Champ show, he would rather pose
for a photo than run the course
Next our club’s championship show came up and I convinced myself that we just had beginners stress at the previous show, I must have stressed really bad and it affected Menchi. I entered him got his KUSA papers ready and we or maybe I was ready for try number two, I was optimistic and Menchi seemed ready the Saturday before the show. I made sure his bladder was empty and he was well rested, our turn finally came up and I put him in front of the first jump and again walked over and called him, well this time was worse than the first time, Menchi walked over to the jump and stood there, looking around, I called and screamed and clapped and made every possible sound I could think off but he just stood there, I heard the laughing from the agility fraternity again and somebody shouted get on your knees and call him, eventually I gave up and fetched him and left the field, never to return again. That was my very short but very humiliating agility career, I still love agility and still do it with Menchi every now and then at the club just for fun. Maybe one day I will do competitions again but with a different dog, maybe if Blaez is ready I would try it again, I started Agility with him, more for fun so we are going really slow with the training, I’ll see.
Next our club’s championship show came up and I convinced myself that we just had beginners stress at the previous show, I must have stressed really bad and it affected Menchi. I entered him got his KUSA papers ready and we or maybe I was ready for try number two, I was optimistic and Menchi seemed ready the Saturday before the show. I made sure his bladder was empty and he was well rested, our turn finally came up and I put him in front of the first jump and again walked over and called him, well this time was worse than the first time, Menchi walked over to the jump and stood there, looking around, I called and screamed and clapped and made every possible sound I could think off but he just stood there, I heard the laughing from the agility fraternity again and somebody shouted get on your knees and call him, eventually I gave up and fetched him and left the field, never to return again. That was my very short but very humiliating agility career, I still love agility and still do it with Menchi every now and then at the club just for fun. Maybe one day I will do competitions again but with a different dog, maybe if Blaez is ready I would try it again, I started Agility with him, more for fun so we are going really slow with the training, I’ll see.
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