MACH Murray!

Introducing...

MACH Paved With Good Intentions!

Pictured here with some of his fan club!

When we decided to try to qualify for AKC Nationals, I realized that there was only about 100 MACH points difference between what he needed for Nationals and for a MACH.  Since he was picking up QQs fairly consistently, might as well finish off the title.  It wasn't until after we cleared the last bar, however, that I realized just how big his fan club was!  For a little sewer rat, the boy has lots of folks who love him.

In honor of his MACH I put together a video of us from his early days until now.  It's amazing to me watching his improvement over the course of the past year and a half - and especially the past several months. Good little bugger!

2015 Nationals Here We Come!

In my (completely) unbiased opinion, Murray is a fantastic little agility dog. But a Nationally competitive dog he is not, nor will he ever be. I know that sounds horrible coming from his #1 fan and teammate, but hear me out. The Murr has shaved off considerable time from his typical course runs - where he used to struggle to make course time in Masters JWW, he is now accruing double digit MACH points. I figured that we would be 40 QQs in before he'd have close to enough points for a MACH; he hit his 20th QQ a couple of weeks ago and now has just over 70 points to go. So he's definitely in the running for Most Improved Player, and he has astonished me and several of my agility pals with his drastic improvement in speed as of late. 

 But, he stands 8.75" at the withers while still weighing 10 pounds and being a doxie build. And, if anything, the boy could use a cheeseburger. The long corgis (whose owners note that papillons have it easier) weigh double or triple what he does, allowing them to dig better into the ground. Plus, they are big dogs on short legs with the herding drive that lends itself nicely to the sport. Plus, even their legs are (marginally) bigger than Murr's - most in the 8" height class are close to the 11" cutoff mark. On the other side, there are the papillons. Most of the paps also hover into the 10-11" height zone, with some of the smaller ladies around 9". And they are all legs, no body, and with only 5-6 pounds of weight can fly over the jumps with ease. When I first moved into AKC Excellent, I realized just how much shorter Murray was than the typical 8" dog. He jumps beautifully at 8" but he's a shrimp among the shrimps. 

Body type definitely has its limitations. Yes, you can say that Muggsy Bogues made a name for himself in the NBA at a paltry 5'3" in height. But part of his allure was how out of the norm it was for such a short player to be making it in the big leagues. Would he have become as prolific had he been 6'3"? Couple Murr's stature with having a relatively inexperienced handler, who (while improving herself) is still learning most handling for the first time, and you have a dog that will never be a Nationals finalist. I'm not making excuses, just stating the (practically) facts which I would be foolish to rebuke. 

That is okay! There are so many opportunities for us to compete and succeed outside of Nationals. And the door is open for us at Nationals (or Cynosport) based on the qualifying criteria. It's just our decision on whether or not we want to make the trip. We started competing in AKC halfway through the 2014 Nationals Qualifying Period, and honestly I didn't even know much about Nationals to start other than that some of the local competitors had done well in years past. The 2014 Nationals were in Harrisonburg, Pennsylvania, or 3,000+ miles away from home. Had this been the location for 2015 I would have likely not made a conscious effort to qualify, as the cost of traveling that far for one run per day (and a total of 4 runs) would not seem like a good use of time nor money for a dog like The Murr. Nationals experience - totally cool! Nationals experience for $1,000+?  Meh. 

However, we get a double-header coming our way. 2014 Cynosport is a manageable drive to the Bay Area, and 2015 AKC Nationals is pretty close too (Reno can either be an 8h drive or a 1.5h flight). So I decided that we would shoot to qualify for both - I can totally justify traveling a day's drive give-or-take to play with my dog while also watching some of the best of the best compete. 

To qualify for AKC Nationals, you need to complete the following criteria (to be completed between 12/1/2013 and 11/30/2014): 

- 4 double Qs 

- 20 master's legs (can be any combination of JWW or Standard) 

- 500 MACH points 

Since Murr is pretty consistent, we finished up the Q and QQ requirements by early 2014. However, it was the MACH points that were holding us back from a ticket to the Nationals. When mid-April rolled around, he had nearly 300 points to go. Yes, we were not even halfway through the qualifying period, but, dang - when I started doing the math it seemed like a lot of AKC trialing necessary to wrap up those points. Add USDAA plans to the calendar (and non-agility plans, because there are those too) and I started wondering whether I would need to give up the goal. Then we started anger running, which yielded higher-point Qs. Murray hit his 500th MACH point in the qualifying period on July 19, with a 24-point standard run - posting his fastest standard Q time ever and taking 2nd place in the 8" class.

                                      

So we're headed to Nationals, just as we'll be going to Cynosport in just a few short months (which is easier to justify as you get quite a few more runs out of it!) Given the proximity, I'm anticipating a large Southern California contingent, which makes for an even more exciting trip. I don't think we'll be trying for Tulsa 2016, because of the whole competitiveness/cost tradeoff but I'm really stoked that I'll get to experience Nationals with my Novice A dog next Spring!

Recalibrating Success

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.  - Winston Churchill

Several months ago I wrote about how I was defining success, and as Murray has become more confident in the ring, I've realized that I need to recalibrate what I consider to be a successful run.  Except this time, it's all on me.  Because The Murr is pretty gosh darn awesome these days.

The Murr and I participated in our first BIG agility trial in April.  USDAA Regionals was just a hop, skip, and hourlong drive away and we were pumped.  Despite the proximity, we were going to share a motel room with our friend and her dogs as a "test" for Cynosport (because having The Murr wreaking havoc on the inhabitants of a motel room for a week would surely dissolve even the best of friendships).  The whole week preceding, I couldn't wait.  PVP team shirts arrived and were gorgeous.  Everyone and their mother was going.  There was nothing to worry about!

And then we started off shaky.

Our first run was Team Jumpers.  It was perhaps the most technical course of the morning, and counted towards team rather than individual accolades.  We were starting with the little performance dogs, which meant Murray would be up before most.  As people from other rotation groups started gathering over by us, we realized that this was the course that everyone was sweating.

We started our run alright, but as Murray entered the weaves at 6, there was a handler tugging with her dog right alongside the fencing.  Like, right alongside the fencing.  Which caused Murray to exit the poles and go investigate, which caused me to worry that he'd start barking and possibly leave the ring.  Fortunately, I got him back and we restarted the weaves, finishing in a "well at least we got a time" time and with not a lot of confidence.  All day that first day, we had bobbles throughout, mostly due to indecisive handling - no Es, but nothing that I was particularly proud of.  And nothing that was doing justice to The Murr and the level of effort that he was exerting.

The next morning, I said to my roommate/friend that I had regretted entering Regionals PSJ (performance speed jumping).  Now, I love the PSJ class - the emphasis on speed, the A-frames (Murray loves his A-frames), and the small purse that we occasionally earn.  But Murray's PSJ Qs have generally come from less competitive trials - we had never gone head-to-head with any of the super-fast dogs, as most had earned their PSJ Qs early in the qualifying period and then refrained from entering the class.  Although I try not to focus on the Q, I wondered why I spent $30 on entry fees to run a course that we had no chance in hell of qualifying in, given the dogs who would be undoubtably setting the time.  I could have spent less than half of that fee to run in PII Standard where it would be my dog versus the SCT clock.  

As we walked the course, I knew that we (a) had no chance in hell of making time unless every fast dog Ed, (b) that every fast dog wouldn't E, as there were limited off-course opportunities, (c) had to take every risk imaginable and just go for it.  Not to Q, because we had no chance in hell, but to have a respectable showing.  We joke that The Murr likes to "anger run," meaning that when he's mad, he runs faster.  He gets mad by getting wet and by getting riled up.  In reality, the "anger running" is more a result of any stress energy that I have being diffused by this game of pissing him off, but anger running is catching on as a Murrism, so we'll leave it at that.  We went to the hose, wet him down, and then a couple of friends and I got him revved and MAD.  To the point that one of said friends remarked (in response to Murr's barks) "oh shoot, I'm leash running for him.  I don't feel safe now."

We went to the line, wet and mad and ready to go.  I did sends that I would never do at a trial (because ohmygodrefusalohmygod).  I never for a second doubted that he'd do anything but accelerate and take the obstacles in the lines that I ran towards.  We both left everything on the course.

Because some of the other 8" dogs were in other rotations, we had no idea where we stacked up, but it didn't matter.  Murray had one of his most fantastic runs ever - solid weaves, excellent commitment, and nice ground speed.  I had seen the super-fast dogs run and they all got through the course clean and were running even faster than I had seen them do in local trials.  So success on this run was the run, not the outcome.  Imagine my surprise when the results were posted and The Murr made it to the Finals.  He had the slowest of the qualifying times, but was only a few seconds behind dogs that usually run a good 15 seconds faster than us, with handlers that were running as aggressively as possible.

And as much as I said that earning a Q fell into the "no chance in hell" category, both my instructor and I knew that getting a Q in the Finals was REALLY REALLY REALLY in the "no chance in hell" category, as the criteria is cut from 25% of the top 3 score average to 15%.  But that was okay.  We were going to leave it out there and run!

I felt that our experience in PSJ at regionals was the utmost of success, Q or NQ (and ultimately NQ).  We were running like we train, taking risks I usually cop out of, and just going for it.  Because, yes, agility is a timed event - even if I forget that sometimes.

A few weeks later we ran in AKC under a judge that we were over time with last time we had run his JWW course.  Again, it was a "behind the eight ball" sort of day - the course had some obstacle discrimination, it was hot as heck, no tunnels (Murray's accelerator), and a very efficient small dog line wheeled.  So all we could do was "not wuss out of it" and go.  Wet?  Check.  Getting angry?  Check.  And again, a fast run for the little man.

I spoke to my instructor following Regionals and said "that was too much damn fun, I just need to do this and risk more failure."  She looked at me like "duh", though commented that there wouldn't necessarily be more "failure" as we know his capabilities.  My dog is trained to do backsides, and obstacle discrimination, and some distance.  But it's me holding him back from his full potential when I wuss out at a trial, playing things safe to salvage a Q.  By just going for it, and assuming that if I don't take every risk in the book that I won't be able to complete the task, agility is far more fun.  Recalibrating my measure of success, not for my dog, but for me as his teammate and handler, is the real way to improve our team and continue on this path with much enthusiasm.

**This post is part of the Dog Agility Bloggers Action Day.  Check out more posts here.**

My New Approach To Snooker

The first time that we encountered Snooker was in CPE.  I enjoyed the game tremendously, as I got to employ some "strategery" and because you are at an extreme benefit if you have a dog that you can control (+1 for a dog that's slow but fast enough to finish the course).  And I viewed snooker as a control exercise with lots of "here here heres" even if he was going on the line that I wanted him to.  I once even remarked to someone that any handling chops I had went right out the window when it came to Snooker.  My dog could have a wickedly fast jumpers run only to cover maybe 2 yps in a jump & tunnel snooker course... all due to me!  When we moved over to USDAA, I still found myself liking the game, but needing to cover more ground surface in less time... for some reason, a lot of CPE snooker courses use only half of the 100x100' field.  So I realized that I had to go for the flow and run a little bit (or a lot) more.

We moved into P3 Snooker very quickly, and in P3 (or Masters) Snooker becomes a whole new game.  Enter the Super Q.  To earn a Super Q (and you need 3, among other things, for your PDCH), you need to place within the top 15% of your height class... IF and only if there are 5 dogs at your jump height (or 7 for the more popular heights).  We run in the Performance 8" class, which is generally pretty small.  Which means that we are going to regularly be grouped with the Performance 12" class (read: fast shelties).  

Our first weekend in P3 Snooker was a bit of trial-and-error.  There were only two of us in P8 and three in P12, so we were grouped together fighting for that one Super Q.  I walked two different courses, one with more flow but lower points, another with a little less flow but more points.  The 12" class ran before us and almost immediately one dog went for a ridiculously high opening (and finished) so I went for the low point opening and finished with plenty of time to spare.  The second day I walked another flowy course, but after watching the "ridiculously high opening" team have a repeat performance of awesomeness, I figured why not be more aggressive?  Perhaps not the right time, as it was towards the end of the trial, I hadn't walked a plan, and timed out early enough in the closing to walk away empty handed.

Incidentally, when reading a previous set of DABAD posts shortly after the trial, I came across one blog that had many a post about Snooker.  I quickly realized that this was the team that was kicking all of our little dog butts the previous weekend!  I really appreciated that she turned Snooker into a science with Magic Points though I don't think I'm wise enough to make said calculations on a weekend after spending the entirety of the week crunching numbers at work.  But the point was to design courses that were both high point and something you could finish based on your dog's speed.  When I consulted my instructor about Snooker strategy, she echoed this sentiment.  The closing points are worth the most (27) so get as many opening points as you can while leaving yourself enough time to finish the course.  I.e.: don't be too greedy.  I'd like to think this is straightforward knowledge, but it didn't come to me naturally.  I usually walk my Gamblers courses with a stopwatch to ensure that I am in a good position for the gamble when the buzzer will ring.  Now I'm timing my closing to see how much opening time I have left.

But even that may not be a lot of time!  Especially accounting for The Murr's often pokey weaves and the amount of ground to cover in USDAA when your legs are all of 2".  So I have stopped treating Snooker as Snooker and instead been looking for the flowiest courses that we can be in as much extension for as possible.  The more we can accelerate, the better.

Over Memorial Day weekend we had two opportunities to run P3 Snooker.  In our first run, you were to attempt 3 reds.  Many people went for 1-7-1-7-1-7 as the reds were not too out of the way for the 7 combo (jump/tunnel/jump) and it was pretty flowy.  In walking the close, especially with #6 being a set of 12 weaves, I realized that I could not complete three 7s.  I thought of doing one 3 (a jump off the line of the first red) and two 7s but that too seemed to be tough to complete in time.  Some of the fastest border collies in the 22" class got the 3 7s but that was the exception to the rule - many dogs were hitting time while in the #6 weaves or just afterwards.  And they were faster than Murray.  I opted for a course that no one else took: 1-5 (A-frame)-1-7-1-4 (just the tunnel part of the #7 combo).  We were close to the final jump in the #7 combo when the buzzer sounded.  None of the 8" or 12" dogs completed the closing (but one of the 12" dogs also got through #6 and had a higher point opening, so she earned the Super Q).  In watching our video there were a couple of places where I turned Murray wide and in retrospect I would have put him into the other end of the tunnel instead of taking him along the back way since we lost time there.  But I was really happy with our run.

The next day, again, we had 3 reds to take.  Again, #6 was a set of weaves.  #7 was two nested tunnels. And #4 was the evil teeter.  You had to take both from the far side in the closing, but could do it any-which-way in the opening.  This time, though, the reds were not placed in as strategic locations to do a 3 7 combo.  Those who tried could not finish the closing, but few attempted it.  The two popular options were 1-5-1-5-1-7 (5 was a two jump combo), or 1-5-1-6-1-7.  I opted for 1-5-1-5-1-7, since it had a lot of flow, I could avoid another set of weaves (read time sucker) and by putting #7 at the very end, if he was pokey we could just do the outer tunnel and get 3 points.  When I walked the course, I realized that I would need to RUN FOR DEAR LIFE (read: anger run) if I wanted a shot at finishing the entire course.  I considered starting on a lower point obstacle, but that wouldn't put you in a good place for the rest of the opening or the closing.  I decided that I would not try to do the #7 combo in the same way as the closing, as that would take more time (as you needed some control to get them to turn their head and change direction) and instead stuff him from the end of one right into the opening of the next.

The Murr got wet and riled up and off we ran.  It did not feel like a Snooker course - it felt like a PSJ course (if PSJ had teeters, and no, please don't add teeters there thankyouverymuch)!  It was the first time that I felt out of breath running Snooker!  Murray did decide to sniff-weave towards the end of the poles, and I did exert a little more control than necessary going into #7B, whereas a lap turn would have likely sufficed, but we crossed the finish jump with time to spare.  We wound up first among the P8 and P12s, so he earned a Super Q.

 

There's definitely points where not using control will lead to an early blowing of the whistle, and there will be future courses where I have to intermix extension and collection.  I'm enjoying thinking about Snooker not as an exercise in control but as a strategic game of running our hearts out while trying to pick the right numbers that play to our strengths.  And I'm enjoying spectating the game as I love seeing the strategy that goes into all different handlers' plans - be it the fastest border collie or that dog who thinks that weave pole #11 is electrified.  The head-to-head competition for the Super Q just adds to the excitement, making for some great entertainment.

Action Day Rewind: Improving Agility Organizations

The Murr & I are competing in two organizations: American Kennel Club (AKC) and United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA).  We've probably done more AKC than the other two, if only because of proximity, but now we're pretty balanced with about a weekend of each per month.

Each venue has its merits and its flaws.  And because there's so much agility here, I could opt to compete in only one venue - or all 5 (there's also ASCA, NADAC, and CPE around these parts).  So as flawed as I may think an organization is, it's clearly not flawed enough for me to stop throwing my discretionary income at it.

AKC

There are a dime a dozen AKC trials by me.  Every weekend I can find one within an hour drive of my apartment.  Some weekends there are two that are 50 miles apart from me (and 100 miles apart from one another).  So lots and lots of AKC.  Our region also boasts a lot of Invitationals dogs (i.e. top 5 in the breed) and double-digit MACHs.

What I like about AKC: It's not a full-day commitment (unless if you're a glutton for punishment, like me, and want to work the novice class).  You can get your measurements before entering a trial.  Jump heights seem pretty reasonable for most dogs.  Courses are generally "flowy and motivating."  The optional games (T2B and FAST) can be very fun.

What I dislike about AKC:  It can feel like a rat race.  Because (for many breeds) you need to compete nearly every weekend to make the Invitational, and Q a heck of a lot of the time.  And if you want a chance of making invitational, you are dissuaded from trying out the other venues.  I'm happy I don't have an Invitational dog (want to make it as a mutt?  then take a sabbatical from work and trial at every opportunity!), as I think both the handler and the dog can get super burnt out - and even injured - from trying to make it into the Top 5 of more popular breeds.  It's also a rat race to qualify for Nationals, particularly if you compete in other venues.  500 points - an "average dog" (37.5 points per QQ, so you would get 750 pts/20 QQs at the same time) would need about 14 jumpers and 14 standard legs to get their points.  The desired AKC Q rate is about 35%.  So that would mean that the "average" dog would need to run about 40 courses in each class to earn their points to qualify for Nationals.  Assuming two days per weekend, we're still talking about two full weekends per month of AKC.  While trials are an hour drive for me, in many other parts of the country it's an 8 hour drive.  Add to that people's desires to try out the other venues, or, y'know, have a life outside of agility... well, that may be tough.  And that FAST and T2B don't count towards the MACH.

What I would do to improve AKC: For Invitationals, have it be based on a finite number of Qs and then yards per second, so that people of more popular breeds can have a life.  Also, split up some of the "breeds" by height (namely us All-Americans, but also Poodles).  It's tough to ask a little chihuahua mix to compete against a sport-bred border staffy.  Make Nationals qualifications manageable so competitors don't need to take out a second mortgage to qualify.  Keep FAST/T2B as optional titling classes but have some way that they can count towards the MACH as well (i.e. points in FAST or T2B could be added as "speed points" to the MACH; a QQQ counts as 1.5 QQs, etc.).  Also, can we please, PLEASE, have a course without weaves?  Or at least take the teeters out of T2B?

USDAA

There are also a lot of USDAA trials around here, too - at least 2-3 per month.  Some may be just this year, as Cynosport is in our state, but last year there were quite a lot too.  Some local folks have placed at Cynosport in years past, and I'd take a gander that we have one of the larger USDAA hotbeds in the country (though we won't mess with Texas).

What I like about USDAA: The games!  I love snooker, steeplechase (PSJ) is a rush, and a jumpers course without weaves is always a good time.  Laid back environment, people seem game for challenges, and though we're not yet in PIII snooker, watching the "Super Q" competition is pretty darn fun (I may be eating my words later, though).

What I dislike about USDAA: You have to be entered to be measured... problem if you're deciding between championship & performance with a borderline dogs, or if your dog is afraid of people (ahem).  This was the major thing keeping me away from USDAA once we started trialing in the other venues.  Though I have no qualms in running in Performance, having a Championship jump height suitable to Murr-sized dogs (i.e. 10"C) would get the little ones out.  If there are 5 8" dogs at a trial, that's a lot... whereas if I go to AKC there's going to be closer to 20.

What I would do to improve USDAA: First, make qualifying for Cynosport more rigorous.  It's the opposite of AKC - technically, you could get all of your nationals Qs in 2 trials.  So there are many local competitors that have never done USDAA, got their Qs and are back to AKC until Cynosport.  Have a requirement that you have to get some titling class Qs or titles, or something a little more than 1 team, 2 GP, 2 steeplechase.  Allow dogs to be measured at trials they aren't entered in (would it really add that much more time?) or at least allow dogs to move from C to P if they "measure up."  Add a little dog championship height.  And please, please, fence in the Starters/Advanced ring as a norm (especially since leash rules are super lax!)