PCA - RETROSPECTIVE

Nina and I had a grand day at our first PCA agility trial. We were more than a little overwhelmed and a bit intimidated with the spectacle of the all-poodle line up. The dogs were awesome! (Do we really belong here?)


Our start line jitters fell by the wayside as we started our standard run with wide-open fun - unfortuneately we had a little too much zip approaching the table from a sharp left turn. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she
wasn't going to be able to put on the brakes fast enough.  I tried to block her with my body, but she was flying, and I would have had to poodle punt her to get her back on the table.  Everything else on the run was sweet.


T2B gave us our first PCA Q and 7 points. What a fun course with two long gently-curving jump series.  I love it when judges give you a wide open, run for your money Time 2 Beat course.


The jumpers course took me over a dozen walk-throughs to get it straight in my exhausted head. I worried and stewed about how to handle it.  There were so many options.  New friend,  Jennifer Deslauriers from Canada, helped me stop over-analyzing and got me to concentrate on just running it. Sweet success followed with my girl doing everything I asked.  We even had an international cheering section in the upper deck giving us motivation to run for the finish line!  Another green and a 3rd place.!   These awesome runs also brought us MXJ7 (that's 70 JWW Q's in 14 months) and MX5 (50 STD Q's in 11 months).  Pretty awesome for my Novice-A girl at 3 yrs 4 months old.   


The agility trial followed an awesome day of field work. Yes, I said field work. This year four miniature poodles joined the big boys and girls for the Working Certificate Test: Bowie and Owen (Ros Beaman - Kitchener, Ontario), Ren (Lisa Harrison - Memphis, TN), and my Nina (Beth White - Maryville, TN). The weather was unrelenting with cold rain and wind all day long.  Nina worked her heart out, and had a blast!  She completed two successful retrieves on land.
Unfortunately, she returned duckless after two trys with her first duck in the water of a very challenging pond.  She wanted to get her quacker soooooo bad, but was unable to maneuver through the submerged brush in her path and did not
figure out a way to get around it.  I was so proud of her enthusiasm, tenacity, and spunk!  Owen was the hero for us mini's with two successful retrieves on land and two in the stick pond and PASSED with style.


And if that wasn't enough, the Salisbury AKC Trial (Friday, Saturday - AND Sunday after the ducks) was so good to us.  I loved the judges, courses, turf, and friends. Nina Q'ed in 8 of 9 runs with and six placements!  We finally got the
last leg of our XF Excellent FAST title Friday, and our first Triple Q and a T2B 1st place on Saturday.  Has AKC started titling Quadruple Q yet?!?


I have to say that I was expecting to enjoy my first PCA, but I was not expecting to absolutely LOVE the entire experience - dogs, exhibiters, breeders, dinners, .... and I did I mention that the shopping opportunities for poodle bling were incredible!?


I HAVE TO COME BACK AND DO THIS AGAIN NEXT YEAR!  I must hooked; I booked my hotel room for 2013 before I left town.


Beth White and MACH Menina de Prata RA XF    "Nina"


p.s.  Grateful thanks to so many people who have helped us along our way:


Thanks to Ace Russell - for getting Nina and I started with the fundamentals of agility AND and starting us down a eye-opening thought-provoking path for communicating with and appreciating my dog.  


Thanks to all my fellow agility competitors / friends: Your camaraderie, feedback, and guidance were my source of strength when times were tough and my education on what was possible - Kim, Lisa J, Lisa H, Valerie, Theresa, Tracy, Butch, Shelia, Julie, Dan, Barb, Linda, Wanda, and many more.


Thank you to my mentor and new friend, Carol Stone - who has shared with me her time, her skills, her work ethic, and her limitless passion for training our poodles to showcase the unending feats for which they are capable.   


Thanks also to the entire crew of our Thursday training group.  I am so grateful that you have allowed a such a novice to share in the depth and wealth of your experience.  I learn something new every session.  Your encouragement has been so helpful. 


AND most of all, a special THANK YOU to my husband and friend, Joe White - who has tolerated my absences, shared in my successes, and learned to love our little four-legged Nina.

Susan Garrett Quote

The stronger the foundation, the stronger our future performances!

We can't change the how we started our dogs' educational journey, but each of us can re-visit what we have in order to create more confidence and clarity for our dogs in everything they do for the future.

Conformation in Agility Dog's

The pelvis is the most impotent factor in agility dogs.
- It not only needs to have a good slope (30 degrees or more).
- The length is incredibly important. The longer the pelvis,
the broader the thigh and that means more power.
- A long flat pelvis is useless.
- A short sloped pelvis is a little better but not much.

I have found that the shoulder angles is not nearly as important in agility dogs as the rear.

- Too much angulation in the rear and the dog takes too long to get up to speed.
- Not enough and there is not enough length of the stride.

You have to look at the whole picture when it comes to performance!

Helen King