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50th Title!!!


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Yesterday, Tessa and I earned her 50th Title!!

 

I had hoped that we would get results from her latest CRO Dance Division entry, as well as her latest All Dogs Parkour entry before the end of this month. Next Wednesday is the 6th Anniversary of Tessa's adoption.


Most of you know this already, but Tessa was a street dog of unknown origin. I don't even know if she is actually a Border Collie (I tend to lean toward English Shepherd, but she is officially listed as "Border Collie" with all of the sport venues because I didn't realize this at first and I want to keep it consistent). She was terrified of me at first, and it took a very, very long time to gain even a shred of her trust.

 

I started training her at first because that's what I do, and I wanted to give her the chance to see if she would like it. She did like it, and we have never stopped since!!

 

I will shamelessly admit that I adore "title chasing" with Tessa, but there is a particular reason for that. She loves it as much as I do. She thrives on the challenge that comes with trying to meet a particular standard in whatever kind of ring we walk into. I am not a high-pressure handler, but with Tessa I can focus as much on success as I do on her when we are performing in a particular discipline together.

 

We have all kinds of titles, too. Some are from live competition venues, some are from video competition venues, some are from non-competitive video venues. To me, they all have the same inherent value because all of them present their own challenges to Tessa and me as a team.

 

Of course, my favorite of her titles is the one we worked toward for 5 years - her CPE C-ATCH. That took more work and training and preparation and dedication and pure effort than any title I have ever earned with any dog. But, Tessa being Tessa, it was also the source of absolute joy for both of us most of the way.

 

Her Freestyle titles mean a lot to me because Tessa is not a natural Freestyle dog, but she has been willing to put herself into that because I asked her to.


And Parkour has become our newest love. She and I have been going into the woods together for years - earning Parkour titles with her out there is perfection!!

I never set out to earn 50 titles with any dog, but I will always be glad that the dog I did this with was Tessa. :) All of those titles are tangible signs of the work and enthusiasm and commitment that she and I have put into this together, starting from the day I held at treat over her head to train "sit" and she ran out of the room!! We have come so far!!

 

Next Wednesday is the 6th Anniversary of Tessa's adoption, and this was a cool way to celebrate!! We finished three of them off this month. :)

Sharing her two latest qualifying performances:

 

CRO Dance Division - Pre-Bronze (This is the Walk-Around Tango)

 

 

And - woot woot - an All Dogs Parkour entry from one of my favorite places to hike - Colonel Denning State Park.

 

 

 

And we aren't done . . . . !!! :) Fun times!!

 

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Well, on paper I would only list the highest title in each one - I wouldn't typically write out all 50!!

 

But . . . for the fun of it. I will put the highest title (the one I would list), and then the titles that preceded it in parenthesis, and explain what they are - briefly.

 

C-ATCH (CL1-H, CL1-R, CL1-F, CL1-S, CL2-H, CL2-R, CL2-F, CL2-S, CL3-H, CL3-R, CL3-F, CL3-S, CL4-H, CL4-R, CL4-F, CL4-S): Explanation - CPE Agility, all four category titles (Handler, Standard, Fun, Strategy) at Levels 1 - 4, and then the Championship title at Level 5.

 

P-CRO-II, CH-CRO-I (CRO-I, CRO-I(2)): Explanation: Cyber Rally-O, Level 1 Title, Level 1 Title (2) (Now defunct, but we did earn it when it was being awarded), Level 2 Performance Division (Meaning: Dog works on both sides), Level 1 Champion Title

 

RL-1 Explanation: World Cynosport Rally, Level 1

 

D-CRO-Pre-Bronze (D-CRO-Preliminary), First and Second Levels of Cyber Rally-O Dance Division

 

DCD-CH2, DCD-CF2, DCD-Ent3, DCD-MI2 Explanation: Dogs Can Dance Challenge - Championship, twice, Classical Freestyle, twice, Entertainment, 3 times, Musical Interpretation twice (so, this is a total of 9)

 

WFDM-MF, WFD-HTM (WFD-MF, WFDX-MF) Explanation: WCFO Freestyle titles Beginner, Novice, and Intermediate (WOOT!!!), and Heelwork to Music Beginner

 

RFE-X, RFE-Alt-X (RFE-N, RFE-Alt-N), Explanation: Rally Free, Novice and Intermediate in both Regular and Alternate Divisions

 

ETD (NTD, ITD, ATD) - Explanation: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert Trick Dog

 

PKD-N - Explanation: Novice Parkour Dog, International Dog Parkour Association

 

ADP-4 (ADP-1, ADP-2, ADP-3) - Explanation: All Dogs Parkour - Titles, Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4

 

 

We have had way more fun than should ever be allowed!!!!! :)

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I think I'm just odd like that. I really am able to keep most of the details straight.

 

Granted, it's not like I jumped into all of this all at once. Most of it happened kind of step by step, and usually when I started I didn't really know what I was doing. But experience helps. Some of them I got started in with friends and we learned together, some I went into by myself, either with Tessa, or with a previous dog.

 

The video venues probably require the highest learning curve because they not only require the performance, but proper setup of the ring/area/etc. With Parkour there is the aspect of finding appropriate environmental features, as well as proper performance of the exercises. In live venues, all of that sort of thing is done for you!

 

I don't always remember details if I've been out of something for a while, but it usually comes right back when we get back in.

 

I guess Tessa and I both enjoy the variety. :)

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