airbear Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 Rex kicked off the New Year in style, completing his Gamblers Master and earning his ADCH on the first run of 2017! It's been such a fun journey with my unlikely agility champion. When I bought Rex, I was pretty much turning my interest from agility to herding and he was to be my herding superstar. Rex also has a bit of a hitch in his giddyup, so I wasn't sure if he could do agility at any type of competitive level anyway. Our herding partnership soon had us at odds, as he is a strong, pushy, independent dog with not a lot of interest in the beauty of the team. Out of frustration, I taught him to weave over the course of a week, just because I wanted us to do something together LOL! We had so much fun doing that, I figured I might as well train him up on the equipment, as a back-up plan in case he washed out of herding. And while he didn't wash out (he competed at the Bluegrass a couple of times, the Calgary Stampede multiple times, the CBCA champs and USBCHA finals), we continued doing agility. He has run on the Open field of the Bluegrass one weekend and then flown home and competed at the agility regionals the following weekend. It was like his little vacation from herding, and his demeanour in agility is completely different than on sheep. He is happy, silly, and oh so very loud. Rex could not have designed a better gamble. We have had this set up in the yard for probably 5 years now. And hey, if you can't bust out your running dogwalk on your ADCH run, then when can you. My coach is doing the video, and I love her little breathless "YES!" when Rex went in the tunnel without a long discussion. Running dogwalks are easy, tunnels on the line are hard!!! I am so proud of my little sheepdog. We're going to keep doing agility, but at P16" now. We said goodbye to 22" in style. ADCH ATChC Rex TM-Silver PEL (professional eyeball licker) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrecar Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 Congratulations to you and Rex! This certainly answers the question, posed earlier on this board, regarding the possibility of a dog/handler team doing both agility and stockwork/herding, and doing them well. Cool video and awesome dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airbear Posted January 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 Thanks! I don't know if you can do multiple sports at a highly competitive level, but I think it's possible to do both at an adequate level, given that you have the time and interest. My younger dog, Bar, is also a two-sport collie, and while he's doing quite well in herding, he resembles a rabid kangaroo in agility. Hoping to get him smoothed out this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 Congratulations! It sounds like Rex has kept you busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Happy dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Congratulations Kristi and Rex, I have always admired you for being able to play agility and still compete with Rex as an open dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airbear Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Congratulations Kristi and Rex, I have always admired you for being able to play agility and still compete with Rex as an open dog. Thanks! He's pretty much retired from field trials now, but he had a good run as a dual-sport dog. We've travelled to some wonderful places, this little black dog and I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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