Agile Sutter Turns 9yrs on February 9th ;o)

THIS GIRL NEVER FAILS TO AMAZE ME ;o)

CEDAR POND SUTTER

"SUTTER"

2-9-2002

Last weekend, I signed up at the last minute to "audit" (without dog) an Advanced/Masters Agility workshop presented by an US-International Agility team member ... during the course of the day, I asked a question about a particular turn ... "How would that move look?" I asked ... In my mind I was sure it would send my "wild child" Sutter "zooming" straight ahead and out of the ring ... first the presenter used me as "the dog" to demonstrate the best move by the handler ... "call your dog over the first jump, silently turn 45 degrees as you drop your arm to your side, then pivot as you signal your dog over this jump at your left side and around and on to that tunnel in front of you ..." Now it needs to be said here that straight ahead Sutter sees a tunnel and straight out of the tunnel ahead of her is the ring fence and FREEDOM from stress!
"Do you have your dog here", the presenter asked ... "yes, in the car, but you don't want her to do this" and I looked at our instructor for confirmation that Sutter wasn't the dog to demonstrate with ... "Go get her" and with that the 10 working participants chimed in "yah, go get her" and they waited while I ran out to my van ... I returned winded and nervously putting Sutter through some of our "focus" dance moves and then entered the ring, while the presenter continued to talk with the group ... I quickly run Sutter back & forth through a tunnel several times ;o)
The presenter complimented me on taking time to focus my dog ... "Ok leave your dog at that jump and come to this second jump, signal and call your dog, then drop your arm and turn..." Sutter, as I predicted, ran right by me and through the tunnel ahead of us ... I quickly called her and WHEW she returned to me (embarassed, I nervously gave her treats for coming back) ... "Ok, take your dog back and do it again..." On the repeat, Sutter repeated her run to the tunnel and happily returned to my frantic whistle! "This time repeat everything and as you drop your arm/turn, simply say HERE and complete the 360 degree turn, signaling her over the jump and then on to that tunnel!"
SHOCKER of all SHOCKERS ... I released Sutter, dropped my right arm as I started to pivot to my left and said "here" ...  Sutter came to my side, pivoted 360 degrees over the jump on my left and continued on to the tunnel she'd taken previously ... with successful completion, everyone spontaneously clapped and cheered ... it felt like my mouth had dropped to my feet ... Sutter returned to my call and I happily dropped to my knees to hug, praise and repeatedly feed her handfulls of many yummy treats from my pocket ... the presenter thanked us for being such willing "guinea pigs" ... there were so many compliments that followed and the presenter told the group that "there are some International teams that don't work as well together as that" ... our instructor asked me if that made the 9 years of training Sutter worth it!

ONLY THOSE WHO KNOW SUTTER's "ZOOMIE" WAYS COULD POSSIBLY KNOW MY THRILL!

NINE wonderful years with this special "independent/agile" girl, who never fails to surprise me over, over and over again ... she's filled my life with companionship, challenges, frustrations, questions, smiles, and experiences too numerous to list ... Once again sweet girl, you've amazed me and made me sooo proud ;o)

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY SWEET SUTTER ... and we'll continue to love, train and learn more about each other EVERY DAY  :-))