Hi all!
I had the most fabulous adventure this weekend! Mom and I competed in the first ever Wag It Games Trials in Lincolnville, Maine. This is a common place that we visit as Mom and I and little sister, Haley often do APDT Rally-O trials there. These Games were invented by the owner of Wag It Training Center, Sumac Johnson. And guess what, I am the dog that gave her the idea to start what is called the “Heart Dog Program” where dogs with disabilities can compete with special circumstances depending on the dog! So for me, doing multiple sits over and over just is too much. So when Mom thinks I’ve had enough sitting and it’s getting too tough for me, I get to do my rock solid stand! I can stand like a statue! And if you think about it, a “stand/stay” really is harder than a “sit/stay” for a typical four legged dog. But me, I ROCK at stands! 🙂 It’s those sits that sometimes are hard…
There are 5 different classes but on Saturday these are the classes that Heart Dog’s are allowed to compete in:
Shadow Skills – it’s like Rally Obedience, Freestyle and Agility handling on the flat all in one course. As you move up in the levels, there are harder signs to perform. The dog works on both the left and the right of the handler.
Independent Skills – this is where the dog works away from the dog and performs certain behaviors like sending to a jump, recalling over a jump, sending to turn a light on, sending to a mat on the floor to down on. The behaviors are similar to some seen in both agility, rally-o and traditional obedience and some fun one’s like sending to a light to turn it on.
No Need for Speed Skills – this is a really fun class where it’s sorta like using alot of the foundation obstacles used in agility training. Fun things like hoops, ladders, pause table, buja board and short tunnels. The steps/bridge I cannot do as I fear steps & physically can’t do steps without Mom’s help, so I skip that obstacle. As the name implies, the dog isn’t to run this course like they do in agility. This is probably my favorite class as it reminds me of my agility days the most 🙂
There was even a photographer there but he hasn’t loaded the pictures yet on his website so I could share them…but I just had to share these video’s of me 🙂 I qualified in all SIX classes! I was the only dog to qualify in all six and guess what, that meant I got HIGH IN TRIAL for the day! Woohoo!!! The best score you can get is 100 – I got 97, 98, 100, 100, 100, 100 for my runs! Because I am in the Heart Dog Program I am judged a little differently than the other dogs, based on my ability to do to the course as designed, so I don’t compete against the others in individual classes to make it fair all the way around. But I did go against them all for High In Trial award….pretty cool, huh?
Here’s video’s of the Novice Shadow Skills courses:
Here’s one of the Independent Skills class – 2nd video of this class got messed up – bummer too, cause that course had the turning the light on in it! 🙁
Here’s one of the No Need For Speed Skills class:
Mom is so proud of me! She wasn’t sure if I had the stamina for all six runs but I did! I rocked! I was tired though the next day, so if it were a 2 day trial, I’d have to only do 3 runs for each day vs. six. I had the BEST time! I loved it! It’s like this sport was designed just for me! Look for a Wag It Games trial or classes near you someday as the inventor of these games has had interest even out West! They are fun, fun, fun! And the best part is the Heart Dog Program to allow special circumstances for us Tripawds(or other disabilities as well)!
We can’t wait for the next trial now! But it’s not until January… Fun! Fun!
Maggie