Dog Agility MACH-umentary

When I first explained the ideas and emotions behind Champion of My Heart, I waxed a little poetic (I hope) about our new-found interest in dog training beyond the basics.  A condensed version of that post now lives on its own page in the sidebar. It’s called Why Champion of My Heart?

An excerpt:

I’ll admit that I mist up as I watch friends and their dogs earn championship titles. It’s an emotional moment … the crowd goes dead quiet as the handler-dog team step to the start line on what could be their final run to earn the championship title. Everyone holds their breath as the dog speeds over jumps, through tunnels, and across teeter-totters. Waiting. Hoping for perfection (because at that level zero mistakes allowed). The goal? Clean run.

We watch the dog, but we also watch the judge, hoping her hands don’t fly into the air signaling a mistake.

It’s over in less than a minute.

Often the final obstacle is a jump with PVC bars, marking the height. As the dog clears that final bar, without knocking it down, the crowd erupts in cheers. Then, the handler grabs the final bar (often painted gold for the occasion) and turns to run a victory lap around the course with dog flying high.

Typically dogs go straight to their leashes after an agility run, so they get this funny, confused look on their faces when mommy or daddy turns and runs the other way back onto the course. But, they love the sport so much that they happily oblige with an encore …

I’ve wanted to show one such moment for ages now. Today, I can.

Many thanks to our agility friend Betsy and her amazing boy MACH Pitsch for sending us a link to the MACH-umentary video that shows their personal championship moment. (The video was done by our pal Don, who is Indy’s daddy.)

(It’s been a while since Lilly and Pitsch got the chance to train and play together. He is Lulu‘s big brother, if you’re keeping track. I got to see both dogs at an agility trial recently, but alas … they are moving from our lovely valley back down in the city, so our opportunities to bond will take more planning. Still … we wish Betsy, Pitsch, and Lulu all good things in their new adventure.)