Thank you NAE for another wonderful weekend! You really know how to put on a fun and efficient trial! My experience could not have been any better!
And a BIG Thank You to Cheryl, my camping neighbor, who was kind enough to video tape our runs AND lend me an adapter so I could plug into city power. Jake and Lil really appreciated the nice breeze provided by an electric fan!
And now for my shower insight.... I was thinking about a conversation I had last year with an instructor, who happens to be a top ranked competitor in USDAA and AKC. I had asked her what venue she thought my dog Jake would enjoy most, and she answered that she has never considered what her dogs might like and that she picks the venues she likes best. That surprised me at the time but I now think that is the way most people choose venues and if they are decent enough trainers/ handlers, and fair to their dogs, I'm sure most dogs do enjoy whatever venues are chosen for them. And I think that is a perfectly fine approach to picking venues!
But for me, I really did want to figure out if my dogs had a preference. And I think doing 2 weekends of NADAC in a row made me think that if they had a choice (which they do) they'd choose NADAC. This insight came after 6+ months spent REALLY trying to figure out what venue would be best for my 2 Australian Terriers, since they both seem happy running a lot of different styles of courses.
But I think they both really enjoy running fast and NADAC is so much about running. I felt they ran with 100% confidence every single run. They also appeared to be totally relaxed in the NADAC trial environment...confirmed by perfect poops even after ingesting high-value treats for 2 days in a row
and they both slept soundly through the night in my camper. And when we got back home last night, they raced around the backyard still full of energy vs. acting tired and more of the same today!
I think my dogs picked a perfect venue for me too. I had such a nice, relaxing, and fun weekend, running my dogs, working some classes, chatting with fellow competitors, hanging out with a nice group of people in the evening talking about.... dogs and dog training! What could be more perfect?
Thank you Sharon for having the insight to create the NADAC experience for us all to enjoy!
Devorah Sperber (Jake and Lil)
