Canine Water Sports, Part 5 by Pamela Dennison
May not be reprinted without written approval.

Part 1,    Part 2,     Part 3 & 4,    Part 5

THE BIG DAY!
September 3 , 2006
Due to the lack of stays with Beau and Emma on shore, I have been diligently practicing and it very much paid off! I was so proud of all of them!

Emma for staying on shore and for being very focused on me, even with the distraction of the other people and dogs (her first time exposed to a group like this) and her great attitude. What a super dog!

Beau for staying on shore - stays have *never* been his long suit....which is why we don't have his CDX yet...and his willingness to work even though the water was quite cold. (Em and Shadow didn't seem to care) He is such a trooper!

Shadow for being the truly amazing dog he is. He was reticent about putting his entire head in the water. He will always put his nose in and up to his eyes, but the test is for the entire head. He thought about it and then just "dove" right in! GOOD BOY!!!!

The weather, while slightly chilly at times, was dry! Water was very cold, but after my first swim, I was numb and didn't notice <g>

So, drum roll please.....after entering 9 times, we passed 8 times!

Shadow: Passed his Team Swim test, his Novice Single Retrieve test and his Novice Head Submersion test! He is now ARCH Ewe Are Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt, CGC, CD, NAJ, NA, TSW

Emma: Passed her Team Swim test, her Novice Single Retrieve test and her Novice Head Submersion test! She is now Emma Ewe Found Me, TSW

Beau: Passed his Team Swim test, and his Novice Single Retrieve test. He missed the Novice Head Submersion by about an inch or so. But he is now ARCH Surely Ewe Beau Jest, CGC, TDI, CD, A-CD, NAJP, NAP, TSW

To get their Retrieve Title, they have to pass 6 more tests and to get their Canine Underwater Work title, they have to pass a total of 7 tests.

Click here for more information on each title and what is needed:

Even though they were all quite willing to do more and I could have entered them all in a few other tests but I didn't want to push them.

Deborah Lee showed me a diagram of Canine Water Agility and I must say, it looked VERY intriguing, very challenging and very fun! But...sigh...it will have to wait until spring...sigh...now a new reason to dislike winter....