Brownsville 2018
I’ve always loved Brownsville. Even with Ruben, who wasn’t that fond of the stream and didn’t do well in the heat - I’ve just loved this show.
I think it’s the atmosphere, coupled with the kick-back aspect, coupled with the time of year and just loving doing something fun with my dogs.
Sure, there are the oddities. There was the year we spent the night and Rumble threw up in the DogBox and I let him out and he wandered the trial site at 2 a.m. looking for treats…
The year Ruben had a GREAT Standard run going, but then decided something on the grass under the table needed to be investigated.
This year, when I watched a prominent local handler make a complete ass of herself. Yeah, it’s agility - weird shit happens.
This year was particularly fine. I think we hit the sweet spot of knowing how much and when to get Rumble out of the vehicle + decent weather + perfect trial size + limited number of runs + just the right mix of people. Gone are most of my old agility crowd - the people I sort of “grew up with” in this sport. I miss them. But I realize age, and injuries and just moving on w/ life is going to make this sport evolve in ways that cause attrition. Now I find my “group” is younger and “new” and often they’re in the other ring (starters and advanced) and I miss a lot of their runs. Sucks. But they’re doing well and will move up quickly I’m sure.
This trial had sadness too when I came face-to-face with people who have recently lost older dogs. I KNEW these dogs and competed against them, but now they’re no longer here. It weighs heavy on my heart. But seeing, meeting and playing with all the new dogs is a joy that helps ease the pain.
Rumble did GREAT in the six runs I entered. He got BOTH standards (tho, I think we got a gimmi on that first one as I believe he hopped off the table, not just got up out of his “down” - we’ll take it!) And did very well in most of the courses for Biathalon Stand/Jump. He definitely held his own with the other dogs. We also got our first Jumpers Q in PIII as it’s the first time we’ve actually RUN jumpers (or one of only two). I tend not to enter it because of always being last on the weekend and having to work early the next day. This year I took Monday off and we stayed until the end and I’m glad. He had plenty of juice left and even got in a nice time.
He’s really doing well. The startline is still shaky, but we’ve been able to work around it. His contacts were GREAT all weekend and I made sure to really MARK the good holds deep in the yellow. He had some high ones on the A-frame, and I waited (mostly) for him to come down before releasing.
(Cousin Cole when he was a younger lad - photo by me I believe)
So, next up is Regionals in Prunedale. I’ve not been for TEN years. Rumble has never run at a “big” trial at all, and it will be a challenge for us both. My goal is just to keep him focused. If he’ll just run, I don’t care how we do. I just want to see if we’ve matured enough as a team to work through the millions of distractions AND the newness of a venue to actually do agility. It will be a huge test for us both.
Also, I bunged up my hip on Sunday. Not sure what I did and the soreness is unique to me, so I’m not sure how to work it out. But hopefully I can get it sound before the end of the month.
Here are some LOVELY pictures that Lori (thanks Lori!!) took during the show on Sunday. It’s hard to photograph a mostly white dog in bright sun, but she managed it!
All the Nina pics I saw of Rumble were lousy. Sorry, it’s true. Or I’m just picky. In any case, I didn’t purchase any.
I like the Shadow one a lot.