Quest is a natural entertainer. He has always been a show-off and apparently he has no intention of giving that up just because he is growing older. When he began doing agility, he could be amazing. He could also turn in performances that defied reason. If he saw a dog, or a person he wished to visit, he would leave the ring (in the middle of a performance), and go visit. He normally came back, although it was after he was disqualified. People enjoyed him because he was very friendly and never meant any harm to anyone. He was a happy boy who just wanted to have fun. There were way too many incidents to list. He once left the ring to visit but then, just as I was leaving the ring he came flying back through the gate and ran the entire course on his own. Maybe it was the applause he received. Anyway, that was one of the first things he did to delight his appreciative audience. He actually began listening to me and qualifying regularly when he was about four years old. That did not stop his humorous performances though. He just fit them in between his runs. Often, when we were in position to go into the ring, I would notice that spectators were laughing and pointing toward us. When I looked at my partner he would be laying on his back, with all four feet in the air. Once he knew he had some attention he would add some yodeling to his silly performance. He would sometimes stop and look around to be sure everyone saw him. He loved to get dirty and that is not hard to do in an equestrian barn, when you are a big white dog. The minute his name was called, he would jump up and bounce into his position at the starting line. He would hold his "stay" until I had walked the entire length of the barn, if I chose to do so. When I released him he was all business and his speed was amazing.
Quest loves agility and we have long since run out of wall space for all his ribbons. He never cared which venue we competed in: AKC, NADAC, USDAA, and CPE. He is titled in all of them. His most amazing skill was his ability to work at a distance. He was always good at it, but it became a necessity as I slowed down. One of our instructors laughingly remarked that it would not surprise her if I just stood in the center of the ring and verbally directed him through the entire course. I used to practice him by layering his route with extra obstacles in between us. He was fine with that.
Several years ago Quest had a partial tear in his cruiciate ligament. His wonderful orthopedic surgeon did a great job of repairing it. He does not have the slightest sign of having had any problem. The surgeon told us he was fine with Quest going back to doing agility. I was working up my nerve to get him back in training when I began experiencing back pain. My problem prevented me from running and I was pretty concerned that I would never be able to do agility again. It has now been two years since my back problem began. With a lot of work and water aerobic therapy I am doing pretty well and I decided to enroll Journey in agility class. I thought of putting Quest back in training, but the idea is just too scary to me now that he is ten years old. I do let him play on the equipment of his choice, around home, but I would just never forgive myself if he got hurt doing something I told him to do. Quest has taken nose work classes and he has done some herding. He is good at everything he does, but now that I have both Pirate and Journey in weekly classes I have noticed that Quest seems kind of sad sometimes. Since I do not want to put him in agility, I decided to let him try Rally. I had no idea if he would enjoy it. Rally involves obedience and that was never one of Quest's favorite things to do. But I figured it could not hurt to try.
Last night we all piled in the car and we headed to the training barn. This is the same barn where Journey takes agility and Pirate takes advanced rally. As I stepped out of the car and unloaded our training equipment bag, Journey and Pirate waited anxiously to see whose name was called. When I said "Quest", he about went through the roof. As we went into the barn he headed for the "A-frame". I had to tell him no, but he was open to other suggestions. He checked out the other dogs; about seven or eight, I think. This was the first night of Beginning Rally. Quest behaved very well and listened to all the information that Karin gave us. We began doing various exercises and Quest just amazed me. He was doing things I do not recall ever teaching him. When I told him to heel he would jump up in the air and come down in position at my side. (Where did that come from?) The only similar training I have used with my dogs is "with me", which means for them to stay within about ten feet of me as we all walked together. I use this command when we are hiking or walking together and there is no particular position, just that they stay close. I don't know where he learned "heel" unless it was just from listening and watching other dogs.
Quest has never shown aggression toward other dogs. One of the dogs in our class is a cute little pug named Moo shu. He is not friendly and he is not afraid of anyone. He also does not like other dogs. He lunges and he sounds as if he is ready to kill. He did not like Quest and immediately went for him. Quest looked at him, but dismissed him as no threat. He ignored Moo shu from then on. Moo shu ignored the dismissal and continued the lunging and verbal attacks every few minutes. Finally, Quest had enough and when Moo shu snarled and lunged at him, he just did his four legged bounce right back with a loud "woof". It was funny because he immediately did a couple more bounces, demonstrating his sense of humor. About the worst Quest would do is probably sit on him. I don't know if it frightened Moo shu, but it sure looked funny with 90 lb. Quest and little tough Moo shu. Moo shu is in Journey's agility class and Journey does not have the confidence that Quest does, so it is not as funny when he goes after Journey. It might be good for Journey to see how Quest handled it. The rest of the classmates are Golden Retrievers, Border Collies and a couple small dogs. The other dogs all seem to be pretty nice.
I can honestly say that Quest enjoyed the entire class. He tried to hurry me along sometimes by taking charge of his own leash. He did a lot of bouncing - I guess just exibiting his joy. He began verbalizing and I assume the yodeling will soon follow. I will try to keep it down. I could not be more pleased than to see him having such a good time. I don't know if he will ever compete or be a super rally dog, but he is having fun and that is the most wonderful thing of all for me. He is so smart, it actually would not surprise me if he does learn to do it well. He really needed something to do and rally will apparently fit the bill.
We will get some rally pictures as we get on with our classes. In the meantime I thought these pictures of Quest doing agility would be a nice addition to this post.
