A lot has happened in the last year. We've been trialing a lot and Bailey earned a bunch of new titles!
AXJ: 01/02/2011 (AKC: Agility Excellent Jumper)
AX: 03/11/2011 (AKC: Agility Excellent)
NF: 04/08/2011 (AKC: Novice FAST)
PD: 05/07/2011 (USDAA: Performance Dog)
SPJ: 05/08/2011 (USDAA: Starters Performance Jumper)
MXJ: 07/31/2011 (AKC: Master Excellent Jumper)
OF: 08/06/2011 (AKC: Open FAST)
We're also only 1 leg away from Bailey's MX (AKC: Master Agility Excellent) title and have 5 double Qs and around 150 points towards Bailey's MACH (AKC: Master Agility Champion - a prefix that is the highest title you can earn in agility at the local level).
Last December, I set a goal for Bailey to earn his MX and MXJ, along with all of the USDAA Starters agility titles by my 30th birthday in November. At that point, he hadn't even earned his AX or AXJ titles and had only earned one of the six USDAA Starters titles. He had also been in a long string of NQs in the Excellent ring, so I was feeling REALLY discouraged. I didn't really expect to reach my goals. I knew I was being ambitious, but hey! You gotta aim high, right? :-)
We are currently about halfway to accomplishing those goals, since he has earned MXJ, PD, and SPJ titles. We're almost to his MX and have a USDAA trial next weekend where I hope to earn SPG (Starters Performance Gambler), SPK (Starters Performance Snooker), and SPR (Starters Performance Relay).
This little dog impresses me more and more every weekend. The two of us have really come MILES in the last year. The amount we've been able to accomplish just floors me! He's so much more consistent, my nerves are under control, and we really work well as a team now. I'm truly blessed for each and every time I get to go play this game with him! I hope we still have many years left in this partnership!
Bailey with his MXJ rosette that he earned with a 3rd place finish on 07/31/2011
