Pax

I took Pax to Bridge house today and ran her in All-Sorts and she barked her way around the course as usual. I like to use Pax as an example of how a dog can bark throughout an agility course and still listen! Hehehe

Pax was the first dog that I started from a puppy in agility. Right from the beginning Pax barked when she ran and barked and barked. It was never that she was barking AT me; it was just that she was barking in sheer enjoyment of the running. Thank God I never listened to the instructors who told me that I must STOP her from barking when running agility. If I had been a new person to dog training I may have listened but at that point I had been training dogs in obedience for about 8 years. My gut feeling told me that it would not affect her training at all and it never did. You could always tell when Pax was running her course; she did not bark on the start line or in the queue (as Zen and Hex will) but would start barking as soon as her feet started moving! It is funny how Zen and Hex are the opposite; they will bark in the queue until they set up and then stop barking once they are working.

Anyway the reason I am chatting about Pax is really due to this gorgeous photo that Dennis took yesterday at Bridge House Agility show! Gorgeous!!




Pax will turn 11 in September. She still loves running but I am glad that I have retired her from formal agility. She has done enough and I want to keep her structurally sound in her old age. She made us laugh at the KC International Festival where she escaped from our caravan garden and made her way down to the burger van! Dennis got a phone call on his mobile (we have the phone number on her tag) asking if we lost a sheltie as she was down begging at the food van. HAHA! Where else would a run-away sheltie go?