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Curly |
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Curly was my first agility competition dog. Although she is now 11 and has been retired for many years, I still appreciate her for being the perfect beginner’s dog--always enthusiastic, consistent and reliable. Thanks to Fran and Bill for teaching us the skills and the fun of agility! I remember our first trial was AOC when they were held in the horse rings at the Altamont Fairgrounds. I was really nervous and a vicious cell of severe thunderstorms keep circling back over the site all day. I was kind of surprised that the trial continued through the nearly constant lightening and thunder but was told it was up to each handler whether they chose to run in it. Most of the previous dogs in our Novice class refused to run, and several that did disappeared into the tunnel and refused to come out. |
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When it was our turn for the Standard run, Curly had this big grin on her face. She is after all, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and what Chessie people call a “water freak.” Off we went, with Curly splashing happily through the downpour, performing each obstacle perfectly. When we got to the table, I couldn’t remember whether it was a sit or a down and kept telling Curly “down! down!” She ignored me and just kept sitting on that table. Then, over the thunder and the pounding rain, I heard the judge counting, so I conceded Curly was right about the sit! She Q’ed in remarkable time, considering the conditions, and won the class. I still have to go hug her every time I think about how she got me through that first trial. After a short but sparkling agility career, Curly retired due to arthritis in her shoulder and other health problems. But her main job has always been whipping into shape a parade of foster dogs, mostly rescued Chessies like herself, and mostly rowdy young males who were too much for their families and were thrown away. Curly rules with an iron fist, and those boys all quickly learned how to behave in a house. After Scout, our wonderful foster cattle dog, got adopted, Curly expressed a desire to stop fostering. Maybe she thinks that Clancy and Gabe are enough work! So now she really is retired. But every once in a while we take a run through the weaves poles and over a few low jumps in the rain just for the memories. |
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