Winnie starting her agility career

Photo by Uroš Bokal

Winnie is 16,5 months now and started competing. Very successfully indeed! Her first two competitions were a good start, she was very careful and hesitant, so she did not really run at her full speed, but other than that she was being her crazy self - barky, crazy, wild. But still focused and attentive. I love running with her! But her runs were - all of them - almost clean! Some wrong tunnel entries, an extra tunnel, or a missed contact here and there, that's pretty much it. On her third competition I could already see the "Gargamel look" on her face, crazy, willing to eat anything on her way :) Definitely still careful and hesitant, but faster. She had a clean run in jumping and was disqualified in agility, because she ran past the A-frame. She is not confident on A-frame as we train is so very little, once a month.

A lot of people are asking me about life with Winnie, about her parents and if I intend to have puppies with her, so I'll just answer them all here...

So what is life like with Winnie?

Difficult. Very difficult. She used to be terribly fearful, now she is "just" fearful. She hates dogs, she doesn't like other people, she only loves me and some of my friends and family. She is snobbish and has an enormous ego. She loves chewing everything she finds, she never sleeps, only at night (but not always). She is never tired, the more you run and walk with her, the more energy she has. She steals food from everyone and from everywhere. She can open any drawer, cupboard, box or bag if there's food in it. She jumps on the furniture, she barks at strangers, she loves to tug on sleeves and trousers. As a puppy she didn't want to play at all, I had to teach her how to play.

Still, all that said, it's so easy to love her. She's just irresistable! There aren't many things she loves, but she puts all her efforts and energy into things and people she loves. She loves life, she loves me, she loves Ben, she loves working and she LOVES agility. She's always happy, and always up to something. She will do anything to have it her way and always succeeds in it. On our walks she is constantly in the air, all of a sudden she comes around running full speed to jump into my lap. Out of nowhere. Sometimes she will do it every minute! She gives me a zillion kisses all over my face everyday. She's a master of disaster :) On agility, the world it hers. She learns everything in a minute, she memorizes way better than I do, she runs like hell, and she never stops. When you want to give her a break she runs on her own. Her eyes glitter when she sees agility obstacles. She grew from a nightmare into my dream dog, she fits perfectly with me and Ben, there are no words to explain how special she is to me, she's my hero.

To answer the second question above - no, I do not intend to have puppies with her. She is too tiny and too fearful, but my main reason is that I don't want to go through with this with her, I'm terrified something might go wrong and I really don't intend to have a puppy for a long time, so... Ben and Winnie keep me occupied every day, I can't find the time to sleep.

And Winnie's parents? Tourbillon d'o bleue de Loubajac and Dark Angel de Loubajac.

Photo by Uroš Bokal

Photo by Uroš Bokal

Photo by Uroš Bokal

Photo by Uroš Bokal

Photo by Uroš Bokal

Have to go, dinner time :)

A video of Winnie on training: Winnie training
And Winnie on competition: Winnie starting her agility career