{"id":4892,"date":"2011-09-19T04:00:36","date_gmt":"2011-09-19T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=4892"},"modified":"2011-09-18T20:25:12","modified_gmt":"2011-09-19T02:25:12","slug":"post-for-a-retired-agility-princess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/09\/19\/post-for-a-retired-agility-princess\/","title":{"rendered":"Post for a Retired Agility Princess"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know, when I started last Monday’s blog,<\/strong> I had no intention of writing about Belle Cardigan.\u00a0 In fact, I had a little video of Dart I wanted to put up.<\/p>\n

Anyway, as with books, sometimes blogs have a mind of their own.<\/strong>\u00a0 Before you know it, I was in fact writing about Belle.\u00a0 You know…how she started training at age two, blew through to Excellent B with mostly straight Qs and firsts (she was jumping four inches higher at that point) and rivaled the times of dogs through all the height classes.<\/p>\n

And then of course she hit age five,<\/strong> developed a genetic disk calcification condition that had nothing to do with agility, became partially paralyzed for a while…<\/p>\n

Rehab and flares and rehab and flares…<\/strong><\/p>\n

She wasn’t supposed to be able to run again, but she obviously did–<\/strong>in fact, it actually kept her strong. \u00a0 In between her calcification flares–about 50 % of the time–she ran for her first PAX and then her second.\u00a0 When they grandfathered in speed points this past July, she earned her first PACH title–as well as the ranking of #2 lifetime Cardigan in the Preferred class (that’s the one that allows her to run safer, shorter jumps for her stubby-legged, long-bodied self).<\/p>\n

At that time, she was only 150 points shy of her second PACH–<\/strong>the one she would have easily earned had the PACH dogs been granted the placement multiplier points earned by the MACH dogs in the very same time frame.\u00a0 (bitch, mutter)<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, at three months later and almost 12 years old,<\/strong> she’s now 98 points shy of her second PACH…and that’s how it’ll always be.<\/p>\n

For Belle, being perfect has always been the most important thing.\u00a0<\/strong> Unfortunately for her, she has her own standards, and they’re far, far higher than mine.\u00a0 She worries when she perceives that she’s imperfect.<\/p>\n

Over the last year, she’s lost most of her early speed.<\/strong>\u00a0 The problem is…<\/p>\n

She knows it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For her Jumpers courses, I can usually convince her that she is indeed perfect;<\/strong> I rate my speed to hers so she doesn’t feel left behind.\u00a0 But over this past three-day trialing weekend, she looked at me out on the course and told me she was too worried about not being perfect to have fun any longer.<\/p>\n

So I jollied her into giggling through one last Jumpers run,<\/strong> picked her up at the end of the course–the better to offer her cookies–and walked off the course to bury my face in her ruff and cry.\u00a0 Yes, like a baby.<\/p>\n

It’s the right thing for her, so we’re doing it.\u00a0<\/strong> But oh, I will miss running my Belle Princess.<\/p>\n

\"Belle\"

PACH Cheysuli's Silver Belle, CD RE MXP5 MJP6 XFP PAX2 EAC EJC CGC<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know, when I started last Monday’s blog, I had no intention of writing about Belle Cardigan.\u00a0 In fact, I had a little video of Dart I wanted to put up. Anyway, as with books, sometimes blogs have a mind … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,14],"tags":[18,156],"class_list":["post-4892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agility-the-dogs","category-belle","tag-agility","tag-belle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-1gU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1085,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/04\/19\/a-post-for-belle\/","url_meta":{"origin":4892,"position":0},"title":"A Post for Belle","author":"Doranna","date":"1004.19","format":false,"excerpt":"posted on Monday A week ago, we had our first agility trial since last fall. \u00a0That means we missed a number of good opportunities, but...hey. \u00a0You move for the second time in a year and see how fast you get your act back together... Especially when moving into deep winter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Belle"","block_context":{"text":"Belle","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/belle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/1004.11playfight3-150x105.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9223,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2013\/09\/04\/stop-the-timer-the-aging-agility-dog-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":4892,"position":1},"title":"Stop the Timer! The Aging Agility Dog…or Not?","author":"Doranna","date":"1309.04","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna and the Blue Hound Beagles (A Dog Agility Blog Event--stop by the event page to see what everyone else has to say! ) When this blog topic came up, I immediately thought about my first agility dog: Jean-Luc Picardigan, the boy no one ever thought could or would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Agility"","block_context":{"text":"Agility","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-dogs\/agility-the-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jean-Luc's joy. Several of us cried over this picture, knowing how far agility brought this boy.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/0303.01.jl_.tunnel.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8070,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2013\/03\/18\/miss-belles-bucket-list\/","url_meta":{"origin":4892,"position":2},"title":"Miss Belle’s Bucket List","author":"Doranna","date":"1303.18","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna I'd thought that I'd write a blog this weekend, and I'd thought it would probably be about Dart's first agility trial in four months. It's not. It's Belle Cardigan's blog instead. Belle is now just past thirteen years old, and we're suddenly--very suddenly--getting ready to say good-bye.\u00a0 She's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Agility"","block_context":{"text":"Agility","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-dogs\/agility-the-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/belle.48.SM_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4859,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/09\/12\/running-on-empty\/","url_meta":{"origin":4892,"position":3},"title":"Running on Empty","author":"Doranna","date":"1109.12","format":false,"excerpt":"It turns out that if you're massively overworked and you don't back off before an agility trial, you just may not be at your best. At the point this becomes evident, the best you can do is make sure the dogs have as much fun as possible. Belle ran standard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Agility"","block_context":{"text":"Agility","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-dogs\/agility-the-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12020,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2015\/03\/04\/not-so-in-spite-of\/","url_meta":{"origin":4892,"position":4},"title":"Not So In Spite Of","author":"Doranna","date":"1503.04","format":false,"excerpt":"Once you embark on the Way of Dog Performance Sports (obedience, rally, tracking, agility), certain things change.\u00a0 Every cares about the health and well-being of their dogs\u2014but when you\u2019re asking for more from them\u2014and when you\u2019re planning your training around what you hope to accomplish\u2014then not only do the obligations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Agility"","block_context":{"text":"Agility","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-dogs\/agility-the-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"durgin.dart.dsc1120.400","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/durgin.dart_.dsc1120.400-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6408,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2012\/06\/06\/taking-it-on-the-fly\/","url_meta":{"origin":4892,"position":5},"title":"Taking it on the Fly","author":"Doranna","date":"1206.06","format":false,"excerpt":"A Dog Agility Blog Event Post I\u2019ve never been any good at competition.\u00a0 Doing well means too much; it always has.\u00a0 I\u2019m one of those people who hands homework in early, stressed myself sick over tests all the way through college, ran my years of track plagued by moments of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Agility"","block_context":{"text":"Agility","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-dogs\/agility-the-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"anxiety!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.almanac.com\/sites\/new.almanac.com\/files\/images\/nailbiting.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4892"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4903,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4892\/revisions\/4903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}