Me Starting Again at the HSV Bochum-Suedwest, May 2003
... and they made it come to path! A whole year I did not start again. No chance to justify the comment of a nice acquaintance: "Nikita?! Isn´t that the dog who knows only one speed ... Full Speed !?!"
I was not really unhappy about not starting. We kept on training and Mistress started getting used to my working distance. For her there need not be any starts. She though she was safe believing our trainer might forget us in the new saison when it was time to send out the entries.
She was wrong! At the beginning of 2003 it was clear that there would be a beginners tournament in our club at the 05.11.2003. Months before our trainer started to tell us to enter. Mistress obeyed and filled in the form.
At that Sunday I was surprised how calm Mistress was. Was that the result of her catching her hand in the car door that morning and crying wildly? She drowned a lot of people with conversation that day. Perhaps she was nervous? I was very well mannered and did not fuss round. I was near distanced from the hustle that was going on at "my" normally calm dog club. While the course was build we sat in the shadow to wait.
When the announcement was made "numbers 19, 20, 21 and 22, please get ready", Mistress started to frantically doing "heel" and "hand" with me. Every few meters she would say "tack" (= down) and I dropped to the ground. That made her feel secure and she calmed down.
It was finally time for number 22 to start and I had a feeling Mistress did not want to go, so I dragged her. I sat in front of the first hurdle and Mistress straightened me. I can be as sprung up as I please I always let her do that. After the judge had opened the course I took my head out of the collar.
Mistress stayed behind me and with her signal "hop" I took the first two hurdles and vanished into the curved tunnel. After the tunnel I could see the a-frame and swarmed up on it. Mistress changed sides behind me and I heard a dark "eeeehhhhhyyyy ... tack". Well mannered I laid down on the contact zone and Mistress took a deep breath ...
We went on to the table standing to the left of the a-frame and I waited impatiently for her signal to "go on". Following were (in a wide half circle) the pannel jump, soft tunnel and two more hurdles. I made so much speed on that stretch that Mistress trying to keep up was out of breath and could not say a thing and was even to winded to sign where she wanted me to go. I was uneasy and heard the first pole come down. At the dog walk I heard the deep "eeeehhhhhyyyy ... tack" again and laid down on the contact zone.
Following were the broad jump and a normal jump. After that I had to make a sharp left to take hurdle number one again from behind. Mistress tried to get in position but her timing was of (at least from my point of view) and so I tried to push away from the pole. The pole fell. To reach the last but one hurdle I had to make a sharp right one more jump and there was the finish!
We were not disqualified! I did not try to be boss and I think for the first time Mistress looked where I was and reacted properly. The last third of the course was really very tight. Later I heard that most people thought we would not make it ... I don´t have to say that I was praised enthusiastically and got a lot of treats?!
Before that tournament Mistress had promised "If you don´t try to be boss and works the contact zone correctly we will go to the Fressnapf (a pet supply store (the translator)) and you can pick something ..." I picked an enormous windpipe!
