Sarah here! I had stories to share this week, so I took over the whole Wednesday Wrap Up again!
Podcast: When to Add to Your Pack
This week’s podcast came straight from a listener question, and it’s one we suspect a lot of you have wrestled with at some point. The listener has a 13-year-old who was their original agility partner, an 8-year-old they’re currently competing with, and they’re starting to feel the pull toward a puppy. But they’re worried, specifically about what a new puppy would do to the relationship they have with their older dog.
We totally get it. Both Jennifer and I admitted on the show that, historically, neither of us has done much careful planning when it comes to puppy timing. Usually a litter shows up, or a dog becomes available, and the heart says yes before the pros and cons list is complete. So we had a conversation about what we’d recommend if someone gave us the chance to plan it out, why we landed where we did on the ideal age gap, and what we’ve each noticed about how our older dogs handle the arrival of a puppy.
We also got into something that surprised us a little when we talked it through: whether the older dog can actually “teach” the puppy useful things, and why the answer isn’t as obvious as you might expect. If you’ve ever stood in the kitchen looking at your senior dog wondering, “Is now the right time?” this one’s for you.
Click here to listen: https://baddogagility.com/episode-390-when-to-add-to-your-pack/
5 Dogs and No Baby
The AKC Agility World Team Tryouts kick off this Friday at Premier Sports Center in Vincentown, New Jersey, running May 1-3. This is the event that determines who represents the United States at the FCI Agility World Championships in Turku, Finland this September, and the field is stacked. A total of 136 dogs are entered across four jump heights: 19 small dogs (12″), 30 medium dogs (16″), 27 intermediate dogs (20″), and 60 large dogs (24″). Worth noting: the intermediate height is now drawing more dogs than small, and is within striking distance of medium.
If you listened to our recent episode on boy dogs versus girl dogs, one thing we discussed off mic was whether boys or girls are more common on the world team. We’ll have to see who makes the team, but girls DO slightly outnumber boys at tryouts, 76 to 60. You could also call this the Covid Tryout: the most common birth year among entered dogs is 2020, followed closely by 2021. A major contributing factor is that those birth years put these dogs squarely in a prime competition window. At 4 to 6 years old, they’ve had time to develop skills and confidence while still being at peak speed. But we all know covid puppies who never quite got comfortable with the big, loud, crowded world outside their living room. The fact that these dogs are here and ready to compete at the highest level of the sport is its own kind of accomplishment. Congrats to these teams, and good luck this weekend.
BDA co-host and Academy instructor Jennifer Crank is making a statement this weekend by bringing not one, not two, but five dogs to tryouts. In the small division she has Sting (Sheltie, 12″). In medium she’ll run Bee and Swinger, both Shelties at 16″. And she’s entered in both intermediate and large, with Surprise (BC, 20″) and Hi5 (BC, 24″). Five runs per round, five rounds over three days. That’s 25 runs total, for anyone keeping score at home.
This is also Jennifer’s first trip without baby Savannah in tow, and she had no shortage of ways she could have spent it. She chose to run five dogs at one of the most competitive agility events on the AKC calendar. That should tell you everything you need to know about Jennifer Crank. In her words: “I decided if I was going to get a weekend away with my best friend [Abbey] I was going to have fun and enjoy myself and that means running my dogs. So they all get to come!!”
Go get ’em, Jenn. We’re cheering for you!
Our Spider
This spider (or a relative of this spider, but maybe this actual spider!) has been living with us for at least six years, probably closer to ten.
Lately, we all agreed that it might be getting a little bit out of control, and we might need to let go of our emotional attachment to our entryway spider.
Today, Hannah reminded me yet again that we needed to do something.
But as I went to clean up all of the spiderwebs, I found I just couldn’t make myself callously get rid of our spider.
She’s been through so much with us.
And so, when I got over to where she was, instead of sucking her up or swatting her down, I very gently chased her around her web for a few minutes, trying to carefully capture her. Ultimately, I got her to walk onto the edge of a broom completely unharmed, and I took her outside to begin her new web in our tree.
Have you added a pack member recently, or do you care for a wild “guest” in your home? Share with us at team@baddogagility.com!
Happy Training,
