Dog Blog

An ADCH for a very deserving Agility Team

There are things that you accomplish in your life that for the longest time you think are impossible. Over the five years that Katie has been competing in agility I have watched dozens of competitors achieve their ADCH (Agility Dog Champion). I was always proud to be watching and applauding their accomplishment. I never realized what a big deal it was until it was our turn on the bubble

Katie worked her way thru the ADCH requirements starting with her first run in November of 2004. Katie, Raven and I have travelled our 120,000 miles over the years and it has been a wonderful trip. We have met wonderful people, been to wonderful towns and cities. We have had difficult days and weekends, but we have also have those times when the agility gods have smiled on us. It seemed that Katie and Raven would never get those pesky super Qs. However, with hard work and some luck they fell one at a time until there were 3 on the score card. Katie and Raven even got an extra one just for good measure.

The final obstacle to Raven’s ADCH was a pairs Q. It seemed that we chased that last Q for months. Show after show we just could not seem to place the final brick in the wall. It is during this time that the difference in agility competitors really shined through. There was not a single time that Katie would come off a run when someone, usually several people, would not have something uplifting or supportive to say. What these people don’t know is that at times it was this encouragement that kept her going. We chose to go to PBH over Memorial day weekend to make another attempt. It was our luck that we paired with Darrell Stover and his dog Envy. Katie, Derrell and his wife DeAnna have been friends from the first time that they met, so it all felt right. It was a warm day, and the course was challenging, but Katie felt up to the task. She and Raven ran the first part of the course and they ran clean. Derrell later said that he was as nervous as he had ever been to get through his half of the course clean. The time was a blistering 30.70, Katie and Raven were clean, Derrell Stover and Envy were clean and their team took first place. Oh yea, on that day, May 24, 2009 Raven and Katie finished their ADCH. It was a great day!

Katie is now a junior in high school, it won’t be long before she goes on to college, and all that I will have of her days of agility will be great memories and hundreds of pictures. Thanks again to all of the people that have taught, and supported Katie over the years, it had been the most fun that I can honestly say I have ever had! I’m sure that Katie would agree.