MACH Johann!

I did it! I got my MACH last Saturday, 5-21.2011, at the AKC Agility Trial hosted by Cocker Spaniel Specialty Club of Georgia.

Mum and I ran on the Friday before and got a double Q, just shy of a few points I needed for the MACH.

We drove back and forth each day, and when Mum and I woke up on Saturday the next day, we knew today was the day. We both had a gut feeling.

And we did it! It wasn't the speediest runs I've ever had, but I got the job done. Here I am coming out of the tunnel, just before the last two jumps...

And here I am taking the last jump, for my MACH!

And here's the official photo, with Judge Pam Cumming (who is super nice, btw), and one of the official members of the Cocker Spaniel Specialty Club of Georgia.

It's been a long road for me...with all my injuries, recovery, and rebuilding.

I started training June 1, 2005 just before my first birthday. Competed in my first trial (USDAA) in December 2005 just a few months after the dog attack and major surgery. We loved agility so much that I wanted to compete more, so Mum applied for my ILP with the AKC in April 2006 and we got it just four days later!

So Mum signed me up to compete in my first AKC trial in May 2006. I got my NA and NAJ the next month on 6-9-2006, and my OAJ on 6-25-2006 and my OA in 7-8-2006. Then it was on to the AX and AXJ which I got on 9-4-2006.

Then I got my broken foot and went through a lot of recovery, but I was back running again in April. That was also the year I got a bad bout of gastroenteritis, and Mum, Gracie and I were in a bad car accident. It wasn't until August that I started running myself again recovering from all of that. Then on 9-21-2007 I got my MX and MXJ.

October I was running great again and ran my butt off. That was the month that began my string of 14 Q's in a row, 7 DQ's at three trials. It was a great time!!!

Then in January 2008 my muscle problems began (we believe as a result of fused skin layers from the operation when I was one). I came home from a trial and wouldn't come out from the corner of the room...it took three vets and a soft tissue specialist to figure out what was wrong; I pulled my illiopsoas. It's been a long road, because even after months off and lots of recovery...I still seemed to be plagued by muscle problems and still am. So after a strain re-occurance later in 2008, Mum took me off competing in agility.

We moved, I worked on my recovery, we cross trained, and I began training and trialling again in late 2010. There weren't a lot of trials to go to, so little by little I ticked off some of the last few MACH points at a the few trials we attended and finished it up for the MACH last Saturday.

Here's a little tribute vid Mum made for me. Hope you enjoy! The last run of the vid is my MACH run.


It was a super fun day. After the MACH run, Gracie and I got to swim in the pond on the property at the trial site, that was so much fun, because it was super hot, well into mid-90's! We got a very cool human cake from friends, and Mum got me a nice massage after our runs were over for the day. I think Mum needs to get started on that scrapbooking of my journey, don't ya think? :)

We aren't exactly sure what my future holds. I still love doing agility with my Mum and I'm not ready to quit just yet. But it's becoming more and more apparent that all the injuries have certainly taken a toll on my body. I just don't move like I used to. Sometimes I have my old super fast moments, but many times I just have my medium speed moments. That's OK as long as we're both having fun and I don't hurt, that's all the matters.

Mum and I both agree that we are going for our ADCH in USDAA since we're only four Q's away. We found a great place about 40 minutes away where we can practice indoors and out (they also have sheep, lure coursing, and swimming/diving). So we're going to practice regularly and concentrate on the distance and snooker skills we need for the ADCH, and Gracie's gonna practice her overall skills too. Then later in the Summer we're going to enter some USDAA trials that are pretty close by and see what happens.

Thanks Mum for a great run to our MACH...I loved it every step of the way!

Agility Photos courtesy of In Motion Photos.