SHE'S THE TOPS!

Abby scored her own Olympics success, achieving her Agility Dog of Canada (ADC) title on Saturday at the AVID "Do You Believe" trial. It's taken Abby two years to reach this milestone, mostly because she will periodically 'stall out' while running a course — i.e. just stopping dead in her tracks. It's taken her as well as me realizing that there's no need to panic when she does this; I just need to either go back and make it clear where we're going, or run ahead and show her the next obstacle. Either way, she gets back in gear. And now usually that gear is overdrive — another reason not to fret about the stalls, because she now runs the courses a lot faster than she used to, making up for the time she loses in the stalls. As a result, she's managing to come in under the time allowed rather than over it, for the most part. Hence, her improved success. (I also thought that karma might have something to do with her success on Saturday, as I discovered that her picture was featured on the front of the trial catalogue. I figured that had to bode well for something. But I'll put Abby's success down to skill development over the past year instead. Nonetheless, that karma almost won me a teeter in the reverse draw: mine was the second-to-last ticket drawn, meaning that like Maxwell Smart, I missed it by that much. However, I got a lovely fleece blanket as a consolation prize, an acquisition that is being much enjoyed by the dogs when they're sleeping on my bed. It is quite cozy for all of us.)

Because we were at the trial, we of course didn't get to watch the gold medal hockey game between Canada and the US on the final day of the Vancouver Olympics. But competitors in the stands would sit there repeatedly refreshing their Iphones in order to give us the latest score. When Canada won in overtime and the news was relayed to everyone, a great cheer went up in the barn. Say what you will about the Olympics being held in Vancouver, it was indeed a major boost to Canadian patriotism. We all got soppy on Saturday morning when it was suggested that we sing O Canada to start off the day. Everyone was looking at the walls, the floor, the ceiling — anywhere but at each other — as we sang: no one dared look at anyone else as we were all getting teary-eyed. What a bunch of softies we are, eh?