I had some good sports hound accomplishments being four years old. The thing is, once you are at the upper levels of sports, titles are few and far between. Thankfully Mom and I do sports because we love them, not only for new titles.
The day after my birthday last year, I earned my AKC Scent Work Detective Title! This is a huge deal! A dog has to have ten qualifying runs to earn the SWD Title. A qualifying run means perfect. Yes, a search is between seven and fifteen minutes long, and the number of hides is unknown, but between five and ten. If you get a no, miss one or more hides, or time out, no Q. I think it took me just over a year to earn my Detective Title. We only go to Scent Work Trials a few times a year which also makes things difficult.
My last search was this giant storage room where there were a total of nine hides. They could be hidden pretty much anywhere in this room. Now I have four Q’s towards my next SWD Title. I’m doing it for fun since there is nothing else left for me to do in AKC Scent Work. I’m the first and only GBGV to hold this title too, which is special.
In August I earned my FCAT2, FastCAT2 Title. I keep running FastCAT since Nelson and Madison are running and I love it. I was the first GBGV to earn an FCAT Title at all, and now I’m over half way to my FCAT3. One thing about being a rare breed is getting to be the first GBGV to earn so many titles. No one can ever take that away from me!
FastCAT started in 2016. Since the start, they keep statistics for each breed. I ran my first FastCAT in 2020 and since that time, I have been the fastest GBGV ever. I also won the title at the FastCAT invitational in 2021. I know one day another will come along and be faster, but for now it is fun to be at the top…and NO, it is NOT lonely! Madison is number six, Nelson is number eleven, and Bailie is number thirteen.
I was fastest again in 2023, Nelson is fourth, and Madison sixth. The top five get invited to the Invitational, but since someone squeezed Madison out the last month of 2023, we probably won’t go. Mom wanted to go and have the three of us able to compete.
Moving along, I earned my Novice Trick Title in September at Purina Farms. This is a title she never planned on any of us getting. They offered it, we had time to kill, and I earned it. I doubt I will earn any other trick titles, but a title is a title.
Nose work was once again the biggest focus of my year. I’m now competing in the highest level, Summit. Dogs are only allowed to enter three trials a year, which I did. For most of them, we will have to travel, which we love. My first one was in Pennsylvania where day one was amazing but then we fell apart on day two.
In October I competed in our local Summit Trial and earned second place in one of my eight searches. Summit Trials are two days long with four searches each day. There are twenty eight dogs and only the top five earn a title, so it is not easy!
Part of being soulmates with my mom is our search style. We run…a lot! People often tell us we are a super fun team to watch as we do all kinds of crazy things together while searching. This is a shot of us running through the outdoor amphitheater search area. Mom jumped some benches to keep up with me.
When I find a hide, you can see how happy Mom is and how excited I am to partake in my reward. As soon as she gives me a few goodies she tells me to find more and off we go again. We could both search forever and ever!
My year ended with a small road trip to the Illinois Railway Museum where we got to search in and around real trains. The highlight of the trial was our very first search. I got to search several train cars, dining, sleeper, luggage, bar, etc. Mom never thought I would ever be on a train, let alone get to work in one. Team Orange proudly found all six hides in the fastest time and earned first place for that search.
Sadly with the broken collarbone, we had to cancel our Summit trip in April, but we are entering a few more in May and June and hope to get into at least one if not two. All in all, being four was a good year, just not as packed full of events and travel as the previous year. We’ll see where being five takes us!
We’re joining our friends at Living Laughing and Barking in Our Backyard for their Nature Friday blog hop.
You are a true champion and my hero, Olivia, and you and your mom make the most awesome orange team!
We do our best. Now we have to get into some trials so we can play together.
Olivia, you should know that Gail and I are super impressed by your awesome accomplishments. Gail says that if she ever gets are far as entering me in an agility competition she will feel it’s a major achievement if I run a clear round!
Toodle-oo!
Nobby.
Madison did agility. I tried it but didn’t like it at all and Mom isn’t keen on it, so we gave up. It is not an easy sport but some of the obstacles are scary I think.
WOWOWOWOW I loved the post but the last photo of you standing on your hind legs with you sweet mama giving you a treat made me smile and OMDs it showed me just how long you are
Hugs and healing wishes to Mom’s collarbone
Cecilia
I’m a long, lean, sport hound machine, LOL! I’m pretty tall when standing on my back paws.
You are so special. I love how much you and Mom love to work together Great team.
She is a team with each of us, but each team is not only a different color, it is a different style and she has to adapt to the dog who is with her at the time. AKC Scent Work is tricky because she usually brings two or three of us and she has to switch back and forth and remember who is on the other end of the leash.
Olivia the Champion!! So much accomplished. We can’t wait to see what is next! your friend Chester
What a wonderful year you had. Hopefully your mom will heal quickly and you will have a Grand time this year!
We are off to an odd start with health stuff and having to cancel trials but hopefully things will turn around soon.
You and your Mom make such an amazing team and we always cheer loudly when we see you’ve won!
We hope to get into some fun trial this year and do well.
What a very special girl you are! You go down in the GBGVCA History annals! What a hound! You should try for more trick titles. It will keep your brain supple! Elbe got three before we backed off.
Mom has never been a trick person or an obedience person, so I doubt tricks are in our future. We have plenty of other things to work on.
As long as you keep searching, running, and having a good time, you’re living your best life!
That is right. For the moment Mom isn’t supposed to run but in another month she should be able to.
Way to go, champ! Watching you and your Mom compete always impresses us. Well done.
Thank you. We really miss competing all the time but we will find more things to do and have fun with.