What a surprise, I earned my Summit 2 Title last weekend at the Alexis Fire Equipment Company in Alexis, Illinois. Our goal was to earn placements in some searches and a second Summit Title. Day one was not good for us so Mom said the title was out.
I got to search around a lot of big fire engines, many hoses and stuff, offices, and miscellaneous fire equipment they had in the buildings. It was very bright outside so my eyes are slightly closed in the photo. A Summit Trial is the highest level in NACSW Nose Work with eight searches over two days.
Day one started with missing three of the six hides. I was so excited to trial again as it had been months. Mom says I was just running around not really working and missed the hides. We missed two more hides on day one giving us only thirteen of eighteen hides. Because Mom felt there would be no title, we would just be searching for placements on day two. She was rather depressed about that first search but it happened and we need to clear our minds and move on.
Day two we set out to have a perfect day to make up for day one. The first search we missed one hide but I found the five others and got the four bonus points in the challenge which Mom said was super important. The next three searches I found all the hides, unfortunately, not in record time. Our GoPro malfunctioned so we didn’t get any good videos to show you. Mom worked on getting it to work again the other day. Who knows why it just quit, but it is working again.
There were a lot of really good teams at the trial and we saw a lot of nose work friends too. At the awards, Mom waited for a placement but our name was not called and she was pretty bummed. Then they called the five titles and Mom almost fell over when they said Joy and Olivia! We ended up in fourth place out of twenty eight teams and we had two pronounced searches (exceptional handling/teamwork)! Mom had good mental management despite being sad about day one. Never give up, maybe change your goals, but one never knows, so don’t give up. The drive home was much nicer with my second Summit Title in the bag! Mom and I are so thankful things worked out and we had a lot of fun searching too!
My GBGV Life is joining Brian’s Home Blog in the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
Congratulations, Olivia – to you and to your mom! That is one gorgeous ribbon!
Now we have two of those and are going to work on a third one. It was amazing to get a title as we were definitely not at our usual level of searching but maybe it was also a harder trial than we thought for most of the dogs. We had so much fun and that is most important.
That is a Grand ribbon! You worked really hard for it!
It was a tough trial in a lot of ways for us but we kept powering on and ended up doing really well.
So great that you let day 1 go and did so fantastic on day two. So proud of you.
Mom told me a million times we needed to be perfect and get all the bonus points and we only missed one which was really what we needed. It is truly a team sport.
Bravo, Bravo, Bravo! That is so cool, especially since you didn’t expect it. We’re proud of you!!! Thanks for joining Angel Brian’s Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
Mom wrote the title off before the first day was even over, but she has a very strong mind and kept resetting and setting new goals for each search and it sure was a shock to get a title and place fourth!
Bravo ~ Olivia! Wow ~ so happy and proud for you and Mom ~ way to go girl ~ Hugs ^_^
an artist reflects
Thank you. Mom is super proud of me and our team.
OLIVIA YAY FOR YOU AND YOUR AMAZING SNIFFER…
YOU KNOW I LOVE THE PHOTOS OF YOU AND THE RED TRUCKS
HUGS CECILIA
Wish our videos had worked out but it’s alright. The main thing is we earned our second SMT title and it was a huge surprise.
It ain’t over ’til the Best Grand Sings!!!
Never count yourself out. Mom was certain of no title but thought a placement or two was in the cards. Never go home early, stay for the awards as you never know how the other 27 teams did.
congrats olivia!!! we hope the firefighter trucks played a siren song for you… well done!!!
I live with a siren named Nelson, he is so loud and loves to howl loudly and proudly, LOL! Mom and I are really happy for a second Summit Title.
Congrats Olivia ! Great job !
Thank you.
What a happy ending to a hard weekend. Congratulations!
Day one was rough as we had planned it would go differently, but it all worked out in the end.
Bravo, well done you guys!
Thank you. Having two titles is a big accomplishment and we are super proud of it.