We are in our third year of riding the ups and downs of Summit Trials. Just when you think you have it figured out, you fall flat on your nose. We had a great time at our trial in Michigan but it didn’t go at all as we had planned. Just a few weeks earlier we earned our second Summit Title, this time no title.
Summit trials are two full days with four searches per day. The searches are challenging, some areas are very large and often full of things we need to search. For Team Orange, the challenges are fun but also frustrating at times. Day one was hot and sunny, day two was cold and pouring rain. Both weather scenarios change the odor picture and also how we feel. We are not sure why I missed some pretty easy hides. Mom didn’t call two hides I found as she didn’t think I was alerting. Lots of small errors add up to lots of points missed at the end of the two days.
Two days of serious searching really wears a girl out. This was me the second morning, wishing I could sleep a bit longer. Once we get to the trial I’m ready to go, tired or not but I do sleep more and more as the two days progress. Sniffing is an exhausting mental challenge for dogs but we sure do love it!
If you bring siblings, they are bored to death. Nelson just sleeps most of the time, especially on day two when it rained and Mom didn’t want to take him for a walk.
In the end, we got first place in one of our eight searches. As long as we go home with something we feel better about things. My last few Summit trials I have had a couple times where I barely missed a title and I got my second Summit Title last month. A dog can do three Summits a year and I have one left now for the fall. Mom and I had a lot of fun sniffing together and that is the best thing. Another title will come our way, we just need to keep on practicing.
My GBGV Life is happy, so we’re joining Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday!
Not to worry, Olivia. You and Nelson will nail the titles in the Autumn! You are both very smart pups!
You can be on top one week and mediocre the next. It can be the way the hides were placed, the weather, the place where the trial was at. So many factors. As long as we have fun, that is the main thing and we will trial again another weekend.
What fun you had. Staying mentally and sensory alert is most imPAWtant
Hugs to you all
Cecilia
We had a lot of fun but winning wasn’t really in the cards for us that weekend. On to the next trials.
Yes, the main goal is to always have fun – for both the sniffer and the human! And every human goes home with the best dog.
Keep playing the games and sharing your adventures with us.
We might get down for a short time but we pick up the pieces and learn from our errors and move on to the next trials. Mom and I are the best team no matter how things turn out. We love playing sniffing games together.
Showing up for a competition is always a win so keep on enjoying the fun!
We are competitive but we are also mentally strong so while we get down for a short time, positivity picks us up and gets us on track for the next time pretty quickly.
Olivia, you need to train mommy better.
We had a couple misunderstandings that cost us but overall, we work really well together. Now we are back on the horse and ready to go again.
~ ‘Time and place for everything Mom and you did your best sweet doggies ~ weather didn’t help for sure ~ Mom and you had some fun ~ I am proud of you all for your work ~ Hugs ^_^
an artist reflects ‘~ Carol McK
Good attitude, Olivia! It will happen!
Oh, we do quite well most of the time but still we can’t win all the time, even if we want to. Regroup and back out to sniff.
You two rock and you’ll do better and better as time goes by. You are both so cute, too. Mom sure makes sure you’re well traveled too.
Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Scritches to the pups and a hug to mom. ♥
We just keep playing the game and working on our team. It is alright now to win all the time, but we would like to win all the time anyway 😉 In the meantime, we have a lot of fun.
Yep, practive makes perfect…and if fun too! We are glad you had a good time and you did come home with one pretty ribbon!!
xoxo,
Rosy & Sunny
One is better than none. Every trial is different so we just try again in the fall for a Summit Title.
Maybe you need to practice during rotten weather! Anyway, I’m glad you got first in one search and had a good time.
Rain is no fun for me or Mom, but we did fine in our pouring rain vehicle search, just got soaked!
We all have off days…but you’ll get ’em the next time! In the meantime, it’s good to know you still had fun working as a team.
Some trials are more for our style of working than others too. One never knows but we love the game and just keep playing.
standing ovations from france for your furst place….
It was nice to get something for all our hard work but we enjoyed our other searches even when we didn’t do well on some of them.
Whatever happens, you always give it your best, cause that’s what you do.
We always try hard but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.