Maxie's Bronze Titles

Maxie indulging Mommy in yet another photo session,
this one to commemorate his BRONZE AGILITY TITLES.

Q = Qualifying Score (no mistakes)
Bronze Title = 25 Q's in either Standard or Jumpers
QQ = two Q's in one day, both Standard and Jumpers courses
MACH (Master Agility CHampion) = 20 QQ's

Maxie's Bronze Lifetime Achievement AKC titles in Standard (MXB) and Jumpers (MJB) both came in this past week and are a very welcome acknowledgement along our way towards MACH.  Interestingly, he got his 25th Q in both Standard and Jumpers in New Iberia this past February 15 and 16, just one day apart. That tells me he is equally skilled in both venues.

These awards are so new to AKC, it never crossed my mind until the certificates came in to pick up ribbons for those titles. I won't be able to get them from the hosting club until next year's trial.  Lacking the rosettes, I decided to take a commemorative picture today, of him amongst our beautiful azeleas, and I couldn't resist sharing one or two of him with our other Paps as well.

Maxie and Pepper doing their "cross your paws" trick.

Maxie acquired his Master's titles (10 Q's) in both Standard and Jumpers almost 18 months ago (my, how time files) and we've been inching up the laddar towards MACH since then, with only 12 QQ's under our belt so far and a long ways to go to Championship.  I'm finding out, it can be long way from a Masters title (10 Q's), to MACH (20 QQ's).  He's had a reasonable 50% Q rate, but rarely 2 clean runs in one day, and doing only about 10 trials a year, it could take a good while longer.

I have reason to hope we can quicken the pace now, as his NQ's (non-qualifying scores) are almost always due to one single fault per run.   I see no scientific or psychological reason why there should be one fault every 19 or 20 obstacles?  In fact, it's absurd for Maxie and me not to Q almost every time!  Yes, yes, that's right, we shall simply quit making errors!!

Master Bronze (25 Q's) in either Standard or Jumpers is, of course, more achievable than MACH.  For slower dogs like Lucky Lucy, who rarely Q's in the fast paced Jumpers courses due to exceeding course time, Bronze and Silver Standard titles may be the only advanced titles she ever earns.  For her to MACH could take years (unless I can speed her up).  So I must say that even though they don't carry the same prestige as MACH, I appreciate the interim Bronze titles.  They give teams some acknowledgement for their hard work, and goals to strive for that can keep us reaching for the gold ring.



L to R:  Willow, Maxie, Pepper
Willow wants no part of those crossed paws.

Upwards and onward,

What Does Winning Mean To Me?

John Cullen, an athletic trainer I follow, posed this question today on his The Winning Process program, and asked us to write down our responses.  He says the two basic types of winning attitudes are, in a nutshell:

1. Comparing yourself to others, and feeling you've won only when you beat them.
2. Comparing yourself to yourself, and feeling you've won with self-improvement.

The full list is on his video, which he asked us to share with everyone, so here's the link:
http://thewinningprocess.cognitive-edge.ca/twp-pl1/

He also asked for comments, which I posted there, and am posting here as well:
I relate to both sets and find them compatible, as follows:

My self-esteem comes from Q's, Placement, & Titles. To achieve those, I have to be improving, and keeping my dogs engaged by having fun. Placement in dog agility doesn't have anything to do with "beating other people", but it serves as a good measuring rod for my own self-improvement. How can I know if I'm as good as I can be if I don't compare myself to what others are succeeding in doing? Maybe I can learn to go a little faster, get tighter turns, straighter lines, more focus, better acceleration, improved body language, etc. I am never jealous of others' achievement, just envigorated to try harder, practice more. I am only competing with myself.

This may sound strange, but my biggest life win, by far, has been figuring out how to let people off the hook, and let my dogs fulfill my great lifelong desire for loyal companionship, undivided attention, and someone to share life with, teach and caretake. All the people in my life are busy doing their own things, ambitious with their own achievements, they rarely look me in the eye and say "what do you want me to do now, let's go". They can't give me what my dogs give me, and that is finally OK. After years of disappointment that family and friends were so busy with themselves they didn't seem to notice what I achieved, didn't want to listen or learn from me, I have finally beat the system!

Which brings up this important point. I love it that AKC provides a framework for competing, and keeps a record of our Q's and Titles. It makes me feel that someone besides myself is watching me, caring how we do, providing benchmarks for measuring our progress, and thinks I'm achieving something "certificate worthy" when I do. My wins are their wins! Hooking into that venue has been very satisfying, and I am always walking around with gratitude in my heart for their significant efforts in organizing this sport. (I only compete in AKC but I presume other clubs provide similar support.)

Thinking this through has been helpful with my mental game, so that's another Upwards and onward for me!

Maxie's AKC Ribbons

Maxie with his OS Titling ribbons, earned in Monroe,
June 2010

Figuring out how to display ribbons we've won is a challenge.  This morning I finally figured out what to do with the Monroe trial ribbons, and here is the result.  I could not get any of my Sony cameras to work, so I used my trusty iPhone, which always seems to work even without any features such as zoom or flash.  It's great for closeups and web shots, at least.

For those who don't know, the green ribbons signify a "qualifying score" that can count towards a title.  The blue ribbons signify 1st Places, and the blue and yellow ribbon in this photo is the actual titling ribbon. 

I blogged yesterday about how we won these ribbons and acquired the caps and other parapranalia shown. Scroll down one post for that.

Maxie and his Novice Titling ribbons, earned

in April and May, 2010

Way earlier I blogged about how we won our Novice ribbons in Baton Rouge and Hattiesburg.  I've never won anything before, so you better best believe I displayed them proudly. I did this by stretching out a wire coathanger, taping the ribbons in order on that, then suspended the coat hanger across the back of a chair, against a backdrop of a hedge outside my front door (photo left). After that, I displayed them on my mantle for several weeks.  Actually, they are still there today.  Guess they'll have to come down to make way for the Christmas garland, but what's the rush?

I'll never forget being chastized by someone for displaying all these ribbons on my mantle at the club picnic, to which I replied that I had added up all the costs of my agility and obedience lessons over 2 years, equipment, weekend seminars, trial entry and hotel fees (not to mention gas) and calculated I'd spent at least $2000 to earn those flimsy little bits of cloth and I was going to darn well display them proudly! 14 ribbons--that's about $150 each. WOW! The costs sneak up on you. Yet several seasoned competitors have told me they've earned so many ribbons they don't even bother to collect them, throw boxes of them away, etc. I can't imagine!!!!!!!!!! I will ALWAYS cherish these first ribbons and these portraits of Max posing in front of them.

FYI, AKC ribbons are printed with the name of the club holding the trial, and different clubs are allowed to provide different designs and sizes depending on their tastes and budgets. But the colors are regulated by AKC. From what I've acquired so far, here's a sample of how the different clubs print their ribbons up: