Clean Run - June 2018 - 24

4
7

1
1

1
2

30
6

1
3

8 20
1

1
4

10
1
10

5
20

8
6

when I remember to do that, things are
much improved. So, simple-good old
"keep your eye on your dog"-the best
answers for me almost always go back
to simple things. Simple is not "easy," as
anyone obsessed with making a perfect
omelet knows.

mud from the debris flow there, so bacteria levels are higher than what is safe.
Fortunately, Santa Barbara living means
multiple beach options, and we've also
been enjoying time in the hills before tick
season begins. Nancy took some incredible pictures of me with Starlet while we
were up at Agility Paradise (a.k.a. Power
Paws). I was a little worried about jinxing
Starlet by taking sunset pictures with her,
but they're worth it, and she's still looking good at 15.5 years.

I will be challenging myself to do the
same with the double box drills shown in
Figures 4-6. At this stage, I'm quite confident that I know Rich and my "best"
options, and when we are two weeks out
from Nationals, those will be the options
I will practice the most. But for the next
couple of weeks, I will make myself do
the "oh, dear, do I have to..." options. For
me that inevitably involves a rear cross.
As one of my classes likes to say, "we're
learning to love our rears," and what
could be better for that than a classic
little black dress.
Rich had a few off-courses to tempting
jumps at Nancy's and a similar "I see it,
got it!" caused us problems in one of our
NQ runs at the trial. Granted, my cue was
not great going to the turn, but it's something we need to work on, even if it's just
me paying better attention. I have to remember to look at him, then show him
the pull. I tell myself "see the pull," and

My fitness is back on track. I do need to
get my water intake back up to 4 liters a
day, but my weight is good, moving feels
easy, and I don't feel my shoulders trying
to touch my ears when I accelerate. I have
a reprieve from the evil balance board at
the moment, more of our work has been
on making my acceleration more explosive. I'm sure the balance board will be
back in a couple of weeks, so I'll enjoy my
mountain climbers, push-ups, and jumping around exercises for now.
The dogs are enjoying getting back to
our regular life. Our favorite beaches are
still closed because they are dumping the

I'm traveling to the Northwest to teach a
few days of workshops; then Nancy is coming down here to teach a couple of seminars, which Rich and I will be running in,
then one day of AKC, and then Reno. I'm
happy with how I have things lined up for
the first big event of 2018. I believe we will
be ready, and as is always the case, I will remind myself how lucky I am to have an enthusiastic, healthy partner to play this game
with every time we step to the line. D

Editor's Note:
Hard work does pay off!
Mia and Rich placed
second in the 20" division
at the 2018 AKC National
Agility Championship.
© nancy gyes

Mia Grant has worked with dogs her entire life and discovered agility in 2000. She's been teaching agility in California for over 10 years. With her amazing teammates
Mia has earned many USDAA titles: 4 ADCH, 4 ADCH-Bronze & Lifetime Achievement Bronze, 2 ADCH-Silver & Lifetime Achievement Silver, a Lifetime Achievement
Gold, 2 PDCH, a PDCH-Bronze, and a PDCH-Silver. She and her teammates have been ranked in the USDAA Top 10 on 14 occasions and have been in 12 national finals.
Mia currently lives with two Border Collies: Starlet, recently retired from agility, and Vic.
24

Clean Run | June 18

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - June 2018