This past sunday, Nathan and I took Chana to the 2nd agility trial of the season in our region (Rhone-Alpes). We were blessed with a warm weather, and the first outdoor trial experience was nothing but positive.
Chana brought home two trophies this time, one for Jumping (1st place out of 9 dogs) and the other for Open (2nd place out of 9 dogs). She ended up on the 2nd because she committed a fault by touching the long jump. We should have trained with that more often! For the third run (GPF), I made a mistake by running to fast at the end of the dog walk. As a result, she missed the contact zone. Had it not been for this fault, she would have been the 3rd.
As the weather gets better, I assume there would be more dogs in our category. I believe it was a good idea to register for the two early competitions to make Chana get gused to the environment.
You may be wondering why we are doing this? I think it all comes down to the fact that I love taking tests, exams, or any kind of evaluations. It helps me find the weakness and helps to improve. Although it is quite tiring, I will continue to aim higher with a hope to run like a ballerina one day :).
Despite the cold, the agility season in the region of Rhone-Alpes started this weekend (February 11 and 12) in Annonay, 150km east of Grenoble. The trial was held inside the "boulorome," where the national sport of Petanque is usually enjoyed. We participated on Sunday, and there were close to 80 dogs entered. It was a full day event, and you gotta love dogs or you are not a happy camper.
It was our first trial ever in our career of any dog sports, and we came back with a trophy and a bag of food! Not a bad start, eh?
In France, at the trial you can run 4 times:
Open/Open Plus : standard course with contact obstacles (A-frame, dog walk, teeter). More experienced dogs run in Open Plus.
Jumping/Jumping Plus : jumpers course without contact obstacles.
Grand Prix de France: If you accumulate 3 Excellents under 3 different judges in the region, you are entitled to participate in the Sélectif du Grand Prix de France.
Degrés : If your dog has a LOF (Livre des origines français)/registered, you run in 1st (novice), 2nd (advanced), or 3rd (master) degree.
(All together, it costs 13 euros, and to participate in the trial, you have to be a member of a local dog club. See my post on Agility in France No. 2.)
So in our case, we ran the first three, as Chana is not a purebred dog with a paper. There were 11 dogs entered all together in Chana's jump height (Categorie B), and in the Open and Jumping, there were only 6 (as other 5 are in Plus). I must say it was truly an ideal trial to make our debut.
In the morning, Chana ran the Open, and did excellent without a fault. In mid-afternoon, we ran GPF, and Chana was rather distracted and started refusing taking some of the jumps. In late afternoon, we ran Jumping, and she decided that it was too much and she left the course. Hence she ended up eliminated. After all, we really need to work on focus. My theory for Chana leaving the course is that she saw someone with food. My regret is that I did not call her name when she was in the tunnel.
Despite the elimination, we still ended up on the 3rd podium thanks to the small number of participants. A lot to think about, and a lot to work on, but I am glad our first trial ended up on a positive note. Again, never underestimate Chana. Good job earning your food doggie, but you still have to work for it :). Our next trial is March 4th. Stay tuned!
It has been soooooooo cold here in Grenoble. I even put my ski pants on to take Chana for a walk. Ugh. I hate being cold. If this was not France, what would I have done? Here are the tokens that France offer to compensate for the weather.
1: La galette des rois (January) : I made it twice this year, and it was easy and delicious. We will have to make this our family tradition wherever we live.
2: Les soldes(January 11-February 14) : There are only two sale seasons in France, so why miss it? However, as I hardly ever go shopping, it was painful to step inside crowded and perfume-y stores.
3: Les crêpes (February) : Candlemas (February 2) is celebrated with crêpes. The easiest and fastest meal and dessert combo.
4: Les bugnes(February) : February is a month of crispy donuts called bugnes. I have no intention of deep frying at home, so we thank our boulangeries for their excellent work.
5: Les vacances d'hiver (February 11-26) : Schools are on holiday! In France, on top of the long two months summer holiday, kids have 1.5 weeks at the end of October, 2 weeks for Christmas, 2 weeks for February, 2 weeks for Easter. This applies to my teaching schedule as well, so I am off for two Wednesdays!
6: Free French classes (January-March) : Yes, I am taking French classes again funded by the government. It is four afternoons a week. Thank you France!
Well, to tell you the truth, I have not been able to enjoy any of the above for the last few days as I am sick again! I hardly ever take medicine nor go see a doctor voluntarily, but today I took care of myself. This is the worst year of catching colds or getting ill in my life! I think what happened is that I laxed the cleanliness level from a OCPD level to a French level. Let's look at this as I am building a stronger immune system.
Although we live right in front of the entrance to the Bastille, we hardly ever take a stroll up unless there is absolutely nothing else to do. Today was one of those days, and Chana and I left happy-happy-joy-joy with very little in my pockets, without knowing how this beautiful afternoon turns into a thrilling one...
I was listening to music with my iPhone, which is very rare, and it probably meant that my voice talking to Chana was a bit louder than usual. So here is my advice for you. When you are in a wooded area by yourself, don't be so joyful talking to your dog or to yourself. Or you will attract a pervert. At least I managed to get one. This is the second pervert in France: the first one was in Arles in 1997, so I guess there has to be one every 15 years! In fact, I may have only seen them in France. Interesting.
At first when I saw him, Chana was going to check him out as she was off-leash. If she had not done that, I would have not noticed of his existence and I might have kept going up. I called her back and registered the situation, and I decided to go down the hill. Thankfully, I had iPhone to call the police, no Opinel but a small Victorinox, and a black plastic bag with Chana's present inside. Everything was planned in my head in case he got anywhere near me. I ran down the hill, but it is a switch back. He was coming down the stairs which led straight down, so I had to "see" him three times every time I came back to the right turn down. The scariest part was when he was looking down on me from above wooded area, but by then he was well dressed.
I reported this at the info desk at the Archaeological museum located at the foot of the mountain, and I made sure nobody was following me home. I even took out the extended lens on my SLR and checked the area I was flashed. Ha ha. This is what the book 1Q84 does to you.
And as I type to wind down, I start thinking, maybe he was not a flasher but he was going to the bathroom? Either way, really. Keep your pants up in public, please. I had never felt so strongly that I should have trained Chana to do Ring Français. Here is her practicing, massacring a rhinoceros.
In December, I received a letter from OFII inviting me to a compulsory meeting to do "le bilan de compétence = ability assessment." Shortly before that, I had sent in a request to take more free language lessons, so I naturally thought this would be the meeting where I could make a plea to take classes though my visa expires in less than six months.
The day before the meeting, the counsellor called me and asked for my CV. Well, it turns out that this meeting at VAR had nothing to do with my language classes but simply to inform me that I should look for jobs at Pole-Emploi, equivalent of Job Bank or Hello Work. The counsellor gave me some advice where I should look for jobs according to my background, but it is my responsibility to contact Pole-Emploi and register myself as a job-seeker. As curious as George, I am planning on making an appointment with Pole-Emploi. By doing so, I hope I am not raising the unemployment rate in France...
Today is Chana's 6th birthday! Happy birthday Chana!
According to Pedigree Dog Age Calculator, six years old in Cocker Spaniel (ASCOB) years is equivalent to forty years old in human years, and she is considered "a senior dog" instead of "an adult dog." I wonder when people will stop asking me whether Chana is a puppy or not.
