Yesterday, I took my 9-month-old Border Collie, Stoke, to compete in his first disc competition. We competed in the Open Freestyle Division and had so much fun!!
Despite being new, I felt more welcome at this competition than I've ever felt at any Agility Trial. And I've been doing that 3 1/2 years!! Partly because my young dog, Stoke, is very chill and much more laid back than my older Border Collie, Tiki, who competes in Agility. Yet he does have an on switch! He just loves to play! I also think it was way more fun. Seems like the majority of the crowd aren't the type who come up to you and chastise you if you screw up. I mean, in Agility, if you even have a handler error, at least one person will come up to you and act like "OMFG you missed a tunnel. Why even bother??"
Stoke only caught about 50% of the discs yesterday. But he still got a huge applause when his routine was over. When I took him out there to do his routine, I didn't feel a bit nervous. Agility, although fun, can be very nerve-racking. Just because if you or your dog makes any wrong move, you have to worry about how all the other competitors will react. I'm not saying everyone in Agility is like this, but the majority of them are.
Anyway, I'd like to share this video with you all of Stoke competing. Remember, this was his first time ever at a real competition, so his focus was little off!
This was him after his routine, and I think he looks quite pleased with himself.
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