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| My PACH 4 picture. |
Selene’s diary: Mom decided that we are not going to the Nationals this year, and I got my 4th Preferred Agility Champion in September. I finished all 50 Qs in Premier Standard and have 14 Qs left for Premier Jumpers for 2024.
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| Me, mom and Spencer |
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| Me performing the scent discrimination exercise: I have to find the one with Mom’s scent on it. |
Selene’s diary: I started 2023 off with obedience trials at the Utility Dog level. I am still working at it, and mom wanted to see where we are at. Mom kept telling me I am almost 6 years old and I need to catch up. I worked hard. I tried to focus all the time. I got my first Q in Oklahoma in March. Mom was so happy.
We were in Louisiana and mom made a mistake that ended with an error on her part, so I did not get any Qs. The next trial was at Donna’s place where I train. Mom said I needed to pay attention and I Qed both days, so I got my Utility Dog title and my Versatile Companion Dog title.
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| My UD/VCD3 titles picture, June 2023 |
I also finished all 75 Qs each for FAST and Time to beat runs that are required for the Agility Grand Champion title that spring. I was still running 4 runs per trial day. It had been a busy first half of the year.
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| Me on the teeter |
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| My PACH 3 picture, October 2022 |
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| Spencer and I at the French Quarter, December 2022 |
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| Spencer in Mississippi on our way to Nationals |
Selene’s diary: German Shepherd Nationals was in Florida in 2022. We crossed multiple states to get to Florida. I had good fun, so much food. Spencer was worried sometimes, but I told him hey be adventurous.
For me, I was entered in agility and obedience, and mom said that our goal is to get my Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) title (intermediate level obedience). I was entered in 3 days of obedience and I qualified the 2nd and 3rd day and got my last 2 Qs towards the CDX title and also qualified for the Versatile Companion Dog Title 2 (VCD2). I was also the high scoring dog with a tracking title and the high scoring dog with an agility title, so lots of ribbons and I got lots of treats.
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| Me with all my obedience ribbons |
I also did well in agility and I was on the top 20 agility dogs list that year. Unfortunately I was 50 points short of a 3rd Preferred Agility Champion. We stayed in Florida for 2 days with mom’s friend and then we headed towards home. We went to Georgia and mom visited one of her friends. It was a long trip and I was glad to be home after 12 days.
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| Me with all my agility ribbons. |
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| Me at the Georgia state line on the way home |
Selene’s diary: After Sophie went to heaven, I started going back to agility trials in October 2021, starting with the German Shepherd Dog Club Nationals in Missouri. The last time I was there, I was a puppy and Sophie was still with us. We were making rounds in Texas: Belton, Dripping Springs, Leander, Helotes, San Antonio and League City. We went twice out of state: Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Fayetteville, Arkansas in April, 2022. I had enough points and got my last double Q at the end of April in Belton, Texas for a second PACH, just 7 months of trialing, after taking 4 months off last summer. Of course, Dad bought me steak and a McDonald’s gift card.
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| Me jumping |
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| My PACH 2 picture |
Storm’s diary: My brother went to heaven on April 16th. He had been sick and his health deteriorated very fast. X-ray showed he had something in his lungs and several medications did not help. Mom cried and cried, and I looked for him for days. I used to follow him around when I was a kitten and he was my best friend.
Mom loved him the most. He came shortly after Sophie came and mom just lost Sophie not long ago and could not cope with losing him too.
I miss the good old times with him. Since I came when I was just days old, I spent my whole life with him.
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| Me when I was a kitten, with Sunrise |
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| Sunrise was buried next to Sidney, Sophie and Sam |
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| Sunrise sleeps with mom every night |
Storm’s diary: Four days before Halloween in 2021, my canine siblings were barking outside. I looked outside and they were barking at a very tiny white furball. Dad dragged Selene in and Spencer was outside still barking. Mom went out and got Spencer in. She went back outside with oven gloves and picked up the furball.
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| The day Sirius came |
Mom had to take Selene and Spencer to an agility show and Dad was going outside the front porch all weekend. I was wondering what that was. Mom came back Sunday, Halloween, and took the furball to the vet. She came back and said: “Surprise, it’s a girl!”. Dad almost passed out.
Mom then brought her inside and that was when I first got a good look at her. She was all white with black markings, just like Sophie. Mom was saying that Sophie might came back as a cat!
She was very playful and she screams really loud when she was hungry. She was about a month old and mom made her the same birthday as mine: September 28. She weighed about a pound but she was growing fast.
Dad called her “Hop-along” because she had one bad front foot, she was hopping all the time. Mom said she talked to some friends and they all think that a large bird dropped her off and she had a bad landing. Mom even went around the neighborhood looking for a momma cat who looked like her, but there were no kittens anywhere.
She slept inside a pyramid that used to belong to my brother Sam, who is now in heaven. She was inside the bedroom with a fence, but within 2 weeks, she made herself at home and she kept climbing out. She ate about 5-6 times a day and I wish they feed me that many times. She has very blue eyes and mom said she would name her “So blue” if he was a boy.
My 2 human aunts named her Sirius, after the brightest star in the sky, since she really fell from the sky. But she answers to Hop-along.
Pretty soon, mom had to take the gate down because she could not keep her inside, and Siri would jump on me and follow me around. Mom bought her a tunnel and she would hide in the tunnel and then jump on me when I least realized she was waiting on me.
Pretty soon, she became very bossy. She meows all the time, she tried to go downstairs to look at my canine siblings and she had no fear. Maybe it was the “Sophie” in her.
Sunrise diary: Mom had been sleeping in the living room with Sophie for the last 6 months, which means that she is not sleeping with me. I sleep with mom every night she is at home and I miss her a lot, but she told me that Sophie is scared at night, and wanted her to be close to her.
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| Sophie, Spencer and Selene |
On October 5, she came up and climbed into her bed crying and I lied on her head, she said Sophie went to heaven, and she hugged me and kept crying. I was very sad, even though I can sleep with mom again. Sophie and I are about the same age, and I came to live with mom about 9 months after Sophie came. She was a crazy girl, but she never chased me, I never felt that she wanted to eat me.
She was a good watch dog, even when she could not walk. She would always watch the backyard and barked when she sees somebody. I used to go out through the dog door when I was young and I am always scared if I see strangers. Mom always tell me I have to run fast when I am outside so nobody can catch me and I have to run faster than the dogs in the neighborhood.
Spencer came up that night too, along with Selene, who sleeps in a crate so she won’t go after me and my 2 feline siblings. Spencer said Sophie ate her breakfast and decided to walk over the rainbow bridge after lunch. Spencer said he was very sad, Sophie had been in his whole life and taught him everything, always his security blanket and now his best friend is gone. Spencer never ran after me, and that night he slept next to mom on his bed while I was on mom’s pillow.
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| Sophie is buried next to Sidney and close to our Feline brother Sammy |
Selene’s diary: Since I got my Champion Tracker title in March, mom said I needed to go back to agility competition and get my 4 double Qs. We went to Belton in April and I did not get any double Qs. I had quite a few drop bars and I felt I was out of sync. Three of my four paw pads took turns cracking in the winter and it hurt when I land after jumping. I just need more time to go back in shape. By then the weather was fairly warm and mom said we have to find places to go so we can leave Sophie in the car. In the mean time I did a lot of jumping drills in the back yard and mom taught me how to stretch and warm up.
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| Me coming out of the weaves |
So our next stop was Alabama. Mom found a show site there with a big cover parking area where we can crate out of the car. So we had to leave Spencer behind again. We stopped in Mississippi Wednesday night and headed towards Alabama on Thursday. We got to Alabama Thursday afternoon, and we went to check out the show site and so I could pee. Then we went to the hotel. Sophie was happy with her freshly prepared meal. Friday we woke up early and mom walked Sophie in the parking lot so she could exercise in her wheelchair. Then we went to the show site and found a good spot under the cover. It got warm during the day but not hot. I got a double Q Friday and mom bought me a steak from Texas roadhouse. She ate all the mushrooms though.
Saturday my runs were not until later in the day and it was warm. I qualified in jumpers but went into the wrong side of the tunnel so no double Q. Mom said I did well but I need double Qs. So no steak for me.
Sunday it was cooler in the morning and mom said it was my last chance to get another double Q, and I did. We finished by midday and mom got me and Sophie lunch, which was Sophie’s favorite can food. We started heading back home and mom said she will buy me something special when we get to the hotel in Mississippi. Sophie started screaming at 4 pm cos she was hungry and I began to worry when my special treat is coming. We got to the hotel at 5:30pm and mom said she got to cook and feed Sophie first. I got my dinner but I had not forgotten about my treat. Mom said she ordered it and she got to go pick it up.
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| Sophie waiting on the couch for dinner |
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| Me with my Cracker Barrel treat |
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| Me on the A frame |
Finally the moment came. I finished running and mom went to grab one of the jump bars and I thought she was going to hit me on the head. But we went over to the judge and she congratulated us. Mom said I will have steak as reward. She put me in the car and we drove to meet Dad and got Sophie and Spencer out of Dad’s car. Both of them were very upset. Spencer was so upset he had diarrhea on our drive home.
Mom promised Sophie that we would not be travelling in the summer and she said I would be taking a break from competitions. I really do not mind going to agility trials if there is food involved.
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| My PACH picture |
Selene’s diary: Since I got my Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX) title in November 2019, I had been training for the Variable Surface title (VST). My training stopped during the COVID pandemic and then pretty soon it was summer. I hate the heat and the concrete surface burns my nose, so I do not like to track in the summer. When fall of 2020 came, mom said it was time to get my act together. So mom started to go lay me practice tracks and we would go to Braum’s to get my very favorite vanilla yogurt in a waffle cone after. Not all cones are the same, crispy waffle cones makes me salivate, and sometimes all I can think of is the cone when I track.
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| Me tracking in a VST test in Kansas |
I was not very good at sniffing on asphalt and mom would take me to this church parking lot. The ladies who work there always come watch me from the window and they all wanted to pet me, but mom told me that I have to ignore distractions. Sometimes they even come out and watch me!
Soon after mom retired from her job and we went tracking 3-4 times a week. My second favorite treat is McDonald’s french fries. I love it when mom and I would split a french fries. Mom always give me the long ones cos she did not want me to bite her fingers off. Hahaha!
My older sister Sophie who has degenerative myelopathy could not walk by that time. And mom said I have to be very confident in passing because we will have to take Sophie with us and she does not like to travel. We practiced a lot during the winter and March 2021 came, I think I am ready for show time.
My first test was in Overland Park, Kansas. Spencer had to stay home because mom said he is too needy and she could not take care of Sophie and him on the road. We got to Kansas a day early so mom could visit with her aunt and cousin. Sophie was very upset and she refused to eat Saturday. Mom was very upset and worried. Me? I wanted to eat her food since she was not going to eat anyways. Test day came, and it was very windy, 27 miles hour wind. I head out strong, and I made the first turn on grass to the spot very effortlessly. I was heading to the parking lot and missed the MOT (Moment of truth turn: turn on non-vegetated surface) and went to the other side. I started sniffing and realized that that was not it. So I turned back to go to the parking lot. Then I started to pick up the scent and was heading towards the article when the judge blew the whistle. Mom was disappointed but I thought I did a good job. We stopped by McDonald’s and mom got Sophie some chicken nuggets, and she was like “Now we are talking”! She said she wants her food freshly prepared. We spent the night in Oklahoma before we made it back home Monday.
Mom said we needed to practice a couple more times before we leave Saturday for Tulsa, Oklahoma. I think there is nothing wrong with my nose. Mom was worried about Sophie so she bought a pot to cook for her in the hotel. We got to Tulsa Saturday afternoon with Sophie and mom said I need to have a good night’s sleep cos we got to get up early.
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| My Champion Tracker picture with the judges And tracklayer |
We got up at 5 am and mom cooked us breakfast and we got to the test site at 7 am. It was a sunny day and almost no wind. Mom said I better pass because Sophie does not like to travel. Sophie said both she and Spencer has a Champion Tracker title and I, coming from 5 generations of IPO parents and grandparents and so on, should be able to do it.
The test was held at 3 different sites. We stayed at Site #1 until about 11 am and mom gave us lunch, and I did my potty and mom said it is almost time so we headed towards site #3 where my track was.
I drew the last track, we got to the site and waited and waited. I fell asleep since I had been sitting in the car for 5 hours. Mom finally woke me up and said it was my turn. We had to leave Sophie in the car and she was not happy. She screamed at us when we left.
So here I was, the first turn was on grass then onto asphalt. Bingo! We had been practicing on asphalt and it was easy peasy. I got to the 1st interim article very effortlessly. Then 2nd interim article came. I continued to sniff but then I think I sniffed a rabbit, or maybe a cat? I just went all over cos I needed to find it. I was pulling mom and she kept telling me “Selene! Are you out of your mind?”. She knows that when I pulled her crazy like that I am not tracking. I needed to find out what that smell is. Finally I heard her said “Selene, where is it?” Oh then I realized that I am tracking, need to work for my treat, so I pulled her and headed towards the track. I pulled her so hard that she needed to run, but she knows that when I do that it is the right way.
So I headed towards the street and made a turn and I found the steel box, so I told her “This is it!” She could not pick it up, then she said. “Selene, that’s not it”, I touched it with my nose and said “This is it!”. So I started to sniff out rabbits. I kept going towards the parking lot, and mom said “Selene, where is it?” What! So I went back and told her a second time, that steel box is it! She could not pick it up. So I went back to looking for rabbits. Then one of the judges called mom’s name and we walked towards the judges. Mom said “Selene I cannot believe you failed!” One of the judges said “Congratulations” and mom said good girl to me and I was so excited that I jumped up and pushed mom to the ground and licked her. It turned out that the steel box was buried into the ground so the judges had to dig it up. If I could speak, I would have told them “I told you so twice!”.
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| I was so excited I pushed mom to the ground At the end of the track. |