needed to know right then. Th e timer said go and I directed Mac around the course to acquire the points needed in the open- ing. Th e horn signalled time to attempt the gamble, I sent Mac out to it and he nailed it beautifully and crossed the finish line under time! What then made my day was the huge round of applause that everybody gave to Mac for a job well done! Morgan was still working on the points for her MACH when she was retired from agility due to back issues. She earned her AAD and Relay Master title in USDAA which was the first Master games title earned by a Cairn terrier. Mac became my first MACH dog. He eventually added the MACH2 and PAX titles to his name and was the first Cairn Eerrier to earn the AKC Master FAST title. He was the first Cairn to earn other Master and Champion titles in USDAA and is the highest titled Cairn terrier in the USDAA Championship program. Over the years more and more Cairn Terriers owners have discovered agility and their Cairns have proven themselves very successful at it. Cairn Terriers now com- pete in all agility venues and have earned titles at all levels. Th ey have represented the breed at the AKC Invitational and the AKC Agility Nationals for several years. Since courses are di ff erent each time we compete, this really suits our smart little Cairns who always like it fresh and di ff er- ent from the last time. Th e handlers receive green ribbons to mark their success, while our little friends enjoy the dog treats or squeaky toys they have earned even more. Over the past fifteen years of training and competing in agility with a total of four dogs, the most important thing I have learned is to enjoy the journey. It is over with each dog much too soon. Both Mac and Morgan are gone now, but I thank both of them for what I learned from them and from so many others in the world and sport of agility.
Mac in the weavepoles in Masters. Photo by PawPrints
a popular handling option which worked very well for Morgan. We did not do much work on contact performances for the dog- walk or aframe because “small dogs never miss the contact zone”. LOL! Since Mor- gan was the first dog I had ever trained, we learned so much together from the various instructors, classes, trials and runs. When I added another Cairn Terrier to my family, Mac, many of my friends and acquaintances were shocked and sur- prised. Since I enjoyed agility so much, they assumed I would switch to a Sheltie or Border Collie for my next dog. However, Morgan and I were having so much fun and success in agility, that it never crossed my mind to change breeds. Mac benefitted a great deal from what I learned with Mor- gan--not to show disappointment when an error was my fault (98% of the time), to always keep it fun even when my dog did not do what I wanted on course and to be able laugh at at myself, my Cairn, or both of us when things did not go our way. One thing to be aware of is that not every agility instructor enjoys work- ing with terriers. Cairns can be tough because while smart, they are independent
thinkers. Th ings need to be kept di ff erent and interesting to keep them motivated. Incentives that work with the retrieving breeds do not necessarily work with terri- ers. Some agility skills and handling moves need to be repeated in training, but most terriers do not enjoy basic drilling the way other breeds do. It is important to find someone who wants to take on the chal- lenge of working with a terrier. I found someone who loved working with Mac and really helped me develop the distance skills that we needed to succeed in USDAA Gamblers and AKC FAST. Many people do not think little dogs can achieve the distance skills necessary for these classes, but Mac proved them wrong. One of the things I love most about agility is all of the great people who par- ticipate in it. Th ey each love their own breed, but cheer for others when they suc- ceed. One of my favorite memories with Mac was running USDAA Master Gam- blers one morning. Th e entire Performance 3 (i.e. Masters Performance) class had failed to get the gamble. I had not real- ized this until I stepped to the line and someone mentioned it. Great! Not what I
“...The mosT imporTanT Thing i have learned is To enjoy The journey.”
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