INTRODUCING SAILOR!
TTT: Let's start with the essentials: What's your pup's
name, breed, and age.
WANDA: Backcreek’s Sailor Girl AKA Sailor Bug and Sailor
Doodle, Boykin Spaniel, 2.5 years.
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| Wanda's Sailor showing off her jumping skills! |
TTT: Now a bit of the story: when, where, why, and how did
this pup come to you and agility?
WANDA: I have owned Boykin Spaniels longer than I would like
to admit. I knew that I wanted a smaller
dog. So I went on the hunt for a dog that came from smaller parents, but had excellent
health certifications. Also, the dog had to have a sweet personality. I found a
breeder that my sister happened to know. He would call in the local kids to
socialize the puppies. He had Show-me Boykins and one of his dogs had just
sired a litter and he was to get the pick of the litter. So, the two of us
drove up in the country to Mt Ulla NC and the two breeders and I picked out
Sailor. Both breeders were excited to place a dog in an agility home.
WANDA: I think we all forget how hard basic puppy training
is. I was very lucky to have Christine be my puppy sitter during Sailor’s first
six months. Then Anne stole her from me. It is an ongoing joke between us. The
most rewarding is her sweet personality. She loves all people and
creatures.
TTT: What challenges have you faced training this dog
compared with others? What did he or she excel at?
WANDA: Sailor took a long time to mature and I just let her
be a puppy. A lot of the puppies that were coming up with her were much quicker
to start competing. I just felt that she was not ready and that she needed to
grow up. Sailor excels at counter surfing.
Without a doubt, she is one of the best counter surfer’s I have ever
known.
WANDA: First I taught her to play. She learned to retrieve
and to swim. These are things she should have a natural ability and love for. After
that, I started obstacle training and we still train obstacles every time we go
to the field. Thanks to Mary Evans, she has had a lot of obedience. I am in no
hurry to move up with her. I have tried to take notes after every trial of things
that we need to work on. I think her worst agility skill is jumping. She has
terrible form. So, we are committed to working on jump training. Both of us
find it boring, but I find it necessary. Other than the obedience, Sailor
always thinks that we are just playing when we are training. If I were a better
obedience trainer, she would think that was play too. She and I both hate
obedience.
WANDA: I did not enter her in a trial until I thought she
was ready. I had a definition of ready. She had to be able to perform all of
the obstacles to my criteria, she had to have a start line stay, and she had to
stay engaged with me while in the ring. So instead of entering at 18 months
old, she was 26 months old when she entered her first trial.
TTT: Share your
secrets: what's one silly thing you and your agility teammate do together when
no one is looking?
WANDA: Shower together. She loves it. She does not like the
soap…just the water. She thinks it is
raining in the house.
TTT: One word that
best describes this pup:
WANDA: Brownsugar
