Team lime green has started working in sync. Mom trains me like she trained Olivia because it has brought a lot of success. It appears that this is starting to happen with me as well. If we trial a lot, Mom feels like we start to really āknowā each other with searching and from that success will happen. Saturday we got up at three in the morning to drive to Camp Hantesa in Boone, Iowa for another Elite trial. My first two this year were not the best and Mom says we were simply not connected. They were also pretty tough trials too.
We noticed in my element trial in Michigan that we seemed to be clicking as a team and not needing as much time to solve odor puzzles as usual. Mom has been very unhappy using almost all the time in every search lately. She needs to find the courage to know when I am done and call finished sooner rather than later. It is not only good for placements but it helps me stay motivated because Iām not being asked to work when I am really done working.
Saturday, we had a Grand trial. Despite getting up so early we were energized and ready to work. I received a pronounced and lots of in person compliments after my first search from the judge. Mom called finished with about fifty seconds of time left and we both felt confident we did well. The second search was a bit more difficult and we did use almost all the time but I also found the last hide just before time was called. After our morning searches we were feeling good about our day. Mom said we were working in sync and I could tell she was starting to understand and trust me.
The afternoon was a lot of fun. We searched an art building full of stuff and I found all the hides, number unknown, with over a minute of time left when Mom called finish. Our final search was a known number of four and I found them with over a minute of time left. Mom and I were both very pleased with our searches. At the end of the day, we found out I found all eighteen hides and placed third overall. Iāve never found that many hides in a trial before! My belly was full of meatballs and happiness. (Mom makes mini meatballs for trial treats, one per hide, broken into a few pieces so one is like four)
On the way out of town we stopped to pose with this train. Momās dadās family came from Sweden and settled in Dayton, Iowa. Boone and Fort Dodge are close, bigger towns to Dayton. Growing up Mom always heard stories about Boone and Fort Dodge, so it was fun to do well in this town. Because of the history, a Boone train photo is a Grand idea and it even looks good with my black and white ribbon.
Mom took the navigator, Olivia and Madison, to Dayton in September 2025 to visit a lot of places her relatives lived. There is the farmhouse which has been modernized. Momās gramma was born and lived there when she was little. They then moved to a fancy house in town. While they were there they also visited the cemetery. Mom has a lot of photos from that trip which was, of course, combined with dog sports!
My GBGV Life is happy, so weāre joining Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday!
