Saber passes her TDX!

May 2, 2024

Colonial Rottweiler Club Specialty in New Jersey

We were first draw for TDX and drew track 1. This was good because it was getting warm.

We drove to our track. I made Saber drink some water (Thank you Betty for teaching me to put hot dogs in her water!) because it was already warm. I put Saber in her harness and off to the start flag. She approached the flag with enthusiasm. This is exciting! This is fun! She had a good start and nice first turn and then she sat. She sat and looked at me. It was warm and dry – not her favorite. I’m thinking oh shit, she doesn’t want to play. But she had a little water and went back to work. At this point I am thinking there is no way we are getting this done, but kept rolling with it. After the test the judges told me she sat on the first set of cross tracks. Maybe she needed a minute to think. I would love to know what goes on her little brain.

She made the next turn perfectly. The third leg was 185 yards. She moseyed down the track, took a side skirmish to sniff, crossed through some woods, and overshot the turn. I ended up backing up probably a good 15-20 yards and gave her more water. She eventually found the track and kept motoring. She found her first article and followed it up with a deer poop snack. The next turn was good. We headed up a hill and found another article. Then we got to farm equipment and she sniffed around a turn. She took me into wood that did not look like they had been entered and waited for a whistle. Exiting the woods I saw the track and thought holy crap we’ve got to be close.

She got to the final article and wanted to know where her ball was. She thinks the lack of dog-friendly celebrating is bullshit. For the record - kisses are not an adequate substitute for squeaky balls. We did go back to the HQ at the park and play some chuck it. Those were the highlights. There were a couple of other water stops 4-5 in total when she seemed to be slowing or getting too distracted. It was so exciting to have it all come together. That may be the hardest Saber has ever had to work. I am so proud of her. Next up VST.