Chins in Shreveport, Louisiana, this October. Heaven help us all! Living in the country, I have done all of his training at home in the pasture. His Rally career at the Novice and Intermediate levels was beautiful, earning scores in the high 90s (out of a possible 100), then his indepen- dent “chinnyness” took over at the Advanced level where he found out he was off-lead. He is a smart little boy and has realized, “You can’t touch me!” (The joys of a Chin!) I am try- ing my best to outsmart him and teach him to WANT to heel off-lead instead of visiting with the judge and staring at all the butterflies in the show ring. This fall, my goal is to begin training him for a TD (Tracking Dog). He may never make it as a Search and Rescue Dog, but I am never prouder of him than when I see him put on his tiny thinking cap and try his “little big boy best” to do what I am asking of him. People often think that you must have a Golden Retriever, a Border Collie, or a German Shepherd if you want to excel in performance sports. I have the utmost respect for people as trainers when I see someone out there with a non-traditional breed in the performance ring. I know they are the REAL trainers! It can be done… it just requires a lot of patience, love, and treats. (LOTS OF TREATS!)
He soon began to anticipate training time. We would heel in the house. We would heel in the yard. We would heel in the pasture. Eventually, we would heel, sit, and stay while the chick- ens wandered around us. We started searching for birch oil—the scent used at the Novice level in Scentwork. Banjo would naturally use his paw to indicate scent, so I encouraged this behavior. (Was it me or was he just the cutest thing, sitting beside the box, patting it with his paw, and looking at me to indicate a find?) Banjo currently competes in AKC and UKC events. In AKC he earned his Trick Dog Novice title when he was six months old, his Rally Inter- mediate title, and his SCN (Scent- work Container Novice) title by find- ing one of 10 boxes containing birch oil. He is also the only Chin ever to earn a SHDN (Scentwork Handler Discrimination Novice) by searching 12 boxes and finding my glove hidden in a box out of 10 empty boxes and one with the judge’s glove. In UKC he has competed in Altered Conformation, earning two Altered Reserve BISs, and he has his Novice Nosework titles in Vehicles, Interiors, and Contain- ers. He is also the only Japanese Chin that qualified for UKCs Total Dog In- vitational by earning a performance title and conformation points on the same day. He will be representing all
‘Banjo’
A find in Interiors: He is looking at me telling me that the ‘smelly’ is in the can.
‘Banjo’ indicating a find in Containers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ronda Agrue grew up as a military brat. She’s a retired teacher who now only wakes up early for dog shows. Ronda lives near Hico, Texas, with her husband, Joseph, six dogs, two horses, and chickens
56 • T op N otch T oys , S eptember /O ctober 2022
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