Jig’s Journey ~ 2015 ASCA Nationals Wrap-up

I made it home Friday afternoon and I’m still trying to get back into the swing of my usual routine. That’s always hard after an extended vacation. Triply hard this time. And with the rest of the month being just as busy, I don’t foresee a chance to catch my breath until November.

The trip to TN was great fun, all things considered. As usual, I got to visit with folks I only see once a year. I watched a lot of runs, laughed, ate, drank, cried… you know, the usual. One thing I didn’t do was accomplish my goals for this Nationals. That’s okay, though. Jig is a tough dog with a lot of drive and it’s going to take a while to get a handle on her.

She had, as usual, moments of brilliance. Moments where we stood balanced on that edge. More often than not we toppled off the far side, sometimes due to my handling, but for that brief space of time it was golden. She knows her stuff, now it’s just a matter of getting her to acknowledge I may just know a little something as well. That, and you don’t need to be pushing All. The. Freaking. Time.

I’m already looking forward to 2016, and have a list of things to work on. We won’t be going to Nationals, but we will be hitting a few more trials to get some more time and miles on the girl. I also need to get her off the farm for some training sessions. She’s a freaking rocket scientist at home. On the road, however, she doesn’t think she needs to be quite so good.

Back to golden moments… when I went through the pile of mail waiting on my return, I found the pictures I had ordered from the RRV trial in September were there. I’m sharing those below because they depict some of the instances when Jig and I were not only in the same book, but on the same damn page. **All photos copyright Dick Bruner**