A lthough we had wanted a companion dog, I also wanted to exercise his brain and have fun with him and so I decided to take him to obedience classes, as well as hoopers classes. Straight away we could seen how excited he was to have a job. We started Agility training, with our wonderful trainer Jodie, when he was about 18 months old. She asked me what I was expecting from Pascal and I said to have fun. She laughed as she knew would become addicted. And I have ! I started with a one hour class session a week, but as we saw his potential, this became 2 and a half hours as well as one hour hoopers. By doing hoopers, he has learned how to work at a distance which is very beneficial when one is past 60 ! We try to do a couple of shows each month which are sometimes rewarded with rosettes, but are always rewarding as I know he always tries his best and we have fun. We stand in the queue with the spaniels and I hear their owners hoping that their dogs will not run after a scent. I have never had that trouble from Mr P (as he's affectionately called) as he is totally focused on the job until the end of the course. In fact, he is so focused that if I don't tell him where to go quickly, he can get frustrated and jump at me, or I even get a little nip ! What is the downside of training with Pascal ? He doesnʼt have a start line wait. This is probably my fault for not being strict enough when we started training but we didnʼt want him to get bored and loose interest and so let him get away with it. Sometimes he goes a little to fast and knocks jumps which always makes me think of a comment made by Magali “Its rare Smooths who work well in agility, often they are too fast and messy”! What do I love about training ? His willingness to learn , and he does learn quickly,his focus on doing the task given him, his happiness and even his mischievousness. So many times after completing his run at hoopers, he races off to do another round of hoops on his own. It's such a shame that these dogs arenʼt seen around more often. At almost every show, someone asks me what type of dog he is and comments on his good looks. Yes, even his sticking up ears! Would I want to train another type of dog ? Definitely not. Pascal is a joy to all his family and loved by all his team mates.
Corinne Cervi
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