The Collie Club of Maine has a trial every June, in Scarborough, Maine, about an hour from home. We were there on Friday, and had three fine, though not qualifying, runs.

I have video of our Jumpers run (thanks Susan!).

But the very coolest thing of the day happened, of course, outside the ring, and no one took a picture of it, of course. So you’ll have to imagine the scene. There was a group of older, mostly men, from a veterans’ home who had been brought to the trial as part of  an outing. They were seated in as much shade as was possible, away from the ring. We walked by and several commented on the “doggie.” I asked Chico if he wanted to go say hi, and he did. He didn’t just want to say hi, he wanted three people to pet him at once, and he wanted to sit down on one man’s shoes, his back to the man’s shins, while they did it. And did I have a single cookie on me? Sadly, no.

We started agility not to win ribbons or go to nationals, but so that I could live with a well socialized dog. And we’ve come SO far. The vets just illustrate it so well, it’s thrilling.