Kili got an invite for a demo

[krissy]

I check my blog e-mail rather infrequently since I don't get much mail there. Well, I checked it yesterday and had two e-mails from September... so I guess I need to check it a little more often.

One of those e-mails was from the organizer of a pretty big greyhound event asking if we would ever consider doing a demo! I'm flattered beyond belief. I e-mailed them back to get some details since I'm not really sure what they had in mind... but I'm not sure.

Naturally there are the obvious hurdles... time and money. The event is in Utah, so I would either have to drive down (it's 20 hours of driving) which would eat up 4 extra days of my vacation time. Or I would have to fly... which means money and also flying my dog, which I'm not crazy about.

Then there's the actual performance stuff. As I said, at this point I have no idea what they're interested in having us do. I'm assuming some sort of agility demo... which assumes they can get equipment from somewhere. I'd probably throw in some tricks and the little bit of disc that Kili does. However, the major sticking point is that Kili is just a baby dog. She's only started trialing, and we're still working through some pretty big focus issues. And this gathering is 300 people at capacity (I'm sure they won't ALL turn up for the demo, but still...) which is a way bigger crowd than Kili will ever see before then.

The event isn't until mid-May. That gives us about 6 months of training to get on top of her focus/distraction/stress, which I've started working on hard recently anyway. I'm just not sure if it's do-able. If I agreed to do it, I would of course do so with the disclaimer that we would not be approaching it in a very "formal" demo manner but more as a "peak into a training session" so that I can keep it a lot lighter and more fun for myself and Kili.

Anyway, I guess I'm just curious what your thoughts/feelings would be if if were your dog. I think it would potentially be a great experience for us if we're able to do it the right way (low pressure, informal, fun)... but I worry that it's too much and that's the last thing I want to do.

 

[Sekah]

Congrats!

Full disclosure -- if you hadn't moved I would have invited you to check out our demo team too. Agility greyhounds are few and far between!

That sounds pretty cool. But in my honest opinion (and possibly somewhat coloured by the fact that I do demos relatively regularly), that sounds like an awful lot of work for not a lot of payoff. That's a huge travel commitment, especially for a show for a max of 300 people. Clearly, if you have the time to spare, it's entirely your call how you want to spend your vacation days so don't let that colour your decision too much.

As for the actual performance stuff, you know your dog best. For Cohen and Mega, 300 people isn't terribly distracting. For your girl it may be overload. Demos themselves are pretty taxing on dogs, especially if it's long-ish stints focusing on one dog. Do you know how the demo would be set up? You and a team? Just you running agility then doing tricks then doing disc then greeting the crowd then... ?

As for the equipment, transporting equipment is no easy feat. It sounds like you're contemplating going pretty far out of your way for the demo already, so try not to take on more than you're prepared for. Be clear on what you need them to take care of and don't take it upon yourself to do everything. It'd be a recipe for stress and an un-fun trip (at least for me!). Don't be afraid to ask about payment, accommodations, gas reimbursement and food. For for most shows, I tend to get a small lump sum per event and my parking comp'd. If it's an away show the team reimburses my gas and pays for my hotel, and will sometimes order in some food mid-day if the show is a long one.

What event is it for? Has it been held before? Any precedents that you can look at to decide if you want to go? If it's been a great success for the last 10 years running, that's awesome. If it's brand new this year, it's possible no one will show up and you just worked 6 months towards performing for half a dozen people in the rain.

That's my ramble! I'd love to hear more about it.

 

[krissy]

Full disclosure -- if you hadn't moved I would have invited you to check out our demo team too. Agility greyhounds are few and far between!

Awww! Thanks! That means so much coming from someone with such awesome dogs! Darn it, why did I move? We have the SuperDogs here... maybe with some work Kili could try out for that. Sky's the limit... right?

That sounds pretty cool. But in my honest opinion (and possibly somewhat coloured by the fact that I do demos relatively regularly), that sounds like an awful lot of work for not a lot of payoff. That's a huge travel commitment, especially for a show for a max of 300 people. Clearly, if you have the time to spare, it's entirely your call how you want to spend your vacation days so don't let that colour your decision too much.

Well... it IS a greyhound event and I LOVE those and there aren't really any big ones in Canada. I've been wanting to go to one of these big US ones for awhile but money... time... life. So even if the demo ends up being kind of a minor part of the whole thing, I'd likely still enjoy a vacation to Utah for a greyhound event. But it's not like I'd likely be going if not for the demo (because otherwise it's kind of hard to justify taking a vacation).

As for the actual performance stuff, you know your dog best. For Cohen and Mega, 300 people isn't terribly distracting. For your girl it may be overload. Demos themselves are pretty taxing on dogs, especially if it's long-ish stints focusing on one dog. Do you know how the demo would be set up? You and a team? Just you running agility then doing tricks then doing disc then greeting the crowd then... ?

I'm not sure yet. I'm waiting for them to get back to me about what they were hoping for. My thoughts if it were completely up to me would be to do several short demos over 2 days (it's a 3 day event) since it would likely just be myself and Kili (if I drove I could bring Summit too, but I would never fly him just for a brief cameo). My thoughts would be to do a short agility course then put her away and talk a little bit/answer questions. Then bring her back out to demo a few tricks and a bit of disc. Then let people come meet her if they, and (more importantly) she want. This really wouldn't be a big long thing. I'm basically thinking it'll be like me training with her normally. Run some agility drills, train some tricks, etc.

As for the equipment, transporting equipment is no easy feat. It sounds like you're contemplating going pretty far out of your way for the demo already, so try not to take on more than you're prepared for. Be clear on what you need them to take care of and don't take it upon yourself to do everything. It'd be a recipe for stress and an un-fun trip (at least for me!). Don't be afraid to ask about payment, accommodations, gas reimbursement and food. For for most shows, I tend to get a small lump sum per event and my parking comp'd. If it's an away show the team reimburses my gas and pays for my hotel, and will sometimes order in some food mid-day if the show is a long one.

I would not be transporting equipment. There's no way. First of all... I don't have any serious agility equipment. I have a few jumps and 2x2 weaves, and that's it. If they want an agility demo they'll have to borrow/rent equipment from a local trainer.

As for costs... it's run by/for a charity, so not sure how much of my expenses can be covered. If they are covering a lot of my expenses it becomes a little bit of an easier decision, but I'm not expecting it.

What event is it for? Has it been held before? Any precedents that you can look at to decide if you want to go? If it's been a great success for the last 10 years running, that's awesome. If it's brand new this year, it's possible no one will show up and you just worked 6 months towards performing for half a dozen people in the rain.

It's an event that's been held for several years and the attendance is usually around that 250-300 mark from my understanding. It's a fundraiser for a greyhound adoption group basically.

That's my ramble! I'd love to hear more about it.

Answers are in bold... 'cause I'm lazy like that!

 

[Sekah]

Once you have Kili running more reliably you should totally hit up Superdogs! PM me and we can talk more.

 

[MandyPug]

If you are interested in Superdogs, then get a hold of Dan with K9 Korruption up in Edmonton He's awesome with demo stuff. He performs with superdogs and i know they do demos at local fundraiser things and at the Eskimos games. Even held an audition day this past spring for Superdogs. I know a few people on their team actually.

 

[krissy]

If you are interested in Superdogs, then get a hold of Dan with K9 Korruption up in Edmonton He's awesome with demo stuff. He performs with superdogs and i know they do demos at local fundraiser things and at the Eskimos games. Even held an audition day this past spring for Superdogs. I know a few people on their team actually.

Funny. I just talked to him yesterday about starting agility classes with them in November. I don't know if Kili and I will ever be SuperDogs material. Maybe I'm selling us short but SuperDogs is... I dunno, it's hard to imagine a dog I trained being in a big show. But who knows! That would be amazing!

 

[MandyPug]

Funny. I just talked to him yesterday about starting agility classes with them in November. I don't know if Kili and I will ever be SuperDogs material. Maybe I'm selling us short but SuperDogs is... I dunno, it's hard to imagine a dog I trained being in a big show. But who knows! That would be amazing!

Good! I like Sue too but Dan is good shiznit lol.

Would it encourage you to know I also have a friend who currently is in Superdogs with her IGs and Dachshund and just got a Azawakh that will be in Superdogs as well when he's grown up? They look for all types.

 

[krissy]

Good! I like Sue too but Dan is good shiznit lol.

Would it encourage you to know I also have a friend who currently is in Superdogs with her IGs and Dachshund and just got a Azawakh that will be in Superdogs as well when he's grown up? They look for all types.

Awesome. Good to get a recommendation on a trainer from someone I actually know. Going to new trainers always gives me the butterflies. I've been so lucky to find great trainers so far in my life.

And that is nice to know that they are interested in non-traditional sport dogs. People need to see more of them! I think Kili would actually be a great demo dog if we can get on top of her focus issues. (We had such a wonderful class tonight... I think there is hope for baby dog.)

 

[Sekah]

The curse of all demo teams is having a million border collies and not much else if they're not careful. The ones I know go out of their way to find non-traditional breeds to fill out their lineups. Your greyhound doesn't need to navigate an agility course like the Worlds team border collie. That you've already done things that are beyond what is considered typical for your breed is pretty awesome.

 

[krissy]

The thing about this demo that we've been asked to do is that I think it's really great to show people that greyhounds CAN do more than just be couch ornaments. The one downfall of course, is that Kili is show bred and I've had her from 8 weeks... so not your typical retired racer. That said, I do know a great agility competitor that has great success with retired racers. And Summit could have been pretty decent if I'd gotten him younger and had the time/money to invest earlier.

Actually, there's a greyhound in the Thursday night class that I got to meet for the first time last night. Wednesday night is my usual class but I couldn't make it, so I went to the Thursday class. It's pretty awesome that they do agility with him, though when I tried to offer suggestions I met all sorts of excuses... and that's the biggest problem with greyhound owners I find. The "well he's a greyhound" excuse. Zoomies are absolutely a problem. Not knowing how to jump... absolutely a problem. I guess my thing is just that I wish I could get through to people that those are problems, but they shouldn't be excuses. Kili has major issues with focus. It's a problem. But I don't use it as an excuse to say that she can never compete or never Q or never get her Lifetime. I feel like some publicity would be really great for the breed overall. Who knows... maybe we'd start seeing more sighthounds on demo teams!

But anyway, I guess I'll find out more about it next week when they e-mail me back about the event.