In this episode, Gustavo is off to his first fun match.

Gustavo goes to his first Fun Match today. My non dog agility friends, this is like a pretend dog show, where dogs like Ruby and Otterpop brush up on skills to practice for the dog shows coming up. And where dogs like Gustavo run around and make people like me look like really crappy dog trainers better suited to pursuits like sitting quietly in a chair and getting tattoos. Reading. Pool hustling. Record collecting. Anything but.


To get ready, Gustavo spent a good part of yesterday barking at himself in the mirror. He doesn't bark at much. Himself in the mirror and pumpkins on the porch and invisible ghosts up at the dressage ring at work. Pretty much it. A little quirky, you are thinking. Indeed. He barks at his freako things, the other dogs, who bark at actual things like the True Danger Known as Mailman, they just sit there and stare at him. Weirdo. Gustavo actually likes the mailman. Weirdo.


When we practice, he does courses and contacts and serpentines and threadles and so forth. Everything the other dogs do, except for his poles. He is basically still shredding the bmx course on a tricycle poles wise. Only fast and speedy when they have their little training wheels of being offset. Straight poles, they're different things, according to him. Like that dog that was sitting in the mirror barking at him all day. A little quirky? Indeed.