We won! We won! We won!

Ok, more accurately, Tristan and Nicole passed his AD test today! I'm so excited. This is Tristan's first official Schutzhund rating. The AD is a pass/fail endurance test that is a required part of the breed survey. The handler rides on a bike with the dog running along side for 12.5 miles. The AD provides documentation that the dog is physically able to endure a certain amount of physical stress without showing significance fatigue. Nicole (now reverently referred to as Saint Nicole) biked with Tristan and she did an incredible job. They had all of one previous practice session which consisted of a short ride up and down the training field. The dog runs on the right which is really foreign to it after heeling only on the left. Somehow Nicole was able to get Tristan to trot along for all 12.5 miles. It sounds like Tristan would have been quite happy to ride on the handlebars for the last part but he did great with Nicole's super handling. The picture is Nicole and Tristan at their last rest stop. Thank you, Nicole!

There were five other GSDs also doing the test today (all winners too!) The dogs looked so magnificent running along the lovely farm roads. The fields are splendid and I particularly liked this flower farm. A lot of the fields are in corn and are lush and green.