Spark's Progress At The 2026 ISC Champs
13 Oct 2026
The long drive home from a big event is always a time for reflection. I came so close to not going to the ISC Champs. Spark jumping 24” is still a work in progress, recently he’s gotten “sticky” about his contacts, and I’ve got some things going on. But, I’m glad we went.
It was so fun to meet new people and talk with so many folks about dogs and dog agility. I saw so many great runs (even just great parts of runs!) I’m still amazed at our dogs and the courses we are running compared to just a half dozen years ago.
But, it was mostly Spark I was thinking about on the drive.
Snap! has always had an intensity when he gets in the ring; he has always been “GAME ON!”; for better or worse. Spark is certainly eager, over this past year he’s started barking his squeaky excited bark as we go to the ring. But, he is a thinker and he really tries hard to do the right thing.
What I saw was Spark really enjoying himself, running hard, and reacting so well to my cues. He liked the surface (only slipped once), the new M.A.D. Agility Equipment contacts (last year he jumped off their weird fiberglass surface DW every time), he was jumping well (except for judging the spread jump), never missed a weave entry (that was cued), and layered so many things.
He showed so much improvement since last year and has so many skills. It’s easy to focus on “what’s next?” without looking back at how far you’ve come.
He handled every challenge presented when I handled correctly. Thinking of how well he did almost brought me to tears several times as I drove along. He is a great little guy and I’m grateful we got to run with “the cool kids” and were “doing hard things”!
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