Just call her Speed Racer

My four legged friend may only be a tiny 13 inch Beagle, but she is fast. Yes, my dog Cora is now called Speed Racer. And I am tired.

We just walked in the door from Agility class. The class started with jumps and a 180 turn in the small ring. Cora did great. A little bit nosy; she would easily catch a scent and search, rather than continuing on course. But after pulling out a squeeky toy trick, she was all ears and with me.

We moved to the big ring where we memorized the 15 obstacle course and ran it once ~ perfectly! It was fantastic. She likes that side of the ring; for some reason the floor scents are not distracting, she keeps her head up, and is attentive. For the first hour she was jogging with me at a pretty good pace, but nothing to wow-over. She was just being herself; enjoying her run without breaking a sweat and following all the rules.

Next, the instructor taught how to include a Switch between the eleventh and twelfth obstacle. That required baby gates to mark the path for the dog and a cookie plate (a plastic lid with a tiny piece of cheese on top). That was the turning point. The point of no return. The plate was all it took for Cora to magically turn into Speed Racer before our eyes.

The rest of the half hour she was running the course so quickly that I could barely keep up. She was running so fast that I could not spit out the obstacle names fast enough. She was running so fast, that at one point she ran huge circles the circumference of the ring with a brilliant dog-smile, her ears pinned back flapping in the breeze, and no care in the world that she needed to return to me. Speed Racer just wanted to get to that cookie plate any! way! she! could! think! of!

Our peers and instructor were in such awe that they hollered with laughter. Cora had not performed this adventurous stunt prior. As the instructor said to the class once they took a moment to breath, "If you are going to do Agility with a hound, you better have a good sense of humor."

I'm laughing.