The journey began Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 in Novi on a very cold and snowy day.
Our incredible journey together ended eight years later on March 2, 2024 in Toledo.
Along the way, Buzz accomplished record-setting feats I never thought possible – including forever etching his name in the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever performance record books.
Buzz was the first Toller to earn a Master Rally title and the second dog in the country to do so. We missed being the first dog and handler team by one day.
Buzz was the first Toller to earn a Rally Champion title (RACH), Rally Champion 2 and Rally Champion 3 title. Nationally, he was among the first five to attain a RACH and the only one of the original champion dogs to compete for a RACH2 and RACH3.
He also achieved many all-breed accolades along the way as well, earning 25 high combined and 26 high triple qualifying awards.
But for me, his national record-setting 230 consecutive qualifying scores was the icing on his career cake.
Human athletes often grapple with when to retire from their sport. Some continue way past their prime; others choose to walk away while still on top of their game.
Buzz still seemed quite proud of himself when competing and rarely second guessed what ridiculous thing I asked him to do. He loved to be in the ring performing. So I think if Buzz could make this decision himself, he’d probably choose to continue showing.
But this decision was mine.
Three classes in one day were becoming increasing two too many for him. And the precision and speed we once had were waning.
And, I’m way too competitive to be an “also ran.”
He doesn’t care how many ribbons are on his walls. Buzz just wants to make me happy and we’ve competed together long enough that any disappointment on my part affects him.
We lost two years of competition due to COVID. And yeah, a wee part of me wonders what if – what more could we have accomplished if we had that time back?
But pending AKC notification, I think Buzz will be the first Toller to attain the new Choice title as his last hurrah.
Since his cancer diagnosis last year and subsequent surgery, each day is a gift. And, I don’t know how many more we’ll have together, so I want to make the most of each one.
So, last week I took a breath and looked back on his time in the ring and Buzz’s friends and I celebrated his retirement. He got not one, but two kinds of cake, from friends who stopped by to visit.
All those big fancy ribbons he won will fade, but the bond and the trust we developed along the way will remain. In fact, I’m counting on that bond and ability to read each other to become even stronger — as Buzz happily sniffs his way into his next phase of life and a new-to-me dog sport called scentwork. He just loves it.
We started training back in December and I’m throwing caution to the wind and entered our first scentwork competition in April. It will be up to Buzz to lead the way and I have to trust his ability to sniff for scent on the Q-tip that will be hidden in a little container with holes in it that will be found on, under, inside or beside other items. He’s supposed to sit when he finds it to let me know “hey, mom, it’s here.”
I am truly a novice in this sport. As such, I have a completely different attitude about it. I just want Buzz to have fun participating. Sure, I hope he finds the scent and qualifies, but if he doesn’t, oh well. I have zero expectations.
I can’t thank this dog enough for everything he’s done for me in Rally, so now it’s time to allow him to do a sport he really enjoys.
So “Sniff It, Buzz.”
I can’t wait to go on this new adventure with you.
