As anyone who has met Buzz knows, he’s rather reserved.
And, certainly not inclined to prance about trying to draw attention to himself.
Whether it’s at the farmer’s market — where he has sometimes practiced his Rally skills in Palmer Commons, or at the dog shows. He just lines up on my left side in heel position to start, looks up at me adoringly, and waits for me to begin giving him commands to let him know what I’d like him to do at each sign on the course.
He always tries his hardest to do everything that’s asked of him, with his tail wagging his excitement (like a dignified parade wave) while performing the tasks at hand.
In fact, the first question I ask of friends watching me at the dog shows is: Was his tail wagging the whole time? (That signals to me that this game of Rally is still something he enjoys doing.)
So, let it be known right now that I am the one choosing to toot his horn, and here’s why.
Last month, the American Kennel Club (AKC) released something new called AKC TopDogs in Rally Competition by breed.
And, guess who was the Top Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever in 2021? (See Standings at the end of the column.)
Buzz earned 385 points and a total score of 535; the second-place dog had 129 points and a total score of 199.
These scores are determined by the total number of triple qualifying scores a dog earns during the year times 10, plus the number of Rally Championship points. The championship points are calculated as a perfect score of 100 = 10 points, a score of 99 = 9 points and so on to 91, which equals 1 point. Only scores of 91 or better net a dog championship points.
Currently, Buzz is two triple qualifying scores away from his Rally Champion 2 title, known as a RACH2.
To achieve this, he has to qualify in all three championship classes 20 times and earn a total of 350 total points and a total of 150 Master points, which is the hardest of the three championship classes.
Most dogs don’t achieve this in the minimum number of 20 shows. Buzz did this for his Rally Championship title and is on track to follow suit for this second championship title. I’ll let you know what happens when we head to Toledo, Ohio the first weekend in March.
I sure am proud of this little red dog. He’s No. 1 in the point standings, but even more importantly, he’s No. 1 in my heart.
