18/03/2024
Written by Leigh, a co-founder of SSWA:
Many kudos and thanks to the competitors at our Trussville Elite and NW1 trials this weekend! We appreciate all of you! There were many special moments, which I will speak to in another post. This one, though, is about only one.
The southeast nosework community unexpectedly lost a special person a few weeks ago. Nancy Walker was known and respected by many and was entered into our NW1 trial on Sunday. After her passing, her dog, Risk was re-homed per Nancy's wishes to Angie Brotherton. Angie is another known and respected nosework trainer and judge. Angie was then assigned as Risk's handler for the trial.
NW1 is the first level of true competition. Although Angie would tell you that Nancy did all the training and all she did was hold the leash, that is not quite the case. Angie and Risk had only a short time to learn to work with each other as a team, and for Risk to acclimate to his new situation, but Angie was firm in her commitment to run Risk in memory of Nancy. And, run they did!
The goal was to title, which means that Angie and Risk needed to be perfect in all four searches. A high bar for any team and especially one that was just getting to know each other. Not only were they one of the 18 (out of 50!) teams that titled, they took High in Trial! I will admit there were a few tears shed at the announcement. Some of them might have been mine.
Some might say it's a fairy tale ending. Truth is it's a fairy tale BEGINNING for this remarkable team, just like Nancy would have wanted. Congratulations to Angie and Risk!