Well, that didn't go as planned... MSSA nationals

Cody working in beautiful Afton, Wyoming

🐕 What Nationals Taught Me About Power, Pressure, and the Dogs We Love

Spoiler: we didn’t win. We didn’t even come close.But Nationals gave me something far more valuable: clarity.

I arrived in Afton, Wyoming for the MSSA Finals with three dogs, a whole lot of naive illusions, and zero delusions about winning it all. I just wanted my dogs to do what we had worked so hard to achieve — hold it together, do their jobs, and make me proud.

And they did. Just not in the way I expected.

Meet the Team

• Brisco — young, talented, sometimes worried, sometimes brilliant. Still figuring things out.

• Cody — beautiful, smart, and deeply cooperative. A little light on power, but full of try.

• Tagg — my emotional powerhouse. When she’s right, she’s amazing. When she’s wrong… well.

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What I Didn’t Account For

I knew Nationals would be hard. I didn’t know how hard.

I didn’t account for:

• The range sheep, which moved like nothing we’d worked before

• How easy we’ve made Nursery-level work in Arizona

• The sheer level of excellence in the other handlers — not just better dogs, but lightning decision making, and almost error-free runs

We came to play checkers. They were playing chess.

The Runs, in Short

Brisco gripped out. The sheep didn’t move off pressure like our sheep do, and he unraveled. I scratched his second run. He wasn’t ready, and it wouldn’t have been fair to ask him to face those sheep again.

Cody had a good first run — hit her fetch panels, turned the post beautifully, then stalled out at the Y chute where the sheep dug in. She tried everything I asked of her. She stayed in the game. But she’s not a pushy dog, and these sheep needed push. We timed out.

On her second run, we missed the fetch panels and I knew that meant game over. Still, she got to do her favorite job — exhaust and repen — and left the field convinced she’d won the whole thing. Honestly? She kind of did.

Tagg was fire and feeling. Her first run had me holding my breath — beautiful gates, smooth around the post… until we hit resistance at the Y. She reacted emotionally, the way she used to, and I couldn’t reach her. We called it at 90 points.

Her second run, though — I’ll remember that one forever. She missed the fetch panels, but recovered. She took pressure and gave it back with maturity. She met a sheep’s “no” with calm commitment, and the sheep believed her. We got through the hardest parts of the course with teamwork, clarity, and grit. We timed out just before the pen, but I couldn’t have been prouder.

Three weeks, later I am so impressed and proud of my dogs. i cannot believe how honored I am to be able to share my life with these huge personalities!

but,

We Were Last. And I’d Go Again Tomorrow.

Brisco placed last in Nursery.Cody placed last in Open.Tagg was fourth to last.

Our Arizona friends filled in the rest of the bottom slots.

And still — this wasn’t a failure. It was a catalyst..

What We’re Changing

1. More Real Sheep, More Real Pressure.Our sheep are too polite. We need sheep that say “No” — or we need to train ours to act like it.

2. Nursery Needs to Be Harder.Our young dogs aren’t being asked to solve real problems. They’re getting a pass, and we need them to level up.

3. Brisco Needs Miles.He has the heart and the instinct. Now he needs the belief — in the stock, in his own power, and in himself.

4. Tagg Is Getting There.She used to grip out every time. Now she’s staying in the work. We’ve still got emotions to untangle, but she’s closer than ever.

   
   

Why I’m Sharing This

Because too often in the dog world — especially the high-drive world — we only show the wins. We crop out the part where the sheep said “no,” and the dog said “yes, with teeth.”

But this work is hard. It’s messy. It’s emotional. And it’s beautiful.

If you’ve got a dog who’s brilliant and too much — if you’ve ever sat ringside with tears in your eyes because your dog just couldn’t pull it together — I want you to know you’re not alone.

We’re all learning. We’re all getting better.And sometimes the hardest days in the field are the ones that move us forward the most.

📣 Want to follow along as we rebuild?👉 I’ll be sharing more stories, strategies, and lessons learned from the dogs I train — and the ones I live with. Make sure to hit the RSS feed button or follow me on Facebook so you don’t miss the next one.