"RIZZO"
MACH2 PACH2 SPRINGWIND'S PINK LADY
CDX, RE, MXS, MJS, MXPB, MJP5, MJPS, PAX2, OF, TKA
March 23, 2007-March 29, 2023
Awarded Top 25 in the nation Preferred Agility Labrador 2015 and 2016 by the Labrador Club of America
Rizzo was the black puppy I was willing to wait for. After getting Flirt I patiently waited for a breeding to Flirt's brother and one of my all-time favorite Labradors, Snickers. It was a bit of a wait and had me stalking my poor breeder as the first breeding did not take.When Snickers did take she had some complications during pregnancy (the only time she did) and the litter was born very premature, to the point that the pups were not fully covered in hair and were kept in an oxygen tent for the first 24-48 hours. Thankfully all of the pups did make it and at eight weeks I was able to select which of the two black pups I wanted to bring home. Rizzo as an eight week old puppy was curious and independent. The breeder warned me that if I chose her I would have to work very hard to get her to want to work with me. I didn't care as I knew the day I saw her that she was the one.
Rizzo was a crazy puppy. We would go for walks and she would find not just a stick, but tree branches and roots to carry. She could jump an x-pen at a stand, so had to be crated when she was taken to any shows or trials. Rizzo's enthusiasm unfortunately led to a right shoulder injury which healed, but has re-injured off and on over the years.
As a puppy Rizzo, was too young to start out in agility, so we worked Rally and Obedience, breaking it into small segments and keeping it fun. Rizzo's first time in the Rally ring she earned a first place with a perfect score. I love doing obedience with this dog as she is so very happy out there heeling and I think she may have earned some brownie points while working obedience because she is so happy out there. Rizzo's biggest hurdle in earning her Companion Dog Excellent was her out of sight stays as I had rewarded heavily in training, so she would cry in anticipation of my return, which can fail you even if they hold the stay. We did finally work through it, but I had to make the stays as boring as possible and instead rewarded working additional exercises after they were done.
Rizzo started her foundation work in agility young, but did not start competing in agility or practicing full height jumps (at the time 20 inches) until she was over two years of age as I wanted to ensure her growth plates had fully closed. When Rizzo started in agility she was so responsive to my handling cues that she was competing at the Excellent level within her first few trials. Rizzo is a happy dog to work and incredibly consistent. Rizzo earned her Master Agility Title and her Master Agility Jumpers title on the same day, which also was her seventh double QQ towards her Master Agility Champion title. Rizzo has qualified for nationals several times and with only a few trials under her belt this year is halfway to qualifying for the 2017 Agility Nationals. I also received notification that Rizzo made the national Labrador Retriever Club's top 25 for 2015 at the preferred height, an honor considering the amount of labs competing nationally and amazing considering the limited number of trials we have up here.
I took Rizzo outside to the Labrador Nationals six years ago, but as she was due in season I put her on check drops to ensure that it would not occur until after we returned back from the trip. This was the biggest mistake I ever made with her and something I wish I could undo. Upon coming off of the check drops, Rizzo developed severe allergies that she had not had prior. We continued to work in agility, but started having issues with her randomly worrying. It took me a while to figure out that her random worrying was when her allergies were flaring and her skin was crawling. We have worked through the issues, but it took time, patience and a whole lot of cookies and play. There were days that I wondered if she would ever love the game to the same extent, but I did not give up and I am glad I did not. Rizzo has gone on to earn two Master Agility Champion Titles and her preferred Master Agility Champion Title. She is one of the best examples of why you should never give up on your teammate.
Rizzo was a crazy puppy. We would go for walks and she would find not just a stick, but tree branches and roots to carry. She could jump an x-pen at a stand, so had to be crated when she was taken to any shows or trials. Rizzo's enthusiasm unfortunately led to a right shoulder injury which healed, but has re-injured off and on over the years.
As a puppy Rizzo, was too young to start out in agility, so we worked Rally and Obedience, breaking it into small segments and keeping it fun. Rizzo's first time in the Rally ring she earned a first place with a perfect score. I love doing obedience with this dog as she is so very happy out there heeling and I think she may have earned some brownie points while working obedience because she is so happy out there. Rizzo's biggest hurdle in earning her Companion Dog Excellent was her out of sight stays as I had rewarded heavily in training, so she would cry in anticipation of my return, which can fail you even if they hold the stay. We did finally work through it, but I had to make the stays as boring as possible and instead rewarded working additional exercises after they were done.
Rizzo started her foundation work in agility young, but did not start competing in agility or practicing full height jumps (at the time 20 inches) until she was over two years of age as I wanted to ensure her growth plates had fully closed. When Rizzo started in agility she was so responsive to my handling cues that she was competing at the Excellent level within her first few trials. Rizzo is a happy dog to work and incredibly consistent. Rizzo earned her Master Agility Title and her Master Agility Jumpers title on the same day, which also was her seventh double QQ towards her Master Agility Champion title. Rizzo has qualified for nationals several times and with only a few trials under her belt this year is halfway to qualifying for the 2017 Agility Nationals. I also received notification that Rizzo made the national Labrador Retriever Club's top 25 for 2015 at the preferred height, an honor considering the amount of labs competing nationally and amazing considering the limited number of trials we have up here.
I took Rizzo outside to the Labrador Nationals six years ago, but as she was due in season I put her on check drops to ensure that it would not occur until after we returned back from the trip. This was the biggest mistake I ever made with her and something I wish I could undo. Upon coming off of the check drops, Rizzo developed severe allergies that she had not had prior. We continued to work in agility, but started having issues with her randomly worrying. It took me a while to figure out that her random worrying was when her allergies were flaring and her skin was crawling. We have worked through the issues, but it took time, patience and a whole lot of cookies and play. There were days that I wondered if she would ever love the game to the same extent, but I did not give up and I am glad I did not. Rizzo has gone on to earn two Master Agility Champion Titles and her preferred Master Agility Champion Title. She is one of the best examples of why you should never give up on your teammate.
