Fast CAT Fail

I really wanted to share pictures of
Trooper running Fast CAT.

I'm doing a lousy job of keeping everybody updated. Hope you didn't think I was dead! Here's some of what we've been doing:

A couple weeks ago, Hubby, the dogs and I drove 3 hours from Jacksonville to Tallahassee. The plan was to run the dogs in Fast CAT first thing then drive 20 minutes to compete in a Glock Sport Shooting Foundation Match. If time permitted, we'd go back to the fairgrounds to run the dogs again and look around. I was excited!

We brought two friends -- and their dogs -- with us. Neither are what you'd call “dog sports people." I thought Fast CAT would be a fun way to introduce them to the dog world. The Tallahassee shows had a bit of everything -- Fast CAT, conformation, obedience, dock diving and vendors. With an enthusiastic tour guide like me, who wouldn't fall in love with the dog world, right? Well . . . things didn't go as planned.

We got to the trial site before the gates opened. So did two dozen other people! The Fast CAT crew was behind schedule. While waiting, handlers were sharing stories and the dogs were picking up on the excitement. Finally, the gates opened. My group was about 10 people back.

The registration table was set up at the end of the track. (It's usually in the middle, away from the mechanism.) As the lure came around the end pulley, dogs would jump and bark at it. The Trial Secretary/Company Owner seemed to be annoyed by this, making him short toward everybody. Registration lines for CAT and Fast CAT (two separate courses) were side by side but unmarked. My friend got in the wrong line and was yelled at when she tried to register for Fast CAT. She had to go to the back of the line and wait another 15 minutes -- only to be yelled at again because her entry form was incomplete.

I had pre-registered 2 ½ weeks out. The angry man couldn’t find my paperwork. I showed him my check and he barked "Well, I didn't get it." I asked if I could reregister, but with the preregister price. He accused me of trying to steal money from him. (We’re talking about a $20 difference. BTW, I had $60 in my pocket, expecting to pay full price for the afternoon runs.) I asked about the check I'd already written. He said he'd tear it up "if and when" he got it. Meanwhile, he glared at my dogs, was condescending to newbies asking questions and yelled at people with money in hand. What a douche.

My invisible name tag.

When The Douche started yelling at me, I thought Hubby was going to come unglued. Yes, I'm a big girl, quite capable of holding my own. But when Hubby feels I'm being threatened he switches into must-protect-wife mode. (Apparently it's a man thing.) I told Hubby that I wasn't going to give this jerk my money and walked away. Hubby asked the guy's name and he screamed "You don't know who I am?!" (FYI his name is Dan Elkes.) I giggled. Obviously he doesn't know who *I* am. I went to the car and called my bank. I put a stop payment on the check and got the fees waived. Then I went to find the Show Chairman.

Regular readers know that I'm the former President of my German Shepherd Dog club. I’ve held nearly all possible positions in the club, including Show Secretary. I know how hard it is to put on an event and how much the club wants everything to go right. I felt like a schmuck complaining. I told Madam Chairman my tale. The entire operation was disorganized, and the guy running it was unprofessional and downright demeaning. I didn't know if this guy was having a bad day or if he's always a total jerk. Either way, he was turning people away from the show her club worked so hard to put together. I reminded her that there are multiple organizations running Fast CAT trials in Florida and urged her club to use one other than Lure Coursing Specialists. She apologized and asked me to send her an email so she could share it with the show committee at their after action meeting.

As I was leaving the Show Chairman, I ran into one of my friends. She's a police officer with 30+ years. She stated that she had been trying to resolve the dispute between Mr. Elkes and our wrong-line friend when he yelled "I own this show!" and threw her out. My cop friend also had a long conversation with the Show Chairman. It was 10 AM on Saturday morning and she was the third complaint the Chairman received. UGH.

Not to scale

I'll never trial with Lure Coursing Specialists again. I know my friends are completely turned off by the entire dog show experience. Satan himself couldn’t have chosen a worse ambassador for dog sports.

The four of us took our $280, left the show grounds and went to the range. The dogs were locked in our vehicles at the far end of the property. We left the engines running, with A/Cs and radios turned up. I pretended the silhouettes were Dan the Douche and walked away with a personal best! (I still sucked, but the score was less sucky than before.)

Since that weekend I wrote my letter to the Tallahassee Kennel Club, blasted Lure Coursing Specialists online and shared my story with everybody I know -- including you! The Florida dog community is a small. Hopefully, word will get out quickly. I'd love to see Dan Elkes and Lure Coursing Specialists out of business.

BTW, I got a letter from my bank. Two days after this Fast CAT fiasco, Dan the Douche tried to cash my check -- you know, the one he promised he would tear up. (I hope his bank charged him!) So anyway, that's the story of my worst Fast CAT experience ever. -- K