A slightly better one:
Now one of the two of us:
My favorite from the session:
Sunday, September 21, 2008
More Pictures
I woke Bailey up to take a few more pictures. Needless to say, he was less than pleased about it:
A slightly better one:
Now one of the two of us:
My favorite from the session:
A slightly better one:
Now one of the two of us:
My favorite from the session:
Second Trial Results
Saturday night and Sunday morning was our second trial. It was hosted by the Hyattsville Dog Training Club and took place at the CTA facility in Beltsville, MD. I'll start with the Rally trial on Saturday night.
We were already at the trial site for the morning's trials, so we just made ourselves comfortable for the couple hours in between. We also shifted crates around so we'd have a good spot for the afternoon and the next morning. I went out really quick to get some dinner and came back to the trial to eat. By then, the Rally judge had arrived and started setting up the course. The walk through was scheduled to begin at 6:50 pm, so we spent a lot of time hanging out. At about 6:40, they put out a course map, so I picked up one of those and practiced the course in the warm up area by myself. The walk through began at exactly 6:50 pm. I think I walked the course 3 times, because it looked like a tough course. The two hardest parts were the 360 right followed (3 feet later!) by a 360 left. It also had a slow right before the finish, so you had to make sure to stay slow all the way through the end. Other than those two things, it was mostly straightforward. We were third into the ring, and didn't spend much time warming up or anything. By 7 pm, we were both just exhausted. Bailey was even tired enough to nap in his crate for a bit. The only real mistake that I made was that I slowed down too much on the slow and his rear hit the ground. We moved through the course quickly, but I could tell that both of us were worn out. We ended with a qualifying score of 91 and third place out of 14 dogs!
I packed up the car and we were home by 8:30. Bailey ate his dinner and passed out as soon as he finished. Poor boy was tired after a long day! I wasn't too far behind him and fell asleep around 10 pm.
The obedience trial was the next morning. We arrived back at CTA around 7:45 am for an 8:00 am start time. I left my crate there the previous night, so I didn't have any setup to do. I just walked in and popped Bailey into his crate and went to the walk through. This judge was a lot less talkative, so I'm glad I already had one trial with a super-nice judge under my belt. I felt much less nervous going into the performance this morning. We were last into the ring, so I didn't even bother warming Bailey up until around 9:15 am after the first group of stays were finished. He was doing really well in the warm ups, so I didn't push him too hard. Instead I spent some time rubbing his shoulders to calm him down. We did a tiny bit more heeling before going into the ring.
From the minute we stepped into the ring, I knew we were going to have a good run. Bailey was really paying good attention and working so nicely for me. The heel on lead went well. Same with figure 8 and stand for exam. Then came the scary part - the heel free. Bailey really surprised me on that one. He did a GREAT job with only minimal lagging (always at the about turn!). He even stayed right with me on the fast and slow. In our warm up, he kept trying to sit on the slow so I made it a point to not slow TOO much that he anticipates and sits. He really just blew me away with how well he did! Finally, the recall. The silly boy came so enthusiastically that he ran right into me! Thankfully, he also went right into a perfectly centered sit and finished beautifully. We left the ring only to go right back in for our stays. I was a little nervous on the stays because Bailey hadn't had the energy drained out of him yet. Even worse, on the sit stay Bailey's neighbor got up and started wandering around the ring. I prayed that he wouldn't follow suit and kept sending mental "be good" messages to him. Apparently it works! He did a great job on both sit and down, even as the room kept getting louder and louder as the Utility folks came in before the judging. We left the ring and were milling around before ribbons, when all of a sudden, I heard him call one of the other dogs back into the ring for heeling. I had no idea what was going on. Some of the utility handlers were kind enough to let us know that it was a heel off, which is what they do when two dogs are tied for placement. They also told us that we should start warming up our dogs again. After our run, I just had this feeling that we were the other dog tied for placement. Sure enough, I was right and he asked us back in to repeat the heel free exercise. Having only had about 30 seconds to warm up, my little pooch couldn't have done better! He was perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more. We ended with a qualifying score of 192+ (the + is for the heel off, I guess) and first place out of 9 dogs!
The club provided cash prizes for the dogs who placed, so we ended up with $20 from the rally trial, $30 from the obedience trial, one blue rosette, one yellow rosette, and of course our green qualifying score ribbons. Here's a picture of Bailey with all his loot:
And a picture of the two of us:
I haven't entered in any other trials yet. I was going to enter one the weekend of Oct 3-5, but decided against it due to work obligations. The next indoor trial that I think I'll be able to go to is Thanksgiving. Not sure if I want to do that one or not. We'll just have to see what comes up soon because I really want to finish his CD and RN before we forget!
We were already at the trial site for the morning's trials, so we just made ourselves comfortable for the couple hours in between. We also shifted crates around so we'd have a good spot for the afternoon and the next morning. I went out really quick to get some dinner and came back to the trial to eat. By then, the Rally judge had arrived and started setting up the course. The walk through was scheduled to begin at 6:50 pm, so we spent a lot of time hanging out. At about 6:40, they put out a course map, so I picked up one of those and practiced the course in the warm up area by myself. The walk through began at exactly 6:50 pm. I think I walked the course 3 times, because it looked like a tough course. The two hardest parts were the 360 right followed (3 feet later!) by a 360 left. It also had a slow right before the finish, so you had to make sure to stay slow all the way through the end. Other than those two things, it was mostly straightforward. We were third into the ring, and didn't spend much time warming up or anything. By 7 pm, we were both just exhausted. Bailey was even tired enough to nap in his crate for a bit. The only real mistake that I made was that I slowed down too much on the slow and his rear hit the ground. We moved through the course quickly, but I could tell that both of us were worn out. We ended with a qualifying score of 91 and third place out of 14 dogs!
I packed up the car and we were home by 8:30. Bailey ate his dinner and passed out as soon as he finished. Poor boy was tired after a long day! I wasn't too far behind him and fell asleep around 10 pm.
The obedience trial was the next morning. We arrived back at CTA around 7:45 am for an 8:00 am start time. I left my crate there the previous night, so I didn't have any setup to do. I just walked in and popped Bailey into his crate and went to the walk through. This judge was a lot less talkative, so I'm glad I already had one trial with a super-nice judge under my belt. I felt much less nervous going into the performance this morning. We were last into the ring, so I didn't even bother warming Bailey up until around 9:15 am after the first group of stays were finished. He was doing really well in the warm ups, so I didn't push him too hard. Instead I spent some time rubbing his shoulders to calm him down. We did a tiny bit more heeling before going into the ring.
From the minute we stepped into the ring, I knew we were going to have a good run. Bailey was really paying good attention and working so nicely for me. The heel on lead went well. Same with figure 8 and stand for exam. Then came the scary part - the heel free. Bailey really surprised me on that one. He did a GREAT job with only minimal lagging (always at the about turn!). He even stayed right with me on the fast and slow. In our warm up, he kept trying to sit on the slow so I made it a point to not slow TOO much that he anticipates and sits. He really just blew me away with how well he did! Finally, the recall. The silly boy came so enthusiastically that he ran right into me! Thankfully, he also went right into a perfectly centered sit and finished beautifully. We left the ring only to go right back in for our stays. I was a little nervous on the stays because Bailey hadn't had the energy drained out of him yet. Even worse, on the sit stay Bailey's neighbor got up and started wandering around the ring. I prayed that he wouldn't follow suit and kept sending mental "be good" messages to him. Apparently it works! He did a great job on both sit and down, even as the room kept getting louder and louder as the Utility folks came in before the judging. We left the ring and were milling around before ribbons, when all of a sudden, I heard him call one of the other dogs back into the ring for heeling. I had no idea what was going on. Some of the utility handlers were kind enough to let us know that it was a heel off, which is what they do when two dogs are tied for placement. They also told us that we should start warming up our dogs again. After our run, I just had this feeling that we were the other dog tied for placement. Sure enough, I was right and he asked us back in to repeat the heel free exercise. Having only had about 30 seconds to warm up, my little pooch couldn't have done better! He was perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more. We ended with a qualifying score of 192+ (the + is for the heel off, I guess) and first place out of 9 dogs!
The club provided cash prizes for the dogs who placed, so we ended up with $20 from the rally trial, $30 from the obedience trial, one blue rosette, one yellow rosette, and of course our green qualifying score ribbons. Here's a picture of Bailey with all his loot:
And a picture of the two of us:
I haven't entered in any other trials yet. I was going to enter one the weekend of Oct 3-5, but decided against it due to work obligations. The next indoor trial that I think I'll be able to go to is Thanksgiving. Not sure if I want to do that one or not. We'll just have to see what comes up soon because I really want to finish his CD and RN before we forget!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
First Trial Results
Today we had our very first trial. It was hosted by the Southern Maryland Dog Training Club and took place at the CTA facility in Beltsville, MD. We arrived at 8:30 am only to find out that the Novice A judging wouldn't start until sometime after noon. Lesson learned: "to follow" on a judging program means that it will never start sooner than 12:00 pm. We hung around for a while, chatting with another lady who trains with my club and fellow Novice A competitor who made the same mistake I did. Then I took Bailey and went to get some breakfast at McDonald's. We ate on the picnic benches outside. Petco was right across the street, so we stopped in there for a while too. Got back to the trial and still had a couple hours to wait.
Around 1:30 pm, the judging started. We were first in the ring. I was shaking like a leaf. On-lead heeling went ok, as did the figure 8. Bailey was rock solid in his stand for exam. The off-leash heeling went alright, with only a little lagging due to some turns in highly distracting locations. Good news is that Bailey realized he was lagging and caught up pretty quick. Recall was ok, but his front was a little off center. Stays were good too. We ended with a qualifying score of 192.5 and second place out of 14 dogs!
We went right from the ribbon "ceremony" for Novice A to the Rally-O Novice A walk-through. We were third into the ring for Rally. It was a pretty easy course and the judge seemed very friendly. Nothing major to report here. Bailey did everything great, except that we almost ran into a cone on the paperclip exercise. We ended with a qualifying score of 98 and second place out of 7 dogs!
The club was nice enough to provide small gifts for the dogs who placed, so we got two metal dishes embossed with paw prints, two bags of some lamb flavored treats, two red rosettes, and of course our green qualifying score ribbons. Here's a picture of Bailey with his spoils from the day:
The Hyattsville Rally-O trial was Saturday night too, but I'll write about that tomorrow when I cover our "second trial."
Around 1:30 pm, the judging started. We were first in the ring. I was shaking like a leaf. On-lead heeling went ok, as did the figure 8. Bailey was rock solid in his stand for exam. The off-leash heeling went alright, with only a little lagging due to some turns in highly distracting locations. Good news is that Bailey realized he was lagging and caught up pretty quick. Recall was ok, but his front was a little off center. Stays were good too. We ended with a qualifying score of 192.5 and second place out of 14 dogs!
We went right from the ribbon "ceremony" for Novice A to the Rally-O Novice A walk-through. We were third into the ring for Rally. It was a pretty easy course and the judge seemed very friendly. Nothing major to report here. Bailey did everything great, except that we almost ran into a cone on the paperclip exercise. We ended with a qualifying score of 98 and second place out of 7 dogs!
The club was nice enough to provide small gifts for the dogs who placed, so we got two metal dishes embossed with paw prints, two bags of some lamb flavored treats, two red rosettes, and of course our green qualifying score ribbons. Here's a picture of Bailey with his spoils from the day:
The Hyattsville Rally-O trial was Saturday night too, but I'll write about that tomorrow when I cover our "second trial."
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Journey
I got a link to this video on a mailing list from DGOTC. As we quickly approach our first trial ever, I'm reminded that the results don't really matter. It's the lessons we share, the fun we have, and the relationship that we strengthen that count...
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Match #2 Results
Sunday was our second match. This one was hosted by DGOTC and it was at a park out in Leesburg. It was sweltering hot, humid, and there wasn't a speck of shade in sight. Thankfully Justin had borrowed a shade tent from his parents that I took with me. It was a PITA to set up, but once it was up, it provided plenty of shade for the entire day - if only we had been smart enough to enjoy some of it!
The match had CGC tests, Obedience (3 rings - one for each level), a Stay ring, AKC rally, APDT rally, and agility. Needless to say, the place was like a busy beehive all day. We started out the morning in the Stay ring at 9 am. Bailey did a fantastic job, despite all the bugs and the sun. He didn't move a muscle and I was very proud of him. Next, we moved to the Novice Obedience ring where Bailey put on a spectacular performance that totally surprised me. His off-leash heeling was even better than his leashed heeling. He got a few points off for lagging (I blame the heat) and crooked sits. We ended with a score of (I think) 192 out of 200! Yeah!
Next, we did our first Novice Rally run. The course wasn't too hard. Bailey is a rally rockstar and did a fabulous job out there. The judge seemed impressed that I knew all the signs (don't you have to know them?). We hung around for a while waiting for our second rally run, but found that we were up in Obedience again before we could get to rally.
I headed back over to the Novice Obedience ring where they were coordinating with another judge to assist with some of the judging. By this point, it was about 11:30 am and the sun was really starting to get to both me and Bailey. We hadn't really had time to relax and spent the majority of the morning running around and waiting. The judge had us wait in the shade while she showed the heeling pattern. Bailey was first into the ring. I knew something was wrong when he didn't want to come out of the shade and tried to sack-of-potatoes me. Then I got him into the ring and he wouldn't sit and instead wanted to roll around in the grass. I finally got him up and we got through the first few exercises ok. Then we started our off-leash heeling. In the back half of the heeling pattern, he stopped to potty in the ring (!). At that point, I tried to excuse myself, but the judge wanted me to do the heeling pattern again. I tried to get Bailey to pay attention, but his focus just wasn't there. We did recall too, but he didn't finish for some reason. I thanked the judge for her time and excused myself from the ring. We didn't do stays because I just knew his focus was gone.
After our second (disastrous) novice obedience run, I took Bailey to potty and went for our final run in the rally ring. Before I went in, I warned the judge that Bailey had mentally checked out and we may or may not do well. We went in anyway, and the only points we got off were for MY error. On the 1-2-3 steps back exercise, my third step was not large enough to qualify as a step. Bailey still did a great job though.
As soon as we were done, I packed up and headed home. We were both really hot, sweaty, and tired. Bailey was so tired that he actually slept in the car on the way home, which he doesn't usually do during the day time. As soon as we got home, I had a quick lunch and both of us napped for the next 2-3 hours in the cool AC.
I learned quite a few lessons at the match:
1. Allow Bailey ample opportunities to potty BEFORE entering the ring.
2. Relax in the shade when you aren't in the ring. Keeping yourself and your dog milling around in the sun won't help your performance.
3. Stay upbeat and positive.
4. Bring lots of cold water and ice to outdoor trials in the summer.
5. Positive visualization helps. Imagine things going well and they will go well.
Overall, another good experience.
We have mailed off entry forms for two trials coming up next month:
September 20 - Southern MD Dog Training Club Obedience and Rally-O, Hyattsville Club Rally-O
September 21 - Hyattsville Club Obedience
All 4 of these trials take place at the CTA facility (indoors - yeah!) in Beltsville, MD. Hopefully we'll get in plenty of practice before then and he'll do well.
The match had CGC tests, Obedience (3 rings - one for each level), a Stay ring, AKC rally, APDT rally, and agility. Needless to say, the place was like a busy beehive all day. We started out the morning in the Stay ring at 9 am. Bailey did a fantastic job, despite all the bugs and the sun. He didn't move a muscle and I was very proud of him. Next, we moved to the Novice Obedience ring where Bailey put on a spectacular performance that totally surprised me. His off-leash heeling was even better than his leashed heeling. He got a few points off for lagging (I blame the heat) and crooked sits. We ended with a score of (I think) 192 out of 200! Yeah!
Next, we did our first Novice Rally run. The course wasn't too hard. Bailey is a rally rockstar and did a fabulous job out there. The judge seemed impressed that I knew all the signs (don't you have to know them?). We hung around for a while waiting for our second rally run, but found that we were up in Obedience again before we could get to rally.
I headed back over to the Novice Obedience ring where they were coordinating with another judge to assist with some of the judging. By this point, it was about 11:30 am and the sun was really starting to get to both me and Bailey. We hadn't really had time to relax and spent the majority of the morning running around and waiting. The judge had us wait in the shade while she showed the heeling pattern. Bailey was first into the ring. I knew something was wrong when he didn't want to come out of the shade and tried to sack-of-potatoes me. Then I got him into the ring and he wouldn't sit and instead wanted to roll around in the grass. I finally got him up and we got through the first few exercises ok. Then we started our off-leash heeling. In the back half of the heeling pattern, he stopped to potty in the ring (!). At that point, I tried to excuse myself, but the judge wanted me to do the heeling pattern again. I tried to get Bailey to pay attention, but his focus just wasn't there. We did recall too, but he didn't finish for some reason. I thanked the judge for her time and excused myself from the ring. We didn't do stays because I just knew his focus was gone.
After our second (disastrous) novice obedience run, I took Bailey to potty and went for our final run in the rally ring. Before I went in, I warned the judge that Bailey had mentally checked out and we may or may not do well. We went in anyway, and the only points we got off were for MY error. On the 1-2-3 steps back exercise, my third step was not large enough to qualify as a step. Bailey still did a great job though.
As soon as we were done, I packed up and headed home. We were both really hot, sweaty, and tired. Bailey was so tired that he actually slept in the car on the way home, which he doesn't usually do during the day time. As soon as we got home, I had a quick lunch and both of us napped for the next 2-3 hours in the cool AC.
I learned quite a few lessons at the match:
1. Allow Bailey ample opportunities to potty BEFORE entering the ring.
2. Relax in the shade when you aren't in the ring. Keeping yourself and your dog milling around in the sun won't help your performance.
3. Stay upbeat and positive.
4. Bring lots of cold water and ice to outdoor trials in the summer.
5. Positive visualization helps. Imagine things going well and they will go well.
Overall, another good experience.
We have mailed off entry forms for two trials coming up next month:
September 20 - Southern MD Dog Training Club Obedience and Rally-O, Hyattsville Club Rally-O
September 21 - Hyattsville Club Obedience
All 4 of these trials take place at the CTA facility (indoors - yeah!) in Beltsville, MD. Hopefully we'll get in plenty of practice before then and he'll do well.
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