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."

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...

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.

Match #1 Results

We entered our first match this weekend. It was hosted by the Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club and took place in a park in Frederick, MD. We arrived a bit early and got a nice parking spot in the shade, so I could set up Bailey's crate and my chair. I didn't realize how into showing some of these people are, with dog vans filled with crates, portable fans, yard and yards of reflective material strapped all over the car to keep the heat out. I felt a bit out of place with just my crate and a chair!

In any case, we registered around 8 am, then just hung out for a bit. I thought they would have done the Utility class first, because of the scent work but they actually did Novice first. I was totally unprepared to enter the ring when they called for Novice A dogs. Then to top it all off a bunch of the Novice A dogs either didn't show up or should have been in Novice B. So it was just me and one other team in Novice A. Needless to say, we went into the ring totally unprepared. We started with our heeling on-lead, which went ok. Bailey lagged a bit and sometimes crowded me. I corrected him once, which deducted more points. Then we proceeded to the figure 8. I think he did really well in the figure 8 and don't recall any major issues. The leash came off and we did stand for exam. Bailey did that one like a champ, standing stock still for a new person. Next came the off-lead heeling. This was just one big disaster. About 3 steps into the heeling pattern, Bailey realized there was a river on the other side of the ring gates. He trotted right over to the ring gate and stood there while I continued the heeling pattern. I ended up having to call him over to me, and by this point I knew we were done for. He finished out the heeling pattern, but didn't do very well at all since his attention was on how to get to the river the whole time. Finally, we did recall, which he did ok on. I had to step to the side to make him front, which deducted points from both me and him. Then he refused to finish. *sigh* On a positive note, he did a GREAT job on the long sit and long down, not moving a muscle the whole time. I was very proud of that part of his performance. Overall, it was a good learning experience for us both. I made some pretty big mistakes and so did Bailey. I know what I need to practice better on for next time.

After our Novice A run, we spent a lot of time just hanging out. Rally-O wasn't set to begin until after the Obedience judging finished. That meant we had to wait through Novice B, both Open, and both Utility classes. It was very interesting to watch some of the dogs work.

Finally, the rally-o course was set up and we got to do our walk-through. It didn't seem like a very hard course, but what do I know? I walked it twice before we competed, just to make sure I knew it inside out. I think I was second into the ring, so we had the benefit of seeing the first performance too. I won't do a sign-by-sign recap of the course, mostly because I can't remember them! It ended up that the course was pretty easy and Bailey did a great job! We watched the rest of the competitors perform from the shade on the side of the ring. To our surprise, we we received a qualifying score and were asked to go back in the ring for the ribbons. Even more surprising, we received the FIRST PLACE ribbon with a score of 97 out of 100! I was so proud of my boy and our good finish totally lifted up my mood after the morning's performance.

I know there was a photographer at the match, so hopefully some photos will be posted to the PVGRC site and I can share them here too.

Our next match is on Sunday in Leesburg. Hopefully, we will do better in Obedience next weekend!

First Match Entry!

We are going to our first ever match this weekend to do Novice A Obedience and Novice A Rally. It's hosted by PVGRC and is up in Frederick. I've never been to a match before, so I don't really know what to expect or know how Bailey will do. In any case, please wish us luck!

Coming up in the near future:
August 31 - DGOTC Match (Obedience and Rally-O)
September 20 - Hyattsville Dog Training Club Rally-O Trial
September 21 - Hyattsville Dog Training Club Obedience Trial
October 3 - Mount Vernon Dog Training Club Rally-O Trial
October 4 - Mount Vernon Dog Training Club Obedience Trial, CDTC Rally-O Trial
October 5 - CDTC Obedience Trial

Last week's classes

So, I never did get around to writing about our classes last week. Nothing really major to report anyway. It was our last class of Foundations II and III. In FII, I got stuck with a group of people who are quite a bit behind me and I was mostly bored because Bailey was miles ahead of them. For example, Bailey is already doing weaves with only about 4 inches gap in the channel. These dogs were doing 2x2 weaves and still not always making it through. It was very frustrating to say the least. We did much better in FIII. We did our normal exercises, including (for the first time ever!) ALL 12 WEAVE POLES! Of course, my superstar pup made it through no problem. :-) At the end of class, Claudia set up a little speed circle consisting of dog walk, tunnel, jump, a-frame, tunnel. Bailey did pretty good, but he's started anticipating his releases from 2O2O. We just have to work harder at that. All things considered, he did pretty well.

On Thursday, we did our obedience classes. Nothing really special to note from Rally, other than the introduction of some Advanced exercises, including one where we had to avoid food bowls full of yummy things. We did a pretty good job at that and of course, had fun running the courses. In Novice Obed, we introduced a jump for the UKC Novice Recall over Jump exercise. Bailey does enough recalling over jumps for agility that this exercise was a no-brainer for him. I think next week, we are going to practice some off-lead (sorta... using a shark line only - no more leash) heeling so we'll really be prepared for trialling.

I've been awful

about posting regularly about our classes. Life just got so busy that I haven't had the time. In any case, we have our last Foundations II and III classes tonight. In one of the classes (can't ever remember or keep them straight!), they are going to set up a small course which should be a lot of fun. I'm also turning in my registration for the next set of classes: Handling I and Contacts and Weaves. We're also still taking Rally-O and Novice. Those classes will last until the end of August, I think.

We might attend a match on August 31, but not sure yet. If the format is AKC obedience and agility, I'll do it. However my club is hosting and they are UKC, so who knows.

In any case, I'm hoping to continue with the training and will likely post about our classes later this week.