SOTC Obedience Day 2

Tia once again put in an excellent effort! She did not do the drop on the first command today, but otherwise her signals were pretty reasonable. For articles, not only did she check all of them, she selected and brought back the correct one! I was very proud of her. Maybe she's beginning to "get" it after all! The glove exercise she did by the book today, and the moving stand was as good as ever. Our go-out once again did not exist. We obviously need to work more on doing that in strange places so that she will be more confident about doing a full go-out cold without refreshers. She did the directed jumping fine, even though I had accidentally set her up off center a bit.

So no qualifying performances this weekend, but still quite productive I would say. We'll keep training for the June trial!

SOTC Obedience Day 1

Today was the first day of the Syracuse Obedience Training Club's winter obedience trial. I just had Tia entered in Grad Open. We actually got to sleep in for once!

Tia did a wonderful job. Her signals were picture perfect, and the heeling was probably the nicest that she has ever done for me in a trial setting. On articles she did check most of the pile, but not the one that I had scented, so she ended up bringing an incorrect one back. Gloves was a comedy of errors - first she didn't do the pivot with me, then when I gave her a second command for that she immediately took off to get the glove! It was the correct glove though, so whatever. Her moving stand was lovely. The go-out flopped, and then she did the directed jumping perfectly. She really likes that exercise - I can tell that she knows she is right. Gotta love that Aussie smile!

We are entered again tomorrow, and once again our goal is just to have a good experience and do a couple things right.

June and July... In August

On June 17th, Queezle got a Group 2 in Topsfield, MA! We then drove back home for my brother's high school graduation, returning to MA Saturday afternoon. On June 19th she was Best of Opposite.

The 23rd through 26th were the agility trials in Cato, NY. Tia earned two Excellent B Jumpers qualifying runs I believe. Queezle qualified in Open Standard to finish her OA! She is now in Excellent in all three classes. Most excitingly, Flag the Ridgeback qualified in Novice Jumpers in the pouring rain on Friday to finish his NJP! The also means he will get a versatility title from the Ridgeback club.

Next up were the Bainbridge shows. On Thursday Queezle was Select bitch. Friday she won the breed, nothing in the Group. I also showed Flint the young Rottweiler puppy, who went Reserve Winners Dog. It was his first show ever, and he had a grand time. Saturday Flint went Reserve again and Queezle was Best of Breed. Queezle had been blowing coat pretty rapidly over the weekend (the entire Terv entry was), so on Sunday we elected to stay home and went to herding practice in Caroline.

July 9 and 10 we drove up to Hamlin, NY for conformation and obedience. Queezle was entered in breed on Saturday, but severely lacking in hair so she just showed in obedience. Flint was very cute but got second in his class. Queezle's heeling in Open A obedience was not stellar, but she did everything else very well despite the very high temperatures and ended up being the only qualifier! The score was not pretty, but a green ribbon is a green ribbon. On Sunday her heeling was much worse, and we ended up failing on that. On the retrieve over the high jump she got the dumbbell, brought it back and dropped it at my feet. Since we had already failed, I told her to pick it back up. She pounced on it, laying down as she picked it up. Then she looked at me confused, and rolled over with the dumbbell in her mouth! Goofy dog. After that we drove home to Vernon for a week of doctor and dentist appointments for me (eww), plus an impromptu haircut.

On July 22nd I judged the Livingston County Fair for dog 4H. Temps were in the 90s, so we flew through the ten obedience entries and two grooming & handling kids. All of the kids put in a good effort, and there were no big disasters. The two Aussies in Grad Beginner did an especially good job. Hopefully all of them will stick with it and continue training next year! Driving home I bought ice cream for the dogs and me.

Saturday the 23rd we drove down to Binghamton for an obedience trial. Queezle put in a lovely performance in Open A, but sat up with 20 seconds left on the long down. Grad Open took forever to get started, so Tia was pretty deflated by the time we went in the ring, and then I couldn't hear half of what the judge said so we did a pretty shoddy job. Tia really perked up on the glove exercise though, which made me happy, and on the directed jumping took the jump that I told her to (which turned out to be the wrong one - I had misheard the judge - but oh well!).

Sunday the 24th was wild. I went to pick up Queezle's number, didn't see mine on the board so I assumed I had the wrong number in my head and picked up 217 instead. Bad choice. A few minutes later the real 217 came to find me and take her number back, at which point I went to the table to figure out what number I really was. I was actually 214, but since I hadn't been written on the board they put me at the end of the class. Then when Queezle and I got to the ring for our turn, the judge didn't have a sheet for us! He had to go check with the trial secretary that I really was entered, and then we finally got to go. Queezle did a wonderful job, qualifying with a 192 and second place to finish her CDX! She finished both her CD and CDX under Frank Washabaugh - I guess we'll have to watch for him when we're getting close to our UD!

Tia was awesome in Grad Open. She did the drop in the ring for the first time ever, even though it took two commands. The rest of her signals were nice. On the articles she brought back the wrong one, but she did actually bring me one, which is a step in the right direction. She brought the correct glove and did her moving stand. On the go-out, she went all the way to the gate (another first for us in a trial setting), but then instead of sitting came back to me. On the directed jumping she took the wrong jump, but the rest of it was such an improvement that I couldn't really be mad at her. We'll keep working! On the way home we picked up five ducklings for my mom. They then spent the night at my apartment and I delivered them on Monday. Initially I was calling them the Jackson 5, but they have since been renamed the Chocolates - Godiva, Toblerone, Ghirardelli, Lindt and something else that has escaped my mind. Can't really tell them apart anyway, except for Godiva who is the smallest and Toblerone who is the biggest.

Last Wednesday I moved out of Lake Street and dumped my stuff in the new apartment. Lake Street had its faults, but I did love that apartment and will miss it. Next year should be fun though, as Queezle and I will be living with a bunch of band people.

SOTC Obedience Trials

Queezle made her debut in Open A obedience and not only qualified, but scored a 191 1/2 and went 2nd place out of 29 dogs! She worked wonderfully, and Judge Bob Self couldn't say enough nice things about her. Good dog!

On day two things didn't go quite so well - it was raining very hard outside, and then something crashed a couple times in the hallway, which Queezle thought was thunder. She held herself together and did a decent job of heeling, but was clearly nervous and we eventually left. Naturally, the bad weather cleared up halfway through the class. Oh well - I'm still very pleased with how she worked on day one.

Tia was entered in Grad Open, which is sort of a stepping stone from Open to Utility. She really wasn't ready to be entered, but since it was our club's big trial we thought why not since she knew most of the exercises. Poor Tia had kind of a meltdown on Saturday when I gave her the drop command in the signal exercise, staring at me blankly. I was surprised because she usually does signals well in class, but whatever, on we went. I tried to keep her happy and "up" but she was acting very lost and confused. She did, however, pass the moving stand.

Our goal for Sunday was to keep Tia up and pass two exercises instead of just one. She was still sluggish, but much better - although she brought me the wrong glove on the directed retrieve, she did at least bring me one instead of trotting around aimlessly. Once again she passed the moving stand, and then to my immense surprise, she took the jump on directed jumping! I was very proud of her for that. Directed jumping and go outs were the two exercises that she didn't know at all when we sent in our entries, and we've been practicing for the 3 weeks since I finished up with finals. I was so pleased with her for that, and it was perfect because that way she ended on a high note.

Salt City Shows

Last weekend was the big Salt City Cluster at the Syracuse Fairgrounds. I was showing Tia in obedience, Flag the Rhodesian Ridgeback in agility and Belle the Vizsla in conformation.

Tia was the star of the weekend! On Thursday and Friday she showed with my mom in Open A. On Thursday she had a really nice individual but laid down in the last ten seconds of the sit stay. On Friday she put in another decent performance and qualified to earn her second leg with a score of 180 1/2! On Saturday I was able to show her. She did a lovely job (probably the best that she has ever worked for me), and qualified with a 184 to finish her CDX!

Flag had a rough start on Saturday, taking one jump and then leaving the ring to look for his owner. For Sunday we decided to have me pick him up at her house and not let him see or be anywhere near her until after his class, so that he would understand that he was stuck with me. It worked! He had a great run, and qualified with second place for his first NJP leg. Only two more to go!

This weekend was Belle's first show ever. I was really impressed with how great she was in the building - she wasn't bothered by any of the noises or the crowds. She showed like a pro both days, going Winners Bitch and Best of Opposite to earn her first point on Saturday.

Tia's First CDX Leg!!!

It wasn't pretty, but Tia qualified in Open A obedience today for her first CDX leg!!! Overall she did a pretty nice job, though there were a lot of no-sits. On the retrieve on the flat she dropped the dumbbell 2-3 feet away from me. The rule is that if the handler can reach the dumbbell without moving his or her feet, it counts as being close enough. So I knelt down and stretched out my arms and managed to flick it closer with me finger. Then on the the retrieve over the high jump she did a lovely front. Man was I sweating bullets all through the long sit stay! But she did it, and now we're one down, two to go!

Dumbbell Games

Now that we finally have a dumbbell with us (give me a break here - I was packing a lot of stuff!), Queezle and I are back to working on take/hold. She has the general idea of the retrieve, and will take the dumbbell in her mouth for a split second. Right now I'm trying to expand on that.

Today I realized an easy way for us to practice the retrieve during our daily routine. When I'm trying to read/study, Queezle will inevitably bring out her rubber peppermint toy and drop it on my book. Sooner or later when I throw it for her she knocks it under the couch. It's usually only a few inches under - she could easily reach it but instead of using her paws productively she flails around making a huge din and accomplishing nothing. Then of course she expects me to get the peppermint out for her. So now the deal is - you want the peppermint? Bring me the dumbbell. When she makes her peevish two-year-old noise, I slide the dumbbell a little way across the room, and then she's expected to bring it to me. She figured it out right off, and while she gives me a long-suffering look, she retrieves it! Then I fish out the peppermint and we go back to that game.

4th of July and Bainbridge

While many dogs are hiding in corners from the booming fireworks, Tia is bounding around the house with her giant pink and green flounder. A few fireworks can't bring her down!

On Thursday we went to the Bainbridge shows for the one day of obedience. As well as Tia I was also showing my mom's Terv Hokey. Neither of them were stellar, and neither of them qualified, but there were moments of brilliance. Hokey has been having some dumbbell issues but did both his retrieves perfectly, and Tia did both her drop on recall and the broadjump correctly. Showing outdoors is harder for the dogs, as there are a lot more scents and distractions. The biggest distraction of the day was a train going by during the middle of our stays, but Tia remained in her down!

Mayflower

Flash and I spent last week at the Mayflower Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club's regional specialty show. We were staying with one of my aunts, so Flash had a great time being the only dog in a house with several adoring humans.

Monday and Tuesday we drive up to Amherst, NH for the agility trials. We didn't have any qualifying runs, but she did a really nice job on Monday. On Tuesday the club was also offering Time 2 Beat as a fun run. T2B is a new class in AKC agility that is totally based on how fast the dogs in the class run. The fastest dog at the end of the day would get 10 points, and then dogs within a certain amount of seconds of that dog's time would get 9 points, etc down to 0. In order to title your dog would have to earn 100 points. I'm not sure exactly when they plan to add it as a titling class, but it's in the works.

Wednesday we took off to visit my grandparents and aunt and uncle who live near Worcester. We had a great time visiting, though we did get somewhat lost on the drive home. I told Flash to keep her head down when we drove through one interesting neighborhood!

On Thursday we headed for the official show site in Boxboro, MA for obedience. First Flash and I showed in Grad Novice. She did a really nice job, but was confused on the dumbbell recall. For Grad Nov the dog is supposed to hold the dumbbell while you walk away and then bring it to you when you call them. Flash was confused and dropped it when I left her - she's used to a full retrieve! We also showed in Veteran Novice, which is Novice level obedience for old dogs only, and a non-regular class (which means you don't have to have a qualifying score to get a placement!). Despite some barking on Flash's part, we got 4th place! Ok, so it was out of four. But we still got a neat little pottery mug!

Friday was conformation day. Flash and I aren't exactly serious contenders in the breed ring, but we have fun and Flash enjoys putting on a show for everyone. We didn't place in any of our classes, but lots of people commented on how much spark she has for an old girl!

SOTC Obedience Trial

June 12-13 were the Syracuse Obedience Training Club's annual June trial, which is always a fun event for the club and other exhibitors. People travel from all over to enjoy the show and then the wine & cheese party Saturday evening, which features a ton of excellent food cooked mostly by club members!

Having recovered from January, I once again had Tia entered in Open A. Though I was prepared for another heavy dose of humility, I focused on how great she has been doing in class and on keeping her up beat and psyched before we went in the ring.

Saturday was a bit of a bummer. I had Tia really up and timed our warm-up perfectly so that we could do some quick review in the hallway and then relax in a chair ringside to watch the dog and handler before us. Into the ring we went, Tia smiling up at me and promptly sitting in heel position when we lined up for the heel pattern. Her heeling started off great, but in the middle of it she started reverse sneezing, a weird snorting noise that a lot of small or smush-nosed dogs do every now and then. Aussies are not a breed that typically does it, but it can still happen either when they choke on something, are pulling on their lead a lot or as a stress thing. For whatever reason, Tia started doing it and wouldn't stop, so the judge excused us. Often when something like that happens the judge will let you come back later and try again, but this judge said that we were done for the day.

On Sunday I didn't time our warm-up quite as well, but Tia was still reasonably up when we got in the ring. Her heeling wasn't bad at all, and she even did some automatic sits! For the figure 8 she did the first half very nicely and then got a little messy on the second half. Her drop on recall was lovely as always. Then on the retrieves she must have started running out of steam because halfway out to the dumbbell she stopped and looked lost. This caused us to NQ, but I was still very pleased with Tia's performance!

ABTC 2010 National Specialty

I have lots of exciting news from the past few weeks, so I figure I will spread it out. Firstly, my mom and I drove from central New York to Pottsboro, TX for the Terv National, which was the week of May 1. Queezle and I showed in agility, obedience and conformation.

In agility, the Q was WILD. Considering she hadn't seen me in weeks and had just spent three days in the car, it was a miracle she stayed in the ring! She ran fast and a touch out of control, but we had really nice runs in Excellent Jumpers both days. The one day *I* caused her to knock a bar because I called her name right when she was going over a jump. Although we didn't qualify at all, I was pleased with her runs for the most part.

In obedience we were just entered in Wildcard Novice. In the Wildcard classes, you can praise your dogs throughout the runthru and can choose to skip one exercise and get full points for it. Queezle and I chose the offlead heeling as our Wildcard, but I opted to still do it for practice (the judge just couldn't take any points off even if we had errors). Queezle did a very nice job, and we ended up with first place! The whole class was a lot of fun - my mom and her boy Hokey got second, our friend Debbie Deuth with Trixie was third, and Sue Fregien with Ember, who is Hokey's niece, was fourth.

In the Best of Breed competition Queezle made the first cut but didn't make it any further than that. Considering there for over 50 other Terv bitches and over 60 dogs, that is still an accomplishment! I also got to show Queezle's daughter Lexi in Puppy Sweeps and her mother Diva in Veteran Sweeps. Lexi did not place, but Diva got second out of a large class. The old girl's still got it! Queezle had one other daughter at the show, Demi, who also made one cut in Best of Breed.