Dog Show weekend - SCKC

This weekend was my local Kennel Club's yearly show.  As a club member, I'm not allowed to show in conformation, and I'm required to volunteer at least one day.  Meanwhile, the Cardi folks were trying to build a major, so I decided to enter Rip and have someone else show him.  It's a really busy, noisy show so if nothing else I thought it would be a good experience for him.

Here's a summary of the weekend:

I got to be Table Steward for 

8.5 hours of Obedience on Saturday and

4 hours of Rally on Sunday

Now for Rip's view:

The Summit/Foggybottom crew were a well-oiled grooming machine.

Grooming isn't my favorite, but my tail is still wagging.

Here I am meeting some of the many Cardis around. 

Hi, Summit/Foggybottom gang!

Here's me and Alec in the ring.  

Don't we look happy?

More chicken, please.  I know you've got it.

Hi, nice judge lady.  Pay attention, I'm flirting with you!

She didn't give me a ribbon in this class, despite my flirting.

Next time I'll jump up and lick her.

Here's the stuff I won for mom.

Both days I took first in my class.

Yesterday I was Best Cardigan Puppy.

And 4th place in the puppy group!

Rip Showing at the National Specialty

I finally got ahold of the camera, and downloaded the pics we took at the Specialty.  Here are some of the good ones.

Looking cute (and a bit wild!) on the table for the judge.

A happy little mover. 

(No cantering sideways on this go-around)

Stacking pretty for the judge

I won a ribbon.  Now I can look for trouble.  

Please, just let me off this leash...

And here are the fun things Rip won for his mommy 

(who loves National Specialty swag):

I love rosettes.  And I didn't have a lime green one yet!

Now we wait for the show photo to arrive so we can add it to the pretty frame.

And a fun leash holder.  Plus a pretty red ribbon.

Rip's National Specialty Results

I'm happy (and a bit surprised) to report that it's been a good National Specialty for Rip. 
 
Yesterday in 9-12 month Puppy Sweepstakes, Rip took third place in his class.  His "Gramma" Carolyn showed him for me (thank-you Carolyn!).  He was a very good boy entering the ring, and on the table (whew).  Near the end of the class Rip's "I'm a wild puppy" personality came back, and by the last go-around he was trying to get his fellow competitors to play by running wildly sideways.  Not exacty "big-time show dog" behavior, but the boy was having fun!

The lime green rosette that Rip won ensured that he could come back to Iowa with me.  I did warn Rip that if mommy didn't get a ribbon, he would have to go back to Oregon ;)

Today Rip was a good boy for Gramma Carolyn again.  He took 2nd in 9-12 month dogs.  I am so proud of him!  He was better at standing in the ring today - not as much sitting down as yesterday.

We did have some excitement in his class, however, when someone outside the ring bumped into and nearly knocked over one of the decorations - a cowboy boot that's about 10 feet tall.  This sent the whole class of puppy boys barking.  It made me smile...

Oh, and lest you think that Mr. Naughtypants is turning into some sort of well-behaved show dog, Gramma Carolyn infomed me that Rip managed to tear down one of the table skirts while waiting outside the ring.  That's my boy!

I'm sorry about not having any pictures to post.  Today after classes were over, The Husband left with dogs to head back to Iowa.  Unfortunately he also took the camera with him, so I won't be able to post any photos until I get back home.

I've also learned a lot at this year's Specialty - about grooming, handling, etc.  This is a very good place for a rookie handler to be.  I promise to share more later.

Ziggy is now Xtacee Tag You're It BN RA

Ziggy earned his Beginners Novice title today!

Unfortunately Slug Ziggy was back, and brought with him "I-don't-know-automatic-sits" Ziggy.  We still ended up with a 185, and again Ziggy lost zero points on his stay exercises.

After runs like today's, I tend to wonder if I should just "call it,"and let Ziggy be a couch potato.  But Ziggy was happy and waggy again, and he does seem to enjoy the training we do.  Also, getting out & about is making him a more confident dog.  Add to that the fact that I can use the ring experience, and I enjoy obedience.  I think we'll keep going.

I'm not sure what we'll do next -- Rally Excellent?  Beginner's Novice again?  Novice Obedience?

Things to work on:  fast in all forms, attention in ring, and quick sits.

Now it's time for me to finish up some yard work, bathe 2 dogs, and pack for Houston.

BN Obedience: Ziggy's Q #2

Ziggy and I were back at the Obedience Trial today, and things were better than yesterday.  The heeling wasn't as good as I know he can do, but it wasn't quite as slow as yesterday.  I really need to work on "fast" with the Z.

We ended up with a 194, which I consider a respectable score.  All of our points were lost in heeling - excepting 1/2 point lost on the recall.  He came in really close and bumped me with his nose.  I don't mind that, though -- he was pretty quick and sat nice and straight!

I brought Rip with me today.  There was lots of extra crating space in the building, and it's great experience for the wild man.  I think my time with Rip also served to make Ziggy a little jealous -- he was anxious to get out of the crate and work with me.  Maybe I'm on to something here...

Beginner Novice Obedience: Ziggy's Q #1

In terms of my dog show life, today was 180 degrees from last weekend.  Last weekend = wild, bouncy dog and new type of showing for me (conformation).  Today = lazy, calm dog and type of showing I've been doing for 8 years (obedience).

Today was my first time showing in Beginner Novice Obedience, though.  If you haven't heard of it, it's a new optional titling class as of July 2010.  For me, the class seems somewhere between Novice Rally and Novice Obedience.  Some differences between Beginners Novice and (regular) Novice obedience:

• All the heeling is on-leash
• Rally signs are used for instead of judge's commands for the heeling pattern 
• It's a sit for exam (with just a pat on the head) 
• No group stays - just a sit stay while the handler circles the ring
• A shorter recall with no finish
• You can give one bit of "praise" during each exercise

To prepare for the class, I watched some videos on YouTube, looked at a blank score sheet, read the class regulations online, and did a couple of modified-Novice class run-throughs at show-n-go's.  At our last show-n-go (aka a practice obedience trial), Ziggy was awesome  - happy, heads-up heeling, very attentive.

Today - not so much.

I posted to my blog about our performance at this obedience trial last year.  At the show last year, Ziggy was happy, but really not so great.  Unfortunately that same Ziggy (who my obedience instructor now calls "Slug Ziggy") showed up again today.

He was really relaxed at the trial site, and didn't seem at all nervous - which is a good thing.  Apparently our outings about town are paying off and he's feeling more confident in new places.  But he also seemed to have just one speed:  a cute, slow, tails-up trot.

Given his mood today Ziggy was really good at:  the slow heeling, the sit stay, the sit for exam, and the left-hand turn on the figure 8 heeling.  Correspondingly he was really bad at:  the fast heeling, the about turn,  and the right turn on the figure 8.  And when I say really bad, I mean tight-leash-with-lots-of-pressure-on-it bad.  I really don't think he sped up at all.

BUT...  we still managed to qualify with a 188 (putting us in last place).

Oh, Ziggy.  I love you, man.  But, since I love performance events,  I'm really glad I have Rip.

I love you, too mom.

But what part of "sofa dog" don't you understand?

Me and Conformation (hint: Scott Sommer's got nothing to worry about)

I posted how our conformation classes went over the weekend, but I never posted what it was like to be "on my own" at a conformation show.

Stuff 
The stuff that I took to the Show:

• Lots of towels
• A metal crate, and an old sheet to cover it
• Grooming table & arm
• Training bag - including treats, tug toys, chew toys, poo bags, and a clicker
• Water for me & Rip
• Show collar & lead
• Show clothes for me
• My "human" dog show bag (which has things like chapstick, a comb, mints, tissues, hand wipes, a pen, a granola bar...)
• Grooming tools (brush, nail grinder, chalk, chalk brush, pet wipes.  That's it.)  I know, you conformation pros are probably thinking I'm crazy.  But who are we kidding?  I could bring a dryer, but Rip hates it, and I end up making him look like a husky, so what's the point?  And really, I don't own any other grooming supplies.  

The Stuff I wish I'd taken to the show:  some chocolate, reading material, and lint/pet hair remover.

Crating Space

When I got to the show I had no idea where to set up.  I hopefully pulled up to a sign that said "grooming."  I thought this would be a good place to start (clever girl that I am).  

I opened the door to a sea of empty crates and tables, with not a lot of spare room available.  I stood there for a while.  A nice woman walked up to me and I explained that I'd never shown there before, where do I crate?  She shoved a few crates over, and made some space for me.  Thank you, nice lady!

I set up, then went to get Rip.  He and I wandered around a bit, looking for our ring.  In the process of opening doors to buildings we managed to set off a whole pack of English Toy Spaniels who were on their tables being groomed -- that was kind of fun ;)

Grooming

We finally found our ring, so I took Rip back to our grooming space.  I put him up on the table and thought, "hmmm, what do I do now?"  I tried to remember all of the pieces of advice Dawn gave me when I met her in Des Moines.  

Unfortunately the only one I could remember was "Cardigans are supposed to look natural."  I took that thought and ran with it.  Meaning I put Rip on the table, stared at him a while, then brushed his neck, body, and tail.  That took about 10 minutes (including staring time).

I now had lots of time on my hands, so I wandered back over to our ring, to see if I could pick up my number.  It was still 40 minutes before our ring started, so no luck.  I looked around and saw other Corgi people furiously grooming their dogs.  That worried me.  I saw a Pem woman I know from our club, and asked her how she planned to keep the loose dirt off her dogs.  She said she was going to make sure they were really dry so the dirt didn't stick, add some chalk to the paws to try and keep them white, and hope for the best.  

Ah ha!  There was something else I could do.  I had some chalk and a brush.  I went back to Rip, and added some chalk to his paws.  Thankfully Dawn had warned me about chalk's tendency to get everywhere, so I had extra towels, a dog wipe, and a hand wipe ready.  I needed them all.  

In the Ring

I've taken conformation classes.  I've watched conformation.  I showed Dawn's lovely girl Grace.  I still have no idea.  I can walk in a straight line.  I can follow basic ring procedures.  That's about as nuanced as it gets.

On Saturday, I sought out some handling advice after I was in the ring.  The conformation veterans I was talking to didn't really know what I was asking.  Truly.  They were very nice, but just too far removed from being ring novices.  I see this in agility & obedience, too.  The hard core competitors just can't relate at all to the beginners.

On Sunday, a woman I know from performance gave me some feedback - don't touch my dog so much. I appreciate knowing what I can do better.  I used to have a riding instructor who yelled things like, "Dear God, you call THAT a sitting trot?!"  I can take advice.  Bring it on.  Sans yelling is appreciated.

In the End

The weekend was nice.  I survived.  I learned some new things, and I met some nice people.  Rip had fun.  

Oh, and Penni, Mandy & Carolyn - you have a lot of training to do at the Specialty next week.  And I'm talking about me, not Rip!

Our first (almost) point...

See what pretty ribbons I won?

Can I eat them now?

Rip was a good boy again today.  He was little calmer in the ring, and took best 9-12 month dog, and reserve winner's dog.  Thankfully one of my friends was there to tell me when to go back into the ring.  I think I should re-read the "Show Me" book again so I'm not quite so addled next time.

Here are some pictures from the day.  We were in a better building, and The Husband and The Child came to take photos with the good camera.

Here I am being a nice boy on the table.

Oh!  Who's this nice lady coming my way?

She's here, and she talked to me!

Let me lick her.  Let. Me. Lick. Her.

After this the judge asked my mom to reposition me.

That was a pain, but it was worth it - I made the judge smile!

Mom.  Give me the cheese.  

Don't make me jump for it, because I'll leap right now.

This was my favorite part of the day.

I got to lick THREE kids today!

We survived our first conformation show!

Rip and I showed in conformation today for the very first time.

The morning went something like this:
4:45 am - curse at alarm
5:00 am - leash up 3 dogs and take them for a walk
5:30 am - shower, do hair & makeup, drink a TheraFlu sinus (I've had a cold for more than a week)
6:10 am - on the road - first stop:  Starbucks
7:30 am - finished grooming dog
8:00 am - loitering outside the ring I'll show in
8:30 am - in the ring - our class was first in

So how did we do?  Well, we didn't embarrass ourselves.  Rip was a nice boy in the ring, and only tried to accost the judge once.  Apparently the judge looked very lick-able.  And Rip was really a good boy overall - he seemed to take everything in stride.  The show grounds were really noisy, and a few times he got the "what was that!?!" look when there was a new noise.  But he settled right back down and was quickly wagging his tail again.  This bodes well for his future performance career.

I also got to meet lots of Cardi people - which is always fun!

Here are a couple pics from the day.  Sorry about the quality - I brought our old camera and the building was quite dark...  But thanks to Cathy for taking the photos!

Look, mom - I can stand nicely

Oh, here comes the judge.  

Can I try to lick him again?  I missed him when I was on the table...

The letter for today: F

Today things didn't go quite as I'd planned.  I can sum things up with 3 "F" words:

• Frustrating
• Fail
• Fun

I was thinking of a 4th F word, but decided to leave that one out...

FRUSTRATING

This sums up our Standard run.  The run started off a little shaky - the second obstacle was the dog walk, and the judge was hovering very close to Ziggy, which made him so nervous that he slowed to a walk.  I had to cheer A LOT to get him down.  The next six obstacles (a few jumps, weaves, teeter, table) were lovely.

Then we came to a tunnel.  Corgis love tunnels.  Ziggy loves tunnels.  So why did he stop and start barking?!?  After 3 refusals (and lots of barking), I finally got him in the tunnel.  He did the next jump and chute ok, but was goosey and barky after the chute (a hold-over from yesterday?), and had a refusal at the A-Frame (another of his favorite obstacles).  

As I was going back to try the A-Frame again,  we got whistled off the course for going over time.  It was more like putting us out of our misery, really.

I cannot explain how frustrated I was.  Ziggy was scared/goosey for about half of course.  Scared of the judge following closely.  Scared of the ring crew.  Scared of the tunnel.  Where do I go with this boy?

I couldn't quite figure out what happened with the tunnel.  Then a friend of mine came over to offer condolences - particularly about the tunnel.  Apparently a dog crated right behind the tunnel was unattended and barking it's head off (I couldn't hear this over Z's barking).  My friend's comment was, "I can understand him being scared of a barky tunnel.  Who would go in something small, dark, and barky?"  I felt better that at least I knew what happened.  

Jumpers was next and Z was still nervous, so I grabbed some turkey, and took him all around outside the ring (including near the barky tunnel - but of course the owner had shut her dog up by then).  My hope was to calm him down a bit.  It seemed to work ok, and I decided to take him in for Jumpers.

FAIL

Anyone who has scribed in Agility knows that when the judge holds up both of their hands (like they're signaling the #10) that's a Fail.  No fails allowed.  Fails can come from things like knocked bars and uncorrected wrong courses.  Nobody wants a fail.

That's what Z and I got in Jumpers, though.  He had the second fence down.  He was still a little nervous, and just didn't judge the double jump right.

The rest of the course was ok.  He was slow, but not as nervous as in Standard (no scared barking!), so at least we ended the day on a better note.  

FUN

I wish I could say that it was Ziggy and I having the fun, but not so today.  Instead it was Rip who had the fun!  I brought him to the trial again for socialization.  He had a great time (over-enthusiastically) greeting many people and dogs.

As a bonus, I found one of the Samoyed women.  She was done with her run, and chatting with a friend.  I asked her if her dog was friendly, and if my crazy puppy could say hello.  She said yes to both (thank you, Samoyed woman!), so Rip got to visit.   The Samy was indeed friendly.  The lovely white dog let Rip sniff, leap, and even gave a couple of play bows.  No crazy alert barking from Rip today.  Only fun, fun, fun with Samoyed!

So that's it for our first trial weekend.  I'm left with lots of work to do.  Somehow I have to figure out how to help Ziggy get over his nervousness of people following him, and of the ring crew.  This dog is determined to teach me things I never really wanted to learn.

Double Q! Beginners luck?

Woo hoo!  It's 2 blues!

Ziggy did a very nice job today at his first-ever agility trial.  He qualified in both Standard and Jumpers, and took first place in both classes -- what a way to start an agility career!

I took Taryn's advice, and had a friend video both of Z's "inaugural" runs.  

Standard

Here's our first run - Novice Standard 8" Preferred.  We were the only dog in our class, and the second dog in the ring.  Ziggy was doing quite a lot of looking around (why is this strange man following me?  why are these people standing by the dog walk?), causing him to be even slower than usual (and that's saying something).  

For those of you who enjoy a bit of Cardi-induced humor, hang on until the last jump.  The woman who is straightening the chute decides to straighten it before we've finished the last jump.  Ziggy was not a pleased.

We ended the Standard run just under 1 second over course time, with one refusal for 95 points.

Jumpers

Next was Novice Jumpers 8" Preferred.  I was pleased with Z's performance, particularly since his Standard run ended on a less-than-stellar note.  His one refusal was the jump that the bar setter who "ran after him" in the previous class was sitting by.  Putting myself between this suspect character and Ziggy seemed to do the trick.  We ended just over one second over course time, with one refusal for 94 points.  The other dog in the class NQ'd (failed to qualify thanks to more than one wrong course), so we ended up in first place again!

For those of you who are still awake after watching our Standard run, here's Jumpers:

Other highlights from today include:

• Ziggy ruining yet another soft crate in an attempt to escape.  Mild-mannered Ziggy is the only dog I've had that can escape from a crate if it's not all the way "locked down," or tear his way out if it is, but it's a soft crate.  Guess I'll get to lug the wire crate around from now on.  ugh.
• Rip barking furiously at a pair of Samoyeds.  What ARE those things!?!  Rip never did calm down about the Samy's - I had to move him away so they were out of sight.  Guess I need to socialize him better with white, fluffy dogs?
• A friend (who knows both Z and Rip) commenting to me after Ziggy's run, "It's going to be a LOT different for you to run Rip in agility."  Yes indeed it is.

National Specialty 2010: Performance Day Two

The brindles with their awards.

Missing are Z's Rally ribbons from today. 

Apparently someone stole all the ribbons (!) We'll be expecting them by mail.

Today was another great day for the brindles.  Placings were an echo of yesterday:

• Ziggy Advanced A = 2nd place - better score than yesterday, we were tied for points with the first place team, but they were one second faster.  Maybe if we hadn't sniffed the halt-step right-halt sign we would have won (hint, hint, Ziggy.  Wait, Ziggy says he doesn't care...)
• Maggie Veteran's Obedience - 2nd place - we would have won, and ended with a score of 197.5 (wow!), except I had 5 point handler error.  On the figure 8, I stopped midway through - before the judge said stop.  The judge had to tell me "you can keep going now."  Then she soundly reprimanded me for my stupidity, and told Maggie I owed her 5 points.  The judge then mentioned it again during the award ceremony.  She said something like "in second place, with a 192.5 that should have been a 197.5 without the handler error is team...." You get the picture.  I'm writing it off as a blonde moment.  I might have to have my hairdresser ditch the highlights next time around....
• In Brace we took first place again.  Our run wasn't as nice as yesterday, but it's brace, what can you do?

We had more fun in brace again, the team who fought yesterday pulled their entry today.  The "mounting" team tried again - god bless them.  They made it to the setup on the recall, but it happened again.  The judge was less than amused, and the handler wasn't so happy either.


The three of us who were left had a good time.  The other two teams were goading me - claiming that I didn't really have Cardis, but golden retrievers in costume.  There was less wrestling today from the 3rd place team.  When the judge was giving ribbons, she said in brace the more amusing the team, the lower the placement.  If the audience voted, it would be the other way around!


Here's what the brindles are doing now:

Yes, I got the chair first!

That's ok, I'll curl up under mom's chair

Now it's time to take the brindles out for a long walk, then I'm off to watch the Megan!

National Specialty 2010: Performance Day One

We had a great time yesterday - both in the ring and out.

In the ring:

• Ziggy took 2nd place with a respectable score in Advanced A Rally - earning his RA title!
• Maggie took 2nd in a tough Veteran's class.  She had a few moments of distraction in the heeling, but it was a very nice run.
• Maggie & Ziggy took FIRST in brace class!  As they had never done brace together, I had no idea what to expect - they both took it in stride and acted as if they were on a walk. 

I did learn something new yesterday - one can NQ in brace.  2 teams were excused from the ring.  With one team - one dog was mounting the other (gasp!).  With the other team, one dog started to strongly reprimand the other.  So mounting & fighting will get you excused.

There was a very good humor team in brace - at every on-lead heeling stop, the dogs started to wrestle each other to the ground.  They were on a coupler, otherwise I expect things would have been a bit more wild!  The hanlder had very good humor about the whole thing.  So did the judge who, after regaining her composure from being doubled over with laughter commmented, "how do I score this?"

It was also great to spend some time with Cardi (human) friends new and old.

Well, I guess it's time for me to get ready for another day of showing.

National Specialty 2010: We made it to PA

The Brindles in Gettysburg

We made it safely to Pennsylvania.  Maggie is curled up in an armchair (I put a towel on it first) and Ziggy is laying under me - sometimes "protecting" our hotel room by barking at the door.  Lots of folks are arriving, which means lots of barking.  Ziggy just can't resist joining in. 

Obedience starts at 8:30 tomorrow morning. 

We are entered in:

Advanced A Rally = Ziggy

Veteran's Obedience = Maggie

 Brace Obedience = Maggie + Ziggy 

We haven't practiced brace all year (I was intending to practice last week...)  It should be fun - and I'll try to get some video!

Fingers crossed that "attentive Ziggy" shows up.

National Specialty 2010: What was I thinking?

I got up at 6:00 this morning, and spent 4 hours packing, cleaning the house, and getting things ready to go to the National Specialty. 

Then I got in the car and drove 10.5 hours to my first stop - in Eastern Ohio.  I am now sitting in a hotel room in Red Roof Inn that's seen much better days, wondering what in the world I was thinking.  I'm exhausted and covered in dog hair.

When did it seem like a good idea to drive ~16 hours each way to go to a dog show?

And better yet, to go to a dog show when I haven't practiced for 2 weeks? 

Maybe I'll feel better about my decision when I'm checking into the hotel tomorrow?

Another obedience trial!

I took today off and took Maggie and Ziggy to the first day of a 3 day Obedience & Rally trial in the Amanas.  I'm headed on another business trip tomorrow, and wanted to attend at least one day of this trial, as it's one of my favorites.

It was a great day to be in Iowa.  The spring weather was PERFECT today.  A Friday off, great weather, spending the day with my dogs.  What could be better?  Well, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

I've decided to describe my performances today in a few posts:

1. Introduction (this one)
2. Ziggy
3. Maggie

Ziggy takes 2nd place in Advanced Rally - again!

I have created 2 different versions to describe Ziggy's performance today:

• The PR version
• The gory details version

Choose the version to read depending on your mood.

PR Version

Today Ziggy trotted in to the Advanced Rally ring and wagged his way to a Second Place finish once again.  This is Ziggy's second qualifying score, putting him in a great position to finish his title at the Cardigan Welsh Corgi National Specialty later this month.

Ziggy's appearance was top-notch today.  His coat was gleaming and his collar was shiny.  His handler looked nice in a navy cardigan sweater and contrasting sterling silver necklace adorned with a Cardigan Welsh Corgi silhouette.

Some highlights from Ziggy's run included a clean and graceful leap over the bar jump and crossing the finish line.

Here's a picture of Ziggy back at home, proudly displaying his ribbons:

Gory Details Version

Let's just say that today was a low point for me as a dog trainer.  Today I was one of those people who you see in the Rally ring and think, "why does she even bother spending her money to compete - she should really be spending her time training her dog, not dragging it to shows."

Yes, Ziggy took second place.  Yes, Ziggy qualified.  

You want to know his score?  73

No that wasn't a typo.  His score was 73.  There were only two dogs who showed up today for Rally Advanced A.  The winning dog beat us by 25 points.  This is the same dog who beat us by only two points last week.  And that dog got the same score both times.

Some highlights (lowlights?)from our run:

• Having to re-try the very first station because Z laid down when I said sit
• Ziggy laying down nearly every time I said sit.
• Ziggy trotting up to and sniffing half of the signs (I'm not kidding)
• Me having to move quickly around Ziggy, covering 1/4 of the ring, on Ziggy's 360 left turn 
• Me saying the word "Ziggy" or more appropriately "ZIGGY!"  10 times for every one time he looked at me
• Me having to retry multiple stations to get something even close to resembling a correct performance
• Ziggy sniffing the ring gates
• Ziggy sniffing every chalk mark and tape mark on the mats - even if they weren't really in our path

I could go on, but it's making me feel vaguely nauseous.  After all, I've taken a year off of showing to work on attention with this dog.  

What happened to my eager little heads up, tails up partner from last week?  I want him back!!!

My Rally training partners tried to make me feel better by telling me, with strained smiles on their faces,  "Ziggy really seemed to be enjoying himself in there!" Of course he was having fun (!) - he just trotted around, looking to and fro, wagging his tail and having a little Cardi sniff-a-thon.

Before I took him back in the ring for ribbons, I worked him a bit (bouncing, happy heeling, etc) and fed him the rest of his breakfast.  In the ring for ribbons, he couldn't take his eyes off me.  Sigh.

Maggie wins in Veteran's obedience!

I took Maggie to the show today, too.  I wanted to get into the Veteran's ring before we went to the Specialty.  And what a way to start!

Here's a picture of Maggie with her first place ribbon and tennis ball award

(side note for those of you who aren't crazy obedience people:  Veteran's class is a non-regular/non-titling class for dogs 7+ years old.  The class contains exactly the same exercises as Novice obedience, run in the same order, and scored the same way)

Maggie rocked in Veteran's today.  She lagged once on heeling (very mildly) and did couple of "hover-sits" (in which she sits, but her hind end isn't quite on the floor - Maggie says, " why sit all the way down when I know I'm just going to start again?"), but otherwise was great.

Her final score:  197!!

My best score ever in obedience.

What made this all the more special is she reminded me that I can actually train a dog and have that dog love to work.  After 3 hours of sitting around reliving Z's Rally performance (see today's post) I was feeling pretty lousy about spending years training, taking a day off work, driving 1.5 hours to get to the show, and having a miserable showing.

Thank goodness for Maggie!!!

Ziggy is 2nd place in Advanced Rally

Ziggy's first-ever Advanced Rally outing was GREAT today.  I am so proud of the boy.

The end result: a score of 96 and second place.

The reason I'm happy:  I had a happy, attentive dog with me right up until the last sign.  My obedience friends all commented on how lovely the run was.  A couple of times he looked away from me, but quickly looked right back at me - face looking right at me and tail in the air.  What a great feeling!

The only bobble we had was on the last exercise - halt, one step right, halt.  The high jump was immediately preceding this one, and Ziggy hit the jump.  This seemed to knock him out of the "zone" and we had to retry the last station for lack of attention.

Here are some pics from today.

Resting outside the crate after a fun morning

Snuggling with mom - Z rests his head in my hands when I rub his chin -- so sweet!

Watching the Open ring - learning through observation, I hope!

Funny obedience story

One of my training friends has a very nice pug who she is working towards his UDX.  Norton is one of the top obedience & agility pugs in the nation.  In practice, he is a joy to watch, and has one of the cutest, quickest Utility go-outs I've ever seen.

Saturday was not Norton's day.  He entered the Utility ring with a "oh, do I really have to" attitude, doing things like walking on his returns, etc.

It's the glove exercise that cracked me up, though.  He was sent to the glove, and trotted out to the right one.  He stood over the glove, checking it out and sniffing for a few seconds before returning.  How did he pick up the glove?  By the middle finger!  He then trotted happily back to his mom, seeming to flip her off the entire way.  I imagine the thought bubble over his head saying, "take this hint, sister."