Well, we're doing Rally, not "real" obedience, but I'm pretty pleased
with Ranger. (Did I post about his first 2 legs in February? I'm sure I
did. The highlights - he qualified both days, he warmed up brilliantly
but didn't seem to recognize me once we got in the ring, we got 4th place
the second day, and the weather in Iowa in February makes attending a dog
show a real challenge.)

Anyway, on to the good stuff:

Yesterday he finished his Rally Novice title with a score of 99 (out of
100) and first place. Woo-hoo! He got cheese. He likes cheese. I was
thrilled that he seemed to recognize me in the ring. I didn't work him
as much beforehand, under the theory that we were leaving our best
performance in the warmup, and I was actually much more relaxed. We
needed one leg, and I'd entered us both days this weekend and both days
next weekend, so I figured we'd get there sometime in the next 10 days.

Then I took him to the eye clinic -- he's got retinal dysplasia, the tops
of his retinas are malformed, but it's not progressive and won't affect
his sight more than it already does, so that was well-spent $$.

On the way out the door, I decided to move him up to the Rally Advanced
(off leash) class for today. I figured, why not?

Today we got there bright and early, I got him all warmed up, and the
judge told us at the briefing that he'd really like the "on deck" dog to
be at the in-gate. So there we were, as the Airedale ahead of us decided
to leave the ring. No leash, remember? I was holding a suprised ACD
with one hand and a (fortunately) playful Airedale in the other for about
five seconds. Ranger didn't get over his surprise in time to get
offended, thank goodness.

A minute later, I'm taking him into the ring (the Airedale's owner
excused them), and taking off his leash. As we start forward, a dog in
the ring next door goes zooming over a jump (it was either Open or
Utility Obedience), and poor Ranger shied like a pony. I think if it had
been the Airedale OR the zooming dog, he'd have been fine, but the
combination made him a little tweaky. But I got his brain back, and the
course was simple and smooth, and we did okay. He seems to need about
half the course to realize that we're working, but that just means he
finishes the course with a bang.

Score 99 (out of 100), for 2nd place (the first place dog is a really
nice working Springer bitch, and she well-deserved the win) and his first
Rally Advanced leg. Go, Ranger!

I've moved him up for next week, obviously. And I spent almost as much
in gas as in entries for the weekend. Not cheap, this here dog-showing
thing.

On 2008-04-20 17:45:43 -0400, M Healey said:

Congratulations on the great weekend! Go RANGER!

"M Healey" wrote in message
...
Well, we're doing Rally, not "real" obedience, but I'm pretty pleased
with Ranger. (Did I post about his first 2 legs in February? I'm sure I
did. The highlights - he qualified both days, he warmed up brilliantly
but didn't seem to recognize me once we got in the ring, we got 4th place
the second day, and the weather in Iowa in February makes attending a dog
show a real challenge.)

Anyway, on to the good stuff:

Yesterday he finished his Rally Novice title with a score of 99 (out of
100) and first place. Woo-hoo! He got cheese. He likes cheese. I was
thrilled that he seemed to recognize me in the ring. I didn't work him
as much beforehand, under the theory that we were leaving our best
performance in the warmup, and I was actually much more relaxed. We
needed one leg, and I'd entered us both days this weekend and both days
next weekend, so I figured we'd get there sometime in the next 10 days.

Then I took him to the eye clinic -- he's got retinal dysplasia, the tops
of his retinas are malformed, but it's not progressive and won't affect
his sight more than it already does, so that was well-spent $$.

On the way out the door, I decided to move him up to the Rally Advanced
(off leash) class for today. I figured, why not?

Today we got there bright and early, I got him all warmed up, and the
judge told us at the briefing that he'd really like the "on deck" dog to
be at the in-gate. So there we were, as the Airedale ahead of us decided
to leave the ring. No leash, remember? I was holding a suprised ACD
with one hand and a (fortunately) playful Airedale in the other for about
five seconds. Ranger didn't get over his surprise in time to get
offended, thank goodness.

A minute later, I'm taking him into the ring (the Airedale's owner
excused them), and taking off his leash. As we start forward, a dog in
the ring next door goes zooming over a jump (it was either Open or
Utility Obedience), and poor Ranger shied like a pony. I think if it had
been the Airedale OR the zooming dog, he'd have been fine, but the
combination made him a little tweaky. But I got his brain back, and the
course was simple and smooth, and we did okay. He seems to need about
half the course to realize that we're working, but that just means he
finishes the course with a bang.

Score 99 (out of 100), for 2nd place (the first place dog is a really
nice working Springer bitch, and she well-deserved the win) and his first
Rally Advanced leg. Go, Ranger!

I've moved him up for next week, obviously. And I spent almost as much
in gas as in entries for the weekend. Not cheap, this here dog-showing
thing.
============
Great story; congratulations Ranger! Pics would be nice.

"M Healey" wrote in message
...
(snip)
I've moved him up for next week, obviously. And I spent almost as much
in gas as in entries for the weekend. Not cheap, this here dog-showing
thing.

Quite a weekend, quite a dog, Ranger!
Congratulations.
Karla

M Healey said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Yesterday he finished his Rally Novice title with a score
of 99 (out of 100)

Heh, and here I thought it was out of 101. Congratulations!
I've watched a lot of Rally and most dogs enjoy it thoroughly,
especially if their handlers do (and I think you've got that
covered.)

and first place. Woo-hoo!

Seconded woo-hoo!, and a yahoo! thrown in.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

M Healey wrote:

Score 99 (out of 100), for 2nd place (the first place dog is a really
nice working Springer bitch, and she well-deserved the win) and his first
Rally Advanced leg. Go, Ranger!

Congratulations to both of you!

I've moved him up for next week, obviously. And I spent almost as much
in gas as in entries for the weekend. Not cheap, this here dog-showing
thing.

This morning, gas was *down* to $3.39/gal. Ugh.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)