APDT Rally Obedience Trial @ DTCCC

Another rally-o trial, my favorite!  Today we were entered at Dog Training Center of Chester County.  I entered Molly with intent to finish out her RL1 title, and I entered Ein in a Level One and Level Two course.

It was both Ein and I's first Level 2 course, and if I am honest...I couldn't even sleep well the night before!  I was very nervous about the jump that might be in the course, I was nervous about Ein being off leash.  I was nervous in general because this was something new for us.  Silly!

 I was happy that when I arrived, there was no jump.  Why was I nervous

Level Two Course. (Click to Enlarge)

about a jump?  Ein did jumps in agility!  We had been practicing jumps at home and it was as though he was back to square one.  I cannot send Ein to a jump (yet) but rather have to run towards it and THEN split away from him.  The rules are the dog has to be sent, and then the handler runs six feet away from the jump.

As I talked to other people at the trial, running closer to a jump during a course simply loses points, and that is okay with me.

The obstacle instead was the "OffSet Figure 8", with tempting food bowls with treats in.  Ein is pretty good with focusing on me, so I was glad to have that instead of a jump!

All of my worrying was unecessary.  Ein got a 205/210, First Place in A-Class and he was happy and delightful to work with.  (He was better off leash than he was on leash.)

Bring on the Level 2 courses, I'm ready!

Level One Course. (Click to Enlarge.)

Next was the Veterans, the Level 3 class...and then we finished with the Level 1's.

I requested Molly to be placed before Ein in the running order.  It keeps Molly from being frustrated, and it makes Ein watch us work and builds his desire to work with me.

Molly's word of the day?  WHEEEEEE!  Molly was in high energy mode, her mohawk hair was up. It would be our luck that the second sign of the day was "Fast Pace".  I thought that she would sprout wings and fly right out the door and away from the course!  A lot of distraction, a lot of sniffing of signs and floor, a lot of coaxing her to pay attention to me.  I was reminded today why Rally-O is Ein's thing, not Molly's.  Molly likes the fast lane, no bones about it.  Still, check out that always-wagging tail in the video.

Still, Molly earned a qualifying score of 186/210 (ouch!  She was naughty, though.) which earned her her Level One Title!  GO MOLLY!

So boring.  Where is the dog walk?  THE TENNIS BALL?!

Next up was Ein's Level 1 course.  He was a bit distracted at first (you can see in the below video) but overall really great.  He earned a 207/210 and Third Place in B-Class.

Meanwhile, in the car...
(Perri's disrespect is by no means a reflection on this book.  Wallace by Jim Gorant is an excellent read.  I would lend it to you if you don't mind some poodle drool.)