There were three trials running in two rings, so Ein and Perri got three tries each!
I was mostly in the dark on how Ein would do, as I detailed in my post a few days ago. He has done plenty of rally-o, but never something like this.
Trial 1 - NQ. I have a video of this so you can see that his Figure 8 left much to be desired. The real trouble was on the Stand for Exam. He was not having that.
Trial 2 - 178/200. Ein was a little more wilted on this run, not as peppy. His Figure 8 was no better. I took some time to practice a Stand for Exam with some friends and rewarded him heavily for it. I also took advantage of the allowable extra cue command for a Stay on the SFE and took the point hit. I wanted him to be successful. He moved two paws but stayed, I was so proud of him! That's hard hard hard for an Einey.
Trial 3 - 180/200. Ein was even more wilted but he worked hard for me and I was proud of him. There was some lagging here on all accounts. The Stand for Exam he stayed solid, though I once again took the point hit for the extra stay command.
Ein's scores weren't pretty. He was stressed out by this new experience. He did some goofy stuff like laying down instead of auto-sitting. His recall over bar jump I was very happy with though. His heel pattern made me happy. The Honor Stay exercise was solid on all three trials. I was so worried that he would sit on the Moving Stand but he did not one time do that. Ein needs one more leg for his CD-C so of course we are going to try for that.
I am not sure that Ein could handle Open in CDSP. He definitely could not handle AKC Obedience. I will never say never to either thing and I will continue to present Ein with a blend of challenges with respect to his comfort level. Ein had a lot of moments where he enjoyed working today, and some where he did not so much. I know that we both had more fun together than misery, and that's what matters!
I was a little more sure of how Perri would do, but she definitely has her problem areas. Other dogs, especially large or intimidating ones, can really rattle her and freeze her. Today's customer was a hulking, reactive newfoundland and unfortunately Perri's Honor Stay was during his heel pattern! She kept a close eye on him during all three trials and I was so nervous that she would try to bolt away from him. Obviously the working dog is a good distance away from the honor dog during the exercise and the owner had him under control, but try telling that to a scaredy-pants poodle!
Trial 1 - 189/200. The Figure 8 was a train wreck but picked up at the end. The Stand for Exam I got scared and gave her the extra stay command and took the point hit (so, we would have had a 192 otherwise.) That was unnecessary but it made me feel more comfortable.
Trial 2- 192/200. Perri's heel pattern was good here. Her Figure 8 was better, not great. Stand for Exam was perfect, no extra command given here. Recall over bar jump went fine. We had to do a run off for placement here, but Perri suddenly was a bit disconnected for the heel pattern. She did not sit at a halt and was laggy.
Trial 3- 193/200. Well since I am including a video I do have to acknowledge my embarassment of my handling on the Figure 8. Shoulder dipping, not looking ahead. Ducking down to start her heeling. Oh what a disaster! The newfoundland also came walking into the building with his owner just as we began the Figure 8 so that did not help Perri's confidence. Worse exercise.
It really meant a lot to me that Perri did well and got her title today. Well, I guess what handler wouldn't feel that way! After putting us both in over our heads in AKC Obedience it was good to be successful in a pleasant, yet still challenging, venue. It was a good confidence booster for Perri, a good measure of progress, and a good look at areas that we need to work on. FIGURE 8! FIGURE 8! FIGURE 8! And I just plain need to learn to keep myself moving and act like a Real Handler and trust my dog. We will get there!
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