The Finest Einest CDX-C! (And Molly SN-C)

Ein and I have been steadily plugging away in CDSP Obedience, a trial every few months in attempt to earn his CDX-C title. First, we went to matches. Then we started trialing January of last year and we NQd. We tried again in May of last year and NQd two times under a very grouchy judge at a very crowded and not-for-Ein trial site. After that I thought maybe this is not for Ein, maybe he is just getting too old. By last autumn I started peeking at the trial calender now and then, and I saw a trial with a much loved rally judge and thought it was worth trying a new to us trial site. There were two trials and Ein NQd one and squeaked by with his first Open Q and a score in the 170s. I was so thrilled, you would think it was a perfect 200! And that gave me hope. And I decided we would stick to this particular trial site since the ring layout made Ein comfortable. This past January we NQd both trials. All the NQs were for random naughty things, it seemed like a different thing each trial.

And so I entered both rounds of Open in the May trial. And we trained the things we NQd on, and we trained the things we did well on. And I entered the ring with my 13 year old rock star and told him to not be naughty!

He was naughty! His habit of "front? what is front?" that started this January has persisted. But not NQ naughty.

Trial one: heel free was fine. Running broad jump good but attempted to squirrel away to heel position with no front - I gave him a front cue since that is points off but less points off than a no front. Drop on recall. I gave him a very firm stay command and turned to face him. (no anticipating, please!) Rock solid stay, good boy! Retrieve on flat - great! Retrieve over high....here he went! Picked the dumbbell up by the bell - when has he ever done that?! Never! And to his credit he carried it to me and over the high jump and dropped it at my feet. That's 5 points off but not an NQ. (I did not know that and thought we blew it.) Go out he does this weird thing sometimes where he runs out to the stanchion to the right of the center one. Whatever dude, it's points off. Our second leg with a 180!! Movin up into the 180s!!

Trial two: heel free fine again. Running broad jump about the same with the naughty no front attempt. Drop on recall, another good boy stay! and naughty no front. I cued him front and he ignored me but then sat at almost my right side on front position. The retrieves were both good but on both run outs he was giving glances at spectators and the judge, and sometimes when he does that he loses track of the dumbbell and will nose touch it and come back to me. We have done a lot of work on this issue and it paid off, he retrieved both times! The go out he stopped short and I cued him to sit anyway (just points off.) and he laid down. More points off but we survived with a 189!

Companion Dog Excellent!! 

I am so proud of him and so honored to be in the ring with a dog of his age. At the pinning for each trial the judges could not resist telling everyone in attendance how old Ein was and everybody cheered for him. He is such a special partner. My plan for now is to continue to play in Open C class (finally out of Open A!!). Ein really loves the exercises, especially the retrieve exercises. At this time I do not plan to continue on to Utility but who knows, I could be sitting here when this dog is 18 years old typing about his Utility Dog title. Anything is possible! In reality, I don't think that Ein would like the more touchy feely Stand for Exam that Utility requires, and I have always considered it a dead end for that reason.

Aaaaaaand Molly played too! She earned her third leg in Starter Novice (Heel on Lead, Figure 8 on Lead, Stand with Distraction (judge walks around.), Recall (Half length of ring) and Sit-Stay while Handler gets leash. Molly did a very nice job but she was a little bit stressy with some lagging issues on Figure 8 and two no sits between both heeling exercises so we got a 190. Still very respectable!
Since Molly titled and I had prepared her for the exercises in regular Novice class, I moved her up for the second trial. (Heel on Lead, Off Lead Figure 8, Moving Stand for Exam, Recall over Bar Jump, Sit-Stay (Handler Walks Around Ring.) The heeling was okay but I was very supportive of Molly. I miss my sharp little heeler that I had in January and it shows that I have slacked off on a lot of the motivational work I was doing with Molly's heeling. I'm going to put more work into that so we can have a nicer time for her last two Novice legs! The other exercises were uneventful and she was a Very Good Girl with no errors, I was especially pleased with her Moving Stand for Exam.

Looking forwards to our next Obedience trial in a few months, and it's time to really get serious about working on training Molly for Open.

Ein CDX-C and Molly SN-C!

January CDSP Ein and Molly

Today was CDSP Obedience for Ein and...Molly! I finally stopped just thinking and dreaming about Molly in Obedience and went ahead and entered her in a trial. I even panicked and tried to scratch her from the trial, fretting that she was not ready, but between changing my travel plans and a lost email, Molly's entry in today's trial remained. (Since yesterday's agility trial was nearby to today's obedience trial, I got a hotel room in the area. And since Molly was with us anyway....)

Good thing I did! Molly stole the show today.

Today was a double trial and Ein got his turn first at Open A in Trial 1. Ein was "on" in heeling, even feeling great enough to forge a little bit. Running broad jump was good. We have had anticipation issues on the Drop on Recall and have worked on that since the last trial, but he stayed solid until I called him. ....And did not drop. Sigh. I feel his attention flickered towards the worrisome people at the doorway for a moment, just as I gave the command. Both retrieve exercises were perfect. Ein has a new dumbbell that is a better fit for him, but I still had it in my mind that he might not retrieve it under the stress of a trial. No problems there. No running around the jump either (that was last trial's screwball move!). The Go Out and Sit he boomeranged back to me and I sent him again and he went back out and sat. Okay! More to work on! A bummer since his Go Out was really nice at the last trial.

Molly got her turn second. Since I started doing CDSP with Ein and Perri, there was a new class added called "Starter Novice". I decided to enter Molly in that rather than the standard Novice class. Heel on Leash, Figure 8 on leash, Stand with Distraction (Judge circles your dog but does not touch her.), Recall (Half length of the ring.) and Sit Stay (while handler retrieves leash.) Molly heeled like a dream. She blew me away! Both on the regular heeling and the Figure 8. I have never enjoyed such a flawless Figure 8 pattern with either Ein or Perri. It was an incredible feeling. Molly held heel position doggedly, her tail was wagging. She sprinted in the fast pace but stayed right in heel position. I have done no extensive heelwork practice with her, just a lot of tooling around with bowl pivots and what we do waiting for our turns at agility trials and training. Which...when I think about it could be considered extensive. She understands heel position as solidly as Perri does, with none of Perri's stress. I wish I had a video. But I know how it felt and I will never forget it. 

Ein loves heeling but he heels wide and often lags when he checks on the judge or spectators in worry. I never get that feeling of being 100% in sync with him, and I respect his concerns. You cannot fight fear. He loves heeling with me and wants to give me all of his attention, but he cannot ignore "threats". Molly is all bravado and confidence and it was a strange, beautiful feeling for me to actually heel a dog who I have trained well and who is totally in the moment with me. Wow.

The reason I wanted to scratch the trial was that I did not feel I worked Molly's stand-stay to fullproof. And we certainly have not practiced with other "judges", other than Vince. She stayed solid as a rock, not a foot out of place. Her recall was lovely, and her sit stay was solid. Molly scored a 198.5 and was awarded highest scoring Starter Novice dogs. There were golden retrievers in her class and my naughty pitbull mutt scored the highest. Floored. Who is this dog?!

Back to Ein, my angel, my golden boy...naughty again!! Great heeling, great running BJ but skipped front, this time anticipated the DOR. But he dropped! Great retrieves. Did his Go Out and downed instead of sitting. Oh Ein! 

So our training will focus on Go Outs in more stressful environments. Same with DOR. I need to replicate the anticipating, as well as distractions as he is running and recalling towards me. Since I don't see, at this time, a suitable CDSP trial for us in my area until May, I want to try to get Ein to some matches where we can utilize "judge" pressure to help get Ein more solid in his problem areas. He used to have a very hard time retrieving around judges but he has conquered that (at least....for now!) so hopefully we can do the same with the DOR and the Go Out.

And Molly just powerhoused another beautiful for her second Starter Novice Q! One oopsie she did make was not sitting at halt for our first Figure 8 round. She did sit, with no command from me, but there was quite a pause before she did it. The judge deducted us 4 points for that, which I felt was a rather substantial deduction for a slow sit. Oh well. Everything else was beautiful! We got deducted 3 points for a slow finish on the recall, but I oddly do not remember a slow finish at all. I am very honest when there are faults made from my team, but I felt Molly had a very snappy finish and an instant response to my finish command. Again...oh well. 192.5 and a first place!

What an exciting day! The bottom line is that Ein was working really nicely despite his faults, I still had the sense he is settling into Open class and working better as we go along. And Molly blew all expectations out of the water. I look forwards to our next trial where I would love for her to title and move right up to Novice. We will practice so we are ready if that should happen.

Ein qualifies in Open!

I worked up the nerve to enter Ein in another CDSP (double) trial.   Truth be told I almost cancelled my entry, fretting that he was simply not ready.   Especially not for his Go Out.   But I kept the entry.   I picked a trial with a judge I love and who I knew I would feel comfortable with.   Ein and I have worked hard on his Go Out as well as some other problem areas between Spring and now and I really did want to see how things were looking.

This particular trial building was perfect for Ein.   Ring separate from crating and spectating.   Steward table off to the side in the ring rather than at one end or another.   The ring entrance was a doorway with two foldable ring gates stretched across it.   Wide, and it allowed room for spectators to see in, but not on either of the ends of the ring where Ein would need to run towards or away from.   Cool.

Ein's heel off lead was laggy on the first trial and he had a missed sit because the heeling pattern ended right at the entrance of the room and he got distracted momentarily by spectators.   I was told a missed sit is -5 points but a verbal cue to sit would have been a -3 points, so best to give a verbal if I'm not getting a sit. (And really, best to support my dog too.  Bad Handler.)
Running broad jump, good!   The BJ was right by the spectator gate and I was happy with how he handled that.
Drop on Recall, good boy!   I can't remember but I think he anticipated the finish on this exercise.
Retrieve on Flat great!!    No anticipating the send, picked it right up and was fast! (and adorable!)
Retrieve over High Jump Ugh!   Retrieved the DB and then came wide around the jump and....didn't take the jump.   We've worked on off set pick ups of both treats and the DB and he catches the jump.   The judge reminded me I could have cued the jump as I saw he was coming in on the flat, I did not know that!   (I forget to ask if was points off, not that I care but it would be good to know.)
Go Out was okay.   He went out but sort of started this arc and return to me.   I just cued him to sit by the gate and returned to him.   Not bad, definitely and improvement!

I was super thrilled with Ein's attitude and work in the first trial and really felt like our hard work has paid off.   Ein is loving being in the ring.

Perri got to play in Novice C (in CDSP Novice C class is for dogs who have earned their CD-C title).   I tried some tricks, having some super high value treats.   Asking a friend to hold Perri for me right before my turn so she would be excited to be with me when the leash was handed back over.   Perri still flattened out for the ring.   Dutiful flat heeling for the heel on lead (though only 1/2 point off.), she did perk up about half way through.   Figure 8 was....well we got eight points off for steward sniffing and getting lost with stewards.   Sigh.   No deductions on the Stand for Exam or the Sit-Stay, and a half point off on the recall for a crooked sit.   Strong finish!   The judge even pointed out Perri's tail which was firmly slammed down for her whole time in the ring.   Like everything with Perri, I know she is capable of loving the ring but today was not her day.   She was still a very good poodle and tried very hard for me.

After that I stewarded in Utility and before I knew it, it was Ein's second turn!   Heeling was much prettier this time, but he had some other tricks up his sleeve!   Broad jump was good but Ein went right to finish position afterwards and grinned up at me.   Clever boy!   Drop on Recall was great but the same thing, why front when you can just go straight to finish??   The retrieve on flat he amped it up to a new level by dropping the dumbbell at my feet and speeding into heel position.   Oh my!   Too much!   For the retrieve over high Ein returned over the jump no problem and I firmly reminded him with a verbal "front".   He say quite squarely, held the DB until I took it and did a finish when told.   What a hoot!!   Still in the realm of the (barely) qualifying, we proceeded to the send area for the Go Out.   I made a fuss of showing him his mark, stood up and sent him.   Beautiful rockstar Go Out, stayed put while I returned around him.   Besides the extreme naughtiness on the fronts, it was our best run yet!

And I still did not know if I qualified.   I'm not terribly savvy on the rules and I wasn't sure if we lost too many points on all those missed fronts and especially the dumbbell drop.   But then I heard our "Open A dog qualifies with a score of 179.5!"   I raised both arms up, so happy!   Our first Open leg!!   We did it!

Four Days of Nope.

I was really excited about my four day weekend.   Four days, all three of my dogs, three different sports.   It had the makings of an amazing weekend.  And then I got my ass handed to me.

Friday was AKC Agility with Perri and it was absolutely pouring down rain and freezing.   We were indoors but I still got wet and I was still freezing.   The last time we were at this trial site, Perri shut down, so I did not know what to expect.   In standard she was an absolute clown and refused to weave.   In JWW she fixated on The Door and shut down.  Okay.

We went on an awesome five hour long hike and found some really high rated geocaches and honestly.   It was probably the best part of my weekend.   One thing is for sure, Perri is an awesome trail dog.   She stays close, she never lags or runs out of energy and she clearly enjoys herself.

Saturday was supposed to be better.   Molly was joining us for more AKC Agility!   Standard was pretty good, with good focus but no weaves.   JWW she was hot and cold in the ring so we left early to preserve motivation.   Perri will take a month off of agility trials and will be dropped to Preferred 20" in AKC.   She seems to like that jump height better all around.   Perri used to love the trial site we were at, and now it just seems to make her worry.

Molly had a "fun" day.   Wrong end of the tunnel in the FAST send, blew the dog walk to grab a wrong course tunnel in Standard and in JWW also made a beeline for a wrong course tunnel during a discrimination challenge.   I'm sure I was not clear enough to her, but Molly doesn't need much muddying of the handling to choose a tunnel over a jump.   Honestly, I had stopped expecting any Qs in AKC Agility.   It just didn't seem like something that happened for us.   So when Molly got a Standard Q last month, it sort of messed with my mind set.  No matter!   Molly was running fast and happy with decent weaves (missed entry in both classes, though.), so.   It's cool.

Sunday was Ein's turn in CDSP Obedience.   I felt really confident going into this trial.   Ein and I had worked on his rough spots from the last trial.   (To review: ticking broad jump, no down on the drop on recall, and anticipating the retrieve.)  We NQd both trials.
On my first dumbbell send I clipped Ein's nose when I gave him the hand signal to retrieve his dumbbell.   He gave me a wounded look but went out to the DB, did not retrieve it until I gave him a re-cue.   Same with the retrieve over jump.   With the Go Out, he acted like he had never ever heard of such a concept in his life.
The second trial, Ein broke his stay on the drop on recall.   I was floored.   Ein has always had rock solid stays and in nearly five years of Rally and obedience trialing he has only broken one stay and it was when he was very stressed.   Good retrieves, though I threw much shorter since we had already NQd.   The Go Out again, total confusion.

I was very shocked  by some of Ein's errors.   At first my brain started whirring: maybe we really should join a class to work on these exercises.   We do a lot of training at home and at parks or parking lots and stores, but never in a class room.   But here is the reality of it.   Ein is 12.   I don't want to amp up his training.   He loves working on exercises together and training, but at his age I don't really think it is right of me to intensify our training.   I am also starting to wonder about his eye sight.   Just this year he has started bumping into rally signs in the ring and that is something he absolutely never used to do.   And it seems like when I throw the DB too far out, he runs out after it but then loses track of it.   He runs around and around trying to find it and sometimes he does, but then he does a nervous nose touch on the DB.   I don't know.   And the Go Out, he just didn't seem to see his mark at all - just ran out a few feet and stressed.   Maybe he doesn't get the concept at all.   In brightly lit areas, though, he does not seem to struggle.  I suspect the judge's proximity was also a factor, she was standing very close.

So.   Right now I have decisions to make.   At this point, if I trial him again, it will be at our old training club.  Period.   He is familiar there, he was not stressed there in January.   In fact, he was clownishly anti-stressed!  And perhaps at 12 years old, the stress of a trial site he had never been to was a bit much.   No more new trial sites, buddy.


Now I thought surely today, our bonus trial day of Barn Hunt with Molly would be a surefire Q on at least one run!   The Barn hunt trial was outdoors on the grounds of a hotel resort.   We were entered in two rounds of Open and up for Molly's title.

Nope.  Not this weekend.

Molly would not indicate.   Then she false indicated.   Then she would not even think about sniffing the rat when I showed it to her.   Our second trial we did get one rat, but I called rat on a litter tube.   Molly gave it a good long sniff and I thought that was going to be as good as it got.   Molly had always been so reliable with her indication if I asked her about a tube.   She would not indicate on a litter tube if I asked her, and is always willing to check and indicate on a rat.   The only thing I can attribute this behavior to is the noisy construction site, complete with jackhammer and banging metal sounds, at the property neighboring the hotel resort.

So.   530 miles.   11 entries.   3 dogs.   Zero Qs.   Oof.

I'm good at rolling with the failures and accepting them.   It's not all successes and I never expect it to be!   But this was a bit embarrassing for me, I have to say.   I haven't felt this foolish since that September in 2014 when I entered Perri in Novice A and we were woefully unprepared.   Perri has developed a new, confusing and upsetting issue and we are going to work on that.  Molly was Molly in the agility ring, but her behavior in Barn Hunt really surprised me.  It is frustrating to continue fighting her noise phobia in the Barn Hunt setting and I am concerned she is developing a conditioned response due to how many times she has been shut down by gunshot or similar sounds when trying to play BH.   And with Ein, we worked hard on his problem areas but new ones came up - but now I am guilty of perhaps overlooking his age and taking advantage of his enthusiasm and not helping him respect his limitations.   It all caught me off guard.   I feel like a failure for not training my dogs well and for not assessing them properly.   Add in Perri's not so awesome nosework trial last weekend, and I'm feeling pretty low.

Right now some retail therapy feels in order (I'm thinking a set of Fit Bones!) as well as a small break from trialing to enjoy some extra hiking time and reconfigure our minds.

New Years Day CDSP Trial

I only post when I do a trial?   It seems to be so!   I've had a lot to write about, just haven't gotten to sit down and do it.

But today Ein and I tried CDSP Open Obedience for our first time!   I questioned entering him, but we have been to some matches and have been practicing a whole lot...the trial was close by and I think I would otherwise keep procrastinating and saying he is "not ready" forever more.

During our pre-trial practice yesterday, his old habit of running over the broad jump returned.   Great!   I felt a bit uneasy, but the situation was what it was.   We had some good reps of jumping over the BJ and ended on a good note.   

I have a video, but I still like to chatter about what happened.

Off Leash Heeling, great!   What a good boy!   

Running Broad Jump...I heard a big old tick...so I knew he had done something on the broad jump.   Reviewing the video I think he just took off too early and came down a bit too soon.   We might have actually passed the exercise as I don't feel he actually stepped on it, but he "touched the last board without knocking it over" - which is considered a minor deduction.   I should have asked.

However....

Then the Drop On Recall came and to my complete shock, Ein did not drop at all but continued coming in towards me and sat nearly at front.   Hey!   You forgot something!   Scamp!   I see him dip his head when I give the command....he did notice the cue but I know he was stressed about coming in towards the steward table.   I do think that if he had been coming towards the back of the ring, he would have dropped.   It's hard to deal with Ein's stress about doing exercises towards ringside, fear is a tough beast to be in conflict with.

Retrieve on Flat was good!    I was very confident about the Retrieve.   Ein definitely was pushing it as far as anticipating my command.   He did not wait so much as I fortunately cued him just as he was taking off for his dumbbell.

Retrieve over High Jump....oof.   I threw the DB too short.   Ein completely anticipated, but then noticed the most strange wheel on the high jump and had to check that out.   We reset, surely having already NQd the exercise and I threw the DB again.   Ein again anticipates and takes off so I just cue him when he's already several strides away from me.  

Last was the Go Out, Turn, Sit and it was what I was most nervous about.   We are most certainly "still working on this".   In training, Ein had been anticipating my "sit" cue so I had been working strictly on the send out, rewarding him for just going straight out at the gate and not cue-ing a sit.   Well....Ein runs out and sniffs all around the gate and then turns and comes back in to me.   All I can say is....Needs Work.   

I did not expect quite so many things to go wrong but somehow I still had the greatest time with Ein.   I watch the video and laugh and laugh.   He is so absolutely proud of himself despite the errors, and why wouldn't he be?   He's never wrong.   I never let him "be wrong".   It was like we were in a training exercise.   

We have work to do, and that's okay!   The work and the training is what we love the most.   I will give the broad jump more attention - I did not realize how unclear Ein was on his job.   The  drop on recall I am not concerned about, it will be the "luck of the draw" of which direction we are asked to recall towards.   The retrieves I could have been much more firm with my "stay" cue, and we will work on waiting until cued to retrieve.    And the Go Out....well, it just needs work!

I care, but I don't care.   Ein will be 12 in March.   And here he is in the ring with me, trying Open.   Doing more independent work in the ring than he ever has in his life.   I am so proud of him, so freaking proud.   

We went for a long hike afterwards at a nearby state park.   It was even warm enough for a swim (for Ein!).   What a perfect way to start 2017.

CDSP Obedience Trial @ Let's Speak Dog

I survived the CDSP trial!  (No shocker there.)  I focused really hard on making a fool of myself with my dogs and giving myself to them completely before and during our runs.  They deserve that!  I tried to remember to smile.

Smiling isn't that hard to do when this is what your crating area looks like.  Jack in the Box!

Ein was the first in the ring.  He was stress panty and his weird leg was shaking and as I said yesterday, he has never done super at this venue before.  His heel pattern was surprising to me!  We did lose some points for lagging, but he nailed all his sits and there were more than a few moments where he was heeling head up and laser corgi focus on me instead of trudging beside me or stress lagging.    The Figure 8 was incredible for Ein.  Again there was some lagging, as always.  I chose to walk to the right and have him on my outside for a change.  I walked briskly and instead of dipping my shoulder to look for him I just took a leap of faith and walked the figure 8.  He stayed with me the whole time and was actually heeling with a smiley face!  I was so proud I could have fainted and called it done and good right there and then!  The Stand for Exam was the bumpy part and we lost some points there.  I gave him a re command to Stay but he still moved some paws and acted shy, but the judge was able to do her touching and we passed the exercise.  Whew!  The recall over bar jump was great , though he did come in crooked after the finish.  Hey, I'll take it!   The Honor Stay was unremarkable.
There were no re-cues due to anxiety stressing, no staring into space and shaking and shutting down.  Ein was working it and he really seemed to have a good time.   We got a 187.5 and his CD-C title!   That's no fancy score, but it's Ein's highest Obedience score yet and I am super proud of him!

Perri was next.  And Perri was Perri.  When we first got there she was totally happy and willing to work and I thought, "We are going to have a good time in that ring."
Sure enough, ten minutes before her run I brought her out of her crate and I had a different dog on my hands.  Watching the other dogs, worrying, totally stoic with that tentative look in her eye.  Did not want to play with her rabbit fur tug.  Great.
I tried hard to get her back, but to be truthful, these shifts in Perri's mental state and the disconnect that I know is coming in the ring stresses me out too.  I'm only human.

The heel on lead wasn't pretty.  We lost 5 points.  She was pretty gone on me when we started "heeling" and when the judge called halt she walked past me a little.  This is "normal" for Perri.  She zones out on me and floats around and when the judge calls a halt, she continues looking around.  I was very surprised when she actually looked back at me and rotated back toward heel position and got her sit.  Hmph.
The Figure 8 got us.  I again went to the right, dog on the outside.  I thought, "This way, Perri won't be able to sniff the ring steward's ass on her way by and get lost there."
Fat chance.  She heeled a few steps, stopped dead while I kept walking, and lodged her nose into the steward's ass.  I walked the whole Figure 8 alone.  I started the second pass around the Figure 8 and said "Perri come on."  She looked up at me and it was like a lightbulb went on.  She did her prettiest Figure 8 ever after that, head up and staring at me the entire time with a nice sit at her halt.  Too bad she trashed the first part of the exercise.  It's stress.  I know that.  It's also super embarrassing.  Why can't she scratch her ears or sniff the floor like a normal dog does when she is stressed??
The Stand for Exam was absolutely flawless.  So was the Recall over Bar Jump.  She did do some ear scratching twice in the Honor Stay but did not break her stay and she did pass the exercise.


I have no idea when Perri is going to be able to go into a ring and not sniff ass or floor and just work with me.  She clearly is unsure of just what exactly her job is and until that time, we are going to have to not enter even CDSP Novice.  (I say "even" not because it is not challenging, but because being able to praise Perri is not enough support for her right now.)  I have already entered her in WCR RL1B class in March and I am unsure about proceeding with Rally Advanced in April.  I just want her to be more solid.  I enjoy getting good scores, I enjoy a confident dog, and I want Perri to enjoy our work, too.  She sure is a hard dog to get to know.  However today she did do her SFE, she did recall over that jump.  She didn't plod toward me, she didn't run out the jump (this was a major major issue in the past, even with a 12" height).  She sat at square front and did her finish quickly.  These are all things that Perri did not do months ago, and these are things I should be grateful for.  And I am.  Forward progress means a lot, and I do not take it for granted.   I need to find more matches and focus completely on Perri's problem areas and comfort level, rather than trying to just go through the routine of Novice Obedience.

Jitters

Tomorrow I am taking Ein and Perri to a CDSP obedience show.  I am hoping for Ein to finish his CD-C and I am wishing I had not entered Perri at all.

My ring confidence has taken some hits since the autumn, all my own fault.  The obedience trials in September, Perri's repeated lagging on figure 8's in CDSP Trials and in classes, the match at Suburban, the second AKC rally trial.  Ein lags all the time at trials and training due to anxiety.   Perri is Perri.   When Molly was a mess at the rally trial two weeks ago, the tattered remains of my ring confidence flew out the window.  Now I am a mess, too. 

When I imagine going in that ring tomorrow all I can imagine is my lagging and anxiety ridden dogs, burning shame and the entire group of people looking on in pity (while petting their own prepared dogs heads.)  The thought of taking that leash off and losing my dog in the ring again is terrifying for lack of a better word, and I can only accept that it will certainly happen. When I saw an acquaintance of mine on the run order with her two dogs who turn in excellent performances (no doubt due to plenty of hard work!), my own anxiety ratcheted up a few more notches.  

This is ridiculous.  But it is where I'm at mentally.  With Ein I know the dog I will get in that ring.  He will lag but there will be good moments.  The Figure 8 will be hard for him.  The Stand for Exam might NQ us.  The recall over bar jump will be okay.

With Perri, I don't know the dog that I will be taking in that ring.  I am still reeling and unsettled by her behavior at the AKC Rally trial at the end of January.  At the December rally trial she was a dream.  She was a bit apprehensive ringside but I worked her through that and she really turned it on in there.  That was not the case at all in January and I am still shocked by it.  I didn't take her back into that AKC Obedience ring.  I took her to do rally at a quiet indoor obedience club.

It doesn't help that we will be going to Let's Speak Dog, a place where Ein has a record of not doing so hot and not liking.  But I've got to shake it off.  I've got to be strong for these dogs.  These dogs would just as soon go run in the woods or snuggle on the couch with me while I read a book.  These dogs will give me what I've put into them, they will give me all they've got.  And I will do them no good by bubbling over with anxiety and worrying that they are going to lag in the ring.   Step out, be confident, be strong, leave the ring sweating.  I must become one with my dog and forget that there are any other humans in that building with me.  After all, if I want my dogs to focus on me alone, I should return the favor.  I love CDSP Obedience because I can have fun with and talk to my dogs, and I plan to do plenty of both tomorrow.  I need to stop being a mental sissy and try to look forwards to this trial!

"Well this was your bright idea."

CDSP Trial x 3!

The dogs and I had an absolutely wonderful experience for our first CDSP Obedience trial.  This venue is so dog friendly and sensible.  The two judges were helpful and genuinely seemed to care about dogs and the sport, and they wanted the handlers to have a good experience.

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!

Obedience Trial PTSD Nerves at their finest...

The CDSP Obedience trial is on Saturday.   I am nervous for a whole lot of reasons.   This will not be like AKC Obedience, I have to keep reminding myself.   CDSP is a "natural" style of Obedience, and you are permitted to talk to your dog in the ring.   Ein, Perri and I really need that.

I charged into Obedience with Perri and did not even want to think about doing Rally with her at first.   I didn't want to fall into the habit of talking to her in the ring.   I did not want her to become dependent on hearing me talk to her.   That line of thought was so silly and far from what we needed that I actually laugh about it now.

With Ein, I wanted to do agility.  We ended up doing Rally and loving it.  Loving it so much that we have been trialing in Rally for over a year now.  Rally is his happy place, it is my happy place.  Rally gave Ein confidence that I never imagined possible.  Confidence that has allowed us to return and play agility again.

With that confidence we are going to try CDSP Obedience.  

I am not worried about the heel on lead.

I am very worried about the Off Lead Figure 8.  Lagging, leaving position and full on melting into the floor to escape the Figure-8-Post Ring Stewards are very alarming possibilities.

I am very worried about the Moving Stand for Exam.  We have to pause in a heel and Ein has to stay standing.   Ein wants to sit.   That's five points off right there.   Then there's the whole issue of the person touching his body, heaven forbid!  It blows my mind to even imagine him allowing a SFE.  I cannot imagine it being a successful performance.

I am not so worried about the Recall Over Bar Jump.

I am slightly concerned about the Honor Stay.   (For the Honor Stay, your dog must remain in either a sit-stay or a down-stay while another dog is walking her heel pattern.)  I am planning on a sit-stay and my only concern is Ein deciding to lay down.  I am pretty sure that if I ask him for a down-stay he will sit up.

And don't even get me started talking about that poodle.  Well ready or not, here we come.  

New Game

Remember that CDSP Obedience trial that I entered Ein and Perri in?   Yeah, it's coming up.
And then there is that nagging weekly Open class that I have Perri taking.   Oops!
These two things help tether me to Obedience and remind me why (I think) I love it.  These things keep me from flying away into agility land and never ever returning to Obedience.

Also, Ein loves to train with me.   It's not like with Perri, she's gotta be in the right mood. (Although that mood is striking her more often than not lately.)  Ein just genuinely enjoys pleasing me and earning snacks.   So when the box arrived in the mail with Perri's new Perri-Friendly wooden dumbbell, there was one in there for Ein as well.  Why not teach him to retrieve a dumbbell?   He will enjoy it!

Tonight was our first chance to work on it, since we just got home from the beach.   Ein did a lot of fast pacing in front of me.  TaterTotTail wagging in furious concentration.  He kept giving me his paw.   He gave one or two eye flicks towards the dumbbell that I was able to give him a "Yes!" for (I don't use the clicker with Ein, the noise used to scare him.)
I ended our session with a dog who consistently looks at the dumbbell.  He's onto this game.  We are going to have fun with our new toy.

Back to School with Mr. Ein!

I signed Ein up for an upper level Rally-O course at our training center because I think it will be fun for both of us, and Ein could really use some working on the higher level signs somewhere other than my living room and garage.  Our last few trials have been very tainted with anxiety and I think that working somewhere with plenty of people and dogs around will be good for both of us.  And did I mention that it is fun?

Tonight was our first night and we were using AKC signs.  The course set up had both Rally Excellent jump exercises, so that was good.   It had a Halt-Stand-Down.  It had a Left Pivot.  It had a Moving Backup.  It had a Figure 8 with Distractions (Ein was nervous about the food bowls with stuffed toys in, so no worries about that.)  It had a Moving Down Walk Around.  It had a Stand Dog-Leave Dog-Sit Dog-Call Dog Front-Finish.  (Ein did a sit from a distance both times we did the course.  Very happy with this.)  Some good challenges.
We walked it twice.  The first time my head must have been "in the clouds" or still back in my hectic work day, because I did at least four of the signs completely incorrectly and not as-written.  It was a bit embarrassing.  For example, the Left Pivot sign was a Halt-Left Pivot-Forward but I did the sign as though it was a Halt-Left Pivot-Halt.   The Moving Down I did and then left Ein and wanted to call him Front.  What a piece of work I am!

The second time we did the course it was fine.  I did things as directed.  I also asked if I could modify the jump sign so that Ein and I would do it Cynosport-Directed Jump-Style.   And Ein actually DID it.  That meant a lot to me.  We are working hard on that sign - it is our major bump in the road of our RL3 title, so to see Ein take the jump while I was standing so far away from him instead of babying him over it meant a lot to me.

When class was over, I asked my instructor if she would be willing to do a quick stand for exam with Ein.  One of my goals with Ein within the next year is to attempt his Novice title in CDSP Obedience.  I would love to get his CD in AKC Obedience, but I think that the pressure is too great for him.  I think that CDSP Obedience will be a good and attainable challenge for him.  And if not, I will back off.   Depending on how he does, it is possible I will attempt his AKC Companion Dog title.   I want that so much for him, but at his current confidence level, I feel it is too much pressure.

I got side tracked.   The point is that I did a Moving Stand and left Ein in a stay.   He let the instructor pat his back and did not move!!!!!  This is so huge I cannot even express.   Ein has blossomed from the dog he was as a pup, as an insecure teenage dog afraid of his own shadow, and from the dog he was when we began Obedience and Agility classes.   The SFE is something I wasn't sure if he would ever do.   And he may struggle with it in the months to come, but it was there tonight.
YES he moved a paw as I returned to him because I was looking at him the whole time.  Our instructor told me to leave him again and not stare at him on my return.  This time he took a small lean/step away from her, but stayed in place when I returned to him.   It was not perfect - but for my scaredy dog's first SFE ever, I was elated.