The journey continues...

Aslan and Spirit

Since my last post, "Signs," it's been a busy couple of weeks to record in this online diary.

The Sunday following the puppy match, Spirit, Aslan, and I went to an obedience match, an event which provided additional confirmation that conformation needs to be put on the back burner for now.  I had a fabulous time!

Spirit's recent training has taken place at home and at my local obedience training club.  I needed to know how she would do in a new location -- and after spending more time in the car than she was used to.  I also needed to see how Aslan's obedience would hold up in a trial setting.  The obedience match was our testing opportunity.

Beautiful weather made the trip enjoyable.  However, in the morning, there was just the slightest chill in the outside air, and the temperature inside the building was downright cold.  The longer-than-usual car ride and the climate seemed to negatively affect Spirit, as she was stiff and slow during our practice runs.

An experienced competitor suggested that on trial day I should get Spirit out and warm her up for a long time before we go in the ring.  On one hand I agreed, but on the other hand I knew this would present a problem.  Due to her age, Spirit needs to warm up -- but not too much, or else she gets tired.

Another trial-day problem would be the driving distance.  Our first trial was about 2-1/2 hours from home.  I decided that my best course of action would be frequent, short warm-up sessions for Spirit.  Aslan, on the other hand, requires a fairly long warm up before going in the ring; otherwise, he's too wired up to concentrate and perform well.  He's quiet, calm, and well behaved in his crate, but when I get him out, he's like, "Mom, mom, mom, MOM, MOOOO-OOOOM!  Oh boy, oh boy, it's MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!"

On the day of the match, I had quite a long wait before our first turn, so I hadn't yet warmed up Aslan, when the organizers decided to practice the group stays.  I quickly grabbed Aslan and took him for a fast potty break, and then we hurried inside to join the group.  Given the circumstances, I wasn't sure how well he would stay but figured it would be a really good practice opportunity.  He surprised me by staying, despite other dogs breaking, handlers moving in and out of the ring, and doing a five-minute sit stay while the other dogs were doing down stays, and a three-minute down stay while the other dogs were doing sit stays.  (Most of the other people were practicing for Open B class, in which the stay order can be reversed from the usual sit-first-then-down routine.  Because Aslan has had problems lying down during a sit stay, I opted to keep him doing the usual order.)

Spirit and Aslan each had two runs.  Spirit's heeling was "laggy" (instead of staying right by my side, she was lagging behind me a lot) because, as previously noted, she was stiff and tired.  Aslan's heeling was fantastic except for one particular corner of the ring when he was unsure if he should remain in heel position or go jump the agility tire jump that was in that area.  (I think that if it had not been set up against the wall, he might have given it a go :-)  I must admit to a feeling of pride when I heard some experienced handlers comment on his nice heeling.

The highlight of my day, though, was when Spirit held her sit stay for BOTH of our runs!  In Beginner Novice, the sit stay exercise is done with the dog sitting in the middle of the ring while the handler walks around the inside perimeter of the ring.  We have struggled so much with that exercise, and I was incredibly happy that she succeeded TWICE!

A couple days later, in class, Spirit again held the sit stay multiple times.  I was elated and had high hopes for our upcoming trial.

. . .

As I mentioned in my blog post, "The Dog's Out of the Bag," I had arranged to leave work early at least once a week so that I could get in some private training time before evening classes at the club.  However, I work at a church, and the weeks leading up to Easter are very busy in the office.  Holy Week is a "blackout" week, meaning that no one is supposed to take any time off.  Therefore, I knew we would be unable to get in a last Thursday-afternoon practice before Saturday's obedience trial.

For the first Friday evening in a while, both my calendar and the club calendar were free, and I considered taking the dogs over for a quick "run-thru," but then decided against it.  I was afraid Spirit would be too tired if we went out Friday night and then were also gone all day Saturday.

So after surviving Holy Week at work, I got up early on Saturday morning and hit the road with my furry traveling companions.  Our first stop was to meet up with my best friend, who was going to ride up and spend the day with us.  Even though we live only a four-hour round trip apart, we see each other much too rarely.  This was a wonderful treat for me to have her go along!

I had two dogs entered in three classes in two rings under two judges, all scheduled for "after noon."  It was great to not have to get up at o'dark thirty for an 8:00 a.m. ring time.  The only drawback was not having any kind of estimated start time.  "After noon" could mean 12:05 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., depending on whether or not the morning classes were running on schedule.

Not knowing exactly when our classes would start, but knowing that I needed plenty of time for Aslan to soak up the environment and chill out and that I would need to warm up Spirit early and often, we arrived and got set up before noon.  

I watched the judging and checked the schedule, and I figured that the timing would work out just fine and that I would have no conflict showing between the two rings.  However, as the afternoon went on, the time I had estimated between the two rings was growing smaller and smaller.  I should have asked to move Spirit to the beginning of her class, but I figured I would have time and that I was just being nervous for nothing.  And then, as Spirit and I were waiting for her turn to go in, I saw that the other ring, the one Aslan would be in shortly, was moving along quite quickly, and we were going to be lucky to make it!

I made myself focus.  SPIRIT was the real reason I was here.  If Aslan didn't get to compete in one class today, it was not the end of the world.  And Spirit's number was called to the ring.

We entered the ring, and I was filled with confidence that she could qualify and get the first leg of her title.  Her heeling was laggy and even worse on the figure eight, but I believed we probably still had enough points to qualify.  She did the sit-for-exam exercise perfectly.  Deep breath.  Here comes the sit-stay/walk-around-the-ring exercise.  Whew!  She did it!  Recall is the only thing left.  "Spirit, come!"  Okay, it's Beginner Novice, so we can still qualify if she comes on the second command.  "Spirit, come!"  Well, we've NQ'd now.  "Spirit come."  Sigh.  I clapped my hands and opened my arms wide for encouragement, "Spirit, come!"  Finally!  (Yep, should have gone to the club Friday night for that one last run-thru.  Sigh.)

The judge was encouraging, and I told her that Spirit was nearly 13 years old.  She said, "I could tell she was an older dog.  Good for you for getting her out and working with her!"  

Connie, who had been video recording our run, came to the gate to meet us, reached out to take Spirit's leash from me, and said, "I'll take her.  You go get Aslan.  You're next."  Bless her!  I thanked her and sped off.

Aslan had the shortest potty break and warm up that he has ever had, and then we rushed back into the building.  We had just a few moments before it was our turn.  I was concerned because he tends to be overly playful without a good warm up.  On-lead heeling and figure eight were better than I had expected, though.  

On the stand-for-exam exercise, I discovered something we had not proofed for.  The majority of Novice competitions I have observed and been part of, the judge pats the dog on the head, the back, and the rear; and that is how we had practiced.  However, this judge placed her hand on the dog's head and ran her hand downward along the back to the rear, keeping her hand in constant contact with the dog's body.  Aslan turned to look at her like, "Huh?  What's that about?" and moved his feet as he turned.  I assumed we had NQ'd at that point.  

We finished the class with the off-lead heeling and recall exercises, which seemed to go well.  We then left the ring, but only for a moment, as we were the last team in the class, and the group stay exercises were next.  Aslan was still pretty wired up, and again, I was concerned about his enthusiasm level as we re-entered the ring.  Additionally, Aslan was at the end of the line, directly next to the open ring gate.  Even with the ring steward standing there, it was a tempting distraction.  One-minute sit stay.  Whew, he did it.  Next, the three-minute down stay.  Yes, success.  

Aslan with his placement ribbons
from yesterday's obedience trial.

As the handlers picked up their armbands and leashes, the judge prepared to call the numbers of the dogs who had qualified.  I was sure our number would not be on the list, so I was incredibly surprised to hear her say that ALL of the dogs in the class had qualified.  When the placement awards were presented, my surprise exponentially increased when she called our number for the 3rd place rosette!

At the conclusion of the Novice class, the Preferred Novice class began.  There were only two dogs competing in this class, so Aslan had only a few minutes before we went back into the ring.  This time he held the stand stay perfectly, but his off-lead heeling was horrendous.  The other dog heeled beautifully, so not surprisingly, Aslan ended up with second place. 

The scores are posted at the end of each class, and I was not surprised to see how many points we lost  for both on-lead and off-lead heeling exercises.  His final score in Preferred Novice was a 182 (out of 200).  

However, I was excited to see that he had earned a 192 (out of 200) in Novice.  The stand for exam, which I thought had NQ'd us, was only a two-point deduction.  Most shocking to me, he lost only one point on off-lead heeling.  Way to go, Aslan!

Another high point of the day:  I was able to spend a few minutes talking to the owner of Aslan's late sire.  I am happy that she was there to see Aslan's obedience debut.  She was very complimentary of his performance and his attitude and encouraged me to continue his training into the next levels of obedience.  Thanks, Fran!  

When I checked to see what Spirit's score would have been, I discovered that she had lost only 8-1/2 points on the heel-on-lead and figure-eight exercises.  Had she properly done her recall, her score would probably have been in the 190s!!

Spirit

Despite her NQ, I am exceptionally proud of my girl.  She may be old, but she walked into that building like she owned it.  She was comfortable among all the controlled chaos of an obedience trial and greeted all the people she encountered as though they were old friends.  And she was willing to walk into that ring with me and give this a valiant effort.  

I'm not sure what happened on the recall, though I wonder if it was the brief deluge hitting the roof that might have distracted her somewhat.  In any case, I believe it was merely a fluke thing, and I'm sure she'll get it next time.  In order to finish her title at the National Specialty, she will need to earn two legs before then, and she is entered in two more trials before then.  The show is some distance from home, but not as far as yesterday's, so I'm hopeful that the trip won't be quite as tiring for her.  Additionally, we will be able to get in our regular practice time this week, which should be helpful as well.  

No matter what happens, whether she earns all or none of the legs for the title, I will always remember this journey with her in her senior years.

-----

With trials next weekend followed by National Specialty week, I probably will not be posting again until the end of April or the first of May.  Wish us luck, and, as always,

Hug your dogs!
MDW

-----

PS -- Some of you may be new to the terminology of obedience training and trialing.  Please don't hesitate to post any questions you have in the comments section.  I will be happy to explain! :-)