This weekend we ventured to Sadie's homeland, the United States, for our very first foray into AKC obedience. The show was the Western Lakes Training Club trials, in Buffalo, NY.
My friend Christine came with me and was so great all weekend helping out with things and most importantly taping all our runs, so that Paul could watch when we got home. We also were able to see friends who live in Buffalo and who we have not been able to connect with for several years. We had 2 evenings of good dinners and catching up. It was an excellent bonus to the weekend.
The trials were held in what was orginally an airplane hangar and is now a large indoor soccer field with astroturf on the floor. I had never walked on astroturf and it was quite soft and spongy and you could hear it squelching a bit as you walked. I think it would be a good surface for the dogs working in Open and Utility as it would be much nicer to land on after a jump.
As usual I did not have the control over my nerves that I would have liked. This is something I continue to work on as I compete. I know that I have no business indulging any nervousness on my part because that may impede Sadie's performance as she picks up on my different attitude. However we both held things together and she was able to qualify in 3 straight Novice trials to earn her CD (Companion Dog) title, and in the 2 Rally trials offered she placed first, earning 2 of the 3 necessary legs for her Rally Novice title. Unfortunately there were only 2 Rally trials offered, so we will need to find another AKC Rally trial to finish the RN title another time.
The weather was beautiful, moderate and no humidity. The club was very hospitable and the show was very well organized and run. The venue was gigantic and there were 4 large rings, 3 for obedience, and 1 for Rally.
In AKC trials, the ribbons are differently coloured depending on where you place in the results. We were very fortunate to place in all 5 trials, and so the 2 blue ribbons were first place for Rally, the 2 red ones were 2nd place for obedience, and the yellow was a 3rd for obedience. We also got a really lovely orange and blue ribbon provided by the club for the completion of a title.
There were also prizes - toys for placements and really cool poop bags and dispensers for first place. I have to admit I have never before seen hot pink poop bags with little hearts on them or purple polka-dotted poop bags. I may need to archive them to preserve their glorious coolness to share with future generations.
It's always a bit surprising how tired you and your dog become by the end of a show, and even more so after 2 days. The mental stimulation and tension take their toll, and the excitement of working in the ring uses up a lot of energy!
Right across the road from our hotel was a campus of the State University of New York, with a huge field in front of it. Many of us took our dogs over there for a romp after a day of showing.
Here Sadie is letting off steam after a hard day at the show.
She enjoyed all the toys and is thinking about maybe sharing them with Elliott.
Thanks to the Western Lakes Training Club for a great weekend of showing. I think we will be back next year. Maybe by then Elliott's leg will have healed enough that he can be back to obedience work, and he can try for his American CD too!
If you would like to see Sadie's final run in Novice, I've put up a video on YouTube. This is not her best work. The heeling lacks the attention I'd like to see, however, it was day 2, we were both tired, and there are fascinating sights and smells in a new obedience ring! You can watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuR_Au3jJPE
This run earned 2nd place and a score of 190.5.
If you would like to see Sadie's final run in Novice, I've put up a video on YouTube. This is not her best work. The heeling lacks the attention I'd like to see, however, it was day 2, we were both tired, and there are fascinating sights and smells in a new obedience ring! You can watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuR_Au3jJPE
This run earned 2nd place and a score of 190.5.
2 comments:
Good job Sadie! Sounds like you had a fun and productive weekend in the states!
What differences did you find, and how did you like it?
Hi Megan, thanks for your comments! It was the same as CKC in many ways, most different was the walk-through for us Novice A people! And stand for exam is on leash here and off leash in the US. The rings also seemed much larger to me! It was a nice show. The club was very nice and everyone we met was friendly. I'll definitely think about doing this one again next year.
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