What was funny was that the other club's Novice A class had just begun in the other ring. So I did a last minute entry and they added our armband # to the list. I entered the ring with the usual butterflies (as always) and feelings of doom as Clancy would NOT look at me or focus on me. I couldn't get him set up straight in front of the ring steward and finally just left him with a 'good enough' shrug. His heeling was pretty good - mostly good with some WTF? thrown in for good measure. Like the 'oh am I supposed to sit when you stop?'. His figure 8's were also okay. At least he sat when he was supposed to. A bit of forging/lagging depending on the direction but nothing extreme. His Stand was perfect (although I really wish he'd stop looking like he expects the judge to beat him!). And his Heel Off Leash was also pretty good - considering how rarely we actually practice that. Probably a smidgen better than his On Leash heeling as by then he remembered to sit when I stopped moving. The Recall was funny, even if there were deductions. He came flying into me, both front paws nailed me in the thigh. Then sat crooked for a split second before auto-correcting into a beautiful straight front. His finish was nice and quick, but a bit crooked. I was just relieved to be at the end - till I realized we had to go straight back in for the Sits and Downs. I was stressing for the entire Long Sit, considering Clancy had just come from jump drills in Agility, I was worried he might be tired and decide to lay down for a bit. But he held for the full minute and I got to breathe again. Long Down - wasn't too worried except that I know better than to count my chickens before they hatch. Finally those most wonderful words - 'Back to your dog' & 'Exercise finished'! Especially when followed by the judge's 'congratulations!'
I think four out of seven qualified. I was so excited to get a Q I wasn't really listening to the judge till I realized he'd called our armband number - for the High in Class rosette! I had to ask him afterwards what our score was (193). So that's what it feels like to get a score in the 190's! I've always wondered LOL
Clancy relaxed in his crate while we waited for the second class. As always my conundrum is when do I get my dog...do I get him now? what about now? How to make sure I leave enough time to warm him up without letting him get too wired. It was pouring rain so I figured we wouldn't be doing much walking outside, and that he didn't need much anyway after jump drills and all. So my timing was to get him out to do his business nearly, then back into the crate until the team before us entered the ring.
The second class was much the same as the first - heeling was mostly okay but still a non-sit and some forging/lagging. No problems with the Stand (he still won't Stand on command - sometimes he will in practice but I was not going to embarrass ourselves by trying it in a trial LOL). Again, what's up with the Recall? He came flying into me and then swung his bum around into an-almost swing finish. I knew I should have practiced some Fronts in between classes! But he did a decent Finish to get fully into heel position so I told him he was brilliant anyway.
They split the 11 dog class so we did Sits and Downs after six dogs. Clancy was solid on both (thank you, buddy!) and then we sat and watched the rest of the class. That's the point of the trial I like - no more pressure! Then back into the ring for the ribbons. The judge handed out ribbons and all of a sudden I realized we were the only team not called yet. Omigawd! High in Class rosette with a 195 score! Talk about overwhelmed! Clancy was a bit 'meh' about the rosette, but he enjoyed his liver treats. I thought the green ribbons were lovely for a dog named 'Clancy'.
But wait, there's more! I was told to stick around for the trophies. Um...trophies? Um...yep. High Scoring Club member and High Scoring Novice Club member! I'm thinking Clancy and I should retire now as I'm not sure where we go from here.
Well, not really. This wasn't a CKC trial so still have that to look forward to in November. Poor Clancy has set my expectations rather high so now there's self-imposed pressure.
Oh, and we did have an Agility trial earlier this month. Let's just say there was no bling brought home. Actually, it wasn't that bad. We did get another Snooker Q, which means we now run in Advanced Snooker. Um...yikes! Clancy turned in a wild Jumpers run on the Friday night - his only run. Came so close in Standard - one dropped bar. Gamblers was a loss. Clancy has been so good and so fast on his weaves lately that I tried to do a down and back on the weaves to get 10 points. But he bobbled the entry and then popped out on the return. Ah well, it was worth trying. We never even got to the first obstacle of the Gamble. Clancy turned right onto the Dog Walk instead of left to the Tunnel (and no, I don't know why I capitalize the obstacle names. I think that's just because that's how I 'see' them in my mind.)
November will be busy. We have 9 runs in the Remembrance weekend trial. Then four Novice A classes in the following weekend's obedience trials. What can I say? It beats cleaning the house!
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