Match night

Tonight was the fun match at the hall where Gali and I will be trialling on Sunday. I also took Ribbon along to do Novice (and to make Gali jealous!) I was feeling pretty good about how things were going, when I trained Gali on Thursday he was amazing. I did a run through in the training hall including a warm up how I have planned for the trial. During the run through the only glitch was that I somehow managed to step on Gali's tail. Quite a feat given that he has a really tight Buhund tail. So I had one finish that he didn't sit, but I can't really blame him. Other than that he was really, really good. I jackpotted him after the signals and fed in a few other places, but went from exercise to exercise.

So tonight at the HDOC match he was feeling pretty perky. He had a large dump while I walked him outside, so he was feeling rather fresh. (You probably didn't want that detail, but there you go). We repeated what we did on Thursday with a warm up and also included a game of tug on his leash. We went from exercise to exercise; I had a no sit on one finish again. We got down to the last jump (bar jump against the baby gate) as I sent him to the bar jump the Novice dog in the next ring halted in line with the jump and Gali pulled off the jump. I quickly took him back out to his go-out spot and redid the jump and he was fine. One other thing that happened was he laid down on his first go out instead of sitting. Not sure why, he hasn't done that in a very long time. When he sat on the second go-out I praised him, hopefully that will help. His heeling was really nice and his fronts where quite good. And he is so darn cute!!!!

I did learn a couple of things about the venue. Sound proofing panels have been added to help with an echoing problem they had, I think it deadens the sound, so I needed to project my voice a little better. The other thing that I learned was that Gali had no problem with the siding on the wall for a go-out surface; he just marched out there and did his thing. So overall I am feeling pretty good about Sunday. I think our team work is pretty solid and Gali is relaxed about his jobs.

Ribbon did a nice job tonight too. I was really focused on Gali, so my run with her felt a little choppy and she got into trouble for losing attention on the fast pace. She was distracted by the utility ring beside us. Her attitude was really up. Nothing seems to bother her. I am really glad that I had asked for her to be videoed (thanks Dawn!!) on the video you can see how hard she is working and how happy she is while heeling. On the figure 8 she is really using her rear end around the circles. As the run went on her sits got a little crooked, but she was pretty excited. On the recall she came beautifully and popped up in the air and came down really slowly with her front end into a perfect front. For some reason I sent her to the right for her finish, which isn't her best finish, but she an okay job of it. I would like to see her go around faster and sit closer, but the foundation work is all there. Judging by tonight I would say we are about a year away from entering Novice.

I am ring stewarding tomorrow as one of the many requirements to apply for judging licence. I am so excited to see how all the Companion students do. Everyone looked fantastic at the match tonight. There are students in every level!!! I better adjust my eating plan and leave room for lots of cake!!!