Sunday, January 13, 2013

Hamburg in a nutshell

I came home yesterday and taught all day today (which was really fun! Great group to work with). This is my first chance to think about how the last three days of Hamburg went.
One of the best things about Hamburg was that about 10 of us went.  We had more laughs than I can count.  During the dog show we were all very supportive of each other, making sure everyone got videotaped and shared in the treats that were plentiful! Each night we went out for dinner and laughed and laughed!

Day two for Ribbon was fantastic.  She worked really great - ended up with 198 and tied for High in Trial.  We lost the run off to a very experienced OTCH dog who worked great.  But I was so proud of us.  We worked really nicely as a team.  Ribbon was upbeat and enjoyed her time in the ring. Obviously our stand got fixed!

Day three was under a new judge for Ribbon.  It was James Ham who I have shown my dogs to for years.  I knew he liked a happy dog and doesn't miss much. We had a couple of little mistakes, wide about turn and forge on the slow and the finish was slightly off.  That left us with a 197.5 and another first place. That completed our title and I headed off to fill out the move up form for Open.

Day four was a great bonus.  Ribbon and I moved up to Open B and got to play with the big boys.  We got a routine which starts with drop on recall, then heeling, then retrieve over high jump, broad jump and then retrieve on flat is the last exercise. Everything was going great, minor things but we were having a great time.  While moving to the retrieve on flat exercise I notice some guy carrying a really large camera.  This guy decided to run down to the other end of the ring where Ribbon would pick up her dumbbell.  I tried not to worry about it, Ribbon is not particularly bothered by things like that.  She ran out great and picked up her dumbbell.  As she turned around she noticed the cameraman and gave him a really wide berth ( I mean really wide!).  She eventually made it to front.  I took the dumbbell and when I asked her to finish she only moved a few inches, it was obvious that she was checking out what that guy was doing.  I was very relieved when the judge said "Let's redo that exercise".  I was happy because Ribbon got an extra retrieve and she would leave the ring with a better feeling.  She nailed it!! Got a perfect score on that exercise.  She ended up being 4th in the class and now has 1 CDX leg.

Very fun, can't wait to go back next year

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Hamburg - Day One

Well it wasn't the start I wanted but we got our first leg today in Novice B.  Our score was a 191. We were third in the class. If am being perfectly honest I am a little bit disappointed.  Just like any time that my dogs and I don't show to our potential.  I haven't had a chance to see the video yet, but here is my take on it.
Heel on Lead, We entered the ring together and Ribbon set up great, did her nose touch to set her head in the correct position, first halt was great, on the left turn it felt as though she stopped (there was a large sun patch there and it was a little blinding) and then caught up.  She was also a little wide.  Everything else was fine
Figure Eight - was lovely - no complaints at all!
Stand for Exam - I warmed this up earlier in the day and she was great.  She stood on her signal great, everything was fine with the exam and then on the return she started to turn with me, which she has done from time to time.  We lost major points for that ! (3) This is was I am disappointed about!
Heel Free - I was working on keeping her up and making sure that I pushed through my left turn so that I didn't have the same error as on lead.  However, I don't think I cued halt clearly enough, her response was slow and she ended up wrapping around me.  On the left turn she hesitated again but in a very minor way and the rest was fine. We also had a little bit of bumping.
Recall - When I turned to face her, she was glancing around.  This is very unusual for her.  However her response was great when I called her name, she immediately looked at me and then came on her recall command.  Front and Finish were both slightly off.

We are in the same ring tomorrow with the same judge.  Trust me I will be working on my stand!
Now to watch the video.