Went to my first obedience trial

[Caledon]

Went to my first obedience trial yesterday as a spectator, and I think I'm going to be hooked. I went to observe my instructor work her magic in her last leg of Rally O. She had received perfect scores on her 1st two, but this time she got 99.

Watched several different types, but obeserved Utiltiy the longest. Most of the dogs that competed received an "I'm sorry" from the judge. It was heartbreaking to see one poor dog trying to find the correct object while the owner was remaining still trying not to communiate with the dog. After the dog stopping and looking at her for directection which seemed like a long time to us (imagine how long it was for the handler), the dog was given a 2nd command.

[selzer]

obedience and rally are both neat. I like rally better because I can talk to my dog the whole way. I think obedience is generally more respected.

[IliamnasQuest]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed watching the sport! Competition obedience can truly be a challenge, and Utility is often (somewhat jokingly) called "futility" by those who trial in it.

I showed my first GSD to a Utility Dog title and didn't qualify at all the first year. This was a learning experience for me as he had earned his CD in three straight trials (with a 2nd place - a 195 out of 200 points - for his title in a class of over 30 dogs!) and earned his CDX just eight months later with a total of six tries. He was just two when he earned his CDX. It took four more years of training and trialing before we got the UD.

I still remember vividly the weekend that he earned his first leg in utility. It was a March trial, indoors, and I was showing THREE dogs .. *L* .. (I was a glutton for punishment back then). Dawson, my GSD, was in utility; Lady, my Aussie, was in open; and Kylee, my chow, was in graduate novice. I had a number of students there too, who had gone through my classes and were just starting to trial themselves. So I was cheering for them in Novice.

The first day I had Dawson in the ring first. When he cleared that last jump and I KNEW he'd earned his first utility leg, I burst into tears! *LOL* It was such a good feeling to see all that training finally pay off. He was the only qualifier in Utility A, so we got a nice blue ribbon too. Then I went into the open ring with Lady, and she took first place for her CDX title (with a nice score of 195 in Open A). And finally I took Kylee into the Graduate Novice ring, where she tied for first place with a 197.5! We lost the run-off to a sheltie, but even so .. *L*

And the next day Dawson qualified again with another first place and Lady earned an "insurance leg" (a fourth leg) with a second place. I only showed Kylee the one day.

My students were looking at me like I was the BEST TRAINER in the whole world .. *ROTFL* .. I had to tell them that this was not the way it usually went. In fact, when I later showed Lady in utility, she got a score of 56.5 (out of 200!) and then at a show just TWO WEEKS later earned a first with a 193! Utility is very tough, mentally, for a dog as they have to work away from you so much.

I'd love to get to utility level again, but my training ability is so much limited now that I don't even know if I'll get a CDX on Khana. SHE could do it, I'm not sure I could!

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

[Caledon]

futility - that is what my instructor called it too! Congratulations on your titles. I could see how utility would be frustrating and very hard. I was impressed by the stand/stay command given while the dog was in motion. Never seen that before.

What impressed me about the trials was the older age of many of the handlers. There were many there that were in their mid to late 70's.

I was talking to one lady who had a four year old GSD and she and her husband looked like they were early 80's. This dog was amazing. They failed because she brought back the wrong dumb bell for the 2nd retrieve. She continued on and the dog did great job.

My instructor told us that if we are serious about obedience that we should enter Rally O first. You can talk to your dog and it was on leash.

[Deejays_Owner]

Cool Mary, I'm guessing that was the Swansea Trials?

We were at Swansea all weekend!!
Deejay NQ 4 times mostly do to ME, but we were not the only ones the top GSD in Canada NQ 4 times also.
And that dog is a MOTCH, & 90% of the other dogs entered were OTCH.
Judges were hard but fair, out of the 15 dogs entered, 3 then 4 on Sat. & on Sun. 4 then 5 made it.
Were would have gotten 189.5 -> 191 over the 4 trials, in the 1st two was on Scent Disrim. on Sat.
I did not scent the Articles well, rushed and only did the bar.
Deejay at home has no problem with this, I watched some of the pros & they scent the insides of the
sides of the Articles along with the bar. I talked to a Handle from MI, and she told me to run my hand
through my Hair just before. I did the hair thing and the sides & talked up the Judges took my time.
And he nailed all 4 Articles on Sunday (with 28 & 29) but in both trials he blew 1 of the Directed
Jumps. In the 1st trial it was the 2nd jump, I did redirect in mid run & the jumped the right one.
And in the last trial he blew the 1st one, but stopped himself & stood then I gave a 2nd signal
and he jumped the right one. Everyone told me that I was just going to fast, on my Signal & Commands combo.
This was our 1st time at trying UD, people were blown away that I trained my dog to this level all by myself.
Up till now Deejay has got his titles 3 for 3, but UD is going to he a little harder for us.
Ordered his Scent Articles & started back in mid Feb., did not work much on heeling only the Signal parts.
I entered the Trial then got a 2nd jump, he has only been doing that since the 1st of May.

[Caledon]

Yes it was the Swansea Trials. Was the top GSD in Canada handled by a trial judge? I saw her try as well. IF this is the dog I found that it healed differently than the others.

I don't know what OTCH means, but I'm assuming that it is a high standing.

I believe I saw you on Saturday. I was admiring your dog. You were dressed in black, very tall and you had your armband on your right arm. You were talking to the 70 + year old lady with the 4 year old GSD. I was standing pretty close to you.

There were a lot of GSD's at the trials when I was there.

My instructor was telling us all the little hints that people do at shows. At first I thought she was joking but she told us that people will wear the same colour as their dog. I then took note. Handlers with black dogs, wore black pants. Handlers with goldens tried to match the dog's colour. Handlers with grey dogs wore grey pants. She said they do this just in case the dog is sitting not perfectly that the judge may not notice because the dog blends in with your pants.

I did notice how some were senting their articles, really rubbing their hands all over and taking their time.

[BlackPuppy]

I decided not to train Balto for Utility. It just looks hard and not fun.

I'm going to finish his RE, and do CD, and think about CDX. I'll let him tell me. He really enjoys Rally. I hope he likes obedience, too.

Nothing like watching a perfect rally run!

[Deejays_Owner]

That was me & Deejay, I'm left handed & I put the armband on the wrong arm in the afternoon not thinking.
I don't crate my dog, if he was not with me he was outside with my Daughter & her pup.
We setup lawn-chairs around the side of the building and make a day of it.

Yes she is a Judge & the dog does SchH style heeling, gets lots of points taken off for bumping & sits
that are not straight. He was NQ, on his moving stands, he was taking a step & a half to stop.
Also moving on the exam., the one Judge was coming in from the side, this can upset some dogs.

The older lady is a breeder, she kept back that female and has her sister also.
We trialed together for our Open last year, & she also was doing a CD on the other sister.
But it was to hard for her to do two dogs at one trail, so she was hopping to finish this weekend.
Was having a problem with the send-outs & jumps, all weekend.

OTCH = obedience trial champ
MOTCH = master obedience trial champ

Hey did you see the Weimaraner in the ring, that's Rose from Campaign?
She was getting 197 1/2 all weekend in both CDX & UD.

[Caledon]

Yes , I saw the Weimaraner, beautiful dog. I thought that the dog failed because he did not down on the hand signal. We figured that he didn't see because of the glass behind the handler. That dog was a joy to watch. My instructor said that that dog has been in 80 or so trials and was the dog that beat her dog.

That older lady was very inspiring to see an older person doing utility with a GSD. I was impressed by her.

I'd love to go to another trial. Send me a PM if there is one coming up around the same area.

[Deejays_Owner]

That was the 1st UD Trial, only 3 of 15 Q in the 1st trail on Saturday.
They WON the 3 other Utility class & all 4 Open B class I think.

The older lady with the GSD (Von Narnia) is Noreen from Niagara fall.
She does Tracking as well, I think she is going to put a BH on the Mother of the female you seen.
She already has her UD & some tracking titles.

June 20 - 21 at Pine Point Arena again, North York Obedience Club.
They do 3 rings, no Rally, but do Canine Good Neighbour Testing. -->North York Obedience Club

We are not entered in that one, my dog got hurt on Thursday, & I almost pulled him this weekend.
Going to give him some time off, I only go out for fun, my dog is only a low 190 dog.
We go to 1 or 2 trails a yr. we will be going again in the fall.
Did you see my 14 yr old Daughters pup at the show?
Now she has been training for Obedience since 9 wks old, she will be a 200 point dog.
She just turned 1 on the 10th.

Click here -----> Raven Jr 1 yr old OB Video

Late on Saturday we had Noreen's girl, Deejay & my Daughters pup all down besides us in front of the ring, would have been a nice picture.