Phlox finished his Rally Novice title on Friday night. He earned a 98 and fourth place. The judge was he kind who didn't miss a thing and she knew exactly what she was looking for.
Phlox really worked it for all but the last two signs. He was eager to get into the ring and didn't lose focus.
On Saturday My brother in law showed Phlox in a conformation match. He won his breed and then took a group 1. The judges liked him a lot.
All of his winnings from the weekend.
Violet hurt her back this week so she sat out most of the weekend. This morning she was feeling so well that I thought I would give it a go.
Due to some mix up we were entered in Utility B and not A. We were having a pretty good run until the judges book blew off the table and onto Violet. She was shaken but recovered. Then on the moving stand an armband blew into the ring next to V and the woman reached in to pick it up. That was the end of that. We NQed but I felt like it went pretty well. We are getting closer
It's Halloween time again. This year I'm not suffering from unbearable morning sickness so I get to enjoy holiday activities with the family.
Last Saturday the family went to a Halloween party put on by the city of Houston. Usually Pup Scouts has a booth there and we hand out information and candy to the kids. This year there was just way too much going on to organize a booth in time. So we just went to enjoy it.
I took Phlox along to work on his manners and focus. As usually we had many people commenting on how beautiful, smart, well behaved and awesome he is. Because he gets so much attention I get to educate a lot of people on what these dogs are really like.
The party went so well that Phlox will be accompanying the kids trick or treating.
Enough talk here are a couple of pictures
He was really getting into the Halloween spirit with those laser eyes.
Day 1:
Violet completely and totally NQed in Utility. She did however bring back the right articles one small victory.
Phlox is still getting over excited in new places so it was a rough start. I was pretty sure everything was going to fall apart in the ring. He ended up doing a pretty good job and coming away with a score of 100 and first place!
I was pleased with the score and our placement but not at all happy with his performance. He was distant and distracted.
Day 2:
Violet was fabulous! Her heel kind of sucked but we went through every exercise with out incident and as we neared the end I really thought we would qualify. On the very last go out I gave a bad hand signal and she ran off to the corner of the ring. She took the wrong jump and there went our qualifying score. Oh well she really did do a fantastic job and I am very pleased with her. I'll be increasing the training in new areas so that next month we can get a few legs.
Phlox was a little more calm today. Unfortunately that did not translate well in the ring. It didn't help that the judge could not hear my reply to "Are you ready?" so we just stood there staring at each other getting frustrated. Phlox lost focus and that was that. We ended up with a 96 and our second rally novice leg.
It may be hard to understand why I am not happy with Phlox's performances this weekend even though his scores were pretty good. I just know that he and I can do so much better as a team. I've tricked myself into thinking that training in 3 or 4 locations regularly will be sufficient. It isn't and I won't make that mistake again.
Since Phlox has his very first Rally trial this weekend I thought it was time to try him out in a new environment. So a show and goin' we did go. Phlox did really well on Saturday. We ran a Excellent course due to time. I was a little confused by some of the new signs and Phlox didn't know all of the exercises but we hobbled through it looking pretty good.
Something I did notice is that Phlox is getting over excited when he enters a room with dogs already in it. He whines, snorts and fusses whiling standing a little too tall for my liking. All Saturday Phlox was distracted and wanted nothing more than to get to the other dogs and people.
Sunday I ran Violet through the Utility exercises. She did pretty well but I totally fudged the signal exercise by getting it confused with the stand for exam. I also kept stumbling on the ring matting.
No video because I ran out of memory.
I brought Phlox back later for novice and beginner novice.
Novice was nice. Not great. Not stunning. Just nice. I love seeing the video because it really points out what needs work.
I was going to break it all down for you but chances are you can see what needs fixing.
There is no video of Beginner novice. It was an ok run but by that time Phlox was tired and distracted.
We did make huge strides in his excitement on Sunday. I went prepared to work through it. I spent a few minutes working with him entering the building and walking past the crated dogs. It worked. He was calm and quiet the rest of the afternoon.
Now for a week of training before the upcoming show. Violet will be doing scent articles every day and Phlox will be working out doors on many different surfaces.
Charlie did a good job on Sunday. We were the highest scoring team in Rally-O with a 99 and first place.
Obedience was a bust Charlie went around the jump on the recall. Oh well, more training is in our future. I will be teaching him all of the jumping exercises in obedience just to make sure he really gets the idea.
I was just proud that he did all his sits and downs on the wet morning grass!
All in all it was a good experience. However it is the first time I have seen some one purposely break the rules. A man brought a tennis ball in the ring in his pocket. I thought that maybe he had just forgotten he had it until he pulled it out to play with his dog when he left the ring. He then placed it back in his pocket and went back in for stays!
Because it is a new venue for me I thought that maybe the rules were a little different. Nope. But I was not able to pull the judge a side and ask until after judging was finished. She said she wished I had mentioned it sooner. I just really didn't want to make a scene.
Now to get ready for Rally Novice and Utility. Can't wait to get Phlox into the ring and show off a little.
Charlie has his UKC show this Sunday. We are NOT ready. I have only managed to work in one training session since I signed him up. Luckily he took to the jump immediately making my job a lot easier.
After Sunday my attention shifts to Phlox.
I just signed Violet and Phlox up for a two day show Oct. 6-7th. Miss V will be back in the utility ring and Phlox will be doing Rally.
My goal for Violet is 1 Q out of two shows. I know we still have a few weak spots but overall her confidence and enjoyment has increased so much since July that unless there is some freak accident I believe she can pull it off.
My goal for Phlox is 95 +. This is easy for my other dogs. In fact a 95 is a low score for them but this is Phlox's very first performance show.
I think my nerves are going to kill me. Unlike my other dogs he is almost purely a product of my raising/training. I have never started from a puppy before and I want our relationship and training to demonstrate just how far I have come as a handler and trainer in the the last few years...All while making it fun...and remembering the new signs...
I'll leave you with a few pictures from last week.
In the beginning I was determined to compete in UKC obedience and not AKC. I wanted my dogs to be APBTs and not those inferior Amstaffs. The way things turned out the UKC just did not have any clubs or events close enough to me.
To be honest I like the AKC a lot and I'm happy that I started in that organization. Also, It turns out those inferior Amstaffs are just APBTs with an uppity name.
Now back to the topic at hand. I just signed up for my very first UKC obedience and Rally trial. Unfortunately Charlie is the only one I was able to register in time. He is signed up for Rally and Obedience on the 23rd.
This will also be my first outdoor obedience trial. It is going to be a great test for Charlie. He has come a long way but I usually do not trust him off leash out side. The recall over the jump will be another challenge. I don't train jumps with him almost ever and because of that they confuse him.
I have my work cut out for me but I think it will be a wonderful experience.
