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Proud of My Boy

5K views 33 replies 21 participants last post by  Eddie 
#1 ·
Kodi and I tackled another venue for the first time today... AKC formal obedience. He has his CDSP Novice title, but there are no long stays in that, just an honor stay at the Novice level. Stays are his hardest thing, because he doesn't want me that far away from him for that long.

We were entered in Beginner Novice today, but I was worried that he'd break the stay and NQ. He was AWESOME! He earned his first leg, second place and a score of 197 1/2 (out of 200). The first place dog was only 1/2 point ahead of him. He lost 1 1/2 points during heeling... He went a bit wide at one point, and I have a (currently on-going) problem with him forging during the slow. He also lost a point for his "over-enthusiastic" recall, where he slammed into me before sitting in "front" position.:). So he got full points for his "figure eight", "sit for exam" and "sit-stay". The judge was very complimentary about his run, saying that he was a "delight", and a "great working dog".:whoo:

Unfortunately, even though I don't really get nervous for Rally or Agility, I DID get nervous today, and TOTALLY forgot to ask anyone to video for me.:(. Oh well, we've got another trial day tomorrow, so hopefully he'll be just as good, and I WILL rmember to have someone video him! In any case, the show photographer did take pictures, and he said those would be available on his site on Thursday. So at least I'll have that to share!
 
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#3 ·
Congrats, again, to both of you. You should be very proud of Kodi. He's a great dog. Hopefully you'll get video tomorrow. Where are the trials this weekend, Karen? I'm assuming Fitchburg, as I think Elinor mentioned going there with Tony around this time.
 
#12 ·
No, this is at MasterPeace. Charles River and Concord both hold their trials there. (one Sat. and one Sun.) It is JUST obedience trials, no breed stuff. The judges said it is the biggest obedience trial the've judged all year though. It just feels smaller because there aren't all the breed rings going.
 
#4 ·
figured you were at some trials this weekend. you've hardly been on. You nervous , with a dog like Kodi, shame on you. LOL Good luck tomorrow.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, I didn't see about your little joke on Tammy until it was too late. (I suppose I could say a BELATED Happy Birthday now!:pound:)
 
#15 ·
I think that it's doubly bad because it's RIGHT after the long stay. So when you call them, they are SO happy to be released that they have a hard time containing themselves!:)
 
#17 ·
Great going! Even though he slammed in to you on return...it's really a compliment to you that Kodi after all the training you do...still gets excited when called. More often dogs that have been competing for awhile will lag on the recall. Congrats! Fingers crossed for today, I really don't think it's necessary, you'll both do great.
 
#18 ·
He WAS good again today! We were second again, this time with a little lower score, a 195. We lost 4 1/2 points on the heeling for floor sniffing, but most of the other dogs were sniffing too... not sure what was on the floor, but SOMETHING they all found interesting. The other half point was because his front was a bit crooked on the recall. There were pieces of tape on the floor right near where we needed to stand for the recall, and I KNEW they would attract his attention. Fortunately, he veered a bit to one side, but he didn't stop to sniff them or anything!<g>

THEN we got called back for a run-off! It appears that for arcane, AKC committee reasons, a run-off at BN level is an off-leash heeling pattern, even though many of the dogs haven't ever BEEN off leash before. Fortunately, all of Kodi's Rally experience meant that off leash heeling wasn't an issue for us at all. The other poor dog turned around and stood staring at the judge when she walked close to the pair as they were heeling. So we ended up in second place and the other dog was 3rd.

I guess it was good practice, and I couldn't have been more pleased with my boy, no matter how the run-off ended up.

Oh, and I DID ask someone to video us, but he messed up, put my iPhone into camera mode rather than video mode, and didn't get anything. Sorry! You'll just have to take my word for it this time!:)
 
#28 ·
I think he's smiling thinking about the stuffed giraffe he won!:pound:

This weekend it's back to CDSP Obedience. It's hard to keep all the rules straight in my head. We were practicing yesterday, and my trainer said, "Don't forget, you can talk to him during the heeling in CDSP... USE it!!!" Duh! I forgot!:)

We also practiced the long stays for AKC Novice. For the first time EVER during the down, he put his tail, down, put his head on his paws and looked totally relaxed! We did it with Dove, my trainer's well known (to him), very reliable Golden next to him, and she wouldn't break a stay if a bomb went off next to her. I think she just gave off such a relaxed vibe that it helped to relax him.

Maybe we'll be ready for Novice stays before we both turn grey!:pound: (it's only the stays that are keeping us out of Novice now)
 
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