Obedience Trial, Travail and Tears

Moto finished his RN (Rally Novice) title this Friday at the Sheltie specialty in high style, with a 1st place and a score of 98.  The 2 point were lost to "small crowds" as the judge put it.  He then went on to comment that he was a nice working dog.  High praise from this judge and I was very pleased.
The day went well for a lot of our club members who won lots of the obedience and conformation classes. I put a ton of money into the raffle but didn't win anything - drat!  This caused a nasty stint of compulsive shopping.  Had to get grooming supplies, a new collar for the puppy - not just ANY collar, had to be a designer collar and matching leash - and OH!  There is the perfect shirt to wear that matches the collar, custom-made of course.  I had to reel my wounded checkbook back in before I really went crazy.  But still it was fun and I'm enjoying looking at all my treasures.
Some of my friends did very well at the all-breed trial Saturday and it was so thrilling to watch the novice class most of all.  I'd been training with a few of them and while some dreams were realized a few hopes were dashed.  And some of the "B" class dogs did very strange things.  You could see the disappointment on the owner's faces.  What I realized was the "B" competitors managed to keep their emotions in check while some of the novice people did not.  There were some red eyes from wiping away tears.  Back when I first launched Shiloh I had a few teary moments myself.  It was great to see hugs and words of encouragement given to discouraged competitors.  Hey, we're all in the same boat and have our good and bad show days.  That's what I love about the sport - friends are there to celebrate when you do well, and there to offer a listening ear and a hug when you don't.  And when all else fails, there's always the shopping.
Moto got a 4th place with a 99 on Saturday.  The Rally building was not air-conditioned and it was hot, especially for my big furry boy.  Lesson learned: Moto needs to learn to try hard even when he is not completely comfortable.  From this point forward any little lack of effort needs to be corrected.  My Wednesday night "coach" showed me a good hands-on correction that is working very nicely.  No one is harmed in the process.  I do believe with Mr. Moto this is going to be an on-going effort since he is not a drivey boy.  But dang, that dog can be accurate. 
Going to see "Pinch" today and I hope to put more pics up later.  He will be 8 weeks in a few days.  I'm bringing the collar and leash to see how they look on him.  It's black and purple, so should be quite striking!