Nationals Over, now onto the Specialty

We are in training mode now as our Sheltie Specialty is less than one month away. I've taken the plunge of entering Moto in Novice, as the location of our Specialty (and subsequent all-breed trial) is in the same place as our club's obedience trial last month. He'll be almost 3 by then, he's trained through Utility, it's time. I *think* I'm beginning to understand him. I'm a slow learner that way. Even though he is a low energy dog, because of his lack of self-confidence he needs to be trained every day, right up to show time and have a fairly thorough warm-up before entering the ring. This helps him.
While Pinch needs 1 more leg in Beginner Novice, it's too big of a jump for him, so we will do Rally. He still needs verbal help in the ring. I discovered a HUGE training hole with him - he doesn't understand heel position. EEK! I discovered that when doing an impromptu heeling session with him, no collar, no leash. That's a big one. So, our training will be some major backchaining and piecemeal work. As always it's my fault, I get greedy and go too far too fast. The nice thing about Rally is that it's about performing the exercise (which he can totally do), not the accuracy of it. Some judges may knock you here and there, but largely they do not.
While it's a big undertaking I am enjoying training two young dogs. Pinch becomes enraged that when it's Moto's turn to train and makes himself known. Early in the game Moto used to lay quietly and watch, but as of late you can see he is uncomfortable with Pinch getting his turn at training. I sense Moto is understanding that training is a priviledge, something he "gets" to do. That is cool!
Can't say I'm excited about Moto's Novice debut, I'm more curious. I think in time he will be a consistent performer. He's way closer to that than say a year ago as he's made huge strides in being able to work in what he sees as scary situations. So..here we go!
We'll do our homework between now and then, and have lots of fun in the meantime!

We Did It!

We are back from a whirlwind weekend at the Sheltie Nationals - whew, fast times and livin' large! The Purina Event Center is nothing short of amazing. I'll gladly enter any obedience, herding or agility trial there. I've never seen anything like it and we're lucky to have something so impressive just a few hours' drive from home.
As you know we just entering the herding portion of all the events offered, at the Herding Test (HT) level. This is just a pass or fail, no placements. What the judge wants to see is controlled movement of the stock back and forth between two cones (about 40 feet if I remember right), need to do that 3 times, then a stop and a recall.
Sounds easy right? NOT!
These sheep were extremely flighty and, in my opinion, a bit too advanced for the level of class they were in. If a dog moved slowly and stayed back off of them, all went fine. But these are green dogs and green handlers so the Q rate was extremely low.
When Mr. Pinch went in I told the judge he had just turned 1 year old and was "very zippy". When she told me to send him to the sheep he did so at lightening-bolt speed which of course did not go well. The judge said "you are right, he is VERY zippy!". We tried to do a stop and walk up, Pinch stopped just fine but walk....well, let's just say he's too young, too green and plain just too excited to walk. He did move the stock and we almost had it but his placement and speed worked against us, and the judge said "he's given you his very best today, he's just too inexperienced. It's been a positive experience for him so let's just call him off." Even with an NQ I was very pleased. All I ever want from my dogs is to try, and try Pinch did, with everything he had. Good boy!
I was very worried about Moto. The two qualifiers who had made it had worked the stock along the fence. Moto does not like to work on the fence. And to make matters worse, there was tarp along one entire side, with kicking sheep and stock handlers on the other. Very worrisome noises. I knew Moto had a calmer, slower working style but being on that tarp fence might make him unable to do it.
In we went, and with the judge's help with the best place to send Moto, off we went. Since Moto doesn't run full-out and has a calm demeanor the sheep did run but had some sense about them. To the tarp wall we went. It was in the direction Moto does not like (the "go bye" or left side). A double negative whammy, but you know what? It wasn't pretty, and there was a lot of burling (where the dog turns in the opposite direction) but he stuck to the task at hand. The sheep recognized his lack of self-confidence and tried to stand him off in a corner. But thanks to some work at trainer Cathy's place, Moto was familiar with how to handle that. I patted my leg and bless his heart he went calmly between the fence and the sheep and moved them off the corner. Back and forth we went, and the judge said "you've made it! All you need to do now is stop and call him off."
I did, and Moto came to me with a grin and a wag of his tail. I gave him the biggest hug ever.
What he did was huge for him: overcoming his fear of difficult situations, he did his job. He believed in himself and he trusted me.
I've loved him always, but it's moments like these that move me to tears.
I'm so impressed with my big guy, and we have one of those "forever moments" to cherish.
You can see from the picture he is VERY proud of himself - as he should be!
And I am, too.

Spring Cleaning

There's something about going to your breed's Nationals that bring out the Spring Cleaning in us. It makes sense that our dogs must be bathed and groomed to perfection, but for some of us more OCD types, that carries into everything else that the dog is involved in. The car must be cleaned inside and out. Crates and bedding washed. Everything must be shiny. It's a wonderful thing.
We are leaving tomorrow for our National. All the herding lessons are done with for now, the car is gassed up, the shopping done, and yesterday's weather was perfect for my Spring Cleaning marathon. It began with bathing the dogs.
I didn't plan it very well, silly me. I just got the doggie shampoo, some towels and OOF! lifted 50-lb Moto into the tub. Everything went just fine until his bath was over. OOF! lifted him out and was going to let him outside until I realized my mistake: we have that beautiful back yard, nice and grassy. If you've ever bathed a dog you realize once you put it in the yard, it promptly will run around like crazy and then roll and scratch in the grass and undo everything you've just done. I refuse to take a green Sheltie to the Nationals, so I realized I needed to put wet dogs on the deck, but I hadn't put up the barrier to keep them from exiting the deck to the grass below. I had to leave a wet squirrley Sheltie running wild in the house while I quickly ran to the basement, grabbed the barrier, ran thru the house and onto the deck and put it up. By the time this was done a large portion of the house was wet with Moto bathwater. Sigh.
Pinch was next, and now that everything was in place, went as planned.
Feeling smug as while I was bathing dogs, I'd put all their bedding in the washer. I love multi-tasking. Next the crates they travel in needed to be washed. Thinking I'd keep the wet dogs company on the deck, I lugged the crates out there with a bucket of water, soap and yet more towels. This was a bad plan. The reason is because as I was undoing the bolts that hold the crate together, in my clumsiness I dropped one. It fell between the slats onto the grass below. Again, sigh. Over the barrier, down the stairs and onto the grass to look for the tiny bolt. The heavens were smiling on me as I quickly found it. It occurred to me that I might want to put these errant bolts into a bowl. This too was a bad plan. You see, even though Pinch is one year old now, there's still some puppy in him. He thought that bowl looked awfully fun and had fun shiny things in it and he should paw at said bowl. Everything spilled, and a few bolts escaped onto the lawn below...again. Repeat previous step. Lesson learned: put bowl in lap and quickly move to railing once bolts are removed.
I expected Moto's crate to be dirty because he is like his dad, who just seemed to attract dirt but HEAVENS! I couldn't believe how dirty his crate was. All they do is LIE in there - how could it get so bad? I soaped and scrubbed and soon his crate looked brand new. I was pleased. I assumed Pinch's crate would be easier to clean because it was a newer crate, he was a breed dog and didn't love dirt like Moto but HOLY CRAP! This dog is a freak. It was in worse shape than Moto's! With elbow grease his crate too returned to its original state of cleanliness.
As the sun went down I had nice shiny dogs with beautifully trimmed feet and very clean ears. Crates were re-assembled and fluffy sweet-smelling bedding was returned to their interior. My Dog Show car was pristine. Ah, the satisfaction of it all.
Then I saw the huge pile of things I planned to try to fit into the car.
I'll think about that tomorrow.

My Obedience Rant

This rant has been bubbling up in me for awhile now, and a post from one of the obedience e-groups I belong to just kind of pushed me over the edge. So, I'm gonna rant for a bit, but please take into mind you may not agree with me, it's just my opinion based on my own personal experiences.
There's been considerable discussion on the death of the sport of obedience. I won't go into all that here, there's some great ideas going on out there and that's not the main thrust of my rant. It was one tiny little comment tucked away in one sentence, but I hear it a LOT:
- the OTCH system is unfair. You cannot beat the OTCH dogs.
I myself have been guilty of saying this. But you know what? You limit yourself by saying you can't do something.
Here's my OTCH experience: when I debuted Shiloh he got a 199 his very first time in the Obedience ring. That started me thinking about an OTCH. I worked his front and finishes - the bread and butter of high scores - all the way through his Open A and Utility A career. He tied several times for High In Trial in his Open career with some 198's. We didn't have high scores in utility A, but we zipped through it in 5 tries and began a serious pursuit of the OTCH.
What I learned:
While we have some extremely talented trainers out there who quickly OTCH their dogs in a few weeks' time, this is NOT the norm. Getting an OTCH is really hard. That is what makes it so special.
We didn't place at all when we graduted into the highly competitive B classes. Then, we began getting into the lower placements. Then, for what seemed like an eternity, we got lots and lots of 2nd places. If you are in pursuit of an OTCH this is not good. You need at least 3 First Places - 2 from an All Breed trial and one can be from a specialty. It was frustrating. I started complaining about how it always seemed, no matter where I went, that there was always at least one "super" obedience person there to get all the first placements.
Here's when the tide turned and I learned what it takes to get an OTCH:
- you must believe in yourself and your dog
- you must be persistent and never give up
And the biggie:
- YOU MUST UP YOUR GAME.
For Shiloh and I this trilogy of truths came together all at once. I brought my "A" game into the ring every time. Shiloh picked up on that energy and he did, too. To my utter shock and amazement those first began coming.
The highlight of my OTCH journey was when I decided to roll the dice and enter the huge St. Louis show. No more traveling to small shows looking for firsts. We were going to test our skills against the best in the area. My dear friend Kathy and her husband Gary were there. These two almost always came away with winning all the B classes. But never mind that, Shiloh and I brought the best we had. After our Utility performance I was sweating from the effort, but it was a thrilling run. Kathy came to me and said "that was lovely". I could see in her eyes that it was a competitive run. I stood next to her as awards came out. The judge started with fourth place, then third. I sighed. Gary and Kathy hadn't been called yet so I figured it was those two. Kathy heard me sigh and said with a smile and a wink "the Cheese stands alone." Second place was called and it was Kathy. I looked at Gary, wide-eyed. He mouthed "first is you". And....it was! It was a huge 30-point class. We had another nice run in Open, and got 2nd place, just 1/2 point behind Kathy. I tallied up my lovely chunk of points and it was now 99. One more point and we would finish!
The OTCH came the following weekend at the Sheltie Specialty, winning the Utility class, getting High in Trial and High Combined.
But my biggest thrill was actually being a player with the very best, and EARNING (oh yes I earned it!) an outright win in an outstanding class of dogs.
All that being said, you CAN do it. It takes a lot of work. It isn't easy. It's been said earning an OTCH is one of the most difficult things you can do with your dog. Maybe that's one reason the sport is dying, as (again this is just my opinion) there are other champion titles to garner that are easier to attain.
But - if the OTCH is one of your dreams - it CAN be done, and you don't need to be a famous trainer to do it. Don't limit yourself by saying you can't do it. Dream big, and Big Dreams will come true! They did for me.

Sheltie Nationals Next Week!

Moto, Pinch and I depart next Friday for St. Louis for the Sheltie Nationals. I'm looking forward to it and I'm not looking forward to it.
The Looking Forward To It part includes sharing a hotel room with a sheltie club member. Her dog and my two get along famously. She loves obedience so we'll have fun discussing the sport and of course all things Sheltie. It'll be fun seeing Sheltie friends from near and far and of course....the shopping.
The Not Looking Forward To It is for the first time ever I'm not entered competitively in anything. Ever since I had Dusty I was able to enter the Best All-Around Sheltie and dream of the elusive Silver Bowl in some venue. This year, the timing just isn't right and what with our major budget down-size, I just can't hang out and enter and/or do all I wish we could do.
But so be it, we get to go and I should stop grousing about that.
Pinch and Moto are both entered in the Herding event, at the Herding Test level. Again another first: it's quite possible neither one of them will pass, each for a very different reason. With Dusty and Shiloh, there was no question they would pass their Herding Tests. Moto continues to confound me. This dog is absolutely brilliant on sheep. If he just believed in himself, it's possible he could go all the way to being a nationally-ranked herding dog. When he's confident, the sheep sense him and he has power from a great distance. Yet he doesn't scare them, he's able to move them with great ease. But we have days when he a) just doesn't feel like applying himself; or b) something is scaring him (could be a horse in the next pasture, a tarp flapping loudly, you name it); and the sheep sense this and just stand there and laugh at him. He is coming more into his own and the bad scenario is melting away, but heck this is a strange place, strange sheep so it can go either way.
Mr. Pinch on the other hand has TONS of confidence....BUT...no stock sense. In time he can probably do some of the lower-level herding but it's going to take time and training. He's also a bit of a bully. He likes to peel one sheep out of the flock, pin it against the fence and hold it there. No matter if it stomps its feet or charges at him, he'll bite it on the nose and put it back in the corner. Mr. Pinch, that is NOT herding, thank you. So, IF the sheep are nice "school sheep" and will stay grouped, we may qualify if Pinch doesn't manage to find the weak link in the flock to bully.
All the while, it will be fun to explore the show site, see some really talented dogs and watch some dreams come true. Always fun to discuss, meet and greet people with the same passion for Shelties that I have.
So I pose the question again: What is going to happen?