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AJ had good weekend.
Saturday he got ribbons in three different sports. He started with Winners Dog in conformation and at the same show got his first Rally Master leg. We finished there by 9:30, so did a Day of Show entry at a Barn Hunt trial where he got one hundred Crazy 8s points.
Sunday he got his second Rally Master leg with third place, then Best of Winners in conformation. He was in the ring with his breeder in Best of Breed. (Woman in front with orange coat - AJ is second from left sucking up to his handler instead of looking dignified.)
The picture of AJ and me is lousy, so here's his Sunday ribbons.
I'm now earning Rally Champion points and both shows were a disappointment because we need 91 to start earning points. The bright side is we now have two of the ten Qs we need for his RM.
He earned 87 points Saturday due to my not warming him up properly. He was in conformation (in the light rain), then I rushed him over to the Rally ring just in time. There were two dogs left by the time we got there and I did a hurried, very poor warm up which probably did more harm than good. AJ went into the ring confused and didn't start working until we were halfway through the course. An early sign was back up three steps and he insisted on turning around while doing it.
He earned 84 points Sunday and that's all on the judge. When I entered the trial, I was pleased to see Judge #1. She has good courses. She doesn't load up the course with difficult signs and uses easy to follow patterns. #1 had medical issues and we were informed by email that she was replaced by #2, a semi-retired judge in her 80s. #2 was sick Sunday and a last minute replacement was #3. #3 is also in her 80s, retired many years ago and had never judged Rally Master because she retired before Master was added.
#3 judged Rally like she was judging Obedience and dinged dogs for out of position and NQ'd a dog that from what I saw was qualifying. That dog went wide before returning to position and #3 walked towards the handler with the lead outstretched in her hand. The handler was confused and the judge said she was excused for lack of control.
A friend who is going for her RACH2 hesitated slightly on sign 7 - About Turn Right 180 degrees and I saw the judge write on her clipboard. She got an 87 for the run and couldn't understand it. I told her about Sign 7 and she was flabbergasted. She couldn't understand how she could have been dinged for a simple about turn. She had three 100s for the Triple Q the day before.
AJ had a good run Sunday. He was attentive and stayed by my side. He had one error on sign 304 - Call Front - Move 2 Side Steps Right - Finish Forward. We started practicing Master signs a few months ago and he got confused. When I called him Front, he continued circling me as if we were doing sign 216 - Halt - Dog Circles Right - Sit. When he went past me on the right, I told him Front and he went to Front after he finished his loop around me. I asked the judge why I got 84. She said that he circled me intead of going right to Front and gave me an Improperly Performed 10 point deduction instead of the 3 points that should have been given. She said the other six points were out of position. AJ was out of position if it was Obedience, but Rally is pre-Obedience and out of position has to be more substantial than AJ's OOPs which were mostly crooked sits from what I remembered.
I never take my dogs in the ring for pinnings unless told there will be photographs because there's no upside. The dog isn't required in the ring and things can go wrong. Very early in my career a woman came out of the ring after pinnings to the applause of her friends while beaming a huge smile because she got her title and a placement, and then her dog peed on the stanchion. The judge called her back in and took away her ribbons when he NQ'd her. Something like that happened Saturday. A friend won first place and was given her ribbons. The dog next to her lunged at her dog and her dog hacked up the treat she was given before going back in. My friend asked for a paper towel to clean it up and the judge NQ'd her for eliminating in the ring. They went back and forth on whether it should be an NQ, and the AKC rep got involved and said it was an NQ.
Saturday he got ribbons in three different sports. He started with Winners Dog in conformation and at the same show got his first Rally Master leg. We finished there by 9:30, so did a Day of Show entry at a Barn Hunt trial where he got one hundred Crazy 8s points.
Sunday he got his second Rally Master leg with third place, then Best of Winners in conformation. He was in the ring with his breeder in Best of Breed. (Woman in front with orange coat - AJ is second from left sucking up to his handler instead of looking dignified.)
The picture of AJ and me is lousy, so here's his Sunday ribbons.
I'm now earning Rally Champion points and both shows were a disappointment because we need 91 to start earning points. The bright side is we now have two of the ten Qs we need for his RM.
He earned 87 points Saturday due to my not warming him up properly. He was in conformation (in the light rain), then I rushed him over to the Rally ring just in time. There were two dogs left by the time we got there and I did a hurried, very poor warm up which probably did more harm than good. AJ went into the ring confused and didn't start working until we were halfway through the course. An early sign was back up three steps and he insisted on turning around while doing it.
He earned 84 points Sunday and that's all on the judge. When I entered the trial, I was pleased to see Judge #1. She has good courses. She doesn't load up the course with difficult signs and uses easy to follow patterns. #1 had medical issues and we were informed by email that she was replaced by #2, a semi-retired judge in her 80s. #2 was sick Sunday and a last minute replacement was #3. #3 is also in her 80s, retired many years ago and had never judged Rally Master because she retired before Master was added.
#3 judged Rally like she was judging Obedience and dinged dogs for out of position and NQ'd a dog that from what I saw was qualifying. That dog went wide before returning to position and #3 walked towards the handler with the lead outstretched in her hand. The handler was confused and the judge said she was excused for lack of control.
A friend who is going for her RACH2 hesitated slightly on sign 7 - About Turn Right 180 degrees and I saw the judge write on her clipboard. She got an 87 for the run and couldn't understand it. I told her about Sign 7 and she was flabbergasted. She couldn't understand how she could have been dinged for a simple about turn. She had three 100s for the Triple Q the day before.
AJ had a good run Sunday. He was attentive and stayed by my side. He had one error on sign 304 - Call Front - Move 2 Side Steps Right - Finish Forward. We started practicing Master signs a few months ago and he got confused. When I called him Front, he continued circling me as if we were doing sign 216 - Halt - Dog Circles Right - Sit. When he went past me on the right, I told him Front and he went to Front after he finished his loop around me. I asked the judge why I got 84. She said that he circled me intead of going right to Front and gave me an Improperly Performed 10 point deduction instead of the 3 points that should have been given. She said the other six points were out of position. AJ was out of position if it was Obedience, but Rally is pre-Obedience and out of position has to be more substantial than AJ's OOPs which were mostly crooked sits from what I remembered.
I never take my dogs in the ring for pinnings unless told there will be photographs because there's no upside. The dog isn't required in the ring and things can go wrong. Very early in my career a woman came out of the ring after pinnings to the applause of her friends while beaming a huge smile because she got her title and a placement, and then her dog peed on the stanchion. The judge called her back in and took away her ribbons when he NQ'd her. Something like that happened Saturday. A friend won first place and was given her ribbons. The dog next to her lunged at her dog and her dog hacked up the treat she was given before going back in. My friend asked for a paper towel to clean it up and the judge NQ'd her for eliminating in the ring. They went back and forth on whether it should be an NQ, and the AKC rep got involved and said it was an NQ.
