This day has been a long time coming! My social anxiety has kept me out of the ring for over 15 years. The last time I was in a ring was for 4H with my Golden retriever, Jesse. Yesterday, Ripley and I stepped foot into our very first trial. I knew I wanted to title in person so we did a one take (like always!) virtual run, it felt like our best yet. We earned a 95 and that was our best score so far. I brain farted and did the wrong performance for a sign (instead of me doing a 360, I sent my dog for a 360 ) so I opted to re-do that sign and take the hit in points. Then yesterday at our trial, we earned two Qs. 95 and 97, both first places under Suzanne M Mayborne. This earned us Ripley's Rally Advanced title!
During the run, I was being overly hard on myself, aren't we always? Knowing how hard we have worked at home, in public places, with varying distractions. All trying to proof the best we could without actually having access to a ring. Watching it back, Ripley actually did really, really well for her first trial and off leash. There were the dreaded distractions in the figure 8 for our first run, of course! Brand new stuffy toys AND they were nestled right in the middle of a small ring. When taking the mandatory jump, one toy was almost right in line of where a big jumper like Ripley would land. Ripley did so well and tried so hard for me despite all that. You bet she was eyeballing them a little . So glad I practiced at home with novel toys and her highest valued toys that only come out for dock diving, but you know she knows these are really not hers so they are much more tempting. I could tell there was some trial stress/distracted-ness from her; slow sits and not anywhere near the attentive heeling like in practice. But she always came back to me and when she did something perfect, she got huge praise in the ring and then we made sure to jackpot right outside the exit. The second run before going in she did awesome with super focus while waiting ringside, staying engaged with me. I'm hoping the more exposure, and her learning she'll get lots of good stuff, that she will start coming around with that great precision and focus like she has in practice. I could see little pieces of progress already just between the two runs! We will continue to push our training to help bridge that gap between practice and trial.
Many thanks goes to everyone that has touched our lives, whether an instructor or our cheering squad like DCF! People like you make a difference in this world, especially to those trying something new as a green handler with a green dog. We won't look perfect but the enouragement keeps us going. Thank you
Pending AKC... Ripley is BIS U-GCH Melrae's Houston We Have A Problem RI RA BCAT DJ CGCA TKA SPOT-ON RACEN RATI
After our first run... "whew, Mom that was hard but we did it."
Second run and new title picture
and for fun, I ran into these cleaning out a closet last night. I didn't even realize I was in the paper. Now me would have been mortified lol.
During the run, I was being overly hard on myself, aren't we always? Knowing how hard we have worked at home, in public places, with varying distractions. All trying to proof the best we could without actually having access to a ring. Watching it back, Ripley actually did really, really well for her first trial and off leash. There were the dreaded distractions in the figure 8 for our first run, of course! Brand new stuffy toys AND they were nestled right in the middle of a small ring. When taking the mandatory jump, one toy was almost right in line of where a big jumper like Ripley would land. Ripley did so well and tried so hard for me despite all that. You bet she was eyeballing them a little . So glad I practiced at home with novel toys and her highest valued toys that only come out for dock diving, but you know she knows these are really not hers so they are much more tempting. I could tell there was some trial stress/distracted-ness from her; slow sits and not anywhere near the attentive heeling like in practice. But she always came back to me and when she did something perfect, she got huge praise in the ring and then we made sure to jackpot right outside the exit. The second run before going in she did awesome with super focus while waiting ringside, staying engaged with me. I'm hoping the more exposure, and her learning she'll get lots of good stuff, that she will start coming around with that great precision and focus like she has in practice. I could see little pieces of progress already just between the two runs! We will continue to push our training to help bridge that gap between practice and trial.
Many thanks goes to everyone that has touched our lives, whether an instructor or our cheering squad like DCF! People like you make a difference in this world, especially to those trying something new as a green handler with a green dog. We won't look perfect but the enouragement keeps us going. Thank you
Pending AKC... Ripley is BIS U-GCH Melrae's Houston We Have A Problem RI RA BCAT DJ CGCA TKA SPOT-ON RACEN RATI
After our first run... "whew, Mom that was hard but we did it."
Second run and new title picture
and for fun, I ran into these cleaning out a closet last night. I didn't even realize I was in the paper. Now me would have been mortified lol.