Friday was a good day in UKC for team Ripley! They earned a Group 2 and 3 in a I think our largest Guardian Group so far at the All American Bulldog Club show in Shipshewana, IN!
Ripley also earned a new title, SPOT-ON (
Socialized Pet Obedience Test - Outstanding Neighbor, equivalent to CGC) and she performed "Outstanding", the highest rating, at every station in the test!
I had plans to do precision coursing to finish up a title there after we tried it for the first time at Premier but Ripley had other plans and decided to not be done with her heat lol. She is done today, of course! It was a hot long day anyways and they played in AKC on Sat/Sun. No love there but Derek was the only owner handler out of 30 dobermans...
They got lots of compliments and we met up with our breeder's friend to get an hour of on the spot handling lessons which was incredibly invaluable. Lots of nitty gritty tips of how to stand and present yourself for each part of the process of your 3-5 min of shine. She said we have Ripley well trained! Now it's just down to Derek perfecting himself; theres way more to it than just looking nice and having your dog perform well. Like stand here with your back straight, or here with elbow bent at 90 degree, put your feet together, or grab Ripley's rear leg from underneath with palm out not over and palm in.
It's a craft! I get it. It looks very nice and draws the judges eye to you saying, "look at my dog, isn't she beautiful???" Apparently, since Derek is a guy, and a tall guy, it already draws attention which they can use to their advantage but they have to make sure they look nice as a total package so that's what they are working on!
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Give me the snax!
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This was a few days before the shows. They have been doing sessions every night with her, teaching her to stand up and into her collar. Still a work in progress as she learns to build those muscles and muscle memory and to lean into the collar (she wants to give to pressure because of heeling training
) but already so much better in just a week.
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I'll keep sharing the journey if people enjoy it... Cause this thread certainly is not all about winning either. Lots of failing and stumbling along the way, learning to be humble, and feeling way out of our league. But gradually, with hard work, getting there, seeing the small victories and just having fun trying something completely foreign with the best girl!