asca, day one

back from the trial- im exhausted!!!!

for those unfamiliar with ASCA - the trial exercises are exactly the same as AKC, except one difference - stays are done BEFORE the individual exercises, which is bizarre. rah was entered in novice B today for the two trials.

first trial - stays done with (phew - i still get stressed). we're the fourth dog in. he had a REALLY nice ring entrance, im really happy with how it went - head up, paying attention, didnt wander at all in the eye department. set up nice, but he wasnt staring at me - he was giving me sideways attention, but it wasnt direct. he did bring his head up though before i backed out of position to get him back up to me, so good for him - but id rather he never stop staring at me! started the heeling and he was good - forgey and bumpy, but not too bad. fig 8 - crooked sit on the last halt, bad!

SFE - rah decided to move his front feet TO the judge (she's the judge who offers her hand first to the dog to sniff, and rah always takes that as an invitation to move to the judge BAD HIM - NEED TO WORK THAT)

Heel free - rah started when the judge said forward and I wasn't ready. He really needs to wait for me, and not move when SHE says forward!

Recall was BEAUTIFUL - perfectly straight, finish was perfect!!!

That trial - 194
lost 2 points on SFE
3 points on Heel on leash
1 point on heel free.

Second trial - stays again uneventful. At this point Rah is in love with the judge, who adores dobermans, and she's already had a love fest with Rah. this spells doom for his SFE which is already spotty from this morning.

Heel on leash - starts out ok - he gets distracted by his own reflection in the mirror (or maybe it was ME that got distracted by me OWN reflection and seeing if he was straight? and rah wasn't sitting - i tightened everything up and bless his soul he sat - and did it just as she said forward - but she gave us the benefit of the doubt! rest of the heel on lead eas goof. his Fig 8 was MUCH better - he was straight for both sits, woohoo!!!

SFE - again, he moved. he loves that judge. she loves him. if he loves her so much why doesnt he marry her? sigh....

heel free - i think here i have a really crooked sit and a poor transition from the slow that i totally missed.
recall - came in crooked on the front, but nice finish.
he dropped his head a few times in this trial, but his ring entrance was once again very good and i was pleased.

total - 193.5
lost 1/2 point on heel on lead (WOW!!!! thats a personal best for us for On lead)
lost 1 on SFE
lost 4 on heel free
lost 1 on recall.

came in second in both trials. in the first trial, came in second to my old trainer (!!!) who ended up going high in trial (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) - had rah held his SFE, we would ahve been in a RUN OFF FOR HIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
all in all, im proud of him. tomorrow we should finish the ASCA CD and im considering moving up to open for the last trial if i am able to.

we shall see. im exhausted. so is rah.

(i also learned and put berlin out in the car when i was showing rah!)