the trial... (duh duh dunnnnn)

no CDX leg for us yet!

we got there, and realized immediately - the show was on carpet, (ironically - GREY carpet that perfectly matched rah's color - he blended!) - and rah slid EVERYWHERE it was so bad. i saw terry (my trainer) who was judging NovB, OB and Elsie, who owns the training facility and they immediately warned me how slippery things were and to watch rah. Luckily, my judge gave us all 4 inches off our jump heights if we wanted, but rah still slid all over the place.

Molly, who was there with her shiba Mashi, qualified for their first RN leg!!!!

warming up he was on, but right before we were going in the ring i had a leash malfunction and thats when the judge called us in, and stupid me i just walked in - and had no attention from rah. i should have regrouped before we walked in the ring, but we got in and he was in la la land. i got him back immediately though for the set up and he was with me, so i didnt need any games there.

heeling wasnt bad - i still got a no sit !!!!!! for the first halt i think - no one could remember for sure if he sat or not -some said he did, some said he didn't - i thought he didnt, and looking at the score, it does not appear that he did :) terry thought i was probably too nervous and just didnt give my nice signals, which is the most likely reason for the no sit. however, once we started moving after that he was on - right up in me and raring to go. nailed everything else after that.


transition over to the f8 wasnt bad, but he didnt want to set up, he was distracted by the people coming in - it was a tricky set up because we ended heeling right by the entrance, and they had to come in right around us and set up the posts, so he glanced at them a few times but i backed out and got him back with me and reset him up and he was much better. fig8 was pretty good! if i do say so myself, especially for being off leash - much less pushy on that inner post and he moved his hind end like no other for it. slightly crooked halts though i think, but nice. i knew exactly where we were going for the DOR, so i didnt even wait for the judge to move me, once we were done, i just gathered him up and motored.

transition over to the DOR wasnt bad either - we had to move across the entire ring though, which should have been scary, but i heeled him over to the other corner of the ring like it was nothing, set him up and didnt look once at the judge, just kept my eye on him. DOR was perfect, nothing off, and when he dropped he slid at least 10 feet on the carpet. i mentally thought the entire time strong signal strong signal strong signal strong signal and when he was sliding he considered not putting his elbows down, but i had my nice strong signal still up and the judge was laughing he was moving so fast, he moved the carpets! called him in for the front and he nailed the front, perfect finish.

then, ALL HEAVENS OPENED UP AND...
RAH"S DUMBELL ENTERED THE RING. i swear to god his eyes lit up, his ears went as far foward as they could, and he almost jumped on me. he looked at me and he was like, ARE YOU SERIOUS? we play this game here too??? he set up like a dream, believe me :) he was like, THROW THE DB WOMAN I WANT TO GET IT. he was shaking so hard at this point i could feel it against my leg. which is why, when i sent him, he went to pick the db up like he always does - rah essentially goes out and picks up as he's turning many times - he doesnt stop, pick it up, then turn - he gets there, stops his front end, but the back end keeps going. so on this floor, when he tried to stop, he hit the db, tripped over it, and went flying an additional couple of feet (HEARTBREAKING). he finally gets it in his mouth and comes in for the front - and mr butthead and sat far when he came in - i had to lean far to get the db, and he was crooked - but i got it from him :)


quick transition over to the high - he's high as a kite right now, he's dripping drool. set him up, i had a good 12 feet, i throw it (nice thing about carpet, db's dont bounce much). miraculously somehow he managed to get the db without sliding much on the pickup like he did on the flat, but once he got over the jump, he slid about 2-3 feet trying to hit the front (left skid marks on the carpet!) and ended up crooked, kinda far again, but didn't fight me to give up the db. this front he also didn't come all the way around me - he needed to come up a bit and looking back i should have fixed it.

then rah was the saddest dog ever - because the db left. and he spent a good 3-4 seconds watching it longingly, and i think for a fleeting second considered going after it. but i called him back, set him up for the broad. since we had a reduced height, it was 8 inches shorter than normal which probably contributed to him cutting it, but he cut the corner and he almost went down he slipped so much - this was his worst one, he literally almost went flat. but he came back and he did a pretty good front after all of that, and a nice finish. once we were done, he jumped up on me, i breathed, and waited for someone to bring me something for him to tug on!!!

but i was so stressed by the out of sights (and had been telling everyone that all week) that i ruined it for us , and he had to have his back to everything (the entire show), we went back in the ring and he was a total stressball. he didnt want to set up - i got him set up once, he popped up, set him up again, he got up, set him up a THIRD time finally andi knew we were screwed, didnt want to sit, he was shaking, and i didnt even make it across the ring before he stood up. he did a three minute stand . he flipped from side to side on the down, but he held it. terry and elsie said he just looked like he wanted out of there - he just wanted to get up and find me. i dont know why he was so freaked out about the whole thing - but it was abig show site and i know i havent trained out of sights enough in situations like that - and i was so stressed about his stays. ugh. so i killed that for him. he was a totally different dog going in for the stays than who i had for the other parts - and that wasnt always pretty. on his down he held it but flipped hips, which he also doesnt normally do. he even went down flat on his side (judge joked "i think he finally gave up" and my trainer said "that dog? never!")

had he held his stays, we were working a 190 - which would have given us first place
we lost 5 on the heeling (3 for the no sit alone). 0 off on DOR (my pride and joy for the trial!), 2 off on the ROF and ROH, and 1 off on the BJ.

im hopeful but also stressed. im entered next sunday, and if my trainer thinks its ok we will show then - but im not sure how i feel about the trials i had planned in march, ill have to consider how well he's doing v. the chance to get to repeat mistakes. im definitely entering CDSP and APDT stuff, i was considering some ASCA trials too, so not doing 2-3 AKC trials won't kill us... but who knows. we definitely need to work on our front issues with the db still - this fighting him to give up the db is ridiculous, and its clear to everyone that he simply doesnt want me to have it, he wants to keep it. but i gotta see about these stays too.

on the other hand, many people came up to us and commented on what a nice class he worked, and what drive and enthusiasm he had, and how nice it was to see a dog still have that.

all in all, while it would have been nice to have that leg, im happy to have q'd all the individuals - the stays have come back to haunt us, but we will work through it. but working a 190... on 3 weeks of no training!!?? and 1 match, ever? at his first show? would have been nice :)


mental note - also have to work that first halt.


and bigger mental note. berlin is a dirty dirty dog and she is most definitely in estrus right now. i keep telling her 1) she's too young for kids and 2) its like incest for anyone here and 3) everyone here is either altered or of the same sex anyway but berlin doesn't seem to care. she's a dirty dirty girl.