second CDX leg...

ah, so the harrisburg update!

i wish we were updating with a new CDX, but twas not meant to be :)

left bright and early thurs am - up at 5:30, out of the house by 6:30 - i wasn't sure how much traffic we were going to hit, and its a 2.5 hour drive out there without traffic, so i didnt want to risk missing too much of my class.

ironically, OA was the biggest class of the show both days and we ran well past every other class, so that wasn't a concern at all, especially since i was the last dog in the class!

got to the show and they raised parking fees to 8 bucks!!!! OUCH!!! !i parked my truck 1123123123 miles away, loaded up the crate dolly, and moved the crates, my training bags, the chair, etc into the building, then came back for the dogs. pottied them and hung out and watched the end of utility and such - anne (of rah's girlfriend dune's fame) and betsy (and dealer) placed in both utility and open both days - dealer only needs 14 more points for his OTCH - not bad for a dog that just finished his UD last month and has only been OTCH-hunting for 4 weekends, i think ;)

started the class and watched - high rate of attrition, half the class NQ'd before sits and downs.

got to me, finally. i was warming rah up and he was very distracted by drool on the floor (wtf??) but we got ready to go in the ring. set him up and walked in, i backhanded the leash and set up for heeling. he dropped his head when the judge was talking (NEED TO WORK ON THIS) but we were off - and he nailed the first halt so i was happy for that (we had been practicing outside).

the heeling pattern was a tough one on us - forward, halt, forward - left turn, fast, normal left turn, slow, normal, about, right turn, about turn, halt. it was the first part that was hard for a forgey dog, but he nailed it!

fig 8 was ok - one of the stewards was saying something to me as i set up but i just ignored her and focused on rah. i think there might hav ebeen a crooked sit, but i just kept on trucking.

got over to DOR and he did it well - slightly crooked on the front, but he was fast and furious!

ROF - zoomed out, and when he came in --- he was THINKING about sitting but opted to sit REALLY FAR away and then play keep away with the db so i reached with all i had to get it out of his mouth. judge jokes "good thing you didn't trim your fingernails today!"

get to ROH - and i think i blew it here. i dont recall how close i was set up in the ring, but i dont think far enough - rah goes out, but when he comes back he doesnt have a chance to collect himself so he runs into me, and just stands there. judge gives him no chance to fix his front, i take the db, give him the finish signal but he's lost at this point so i goet NO FRONT AND NO FINISH.

go to broad jump and in my mind he NAILED it - perfect front!!!!!

sits and downs were meticulous!!! phew.
LEG NUMBER TWO!!!!!

we ended up with a 187 and third place - considering i lost SIX POINTS on the no front and finish (ouch), that would have put us in first place. rah outheeled every other dog in the class, and all his other individuals were better than every other dog or tied with them.

so it really was the ROH that killed us. oh well, it was still a leg!!!!!

went back to the hotel, checked in, pottied the dogs, and hung out watching tv and sleeping while they chewed on the bones i got them and the toys - they were exhausted. i got the internets working later that night and played around while the dogs slept.

friday morning - checked out, packed up the car, and went back to the show... again ours was the last class running. rah was CRAZAY. CRAZAY. CRA-ZAY.

the judge had an odd way of doing things, and the stewards sucked. they were late on EVERYTHING.
i got rah in the ring, but had to go the entire length of the ring to get to the heeling set up point. he dropped his head but he was with me - but i want more connection. he set up promptly so that was nice. started the heeling and i could tell we were in trouble - it was the exact "power struggle" feeling i had for his second CD leg (a theme?) - where we were a train wreck and it was just him overpowering me and pushing me all over the place - and he also heeled in front of me looking backwards :)

got to the fig 8 and he did that nicely (i was afraid for some major interference but it didnt happen, thankfully).

drop - looked wonderful, front was straight. im not sure what i lost points for here, so i want terry to look at my signal and see if *im* the one losing the points.

ROF - threw the db and we're sitting there watching and rah is twitching and im not breathing and im wondering why the hell she isn't sending him?? thankfully he held it and i send him when told to and he brings it back - but he brings it back to front and doesn't sit.

then we get to the high - and i toss it, and again the judge is quiet. and rah is sitting there... and he cant contain himself any longer and he just goes...

NQ! just says sorry. he missed his front again, and he cut the broad jump majorly.

he held his out of sights just fine though again!

so, no CDX. i gotta work on these fronts... im racking my brain here...