Day 1 with Bri, we qualified before the sit stays. However, our performance was sloppy. It had been since June 21st that we had stepped foot into a ring, and I had confused Bri by spending a lot of time on fronts the day before. So she was giving me auto fronts for auto sits LOL, I am not sure if I made out in points than if she did the other option, and not sit at all. Bri lagged a lot during the figure eight, but still we didn't get the "I am sorry" from the judge before we left the ring. In fact she wanted to pet and admire Bri before we left:)
On the stays, I don't know whether Bri decided I was asking for a front yet again (I could kill myself) or she was spooked by the utility jumps going on right beside her (she was on the end) but she got up and came to me for both sit and down, effectively disqualifying us. I knew that was bad news, because if she was confused on that on day 1 (thanks to her brilliant handler who has now learned her lesson), I probably wasn't going to fix it for day two.
So we went home, had a long nap, and then did some quick full run thrus ending with the stay. She did that well at home, of course, but things and environment change in the ring. Plus I can't communicate to her in any way if she gets the look "oh, you want me to come front now?"
So Day 2. Much more put together performance by both of us. Both judges at this trial I had before. I like them both. Susan M King was on day 1. She is very nice and easy going. James M Ashton was on day two. He is very quick and all business. I appreciate this because either way your performance is going, it's over fast. He is very concise too, easy to hear, and treats everyone the exact same way. I was so proud of Bri's recall (even though this would ultimately loose it for us again) she ran forward, and bounced to a stop straight in front of me. Then she finished perfectly. Her figure eight was beautiful this time as well. I could taste it at this point. I wanted to finish up with this performance as I thought we would get a pretty good score, though perhaps less than under Susan King as Mr Ashton is pretty tough. So a score that might be higher under a different judge would probably be more on the mark with him. You would have earned every point though.
Unfortunately during the stays, Bri did it again, though she waited longer this time. sigh. I was hoping this would be our last trial for the year before we start doing open in the spring. Well, that's the way it goes sometimes. Now I have to search for another trial so we can seal up her Companion Dog. It was worth a try, I have had days where I thought the dog would completely flop due to the trials going way behind, thunder storms, rings falling down around us, and they pulled through and did it. So to give up a try even if you are pretty sure they are way confused is a mistake IMO. She improved on everything else, so if nothing else it was a reminder and a practice run, and pointing to where I had confused her.
On the stays, I don't know whether Bri decided I was asking for a front yet again (I could kill myself) or she was spooked by the utility jumps going on right beside her (she was on the end) but she got up and came to me for both sit and down, effectively disqualifying us. I knew that was bad news, because if she was confused on that on day 1 (thanks to her brilliant handler who has now learned her lesson), I probably wasn't going to fix it for day two.
So we went home, had a long nap, and then did some quick full run thrus ending with the stay. She did that well at home, of course, but things and environment change in the ring. Plus I can't communicate to her in any way if she gets the look "oh, you want me to come front now?"
So Day 2. Much more put together performance by both of us. Both judges at this trial I had before. I like them both. Susan M King was on day 1. She is very nice and easy going. James M Ashton was on day two. He is very quick and all business. I appreciate this because either way your performance is going, it's over fast. He is very concise too, easy to hear, and treats everyone the exact same way. I was so proud of Bri's recall (even though this would ultimately loose it for us again) she ran forward, and bounced to a stop straight in front of me. Then she finished perfectly. Her figure eight was beautiful this time as well. I could taste it at this point. I wanted to finish up with this performance as I thought we would get a pretty good score, though perhaps less than under Susan King as Mr Ashton is pretty tough. So a score that might be higher under a different judge would probably be more on the mark with him
Unfortunately during the stays, Bri did it again, though she waited longer this time. sigh. I was hoping this would be our last trial for the year before we start doing open in the spring. Well, that's the way it goes sometimes. Now I have to search for another trial so we can seal up her Companion Dog. It was worth a try, I have had days where I thought the dog would completely flop due to the trials going way behind, thunder storms, rings falling down around us, and they pulled through and did it. So to give up a try even if you are pretty sure they are way confused is a mistake IMO. She improved on everything else, so if nothing else it was a reminder and a practice run, and pointing to where I had confused her.
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