I believe Cardis need jobs so the dogs are all being trained in Rally and/or Obedience and/or Tracking and/or Agility — that’s why there is no time to clean house — anyway, today Kip and Inca went to a fun match so I could see if we’re ready to pay out serious entry fees. It was outside, on grass. This was Inca’s first Rally event (she’s been to three classes). She scored a tail-wagging 93 (out of 100) in Rally Novice. So, she gets entered at the Labor Day Trials. Kip qualified in Rally Advanced (just barely, because it’s off leash and he wanted to cavort in front of me), but I think it’s safe to enter him.
I also entered Kip in Open A. He would not have qualified, but I thought, for the first time he had done a full Open sequence (and on grass, no less), he did a credible job. The best part was the drop on recall. I left him at on end of the ring, with a very stern “wait”, and I walked to the other end. While I was walking, he started checking out the smells on the ground. The judge thinks he forgot what he was doing down there, looked up and realized I was walking way ahead of him so started following me — he needed to come to heel. When I turned around and gave him the look, he sat. The judge let me take him back — and then I called him, he came, he dropped, he came the rest of the way, and then did an automatic finish (darn!). We have some reminding to do, but he might be ready — wish entries didn’t close so soon — or we may just do the Rally event for each dog and enter Open in a couple of months. Nap time for dogs, treat sunburn for Penni.
I am *so* back in the obedience frame of mind. It’s the first time I’ve been excited thinking about in a while.
It’s hard to believe that my last real obedience dog would be going-on 22 years old now.