DOGGIE DOG BLOG

Written & Reported by: Amy Epperson

Corydon, Indiana Obedience Trial

We had five teams that showed this past weekend in Corydon – two Novice A teams, one Open A team, and two Rally Novice B teams.

The Novice A class is for dogs that have never been shown and for handlers that have not earned a title with any dog.  If the handlers have already earned a title with any dog or the dog has earned their Companion Dog (CD) title, then they must show in Novice B.  The highest score is 200 and the lowest passing score is 170.  The requirement for the title of Companion Dog is to get at least a passing score at three trials.  The teams must perform a heal on leash exercise, which includes a right and left turn, an about face, two changes of pace and a figure eight.  Then they have to do a stand for exam, where the dog stays standing, the handler walks away, and the judge walks up and pets the dog.  Next is off leash healing, which is the same as on leash minus the figure eight.  After that is a recall and finish.  Points are taken away from your starting score of 200 for anything that the judge deems not quite perfect, such as the dog not staying in heal position, crooked sits, not sitting, etc.  The handler can also lose points for making mistakes, such as having their leash too tight, wide turns, not giving the proper commands, not keeping the proper pace, touching their dog, and so on.  After all the teams are finished with their individual exercises there is a group exercise where all the dogs are lined up for a group one minute sit/stay and a two minute down/stay with the handlers leaving the dogs and going to the opposite side of the ring.  If the team fails to do any one of these exercises or does them so poorly that they lose too many points and fall below 170 they will not pass and will not earn one leg towards the title of Companion Dog.  For instance at this show there was one dog and handler team that when it came time for the recall, the handler called the dog, the dog came running, but stopped about five feet away from the handler.  That was enough for them to fail the class.

The Open A class is for dogs that have earned their Companion Dog title.  The title to earn here is Companion Dog Excellent (CDX).  Scoring is the same here as it is in the Novice classes.  In the Open A class the exercises are all done off leash, there are some jumps, some retrieving, and during the recall the dog must go down on the handler’s command, and then finish the recall.  The group sit/stay and down/stay exercises are longer and the handlers leave the ring and are out of their dog’s sight.  This class is much harder than it looks and it is not uncommon for dogs to fail this class repeatedly, because, just as in Novice, it only takes one exercise that the dog fails to do properly and you have failed the class.  Not going down all the way on the down on recall exercise, going around a jump instead of over it, failing to retrieve the dumbbell all are enough to fail the class.

The Rally Novice B class is for dogs and handlers that have already earned an obedience title.  If they have not earned any titles, they could show in Rally Novice A.  Rally is a bit more fun and looks easier because you can talk to your dog and encourage your dog to do the exercises.  But don’t let looks deceive you.  This class can be fairly easy for dogs that already have obedience titles, but can be very hard for the handlers.  Scoring here starts at 100 and the lowest passing score is 70.  Timing counts here as well, with the faster the better.  Here a course is laid out with numbered stations that have signs telling the handler what exercise is supposed to be done at each station.  It is very easy for the handler to get confused and do the wrong exercise or miss a station altogether!  One wrong turn and you could be completely off course.

Now for the good stuff – how our teams faired.

Novice A – Despite some handler nervousness, our Novice A teams did exceptionally well.  There were a few handler errors and the dogs made a few errors, but both teams passed with flying colors and have earned two legs toward their CD title.

On Saturday:

Mike and Connor scored 186.5 and took Second Place.

Mary and Envy scored 183.5 and took Third Place.

On Sunday:

Mary and Envy scored 188 and took Fourth Place.

Mike and Connor scored 187 and took Fifth Place.

Open A – Our Open A team, Sally and Sasha, have already completed two of the required legs of the CDX title and were hoping to complete the title at this trial, but Sasha had other ideas.  On Saturday, Sasha had a great routine going, but on the retrieve over the hurdle she spied a leaf on the floor and had to check it out, forgetting all about retrieving the dumbbell and returning to Sally.  Sally handled it perfectly, waiting a minute for Sasha to come to her senses, but when it became apparent that Sasha was just going to stand there looking at Sally, Sally had to give a second command and failed the class.  On Sunday, they had another excellent routine going, but apparently during the group exercises Sasha was a bit too concerned about where Sally had gone and left her spot to go check it out.  Sally and Sasha have put in lots of hard work to earn this title and I’m certain they will get that last leg soon.

Rally Novice B – Both teams did great here, completing all three legs and each earning a new Rally Novice (RN) title.

            On Saturday:

                        Anita and Max scored 98 and took Second Place.

            On Sunday:

                        Brandi and Cinders scored 98 and took Second Place.

                        Anita and Max scored 95 and took Third Place.

A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to all our teams for jobs well done!!

If you would like more information on showing your dog at AKC obedience trials, check out my article on AKC Handler Tips.

Amy