Our 3rd Rally Trail And 2nd Q

Justicemom said:
Yes laughing is always good.

I remember at an UKC trial in utility, this awesome Golden. He was working on a perferct run and he ran out and got the last glove(2 glove exercises in UKC), slide into a perfect front then sat up and begged with the glove in his mouth and then put his paws on his owner belt when she didn't take the glove right away then tugged her for the glove, then did a perfect finish and sat up on begged and pawed his owner. 4-5 point error I can't remember, no perfect ran, lost 1st place, lost HIT, and what did his owner do laughed. I mean what are you going to do. I think he should have gotten cute points though.
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they should give cute points- poor pup didn't know why mom wouldn't play with him :wink2:
 
Congratulations on the Q, even if it was ugly. You gotta take the good with the bad!

I wonder if you got Bailey out and walked her around too early? I know that seems like a silly thing, and it might be, but you said you got there really early and she was doing fine practicing. I wonder if you got her out too early, and she worked for a bit, and then was done.

I say that because a lot of agility people try to time when they get their dogs out perfectly. Obviously it's different for every dog, but some people get their dogs out early, some get them out late so they don't get too worked up, etc...

Just a thought.

Other than that, an indoor arena is really quite different from an outdoor trial. We went to our first indoor trial and it was SO loud. Dogs barking, echoing, close encounters with other dogs, etc...Luckily Bentley was unphased, but Lexi definitely took some time to get used to the noise.
 
Randi!

I missed this thread yesterday. I was down and out for 24 hours with a nasty stomach virus.

Anyhow...congrats on the 2nd Q. I agree with what others said, sometimes you feel like you did much worse than what you actually did. Bailey is a smart girl and there were probably so many smells for her to take in. I have realized that for Shelties, indoor trials seem to be worse than outdoor trials. For our setters, the opposite is true.
 
Calliesmom said:
yeah- and you being nervous isn't good for the dog to keep paying attention to you. gotta relax- whatever it takes for you :smile2:
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You're absolutely right! I'm extremely nervous when it's our turn and I'm sure that doesn't help Bailey. I guess I'll have to find something to ease my nervousness...hmmmm :lol:

corbinam said:
Congratulations on the Q, even if it was ugly. You gotta take the good with the bad!

I wonder if you got Bailey out and walked her around too early? I know that seems like a silly thing, and it might be, but you said you got there really early and she was doing fine practicing. I wonder if you got her out too early, and she worked for a bit, and then was done.
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Thanks! It's possible. I only wanted to get there like 90 minutes early, but I didn't time it right. I didn't realize they only take 22 dogs an hour. I thought it was half an hour. I also didn't factor in the judge's break, so we were there for a really long time! We got there at 10:30 and our runs was at 3:15. I thought our run would've been at 12ish. whoops!

She was doing all the rally commands only a few minutes before our run, so I'm not really sure. There were a lot of dogs standing in front of the ring. We had to squeeze past a GSD to go to the entrance of the ring. Bailey got a little freaked out by that. I think that might increased her anxiety. I should've carried her there.

danisgoat said:
Randi!

I missed this thread yesterday. I was down and out for 24 hours with a nasty stomach virus.

Anyhow...congrats on the 2nd Q. I agree with what others said, sometimes you feel like you did much worse than what you actually did. Bailey is a smart girl and there were probably so many smells for her to take in. I have realized that for Shelties, indoor trials seem to be worse than outdoor trials. For our setters, the opposite is true.
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I hope you are feeling better Danielle!

trust me, we did as bad as I think we did. I'm done with indoor trials. This one was at Rutgers :wink2: and it was insane there. Our next trial is indoors, but I registered her weeks ago. If we DQ, our next trial will be outdoors. I'll wait until the weather warms. Indoors is too stressful for Bailey.
 
So I gave in and just watched the video. Since a few days have passed, it's kind of funny to me now. :lol: Bailey was actually pretty good with some turns and the serpentine weave. I see why the judge was dizzy with the first 360 degree sign. I guess I was just so nervous and couldn't think clearly in the moment. I should've stepped back and said "let's try that again."
The #9 sign, which Bailey refused to do was a sit and then fast foward run from her sitting position. That's where I gave up and started to exit the ring. My BF was filming, but wasn't paying attention to the screen, so he didn't catch that part. I also really like the pity applause I got at the end. :lol:

Here's the video for you all to enjoy:
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i319/take4roll10/?action=view&current=VID00022.mp4
 
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take4roll10 said:
So I gave in and just watched the video. Since a few days have passed, it's kind of funny to me now. :lol: Bailey was actually pretty good with some turns and the serpentine weave. I see why the judge was dizzy with the first 360 degree sign. I guess I was just so nervous and couldn't think clearly in the moment. I should've stepped back and said "let's try that again."
The #7 sign, which Bailey refused to do was a sit and then fast foward run from her sitting position. That's where I gave up and started to exit the ring. My BF was filming, but wasn't paying attention to the screen, so he didn't catch that part. I also really like the pity applause I got at the end. :lol:

Here's the video for you all to enjoy:
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i319/take4roll10/?action=view&current=VID00022.mp4
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I was expecting much worse...you guys didn't look too bad! Bailey just looked really stressed.
 
That wasn't so bad, Randi. Thanks for sharing it with us. There were just way to many smells, sounds, distractions for Bailey.
 
It is hard to judge how much time your dog needs to acclimate. Callie needs to be there for at least an hour- I try to get there even earlier than that. Once she's been there a while, then she'll focus on me.
It is difficult when there are other dogs right at the entrance and that distracts your dog. and yes, when you retry, you need to go back and approach the sign again and make it clear that you are re-doing it. Bailey does look stressed but she was looking at you so that's good :smile2:
 
I agree that she didn't look as stressed as I had imagined from your description. I didn't see her look up and around to see the whining or barking dogs that were there, no paw lifting, or shutting down. There also could have been great smells on the mat !

One thing I was advised to do is to suck on peppermints--- supposedly this masks whatever nervous vibes are given off to the dog ????

I'm betting the upcoming indoor trial will be easier for you.
 
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