Queen City Obedience/Rally Trial

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HopeShelties

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Since there are so few agility trials in March around me, I decided it was time to go ahead and work on Athena's CD and RA, so we entered the Queen City rally and obedience trial.
Let me preface by saying Athena and I only started training for competition obedience two months ago, and it has been over a year ago since we've done any rally, getting our RN the first weekend out, and not doing any since then.
The first day, she took a second in novice obedience in a run off (my fault, nothing she did), and qualified in rally advanced (1 pt out of placements). The second day, she won her obedience class, and took third in rally advanced (score of 99- tied for second, beaten by a fraction of a second). Today, she won her obedience class, earned her CD, won her rally advanced class, and earned her RA!
I was SO proud of her. We got lots of nice compliments from judges and other competitors. I was told she has the potential to go really far in obedience. Others were 'cant wait to see her in open' 'she's such a focused dog, and really pays attention' and 'your handling is so crisp. you must train with some big name trainer'. It really made me smile.
Now it's time to start training for open and utility. A friend is selling me two sets of scent articles so I can get started. We're moving to the open class at Shamrock this coming week. We'll also be heading back out to work on her RE in rally in May.
 
Congrats Stacey on Athena's CD and RA. Not too bad for 2 months of formal training. Good luck in Open next week. :smile2: Shamrock sounds like a good place to earn some green ribbons.
 
That's amazing! You must ave put in some long hours in those two months. It says a lot about your (and her) natural ability as well as dedication. Congrats.
 
Oh, I don't mean competing at Shamrock :) That's where I train. We're joining the open class to get ready for the open division
We WILL be competing next weekend though.. just not in rally or obedience. It'll be agility, and 1 in conformation (a pup) at the March Cluster here in Kentucky.
 
Congratulations!

Do you think the focus developed in agility work contributed to the obedience success, or are the venues so different that it didn't really matter?
 
I think it does help that she's coming from another venue. We are already a team in agility, and she, unlike many other novice obedience dogs, has already competed quite heavily, so there isn't the adjustment period that some dogs tend to go through at trials.
Some of it is just HER though. Athena is a dream dog to train. She is naturally very attentive, and focused. She learns quickly, isn't spooky, and wants to please so badly. She has a huge amount of heart. She is the same dog who finished her NA and NAJ back mid-2008 her first weekend out with all wins. She's also very forgiving, and often tends to make me look better than I really am. :x
She is a very hard act to follow... The bar has been set so high with her. It's unlikely another of mine will match how easy it has been with her.
 
HopeShelties said:
I think it does help that she's coming from another venue. We are already a team in agility, and she, unlike many other novice obedience dogs, has already competed quite heavily, so there isn't the adjustment period that some dogs tend to go through at trials.
Some of it is just HER though. Athena is a dream dog to train. She is naturally very attentive, and focused. She learns quickly, isn't spooky, and wants to please so badly. She has a huge amount of heart. She is the same dog who finished her NA and NAJ back mid-2008 her first weekend out with all wins. She's also very forgiving, and often tends to make me look better than I really am. :x
She is a very hard act to follow... The bar has been set so high with her. It's unlikely another of mine will match how easy it has been with her.
Click to expand...

I feel the same about Justice. He is a once in a lifetime dog. He was in open class by 9 months. Sometimes I wish he wasn't my first preformance dog, what I could do with him now with all the knowlegde I gained. But then again, he showed me how fun it be be. He was my first dog with everything and took to everything like he been doing his whole life.

Sorry about the mix up with your first post. Have fun in Open class.:smile2:
 
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