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Sunday, August 23, 2015

June Trial Part 2.


Thursday was the first day of the trial and I wanted everything to go well. That morning we woke up super early and when to the dog park for a hour so Sadie and Simon could play. After that Nik walked Sadie while I hooked Simon up to the bike and we did about two miles.  I was doing my best to make sure Simon had some of his energy used up and he would be on his best behavior. I was a little terrified that he might be naughty in a public setting.


I had been to this trial before because it is really close to my home. But this would be my first time going as a competitor not a spectator. I really love this trial it takes up most of the Blackfoot fair grounds and always has so much going on. They have conformation, agility, rally and obedience. They also have places for people to camp on site and grooming stations for the conformation people.  Because Thousands of people go to this show they have a ton of awesome vendors as well. All kinds of dog leashes, collars, treats, grooming supplies, dog beds, crates, as well as food vendors for the humans.


As I mentioned before I knew a lot of people at this trial and I was lucky to have some friends that let me put Simon's crate and my stuff in there tent so I could leave it/him and know he would be safe. We got there pretty early in the morning and I set up my stuff and then we walked over the to Livestock building that obedience and rally would be in. I checked in for both of them and walked Simon around the area to get him used to it. We had a few hours before we were due in the ring so I walked Simon around the whole fair ground so he could go the bathroom and get any extra energy out. We also worked on some attention games I was trying to keep his focus on me. I also ran into a friend from out of town that I didn't know was going to be there who offered to come watch us in the ring.


When it was time for us to go in the ring I was pretty stressed and it didn't help that I was scheduled back to back in obedience and then in the rally ring. Obedience was first and Simon did a fantastic job considering the new situation. His stays and recall went amazing. The one thing I really would want to improve is more attentive heeling. We then went straight to the rally ring.  I hadn't prepared for rally as much I thought I had and we didn't do very well in the ring that first day. I wasn't sure what all the signs meant I didn't know there was a map I could have looked at before and I felt rushed and stressed. We didn't qualify in rally but we did in obedience. I got to talk to a lot of my dog training friends after and they congratulated me on on first qualify score in obedience as well as offering tips to improve our rally performance. I was told about the maps and given a book that explained what every sign meant. Also  offered to walk me through any of the signs I still wasn't sure on the next day.


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