This post is part of a series about our 2016 USDAA TitleMania and Rally World Championships experience. Click here for an overview of the event. Click here for our agility overview. Click here for 15 year old Blaze at the dog beach.
On Friday a regular titling trial was held and one run for the start of the championship tournament. On Saturday we did three runs and on Sunday we did our final two. Initially I was a little annoyed about this being stretched out over so many days. As some Level 3 dogs often are doing 6-9 runs a day at a normal trial, it seemed unnecessary for this event to take so long. However the days maybe made it more appealing for those traveling and for the handful of people also doing agility, the spread out was helpful.
Format
The titling trial seemed to go well – we saw quite a few people attend that event that were not participating in the tournament. Some of the tournament teams used the trial as a warm up. We did not enter the titling trial as we were doing so much agility.
Three rings were set up side by side using normal ring gating. Griffin hasn’t ever done rally in adjacent rings and I knew he could easily leap the gates if he wanted. His last attempt at rally (off leash) away from home resulted in him leaving the ring but that was a few years before.
The championship tournament was set up with scoring that was different from the normal rules and supposedly some of these will become rule changes next year. Breaking stays would be a retry (-3) rather than a nonqualifying score. Bonuses would be within the course and timed as part of the course. Revised standard course times. Over the days, scores would be added up to determine the placements for the tournament classes.
I didn’t feel like I got to see/interact with the judges as much as in agility. They each had slightly different preferences for when to enter (be invited in vs come in once the other dog is leashed) and when to take off the leash With everything else going on, I just forgot which judge had which preference and that part was a little difficult. The courses were fairly typical for WCRL, though I did think it was weird to see paired signs like “Halt-Sit” and then “Halt-Sit-Walk-Around” where there really wasn’t a point to pairing them other than you could give an extra treat after that first sit and before walking around.
Ring Conflicts
The staff/judges/everyone was so very nice about being accommodating for ring conflicts. A handful of exhibitors were doing both agility and rally. They did long walk-through times, let me have a separate walk through on one course, and moved the run order as needed so that everyone was able to show. I know some exhibitors were very stressed about missing things but it really wasn’t an issue for me and as long as I let the ring stewards know. Everyone was so, so nice about it. At one point on Sunday I had walked 2 agility courses and needed to get right back (2nd and 4th dogs in those rings) and I was supposed to be walking a rally course. It all worked out, we had enough time to do what we needed to.
We didn’t see very many people we know. Despite a lot of WCRL in Ohio, the participation has gone down a lot since I started in 2006 with Luna. Even though there are quite a few trials up in that part of the state, we didn’t get many of those people attending. I didn’t watch much of rally – the agility had my attention! But my favorite moment was seeing a young Terv gently nibble the corner of the sign, look at the owner, and take another gentle nibble. So, so cute!
Trial time!
Griffin was amazing! He did better than at our normal trials, he never thought about sniffing or moving away. We had to retry two signs when he stared at me and kept heeling instead of doing a task. He had a hard time with the bonus for call front and backing up. He did it perfectly outside the ring but somehow I cued him differently once we were in the ring.
I didn’t check scores other than the very first day. Unlike in agility, our runs don’t count towards titles, so results only mattered for the event. I’m guessing/hoping in future years these runs will count towards titles and that will likely encourage more teams to enter. At $150 for the tournament, it’s a bit hard for some people to want to participate without “getting” anything other than the experience, a neat shirt and a pin.
On the first day I did check our score. I wanted to see if I had lost points for Griffin bumping into me. The judge had not counted off so I knew I wouldn’t be too careful about that for the rest of the weekend. Looking at scores was probably a bit of a mistake. I saw that for the Level 3 tournament we were in first place (3 tied) with the best time. That made me a little more nervous!
Even when we had mistakes, we would just retry and keep going. I tried not to think about it very much. I wanted to stay focused and do the best we could. And not losing additional points if I was thinking too much about the the ones already lost. Like a training friend says, it’s often about “making less mistakes than everyone else” rather than being perfect.
Awards
The awards presentation was nice. Almost all the teams were there, a few who checked results and knew the outcome did head out early. It was a great experience to be there for the first event. I loved seeing the proud teams get their recognition for the weekend. Some agility exhibitors stopped by to watch as they passed by.
Later in the week we were emailed the final results. I didn’t read the title of the email before opening. I was happy to note we were only 4 points away from tying for third place and not too many points away from the other placements too. Considering how many agility runs we did, the few mistakes we had in rally, and his overall focus, I am so happy with our results.
Sharing
On Saturday night they did a get-together for the rally exhibitors and the WCRL staff. Some of the USDAA staff were present. I will admit I arrived late. Tonks and I were watching agility and having an awesome time watching some of the MC classes. It was hard to break away! I ended up sitting at a different table than most of the group. I was able to hear some of the conversation about the WCRL program, opinions about this event, and potential changes.
After a while, Ann Allums who is the coordinator for WCRL came and talked with me. She’s been very helpful for us while we’ve been learning to host trials and while I’ve done my judge’s application process. She’s just as helpful in real life! I got to hear about some of the upcoming changes (new rules, sign changes! better judge’s training!), how some groups handle trial registrations/scheduling, and other things too. There’s going to be a modified program that’s going to hopefully better help beginners get into rally. I’m especially excited about it!
Overall:
I’m glad we entered the rally championships and that we did so well. I didn’t leave inspired to drive across the country to do it next year. But, if we go for agility we will be entering and encouraging everyone who is in the area to participate. I’m hoping I will have Tonks ready to participate. I wished Blaze’s health had been a little better so he could have done something at this one.