AssdfLast month we had our first attempts at AKC Open (obedience, level 2). It was great! The trial was a “two trials in one day” event. Griffin and I entered both trials for regular Open and for Preferred Open (half height jumps). Historically he has done best with more runs in a day. We like this level because there’s less staying and a lot of jumping and retrieving. Griffin is better at actions than staying.
The timing of the day was interesting – we ended up doing three runs within an hour. At one point I had taken him out of the ring and outside to give him water/treats and our training friends ran out to find us and tell us that we were being called for the next run!
We ended up only passing on one of the four runs, but I was happy with how it went. While there are dozens of tiny things that could be better, we’re mostly focused on the big areas. At this point we want passing scores more than perfection. Our most common problem was no down on the position changes. We also had some dumbbell throwing problems that resulted in Griffin returning around the jump on the way back. I’m not very worried about either thing – we have some fairly simple action steps to fix it.
One of the young stewards is someone I’ve seen at the Ohio State Fair Jr Dog Show with her dog for the last 3-4+ years. It’s fun that I’ve spent so much time running shows while she was the exhibitor, and now the roles were reversed.
A change I’ve made since this show as more careful exercise/fitness for Griffin. It shouldn’t be a surprise that I have to be more careful given his age (he is 11 in a few weeks. It’s not possible!) – but I expect at his next trial he will have better endurance. I can’t wait for our next opportunity in July!