Jon and Beanie and Ronin and Callie

Ronin won 5th UDX Leg today. More Later, this note from site on phone.

Later:

Open B went wonderfully! Ronin Dropped on Recall. We lost minor points hear and there. We had stays last and the Down-Stay first -- no problem. Last exercise was the Sit-Stay. I talked him up with "Yay! Ronin! OK!" and we turned around and I sat him with a firm "SIT!". Then the judge had us sit our dogs.  I gave a firm "RONIN!...SIT!". The judge told us to leave our dogs, I paused until after most of the commands, then gave "RONIN!.......STAAAAAAYYY!" and walked slowly out of the ring with the other handlers. That was a long 3 minutes. Coming back in I couldn't see the dogs because there were too many people watching. Finally we entered the ring and ALL the dogs were SITTING! YAAAY!

WE GOT 195 POINTS IN OPEN B (out of 200). Tough competition, we were 5th or 6th. But half way to UDX Leg!!

Utility B was a happy time. We went in calm and confident. I was in the moment...not thinking ahead or behind. We had Scent Discrimination first, and he did that great with both metal and leather articles...slightly off center on one front and a little crooked on a finish. We did Directed Retrieve with the Number 3 glove, next to a handful of onlookers. No problem at all.  We did Signal Exercise and he did the heeling pattern about the best ever and stood on command. He read the signals from across the room and did a beautiful front and finish. Next was Stand For Exam and he was solid.  Now the dreaded Directed Jumping: First the High Jump and then the Bar Jump.  He went out fairly good on the first Go-Out, but a little short and to the left. Did the High Jump. Good Front and Finish. Second Go-Out was short, to the left. Judge decided it was far enough so he let me jump Ronin. Ronin was so angled that he almost had to do a barrel-roll to get over the jump, but he did it!  The judge said, "Wow! I didn't think he could possibly make it!" as Ronin came to a great Front and Finish.

We had DONE IT!  Qualified in both Open B and Utility B on the same day for Ronin's Fifth UDX Leg!  We only need 5 more for a title.

WE GOT 192 POINTS IN UTILITY B (out of 200).  The short Go-Outs had cost 6 points, so Ronin had a 198 going into the Jumping. That would have been enough to have placed him.

RONIN HAS 5 UDX LEGS!!

In other news from the obedience trials, there were 4 runoff dogs for Utility B.  As it turned out the last runoff dog finished 2nd Place. That gave that dog enough OTCH points (Obedience Trial Champion points) to get 100 OTCH points total so that dog got her OTCH!  There was pandemonium, people were screaming and crying, jumping up and down and hugging. The judge goes, like, "WTF!?!?" then realizes it must have been significant, then we told him.  We had cake and pictures afterward. Congratulations to Sandy Paulick and her sheltie named "Sandy's Mystic Mindy Lee".  That made the entire 3 day weekend a special time!!

Ronin had a fairly good day. He definitely was happy throughout. We tried for another UDX leg, but didn't quite make it. 

First off was Utility B and the first exercise was Directed Jumping. He barely went out beyond the jumps, almost not far enough to qualify. The judge really gave us a gift by only penalizing 6 points for each "Go-Out".  We really need to practice longer distances, but it is hard in the winter. Time to stop by some training facilities for drop-in practice.  After squeaking through the jumps, I was discombobulated and blew a lot of what I had practiced so hard for. We Qualified, though, one of 6 out of 15 entries to do so.  The score was good enough to get a trophy as highest scoring Cocker Spaniel in trial (a Toy and a bag of Biscuits).

I had really good feeling going into Open B.  Ronin is rock solid on everything there (ha ha). And he did really well. We had pattern I (one) which is like Utility A. He did really well on everything, including magnificent stays. He didn't even move a centimeter on the Sit-Stay. Someone slammed down some equipment in the next ring just as he was coming off the Broad Jump and he flinched and had a crooked front (1 1/2 points off). In all, he had a 196 going until HE DIDN'T DROP ON RECALL. It was if he didn't even hear it. gAh.

So we practiced "Go-Out"  and "Drop-On-Recall" elsewhere in Island Grove for awhile and signed up for a C Match for practice.  We had a good 20 Minutes of practice to go over problem areas and play with his New Toy. I checked out the area where he was supposed to drop and there were two large electrical transformers on the wall inside the building right there.  And they were HUMMMMMMMing.  Handlers using voice commands for the Drop had problems, those who used hand signals did better. We played around the transformer, then did several practice Drops.  I hope we worked through that problem.

He enjoyed every minute of the day, and made friends with the judges.  A dog that loves to work in the ring is a joy to be with. I hope I can become a better handler to get him the scores he deserves.  Right now he's asleep at my feet. We have two more days of Obedience Trials, and I hope we do better.