Bonkers for Sadie: With Honors!

Friday, February 11, 2011

With Honors!

And here I was expecting to get a lecture for not doing enough homework on Sadie's training, instead we got an extra award at "graduation" for her heeling! An award was given to the top two dogs for heeling, Sadie took 2nd place. She was only beaten out by a beautiful Irish Setter who is on his second consecutive beginners class. Apparently it was a close race for second though, between Sadie and the other Bella. Trainer guy (who is an actual AKC certified judge) had to call his wife to come help him decide, but in the end Sadie was the one who got the award! I'm so proud of her!

I was also nervous about her stand for examination but she actually did very well. She stood on command with only a little prompting and though she slightly ducked when Trainer Guy approached to touch her she did stand still and let him touch her head, shoulders and butt, however she took one step forward as he walked away. He said if we were in competition that would have been a score of about 25/30. Not too bad as far as I'm concerned!

Once again she did a beautiful recall, she only sat slightly off to the right probably worth a point or two off but nothing major. She finished nicely around behind me with a small amount of guidance from the leash and she came to a perfect sit in heel position.

During the group exercises right at the end of the sit/stay she started to lie down, which in competition would be an NQ but I'm happy that she at least didn't try to get up and move! Her down/stay was perfect!

Overall it was an awesome night! Sadie did me proud and proved that you can indeed "teach an old dog new tricks"!

1 comment:

JenFebruary 11, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Wow! I think you guys should keep attending whatever Trainer Guy has to offer!
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Novice Obedience Exercise Descriptions

Heel on Leash: Dog and Handler work as a team, the leash must be loose and held in a natural position. Orders for this exercise are: "Forward", "Halt", "Right turn", "Left turn", "About turn", "Slow" "Normal" and "Fast".

Stand for Examination: The dog stands in position before and during the examination without displaying resentment. Handler is instructed to "stand your dog and leave when you are ready", after positioning the dog the handler stands with dog in heel position, give the command/signal to stay and walk straight forward approximately 6 feet and then turn and face the dog. The judge will approach the dog from the front, using the fingers and palm of one hand, the judge will touch the dogs head, body and hindquarters. Judge will then give the command "back to your dog", handler returns to heel position. The dog must remain still until judge has said "exercise finished".

Recall: The dog must stay where left unitl called by handler and then must respond promptly when the handler commands or signals them to come. On order from the judge the handler will give the command/signal for the dog to stay in the sit position. Handler will then wakl forward to the other side of the ring with arms hanging naturally. On the judges order handler will command or signal the dog to come. Dog must come at brisk pace and sit stright, centered directly in front of handler. On judges order handler will give the dog the command/signal to finish. Dog must move quickly to heel position and sit.

Finish: Dog is directed to "swing" it's hind end around to the left to come to the heel position and then sit, or "heel" around to the right and behind the handler and come to the heel position and then sit.

Sit/Stay & Down/Stay (Group Exercises): The dog must remain in either the seated position or the down position, whichever is required by the particular exercise. The dogs will line up in catalog order along one side of the ring. The leash is removed and placed with the handlers armband behind the dog. Handlers are instructed to "sit your dog" or "down your dog", and then "leave your dog". The handler will walk across to the other side of the ring and stand in a natural position across from the dog until the judge orders them to "return to your dog". Any dog that leaves the place where it was left during the first group exercise will be given an "NQ" and excused from the remaining group exercise.