Viva Does Rally (long)

Yesterday Viva and I ventured back onto the AKC obedience floor for the first
time in 5 years, entering Rally Novice B in St. Louis, MO.

I was surprised, and very glad, that I didn't have a lot of pre-trial jitters
today. In fact, I had none. I did get nervous just before we went in the ring.
But the level of nervousness was about what we're used to for agility--an
acceptable level, not the oh-my-God-I'm-going-to-faint-or-throw-up-or-both kind.

I decided to hold my 4-foot leash by the loop and keep my left hand on my waist,
so I wouldn't tighten it inadvertently. I talked to Viva the whole time. Low
level stuff, telling her she was a good girl, using the chatter to dispel both
of our nerves. Near the end of our run, I noticed that my right hand had joined
my left on the leash and that both of them were creeping upward so I looked a
bit like a demented squirrel clutching a nut to my chest. Alright, a very LARGE
squirrel. I dropped my right hand off and did the last two stations with my left
hand in proper position and my right hand swinging. I was lucky, since my hand
was in the loop there had been a lot of belly in the slack so she was never on a
tight leash. Viva had a great time. Her ears were up and she was heeling like I
know she can heel.

Our Nov B class was huge. 73 were entered. Two NQ scores. Six dogs had 100
scores. Viva was one of the six. Viva had the fastest time of all the runs. I
hadn't been trying to rush but we were just really together. So first time in
the obedience ring in 5 years, first time in Rally, and a first place in a huge
class. Viva beat several OTCh dogs and several AKC obedience judges. I think I'm
a bit shell shocked. I didn't expect this, it wasn't one our our goals. Our goal
was to go have fun and be careful with the leash. It's Sunday morning now and
I'm still about 2 feet above the ground.

Some general Rally observances.

There is something really interesting about watching a huge class of dogs all
making the same run. When you can see 70+ dogs out there, one after the other,
you can really figure out where some of the big problems are. The biggest, by
far, was poor leash handling. I think a lot of us (and I'm one) do a lot of
offleash training. But Rally Novice is ALL on leash. A lot of people had 6 foot
leads and were bunching up parts of them in their hands. But the problem was
that you have to switch hands on several exercises. Today we had a schutzhund
turn (left about), a call front finish right (dog behind you again), and a call
front 1-2-3 steps back which also ended in a finish. A lot of people were
constantly fumbling with the leash, and with each time they had to switch a hand
the grip hand inched further up the line and it got tighter and tighter. People
who gathered the body of the leash in their right hand often made the beginner
mistake of letting their left hand "strum" down the line and used it as a guide.
You have a fair amount of freedom in Rally, you have 2 feet of room. But you
WILL be dinged for a tight leash! I think after watching today, I'd recommend
using a leash short enough that you can hold the loop and have the right amount
of slack. Be sure the leash has enough slack to allow for a loose leash within
the entire 2 foot area around you. The 6-foots are just too awkward for Novice
Rally.

The other thing I saw a lot was people just not doing the signs right. We had
both a call front, finish left HALT sign, and a call front, finish right HALT
sign. A lot of people forgot the halt in heel position. And probably the biggest
problem was the 1-2-3 steps back. A tremendous number of people did a 1-2-2
steps back. They forgot the 3rd step! Or they did 1-2-2.25 steps back, with the
third step being infinitessimally small. Several people did the spiral
wrong--starting out correctly then when they reached the end weaving back as if
it were a serpentine. And several people forgot the serpentine all together--you
had to turn left to get to it and several just sailed on by.

Back up there today! Same judge (Bill Oxendale). We were speculating on what
he'd make us do. I'm betting a spiral left (because he did spiral right
yesterday) and 1-2-3 steps forward.

Robin Nuttall & The Mo Dobe Crew
Viva, MX, MXJ, EAC, EJC, NGC, BH, CD, FFB, WAC
Cala, NA, NAJ, WAC, TT
robinjn DeleteThis @mchsi.com

woo hoo
enjoy cloud nine while it lasts, Robin

nice synopsys of what went on as well!

congratulations!

kate


"Robin Nuttall" <robinjn.TakeThisOut@mchsi.com> wrote in
message
news:qp6tb15akfe62islhc6c010okbun0kl4vq@4ax.com...
> Yesterday Viva and I ventured back onto the AKC
obedience floor for the first
> time in 5 years, entering Rally Novice B in St.
Louis, MO.
>
> I was surprised, and very glad, that I didn't
have a lot of pre-trial jitters
> today. In fact, I had none. I did get nervous
just before we went in the ring.
> But the level of nervousness was about what
we're used to for agility--an
> acceptable level, not the
oh-my-God-I'm-going-to-faint-or-throw-up-or-both
kind.
>
> I decided to hold my 4-foot leash by the loop
and keep my left hand on my waist,
> so I wouldn't tighten it inadvertently. I talked
to Viva the whole time. Low
> level stuff, telling her she was a good girl,
using the chatter to dispel both
> of our nerves. Near the end of our run, I
noticed that my right hand had joined
> my left on the leash and that both of them were
creeping upward so I looked a
> bit like a demented squirrel clutching a nut to
my chest. Alright, a very LARGE
> squirrel. I dropped my right hand off and did
the last two stations with my left
> hand in proper position and my right hand
swinging. I was lucky, since my hand
> was in the loop there had been a lot of belly in
the slack so she was never on a
> tight leash. Viva had a great time. Her ears
were up and she was heeling like I
> know she can heel.
>
> Our Nov B class was huge. 73 were entered. Two
NQ scores. Six dogs had 100
> scores. Viva was one of the six. Viva had the
fastest time of all the runs. I
> hadn't been trying to rush but we were just
really together. So first time in
> the obedience ring in 5 years, first time in
Rally, and a first place in a huge
> class. Viva beat several OTCh dogs and several
AKC obedience judges. I think I'm
> a bit shell shocked. I didn't expect this, it
wasn't one our our goals. Our goal
> was to go have fun and be careful with the
leash. It's Sunday morning now and
> I'm still about 2 feet above the ground.
>
> Some general Rally observances.
>
> There is something really interesting about
watching a huge class of dogs all
> making the same run. When you can see 70+ dogs
out there, one after the other,
> you can really figure out where some of the big
problems are. The biggest, by
> far, was poor leash handling. I think a lot of
us (and I'm one) do a lot of
> offleash training. But Rally Novice is ALL on
leash. A lot of people had 6 foot
> leads and were bunching up parts of them in
their hands. But the problem was
> that you have to switch hands on several
exercises. Today we had a schutzhund
> turn (left about), a call front finish right
(dog behind you again), and a call
> front 1-2-3 steps back which also ended in a
finish. A lot of people were
> constantly fumbling with the leash, and with
each time they had to switch a hand
> the grip hand inched further up the line and it
got tighter and tighter. People
> who gathered the body of the leash in their
right hand often made the beginner
> mistake of letting their left hand "strum" down
the line and used it as a guide.
> You have a fair amount of freedom in Rally, you
have 2 feet of room. But you
> WILL be dinged for a tight leash! I think after
watching today, I'd recommend
> using a leash short enough that you can hold the
loop and have the right amount
> of slack. Be sure the leash has enough slack to
allow for a loose leash within
> the entire 2 foot area around you. The 6-foots
are just too awkward for Novice
> Rally.
>
> The other thing I saw a lot was people just not
doing the signs right. We had
> both a call front, finish left HALT sign, and a
call front, finish right HALT
> sign. A lot of people forgot the halt in heel
position. And probably the biggest
> problem was the 1-2-3 steps back. A tremendous
number of people did a 1-2-2
> steps back. They forgot the 3rd step! Or they
did 1-2-2.25 steps back, with the
> third step being infinitessimally small. Several
people did the spiral
> wrong--starting out correctly then when they
reached the end weaving back as if
> it were a serpentine. And several people forgot
the serpentine all together--you
> had to turn left to get to it and several just
sailed on by.
>
> Back up there today! Same judge (Bill Oxendale).
We were speculating on what
> he'd make us do. I'm betting a spiral left
(because he did spiral right
> yesterday) and 1-2-3 steps forward.
>
> Robin Nuttall & The Mo Dobe Crew
> Viva, MX, MXJ, EAC, EJC, NGC, BH, CD, FFB, WAC
> Cala, NA, NAJ, WAC, TT
> robinjn.TakeThisOut@mchsi.com
>