23/04/2023
Today was a first, we went to an obedience show! Settle in, this is a long one 😂
I compete mainly in Agility, sometimes Showing, and Hoopers and Rally when I can. I've been curious about Obedience for a while but I know we don't have the precision needed in the heelwork even for the lower levels. I have never got into the bones of training precision heelwork, this is something I've always wanted to do. Our heelwork is good enough for Rally but very far off what is needed in Obedience. I knew this was the case and I've seen the dedication it takes to get that ideal heelwork.
That all said, Olive and Pancake had a go even with woefully inadequate heelwork skills 😂 We went to the show originally because they held a Special Pre-Beginner Good Citizens class. This is a beginner class mixing in skills with elements of the Good Citizens test and the winner qualifies for Crufts! We didn't get any placings in this, some of the marks lost were because I didn't know some of the finer details (e.g One of the exercises is doing a through health check on your dog including checking the ears. I didn't realise you also had to sniff the ears which was a bit weird 😂).
We then had Pre-Beginner to compete in. This was a progression class and involved some heekwork on and off lead, and a recall. Both Tollers did ok in that they stayed in the ring with me, did a nice recall but the heelwork was all over the place lol.
Finally, we had a go at a Beginner round. I had no idea what to expect and to be honest I only looked at the requirements for the Special class. This one they needed to do a retrieve of a dumbbell. They know how to do a gundog retrieve and present on a dummy but they've never seen an Obedience dumbbell before. I don't even have one! I had to buy one at the show, luckily there was a stall selling them. I had to then quickly teach them that this is a retrieve article which did take a bit of training by the ring! Thankfully they both managed to perform in the ring, Pancake's retrieve being better than Olive's but Olive scored higher overall. Olive was then actually joint 6th place with another dog. Each class places to 6th place so Olive and another dog had to do a run off to decide who got to take the 6th place. The judge chose to do a recall. I watched the other dog and to me looked like it did a nice straight recall and a nice return to heel position. When Olive did hers, she was nice and enthusiastic but sat a tiny bit wonky on the present, then did a weird figure of 8 manoeuvre to get into the heel position, making the steward laugh 😂 She's never done that before but decided to do it twice whilst under competition 🤦♀️I was absolutely convinced she'd mucked that up as it seemed messy. I was even about to go back to car during the presentations to get Pancake out for a quick wander before going home. I stayed to watch the presentation anyway, and by some absolute miracle heard Olive's number called out for the 6th place! It was a rollercoaster of emotions I didn't deal with very well!
So, although if I ever compete in Obedience again we have a HECK of a lot of work to do on proper heelwork, I am so pleased that Olive got a place and a rosette at her (and mine!) first ever Obedience show where I pretty much had no idea what I was doing most of the day 😂 It's given me a huge insight into the sport and a worthy voyage of discovery. I doubt I'll ever love it as much as Agility but I would like to improve our heelwork at least a bit.
Our next show is Agility in three weeks, that will be like wearing a pair of comfy old slippers compared to today 😂 I think my brain needs this short break from competing but I'm already feeling the Agility withdrawal creeping in 😂
