Companion Dog Excellent!!!

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 | Obedience | No Comments

On August 9 Wynnter earned her AKC CDX title at the Obedience Training Club of Greater Lansing trial under judge Catherine Thompson. She placed third in a class of twelve.

UKC Companion Dog

Thursday, July 9th, 2009 | Obedience | No Comments

On June 28, Wynnter finished her UKC Companion Dog title at Montpelier, Ohio, earning a third and two second places in the Novice B class.

Taylor also showed Wynnter in conformation; this granddaughter of mine loves running in a conformation ring.  And she did very well, taking a Best of Breed over one of the top-winning white shepherds in the country and surprising both of us.  There is no doubt that Taylor is an excellent handler.  She also took a Best of Breed with a Hemi daughter that has seldom been shown on Sunday morning.  Rikki was bred by Mona Persson at Hallmark Shepherds and is owned by Cindy McCann.  Taylor looks forward to showing Rikki for Cindy at future shows.

Both Taylor and I were delighted with the outcome of this weekend. 

UCD GRCH Hallmark’s Wynnter Moon for Neil, CD, RE, PT, ASCA CD, JHD, TT, OFA (h,e,c,th), PennHIP

WYNNTER EARNS HER ASCA CD

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 | Obedience | No Comments

Oh March 21 and 22, Wynnter and I competed at the Buckeye Australian Shepherd Club obedience trial held at Canine Sports, LLC, in Vermilion, Ohio. This was just too close to home to pass on the opportunity. Since we had earned her AKC CD the previous week, we now had to compete in the Novice B group. Once again, we managed to squeak by and earn the required three legs, though this time without placements.

ASCA is the Australian Shepherd Club of America. They offer titling opportunities in conformation to Aussies only, but to other breeds in obedience, agility, herding and tracking. Wynnter’s grandma Luna was the first White Shepherd to earn an ASCA Started herding title. Her owner, Becky Joyce, worked with ASCA to have the White Shepherd recognized as a seperate breed, as it is in UKC and AHBA. So, like her grandma did in herding, Wynnter became the first White Shepherd to earn an ASCA CD.

We also participated in Wild Card Open, which is sort of like doing a run-thru of the open class. In wild card, you get to choose one exercise that you will receive a perfect score in, even if you fail in the execution. It’s a gamble for sure. This was actually asking a lot of Wynn; it is a lot of stress for a dog to compete four times each day. I did find out though that she is able to do out-of-sight stays very well. This is a concern when you train alone. Stays are hard on a dog when you are right in sight. To be left in an unfamiliar place with strange dogs and people around is hard. Wynnter did very well, only laying down from her sit one time in the four matches.

It was a great weekend for me, giving me an opportunity to closely study many very experienced and successful teams compete, and to try open for ourselves and see where we need to work now.

Gosh I love obedience!

BPIMBS U Gr Ch Hallmark’s Wynnter Moon for Neil, CD, RE, PT, ASCA CD, JHD, TT, CGC, PennHIP, OFA (h,e,c,th)

WYNNTER EARNS HER AKC CD!!!

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 | Obedience | No Comments

On March 14, 2009, at the Fulton County Kennel Club trial held at the Toledo Kennel Club building in Holland, Ohio, Wynnter earned her title leg of her AKC Companion Dog title. Her first obedience title. The one we have been working toward for nearly three years. The judge was John Landis. Wynn and I were the only qualifying team of the three competing, so not only did she earn her title, she got first place by default! She even got a prize of $20.00 cash – so she bought lunch for Taylor and I, and a cheeseburger for herself!

I can not say that we earned the highest scores in the course of completing this title, because Wynnter and I just do not heel well together, and she nearly always forgets to sit when we halt. Not being able to tell her as I can in Rally, she looks at me as if to say, “now what?”, and all I can do is smile at her. We lose lots of points heeling, but she scores perfectly, or nearly so, in every other exercise. So by default, she earned two firsts and a third for her three legs, and she did it in three trials. That is very good for a Novice A team.

Video is here: Wynnter AKC CD Title Leg Hit the back button on your browser after the video to come back.

I don’t know what happened to the sound, but when I transferred the video from the camera to the computer, the video and audio got out of sync. So I put music over to cover that flaw. Gee, I’m starting to look like a producer or something!

We did one extra leg at the Obedience Club of Greater Toledo on April 11. I was hoping that since her title was already earned, we could possibly improve our score. Well, that certainly did not happen. She again was perfect in every exercise but the heeling exercises. It was actually our worst performance ever. The trial was held at an indoor soccer arena in Sylvania, Ohio. Along the edge of the ring there was exposed astro turf. Wynnter found it as soon as we entered the building, and sure enough, when the heeling pattern took us by it, she left to investigate. I hauled her back, thinking this will surely NQ our run. Surprisingly, it didn’t, and we squeaked by to another qualification and second place. This time we got a gorgeous rosette and a trophy!

On to Open A, where we only have to heel one time. So, if the other exercises are good, we just may do okay!

BPIMBS U Gr Ch Hallmark’s Wynnter Moon for Neil, CD, RE, PT, JHD, TT, CGC, PennHIP, OFA (h,e,c,th)

Crown Classic Dog Show

Thursday, January 1st, 2009 | Obedience | No Comments

Since I started taking obedience classes, I have thought about entering the Crown Classic Dog Show obedience trials held in Cleveland at the IX Center in December every year. After a lesson with Kathy Sutliff this fall, she told me to consider doing just that this year. I decided to enter the Toledo Kennel Club trials in November, and based on how that went, I would make my decision. The qualifications in both Rally Excellent and obedience made me decide to go for it.

The Crown Classic is an AKC all-breed show held by four kennel clubs over four days every December. There are nearly 3000 dogs entered every day of this show in conformation, obedience, rally and agility. The excitement in the air is palpable. Additionally, there are dozens of vendors, great for Christmas shopping. This is where I had Wynnter’s photo taken by the Winning Image last year.

I decided to enter Lorain County Kennel Club rally on Thursday, Medina County Kennel Club obedience on Friday, and Richland County Kennel Club rally on Saturday. We arrived early Friday for our 9:15 ring-time for Rally Excellent. I must have walked a mile from the parking lot to the obedience area carrying the crate. Conformation was well underway. After setting up the crate, I went back to the car to get Wynnter. There were nine entries in the “A” class, and many more in the “B” class, so the walk-thru was very crowded. We were the last in our class, and now that we are nearly finished with rally, I find myself being very relaxed in the ring. The course was challenging but laid out in a manner that gave us an opportunity to move out. Our honor was a true test also. The dog we were honoring had just started the course, when the ring steward accidentally knocked a roll of paper towels off of the table just outside the ring right onto Wynnter. She jumped slightly, looked at the towels and then at me, and settled back without ever getting up. Whew! And we placed second with a 97. Our best ever qualification!

On Friday we did our second leg in novice obedience. There were fourteen entries in Novice A. Our heeling was so much worse than it was in Toledo. I thought, “we are in big trouble here” when I did my about turn and passed Wynnter going in the opposite direction. Now THAT is lagging! But she caught up. She did beautifully on her stand for exam, losing no points. She lost 1/2 point on her recall, and did a beautiful finish. The judge even commented that her recall was beautiful. Fast again, sliding into her front without a bump. She lost no points on her stays. So all but 1/2 point was lost on our heeling – on and off leash. Trialing is meant to show where we need to work, and I certainly know that! Even so, we placed third of the five people who qualified. With so much going on at this show, again, I was elated.

On Saturday, we finished Wynnter’s Rally Excellent title with her third qualification. No placement, but it was a fun course, and I feel like we have graduated from Rally. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SWkgiPtvtQ

Now we will take the winter and work on that heeling!

BPIMBS U-Gr Ch Hallmark’s Wynnter Moon for Neil, RE, PT, JHD, TT, CGC, OFA (h,e,c,th), PennHIP

TOLEDO KENNEL CLUB

Thursday, January 1st, 2009 | Obedience | No Comments

On November 21, 2008, Wynnter, Taylor and I traveled to the Toledo Kennel Club Rally trial to begin the excellent level.  Wynnter and I have not been in the ring since April when she finished her Rally Advanced title.  But somehow, thanks to Kathy and Kelly and our recent herding tests, when we got into the ring, I seemed to relax more than I ever had.  The run went well; we only had one slip-up where we re-did a station.  Much to my surprise, we earned a 96 and third place.  I was thrilled! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU0iJvpJiOw

On Saturday November 22, Wynnter and I drove back to Toledo to give obedience a try. We have been training for this day since Wynnter was six months old, and I have never done anything so scary in my life! The judge was understanding of a first-timer, and walked us through everything. Our heeling was pretty bad, Wynnter was sniffing when she shouldn’t have been, and when I signaled to finish after the recall, she jumped up and kissed me! But that recall was awesome, and I saw the smile from the judge. She flies!! Her stand for exam and stays were also great. And we qualified! We have a leg toward her CD title!

This success means we will enter the Crown Classic at Cleveland next month.