February Rally Report!

 Wow - This girl is on Fire! Serendipity that is, her handler could use a bit of work.

Serendipity is now: CH Triple H A Perfect Jewell RI

We spent a bit over a week in Florida playing. In Lakeland, at the Strawberry Cluster sponsored by Lakeland Winter Park Kennel Club, she earned the first two legs of her Rally Novice (RN) title. Personally, I thought the first leg was a bit of a gift given her level of distraction in the ring and my nerves. We did not score well - but to earn the green ribbon you need 70 of 100 total points, so we got our first green ribbon. Somehow we placed highly enough to earn 4th place as well. Not sure how we did that.

I travelled alone to this show. We arrived early and by the time we went in the ring (second to last dog of the day) she was bored. Handler error. I learned a lot this week. We met a delightful couple from Canada and their Sheltie Skye. Finding someone who was also new to this really helped. Saturday I arrived at the show site later and spent more time just wandering around with her, rather than asking her to work. Our score reflected this!

We moved on to Tallahassee Saturday evening to start a series of two trials per day. Also a learning experience.  My family is in Tallahassee so photo credits of me with Sera go to my sister Suzanne. These pictures are from our second intermediate leg.  Sunday morning Mom and my sister and her family came out to support us. The quickly decided that Utility Dog is much more fun to watch than Rally, but they did watch our runs.

Sera and I finished her RN on Sunday morning and moved up to Intermediate.  When I first did Rally with Dash in the mid 2000s Intermediate did not exist. This level allows you to work most of the Advanced signs but still on leash. We started practicing a few signs in the two class sessions before we departed for Florida.

I did err on the side of overworking her between trials on Sunday trying to perfect one of the signs on the upcoming course. She answered by shutting me out and grudgingly playing along. Handler error. Really low score, but somehow we pulled off a green ribbon.

Monday Suzanne and Sean came out to watch us and the Utility Dog competition again. I changed techniques and as soon as she finished her first run of the day, she and I headed out to my car where she snoozed in her crate while I knitted next to her for about an hour and a half. Then we wandered around the fairgrounds for a bit sniffing and practiced one of the upcoming signs for the next course.

Strategy paid off! We qualified for our third Rally Intermediate (RI) leg in spite of me.  Rookie mistake, we started off strong and made a 270 left instead of a 270 right. A more experienced handler would have figured out why they couldn't find the second sign and redone the turn. This girl wove around a cone and got a 10 point deduction for incorrectly performed instead of a 3 point for redoing the sign. Lesson learned.  Looks like both of us were a bit brain fried.  Fortunately there was only one pivot sign on the course, which we also blew - but again that was a handler issue more than a Sera issue. We learned a lot.  

Decision time. Do I continue on leash on Tuesday in Intermediate or do we see how she works off leash in Advanced. In classes I can count on one hand how many times we worked off leash because of my own hesitation. She also only jumped three times in class over a rail not a panel. Before leaving the fairgrounds on Monday, I moved her up. My reasoning was that I've paid for the entries, it is ring experience, and it will let me know our strengths and where we need to work.

You may have noticed the masks in the above pictures.  This weekend was our first time working indoors, and the first time working with masks. She did really well with the new setting. We dropped into a morning class on our way out of town on Thursday so that she could see the signs in daylight as we train at night outdoors...

Our first Advanced entry was marked by 'window shopping' as a new friend put it. She showed up on my right side a few times - something that rarely ever happens at home. But new setting and she came back to me pretty quickly. We did get a retry in the corner on a move we both like because of the window shopping. And we qualified!  

We spent the break between trials with a nap and exploring the setup for the upcoming conformation shows. We met a delightful woman from Michigan who was overseeing the dog sports setup and Sera got a ride on a golf cart. She is such a laid back girl and a delight!

Our second trial of the day her score improved markedly! She took the jump again with glee. I decided to take the 10 points off the pivot as she decided it was stupid to sit - shift position -sit and given the look she was giving me, restarting that sign would have the same results. 

Overall she had an incredible weekend. Eight trials! Eight green ribbons! Two Titles (RN & RI) and two legs towards her Rally Advanced title. We made lots of new friends and learned a lot.

Last night she took a break at class and toured most of the field we train in! She and I have to practice our STAYS this week and we get to start working on Excellent signs next week. Our next trials are planned for the end of March.