Eepie Earns Her CDX!

This weekend we took off to Nowra for the Shoalhaven DTC trials and we came home with two wins and a CDX title....

I am still on cloud nine.  Eepie and Harpo are tired today - they're not all that excited about the ribbons and qualifying cards, but Eepie said she wants to spend her prize money on some new squeaky toys so we will go shopping later this week...

She worked beautifully earning 193 points in the morning trial and 194 points in the afternoon trial.

It was warmer than expected and sunny so i had to use her cool coat in the morning stays.  Because she's black she heats up very quickly on clear, bright days.  The last thing i want her to learn is that the stays make her uncomfortable.  She needs to be happy and relaxed for this part of her work.  In preparation for these trials we did a bit of practice with the cool coat but this was the first time i had used it in a trial - its good to know it keeps her cool enough to be comfortable working at 21C...

By the time we got to the afternoon stays the sun was setting and the ground was cold so i thought she'd be fine without the coat, and she was!!

I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to those wonderful ladies who kept me giggling in the hide while we were doing the stays in both trials.  It is nerve-wracking going into the hide and waiting, waiting, waiting - first for three minutes then for five minutes, then marching back out in a line hoping that nothing has happened to upset my dog's concentration.  In the second trial on the five minute down stay, when i came back out of the hide and saw Eepie lying there relaxed and happy with her ears nicely forward checking out the people and looking for me in the lineup, i just wanted to do a happy dance.  And when the judge said "Exercise Finished" those same wonderful ladies congratulated us on our new title and i sat down and gave Eepie a great big hug.

Not just two nice wins but a new title too - Nice work Miss Eep!!!

And here's a funny coincidence:
Last year in July Eepie earned her first CCD pass with a win at Queanbeyan and followed it up with two wins at Shoalhaven for her CCD.  This year in July Eepie earned her first CDX pass with a win at Queanbeyan and followed it up with two wins at Shoalhaven for her CDX.

Now we're in with the 'big kids' heading for UD and beyond.  I'm happy with her training so far and looking forward to learning more - i'll need to keep improving my handling to help her keep as many UD points as possible.

morning score sheet, minus the stays - Eepie was # 35

afternoon score sheet, minus the stays - Eepie was # 43

our "loot"

with our morning judge, Charlie Giles

Thanks to all the people who help me in my training and trialling exploits - the triallers group at BDOC for some terrific practice sessions, Di Easter for coaching and telling me where i will lose points and for encouragment to change a few things in my handling, my wonderful family and cheer squad in the USA, Michel and Caroline in Bordeaux who organised my beautiful "lucky" trialling jacket (it works!!), the hardworking stewards without whom no trial could happen, our judges and of course my beautiful little girl, Aus Ch Ieper-Rilla vd Arkiv CDX (Imp USA) - the best little Bouvier around  :-)

First CDX Pass

The Queanbeyan & District Dog Training Club winter trial is one of my favourites.  I got my first ever Novice pass with my first darling Bouvier, Percy, at a QDTC trial under Jake Blight - i can't remember how many years ago that was.  Harpo earned his Novice title at a QDTC trial at Burra  -  there were kangaroos in the next paddock that day and those Novice stays were some of the longest moments of my life.  Eepie earned her first CCD pass at this trial last year .

Queanbeyan is always a friendly trial with nice cold "Bouvier" weather and a relaxed feel.  I swear this trial brings me good luck!

This year at Queanbeyan, Eepie earned her first CDX qualifying score under Judge John Green - and a win with 190.  It was very nice to get that pass - it has been a while in coming.  She wasn't working at her sparkiest but she managed nicely on grounds that she had only seen once before.

We were off to a good start with our Open exercises until we went to Albury to trial earlier this year.  Nobody mentioned the freight train line that ran through the corner of the grounds - i had no idea we'd have to contend with that as a distraction.

Eepie worked nicely in the individuals at Albury and then, Murphy's Law, the train went past during the stays which led to a Very Negative Experience in the ring that has taken months to overcome both in training and competing in Open.

This made the win at Queanbeyan a big boost to my confidence.  

We have travelled far and wide to compete this year.   Along the way we have made new friends, found a beautiful dog-friendly cabin to stay in and met three terrific new judges to add to our list of people to trial under.

 I really love being on the road with the dogs and i am looking forward to our next trials - we're halfway through winter already - i'm not enjoying the prospect of the return of warm weather and the end of our competition season.........

Lessons Learned so far in 2011:  We will not be going back to Albury to trial and in future when i'm thinking about trialling in unknown places, i'll make a point of asking if there are any significant distractions right next to the competition rings.  We're all set to start competing in UD but i'm not sure if we will get there this year.  There's plenty of time, she has been with me for a little over two years now and Eepie has just turned three.

This year is all about building our confidence in the ring.

2011 - Onwards to CDX and UD

 - its a new year and we're starting to trial at Open level in a couple of weeks.

The exercises for Open are: heelwork performed and judged at a higher level of accuracy than in Novice, retrieve on the flat and retrieve over a jump, drop on recall, stand free for exam, position changes from the stand (drop, sit and come) and stays with the handler out of sight - 3 minute sit stay and 5 minute down stay.

The work is quite a bit  more complicated than Novice level.  Eepie is doing it all quite well in training - but translating the training performance into competition is another story - another set of skills altogether.

For one thing, i'm getting confused by the fact that different judges have said different things about their scoring criteria for each exercise - what one judge demands in the name of "accuracy" another judge tells me looks "wooden" in its execution........i don't know how to play it. Do i lose marks for "wooden"?

I am aiming for perfection and Championship-level scores.  This means paying attention to little details where points come off unnecessarily - like perfect square fronts, stands and finishes.  On the other hand, i want to keep the spirit in my dog, i want to see her tail wagging when she works and i want her to be enthusiastic - too many dogs go "robotic" doing obedience routines and i don't want to get pernickety about what constitutes "success" in our training and kill the drive in my dog.  its a balancing act

And then, if i may be so critical, i think the judges score different people  and dogs according to different criteria.  One judge has told me that the dog must not touch me during the exercises or this will incur point deductions because touching can be construed as a 'second signal' - and yet i can think of one successful trainer whose dog regularly makes contact when presenting the dumbbell and that person's scores don't seem to reflect any deductions for touching.........

So apart from the broadest guidelines, i'm not seeing any helpful consistency in the judging - which is all part of the game i suppose.  I already have a "blacklist" of judges who i don't bother competing under .......... looks like this list might grow a bit in 2011 ............ and that is part of the "game" as well............