Well it has been a busy spring for Stella and I. Regular viewers might remember how we were robbed of our final conformation point due to an administrative screw up so in February we ventured back into the show ring and the dog-show gods smiled upon us and we got that last point (AGAIN!). We also needed to take a new picture. Probably should have had her standing on the ground as the platform makes it hard for her to be comfortable in a real stack so her butt is a bit wacky here but it is still evidence we achieved that goal!
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CH Varazs Kedvesem Final Dance, PCD, RA, CGN
CRA-MCL, CRNT |
In May we headed out with a friend for a trip to Kelowna to attend a CARO rally trial. This was the trial that last year ended in tears of frustration when my dog clearly expressed to me that she was not interested in working with me (see blog
Is-that-same-vizsla?). That marked the start of a year off from trialing to develop a new training plan. Well what a difference a year makes :). I was super pleased with how the trial went. My dog was engaged and we achieved our CARO Rally Advanced title with scores of 191 (my error), 197 and 198. We also got another leg on our Rally Novice Team and finished up that title this past weekend. The video below is from the Kelowna trial.
I have a very loose goal of heading into the obedience ring to attempt our CKC Novice Obedience title in November. That will depend on lots of things :). Stella just turned three so we have lots of time and I am in no rush. We are actively training the open and utility exercises while we also work on developing lots of ring skills, focus and confidence. I plan to do lots of matches and attend venues like CARO rally that allow rewards to create lots of good associations with competitive settings. Stella is not an overly sensitive dog as far as environments but she also is not a "high-drive" dog that loves to work and compete. It will be a balance to keep her happy and engaged when competing at formal obedience and I want to make sure we are both as ready as possible.
