CD Minus 2 Seconds

Wyatt can be a real heartbreaker. So quick to learn; so environmentally sensitive.

We made another attempt for our CD yesterday. We have 2 legs. Dawn and Patriot also made a CD attemptm but had trouble with the off leash heeling.

We were next to each other in the order so the judge put Wyatt and me first. Trying to start, there was a big goofy, in your face, yellow lab blocking the way. I asked her to move but she didn't so Wyatt snarled when the lab got in his face for the second time. This lady was pretty clueless; the judge had to coach her through some of the exercises. Then she let her dog run out of the ring. I was nervous Wyatt would be upset by this incident.

On the start line, I was going to practice saying "no" to the judge when she asks if you are ready but Wyatt was ready!

The judge was a real coach type of judge. She told you what to improve between runs! She kept telling me not to look back at my dog. It did actually seem to help. I had stopping looking back but I guess it had crept back in. I was trying to turn my head without turning my body but I saw on the video that that did not work.

We had a good run going besides some lagging. He actually did better off leash which is typically the case (maybe because on leash has the figure 8). Stand for exam was perfect. I was a little nervous for his recall, which is what he blew last time. I has proofed it a lot in the last few weeks but I still made sure I turned around slowly. He came right in. He had to sneeze so he sneezed; slowly sat down and then did a perfect finish. So far, so good. I thought we had a good but not a great score. (It turned out we had a 185 at that point).

The group sit and down came next. I usually stand him while the judge gives directions and then move him up to my side as if heeling with our "side"command. He went right into a sit without any command and it was just about time so I just let him be. I went across the room and checked my watch. He looked nervous as usual especially when people started clapping in another ring about 45 seconds into the 60 seconds but he stayed up. Well, right at 60 seconds, he went down about 2 seconds before the judge ordered us to go back. That is a NQ. That is the third time Wyatt has lost a Q based on just one exercise and done the rest of the them really well. Of course, he went on to do a perfect 3 minute down. At least I was not nervous during that one.

Another heartbreaker but what can you do? We will do extra practice the sit before our next trial in 2 weeks. I may go back to using cones in class to prevent him from sitting but I think it was mostly nerves for him. I think he will put it all together at some point but I am about ready to finish novice and move onto Open. I am going to keep my shoulder square again and not look for him until he is sitting by me. That should help our heeling.

I am going to try and post the video clip of our run on my web site so watch for that!

After we were done, I took him out to a fenced in area where he enthuisastically fetched tennis balls for 15 minutes. He really loves life and wants to do whatever activity I have in mind. It would hard to be upset, disappointed, or mad with him for very long.