Team Obedience

One of my favorite parts of Specialty  in North Carolina last week was the Team Competition in Obedience.  It is my first attempt at Video and I was also trying to take some still photos at the same time . So I am not sure what happened to the sound at the end but

Enjoy the Amazing, Talented, Wonderful, Entertaining,

Border Terriers.

RALLY NOVICE - A and Terrier Races

After our total disaster in Pre-Novice I was standing around watching the Rally and got totally PSYCHED OUT. what great dogs and one of the owners told me how much time and money she had spent on training for just this class.  I decided that the Comedy team of Nancy and Heddy had done enough damage for the day. SO I went over and pulled Heddy from the Rally Novice -A Class. and Volunteered to help. As I was helping the Steward I calmed down and told the steward what I had done and why. She said no puppy should be pulled for those reasons and asked the judge permission for her to be put back in the lineup. The Judge was wonderful and agreed with the steward. Telling me to go get my puppy.
WELL that is great except that because I had pulled her I did not bother to walk the course or really to even pay attention to what the course was. SO the very first time I read any of the signs was as we entered. WHOOPIE. HERE WE GO AGAIN.
I guess I was more relaxed since I was so busy reading the signs and processing the information. BUT Heddy had a great time. When I stopped she SAT. And when asked she went DOWN. In fact SHE must be able to read because I misread one of the signs and told her to down with out a SIT but she dropped to a sit first TEN did her lovely DOWN. The Judge laughed and told me that although I gave the wrong command my dog did it right.
She was totally frozen when I had to walk around her and even did  a decent heel from the front  ( we had never done that before that morning) So I left the ring a very HAPPY owner with a HAPPY  Puppy. It doesn't get better than that does It? ....  We went over sat down and watched the rest of the class. I really learned a lot watching the Novice-B. BOY now I see what I did wrong and will do it different next time.

The judge called all of the NOVICE -A class back into the ring. She asked if anyone had gotten there first legg. I just stood there. Novice ME I had no Idea that I WAS SUPPOSED to check the score board.  The Steward again came to my rescue and told me that Heddy had a Qualifying Score and that YES we had JUST gotten our FIRST LEG.  One of the other dogs finished their RN and then they announced 4th and third place. Suddenly they announced 2nd place and I was in a TOTAL state of shock in fact I had to check my arm band because they had JUST ANNOUNCED OUR NUMBER.
WE WON 2nd PLACE in RALLY NOVICE -A I still do not believe it.

From there we went straight up to the Terrier Races. I can not imagine where she found the energy but Heddy loved it. THe first trial run they ran with muzzles but ALL of the Puppies were so busy trying toget rid of the muzzles that no one ran. So since they were puppies it was decide that they could run with out Muzzles.

There were two Puppy classes and even though she was the youngest puppy she won her heat.  When they had a race between the winners of the two heats. Well lets just say that I believe the Little Blue Boy that beat her must eat jet fuel for breakfast. WOW was he fast. He was not only a very Handsome Blue and Tan Border Terrier but VERY VERY determined. Even after his race was WON . I saw his MOM have to chase him down when he tried to race outside the course.

I do not have any photos of Heddy Racing (YET) but here is one of the other GUYS doing a great Superman impression. 

Heddy was very HOT and Tired from her LONG day so after a quick dip in the Puppy  pool to cool her off we headed on down the hill and back to the Hotel Room where neither one of us had any trouble sleeping.

PRE NOVICE OBEDIENCE ...... hahahahahahahaha

Ok so again we arrived at FENC nice and early , remember I have NEVER shown a dog before so I really do not have any Idea how this all works. We find a nice shady spot for the trusty Prius and our stuff get it all set up for the day.

So with all of our stuff under control we headed up to watch the show and maybe see how it is done. I really enjoyed watching the other Border Terriers compete There is nothing like a Border Terrier in the Obedience Ring. And I quickly learned why everyone kept telling me that you always had to bring a sense of Humor into the ring with you. As even some of the very best trained Borders just sort of occasionally did their own thing.

In all the confusion it seemed they decided to move the Pre-Novice class up so I RAN and got Heddy and we checked in then it seems as soon as we checked in the decided that NO they could not do Pre-Novice NOW it would v=come LATER after the Teams. OK so take Heddy for a walk to calm down then come back up to watch teams. What FUN.
Then again they are looking for PRE-NOVICE. and NOW oppps no not now they are going to take linch first.  At this point I am confused.
So I put Heddy away again. Only to hear them call me to the ring as soon as I get back from the car. SO I run back get Heddy and here we come. I am not sure if I even remember my time in the ring. I must have remembered to breath, cause I did not pass out. When I entered the ring I told the judge this was my first dog show experience EVER and smiled. Her response was well first take that thing off your pants. I had forgotten that I had a clip hanging form my belt loop.  So much for brownie points. And so we began. FORWARD... I truly believe that Heddy knew just how upset and nervous I was as she did not do ANYTHING I asked. She DID HEEL beautifully but I think it was out of FEAR!  I am not sure if she SAT one time when we stopped. THEN to just add icing to the cake when the judge came over for the STAND for inspection Heddy leaped up onto her and tried to kiss her WHOLE face. THE JUDGE WAS NOT AMUSED. I do not even think she smiled. ... So she said we could leave. I thought we had done so poorly that we were excused. SO I again PUT poor Heddy back in her crate.  Only to have someone come running to find me saying where is Heddy you are needed for the long Sits and Downs. OH LORD.... Grabbed out of her Crate again in run back to the Ring. we are directed not to a place at the end of the line but RIGHT in the middle.  So here we go SIT.... Heddy Sits so nice then plops down. BUT at least she stayed.  Then the LONG Down.  SO.... DOWN.... Heddy is in a lovely down doing great I am actually starting to relax... when suddenly Border Terrier tumbleweeds of Undercoat go rolling thru the ring.A little fluff gets past her but then A BIG BEAUTIFUL BALL OF FLUFF..... Well we all know where this went. Up went Heddy and Hooray look at me Mom I caught the ball.  Again Judge was not Amused.
I truly wish I had photos or a video to share but the mental photos will have to do.
This time we truly were excuses and Heddy got her nap.  just a short one....

EARTHDOG .... NOT

We are up at the crack of dawn after a very good nights sleep. Out for our morning walk greeting new friends along the way. Since I am not sure what time we should arrive or even what to do or exactly where we need to be. Heddy and I head over early. As is usual we are EARLY. In fact we are the second car there. Thank God for the first car as they KNEW where they were going and we just followed along.
We got all registered and began the LONG wait for our turn.  All the other Dogs MUST have know what was going on because they were just so excited to get going. while Heddy just thought she was there to make lots of new friends
Unfortunately she also included Mr RAT in the category of NEW FRIEND.  When it was finally her turn we went out to the IQ site. Heddy was so good she followed the sent trail and popped right down into the hole course then she turned around and came right out again. so I finally  went over and told her to GET IT so down she went .......... and that was all there was. the Judge was so nice she rattled the cage she even finally opened the trap Heddy was there Happy as always just looking at MR RAT making friends. In fact she took it as far as to give him a kiss.
 OK so we have now established that Heddy it just TOO YOUNG to kill Rats.
BUT at least she loved the tunnel and had no problems going in.

AH WELL tomorrow is another day
OBEDIENCE Pre- Novice  and RALLY- NOVICE A

Getting caught up

Well it seems as if I fell of the face of the earth for awhile. But in reality I was a little down in the dumps and I also came home to a massive amount of work that had to get taken care of FIRST.
But putting all of that behind us. We are BACK!
Our first day in North Carolina was uneventful. We arrived promptly got lost and spent an hour finding our hotel. Never listen ONLY to a GPS. If I had used my eyes as well as my ears I could have seen the Hotel from the Highway and would have Known to turn Left NOT Right. But anyway eventually I knew I had to be wrong and called the Hotel. They were so nice and gave us proper directions directly to them. What a great place to stay. The staff came out from behind the counter to meet Heddy and give her a cookie, Oh YEA she's gonna like it here.  Then helped me shlep all my stuff to the room.  We went over to the Lodge and got our information. Which Heddy thought She should investigate further.

Since we had nothing else to do till tomorrow we decided to go find the show grounds. Nice drive through the Mountains. But there was no one around at the show grounds so Heddy and I took a nice LONG walk. We never did find out where they were doing Tracking so eventually we just headed back to our room for a nice quiet evening.

Tomorrow is our first attempt at EARTHDOG.

We have Arrived

Heddy got to sleep in bed her first night not sleeping in a crate it took her a LONG time to settle down but once she did she was OUT. I may have made a mistake here.

We got up around 5:30 and got moving we were packed and on the road by 7 AM. Once again Heddy sacked right out in her Crate. What a great traveler. Made great time and arrived in NC at the Mountain Inn by 1:00 PM a total Road time of almost 12 hours.  After unpacking we went out to explore the Show grounds and to give Heddy a little outside time. Had a nice walk ran into Carol and Cheddar and met lots of other folks and Borders. I think Heddy’s Head is spinning with all the doggie smells and sights. She is not about to listen to ANYTHING I have to say to her.

After our walk we came back to the room and Heddy discovered the Goodie Bag. I waked in just as she was finishing off the dog treats.

So from now on when I leave the room she will be staying HERE!

Well off to bed we learn about Earthdog tomorrow!

Hotels Are STRANGE

I think Heddy’s first night in a Hotel may be a very long night. Between all the strange smells and sounds she is having a very rough time settling down.  I am very nervous about her barking so I am also not able to relax very much.

Our Drive here went well. took about 4 1/2 hours Heddy slept for most of it. We stopped for on nice long play/potty break. And to see the Sunset.

Tomorrow we will be back on the road BRIGHT and EARLY.

For now Good Night I hope!

National Specialty Road Trip Day 1

How is it possible that one person and ONE 7 month old Border Terrier could NEED SO MUCH STUFF for just 5 Days away. The car is PACKED and I do mean Packed. thank GOD I am only taking ONE DOG and NO ONE else needs to ride with me. I am not sure where they would sit.

 I have decided to split the trip into two parts . So as soon as I get my work done and I load Heddy into her Crate we will head for Emporia, VA for tonight that will be about 5 Hours then all we will have is another 5 hours in the morning. Maybe we will actually get there in time to see some of the tracking. We have never seen that. Oh what Am I talking About. WE have NEVER seen any of it. ARE WE THERE YET...........
Can you FEEL the excitement.
I have been reading Colin's Blogs to Heddy ( He is already there) Trying to get her ready for what lies ahead.
http://btsinmdspec.blogspot.com/  It sounds as if he is already having a wonderful time.
Well I guess if I ever plan to get on the road I had better finish working.