Ready or not, here we come

We’re four days out from Phoenix’s Open obedience debut at the UKC trials at Ft. Dodge this weekend. I need to get my mind around our progress and make a realistic assessment of what I want from our time in the ring this weekend.

But first, I want to know where in the heck summer went. I swear just yesterday it was spring and the ink was barely dry on his CD and we had all summer to get ready for Open. Yeah, I know it’s just turned August but around here school starts in two weeks! If that doesn't mean the end of summer . . .

I hadn’t really planned on showing in Open this fall. But Phoenix is solid on the exercises and UKC Open is a good place to start a green dog because the long sit/long down are split, with an honor down while another dog does heeling exercises, then the long sit as a group exercise. If it goes well, I'll enter AKC Open at some fall trials. If it doesn't, we'll play in Graduate Novice through the fall and keep training for Open in the spring. It's good to have a plan. And a Plan B and Plan C . . .

I want us to have fun in the ring this weekend. Everyone says that, no matter what venue they show in, but sometimes it’s a lot easier said than done and sometimes as handlers, we put so much pressure on ourselves, we suck the fun right out of it. Just the basic act of showing is stressful, no matter what level you’re at. All your friends are watching and someone with a clipboard is passing judgment on your every move.

But who cares! If we fumble an exercise is the world going to end? No. Is anyone going to die? No. Am I going to lose my job? No. Well, then, chill. I’m in the ring with my beautiful dog and I want to see how good our teamwork is. At the end of the weekend, we’ll go home together and guess what? We can still train, which is more fun than anything else.

Heeling: I love teaching heeling. I want my dogs to love heeling as much as I do. It's a dance. It's dressage with a dog. It should be fluid and graceful and take your breath away to watch. Phoenix is totally willing but the two of us still occasionally step on each other’s feet. Literally. Mostly because he is pushing the envelope on heel position. Corrections for position and inattention have been what I call “head cradling.” After months of work, he will happily trot along in heel while I hold his head (and thus the whole dog) in the right position. My focus has been keeping my hands very gentle and soft on these corrections. I try to imagine cradling a tiny bird, not a thick-skulled, nose-breaking malinois. He responds well and usually gets a big bounce release after a few steps. At least in Open there is no leash to grab on the fast. However there is clothing . . .

Drop on recall: This is either really good or really bad. Seriously. There’s no inbetween. I’ve been making it a point to count to five after dropping him in training to allow time for the UKC “walker” to get past before re-calling him to front. He thinks maybe I have forgotten to call him.

Retrieve on the flat: Phoenix has a killer retrieve at home and generally when I train in new sites. He is slightly concerned about the presence of the “judge,” though, and that can slow down his retrieve. I’ve been having friends try to “steal” his dumbbell in training and he is getting more confident about charging out to get it. Funny, I seem to have fewer friends than I used to . . .

Retrieve over the high jump: The basic bones of this exercise are fine but the concept of front has totally disappeared. Gone. Vanished. Sit? Where? How about here? No? Okay, here? Sigh. That’s okay, his fronts aren’t great on anything else yet, either, so I’m not going to worry about them this weekend. Look down, smile at the dog. He’s beautiful and I love him.

Broad jump: I know where summer went. It flew by while we were working 100 different versions of the broad jump. Phoenix will jump 24/48 in the AKC ring. He does not take the broad jump seriously, so I stretched it to about 60 inches. Yeah, I know that’s an extra foot. This has made him put out some effort and drive into the jump. So far, so good.

I’m trying to put the exercises together this week, which is really hard for me since I usually work bits and pieces and rarely assemble the whole thing. We’re going to trade run-throughs with Kate and her girls Thursday night before class so Phoenix, Orbit and Lucy will be ready to rock this weekend.