Thursday, April 5, 2012

Scenthurdle Weekend



Tomorrow morning we leave for Red Deer & our 2nd Scenthurdle race of the year. We had a practice last night & the dogs were great ! Kort only needs 10 points for his Scenthurdle Championship which I'm sure he will have no trouble getting, fingers crossed :)
I entered him in Rally Excellent as well. I mentioned in an earlier post that I wasn't sure if he would actually be ready to try for his last Excellent leg. We have been practicing really hard & he has come soooo far.
Amanda set up a mini Rally course for us. I went in with Kort with no treats, none in my hand, none in my pocket, that is the way it is in a trial. I wanted to judge where he was at mentally.
He did every single exercise perfectly, I was VERY pleased, all except for the barking. He pretty much barked his way around the whole course, announcing his displeasure at me for not having treats :)
Barking is also a sign of stress that is often missed, people just think the dog is misbehaving.
Every time Kort barked I stopped walking, when he stopped barking, I continued on. I did not correct him, or get angry, I just stopped working him.
Anyway, even though I was pleased he was able to make it through all the stations the barking tells me he is still not quite there mentally, so we will not go into the ring. Instead I will watch all my friends & their dogs & cheer them on. I will also take the opportunity to work with Kort outside the ring.
With any luck I can enter him in November at our local show. They will be having a Collie Booster & it is the clubs 50th Anniversary!!!
Stay tuned for updates on Scenthurdle when I get back!
Happy Easter!

2 comments:

Dianne SS said...

Good luck to the team! And I'm sure Kort will get those last points too! Great to hear that he did all the exercises just fine, but too bad there's still stress. Have a safe trip!! Glad you don't have to be on the highways around here today!!

Squishy said...

You are really smart to back off and not show him until he's ready. Barking is a misunderstood sign easy to say it's something else. I am dealing with Aura on a variety of things that she does that's stress-related. We seemed to have come to an understanding if only briefly for a couple of things and I just need to be patient to be ready to remind her consistently.
You will have a great time and be confident that you are doing right by your dog. You are the bomb!!! Oxoxoxox!