Yes, I can stay!!!! Even with Mum facing away!!

Hello everyone. Mint here.

On Sunday I went to the North Shore Dog Training Club Obedience Championship and competed in the Novice class for the first time! This time I entered the Novice class because I graduated from the Special Beginners class, the lowest obedience class in NZ, two and a half months ago.

One of the reasons I couldn't graduate from the Special Beginners for several years  until recently was that I couldn't stay sitting or lying in the competition environment where there were other strange dogs around me. I practised stays with Mum and Cinnamon countless times on our daily walks, but I couldn't resist my temptation to stand up and walk to Mum in real competitions.

However, I suddenly felt confident and succeeded in my stays in a competition in late May, where I won the class, and in another competition in early July, where I won the class again, and those two wins graduated me from the class.

It seems that Mum had considered the North Shore show on Sunday as a practice run, because in the Novice class I had to do stays with Mum facing away from me, and Mum didn't think that it was possible for me.

Anyhow this was my on and off lead heelwork, recall, and dumbbell retrieve.

Hee hee I missed a left turn because it was right after I had a yawn :-P  Don't say I shouldn't have yawned! You know you can't stop those natural physical reactions!

After this, we did the stays. Mum looked very worried, but in fact I was very lucky that I was at the far end of the ring from the corridor and I had no other dogs on one side, because I was the last dog in the running order of the class. And, I stayed!!

There was a long wait until the results were announced. And, before the prize giving started, Mum and I were called for a run off. At that time, we didn't know what place the run off was for. It might have been the fifth place, in which case I wouldn't get any placing if I lost.

At the prize giving it turned out that I had won the run off and got a 2nd place!

Mum says that it must have been beginners luck. But, whatever it was, I was very happy because Mum looked very happy!!