Our first competitions this year in Mangawhai

Hi! Mint here!

On Saturday I was super busy like a big celebrity!

We went to our first competitions this year and there I participated in three different disciplines, Rally-O, Obedience, and Canine Freestyle.

The competitions were held in Mangawhai, nearly two hours from our house. Usually for competitions in Mangawhai we need to leave home very early before six o'clock, but this time even the first class I entered didn't start till 10am. So, we left home at 8am and arrived at the venue at 10am.

The first competition I entered was Rally-O Excellent, the highest class in Rally-O. Well, more precisely my class is called Excellent A for beginners in the Excellent class. If you qualify in Excellent A three times, you will advance to Excellent B.

As it was my first competition in the Excellent class, Mum was just going to practise new advanced exercises in the competition, rather than pursuing for qualifications or placings.

In fact it turned out that there were many rules Mum didn't know.

After my first round in Excellent, where Mum forgot to make me lie down at the "Halt-Stand-Down" station before the Finish, the judge told Mum that handlers in Excellent were not allowed to tap their laps, which she didn't know.

Also, when Mum was walking the course for my second round in Rally-O Excellent, she got puzzled seeing the sign "Three Steps Back". But, then, an angel appeared from behind, asking her if she knew what to do at the station. She was so lucky! The angel kindly demonstrated what to do for her, which Mum says that she greatly appreciated.

I really enjoyed both of my two rounds in Excellent, so I did everything that Mum told me to do. I even did stays nicely without breaking them! In Rally-O Excellent there is always a stay in the ring while another pair is doing the course in the same ring.

Mum especially praised me for being a good boy when we had to wait for four minutes in the ring without food or toys after our round and before my stay. While waiting for the judge to come back to the ring, I played with Mum in the ring.

This is a video of my second Rally-O Excellent round:

This video shows how I played with Mum while waiting for the start of my stay:

After my two Rally-O rounds, there was a loooong wait.

Next, I did Obedience. When I was doing Rally-O, it was drizzling, but when my class Special Beginners started, it had cleared and started to get very warm.

Near the entrance to the Obedience ring, I found some interesting smell, although I didn't know what it was. When I did the heelwork on and off lead and the recall, I didn't get distracted by the smell much. So, I was able to work nicely in the ring, ignoring the smell. But, when I did the group stay, I couldn't resist the smell any more! So, after staying for forty seconds or so in the one-minute Sit Stay, I got up and went to the spot outside the ring to check the smell again. Mum looked very disappointed, which I do understand, but you know I just couldn't resit it, as it was very warm and I was very tired already.

Here is a video of my heelwork and recall in Special Beginners:

In fact, after the competition, the judge praised me for them a lot ;-)

Then, after a short wait, the prizegiving for Rally-O started. Can you believe it? In the second competition I, Mint, got a 3rd place and a qualifying certificate in Rally-O Excellent A!!

Mum says that that was the last thing she had expected. Humph! Does that mean that she doesn't trust me? But, that's OK. If Mum is happy, I am happy.

My day didn't finish here. There was the Paws 'n' Music (dancing) competition next!! I thought "Are you serious, Mum?" as I was exhausted by then. So, I couldn't perform well at all.

Well, Cinnamon, who didn't enter Rally-O or Obedience, also entered the Paws 'n' Music competition. As she was not so tired, she performed her Heelwork To Music routine well enough to win the Elementary class. Well done, Cinnamon!

It was a very long day but finished with nice ribbons, although I would have liked some special treats much better than ribbon!

Yes, Mint can STAY!

It's me, Mint, again!

Today I have great news! Well, it is not such great news for myself but it is for Mum.

On Saturday I went to Hibiscus Coast Dog Training Club Obedience and Rally-O championship. The news I want to share with you today is about Obedience. I didn't break my stays for the first time in the last two years and won the Special Beginners for the first time!

When I was younger, Mum was thinking that I had potential to become a good competitive obedience dog and that I would go up to higher obedience classes easily. However, after I started having seizures, I became unable to stay still with other dogs in group stays in obedience competitions. I was able to stay at home or in a park, but I couldn't stay in a competition environment. Well, it may not be because of my epilepsy, but somehow I always stood up and walked to Mum in competitions when I was supposed to be staying with other dogs.

Because I always broke my stays, I missed a chance to win so many times. I don't remember how many times I have heard people, including judges, giving Mum advice on how to improve my stays. Staying is boring you know, but Mum made me practise them almost every day. Nevertheless, I couldn't help moving and standing up when doing stays with other dogs in a competition ring.

However, this time I somehow didn't feel like standing up during my stays. This time I didn't feel anxious at all. I was comfortable staying with other dogs. I think that practising with some other well-behaved dogs in a therapy dog class that I had attended just recently helped.

What surprised me was that I won the Rally-O Advanced A too! Well, we left the competition venue before the prizegiving. So, when we left, we didn't know that I had won it. But later my friend's mum let Mum know the result.

Don't you think that I have been doing too well lately? To be honest I feel awkward. Is it Ok for me to be such a good boy?

Mint is an RA dog now!

Mint here!

I am excited! I am an RA (Rally-O Advanced) dog now!

Yesterday I went to a Rally-O championship and did two rounds in Rally-O Advanced A class.

If you get three qualifying rounds under a minimum of two different judges, you can get an RA title. Although I had been competing in Rally-O Advanced A for over a year, I hadn't got three qualifying rounds yet, partly because Mum often makes mistakes and, for example, she turns right when she is supposed to turn left or she doesn't stop when she is supposed to do so. However, I have to admit that sometimes I am not focused, giving Mum a hard time trying to keep my attention.

And yesterday I finally got my third qualifying round in my first round of the day and became eligible to apply for an RA title!!

As you may already know, I get distracted easily if Mum doesn't have food on her, and I know that she doesn't in competitions. So, I always feel temped to sniff the floor as soon as Mum says "Heel" at the beginning of my round in competitions. Yesterday again I couldn't resist the temptation and put my nose to the floor at first. But, Mum did a good job keeping my nose off the floor for the most part of my rounds.

This is my first round.

There were two judges in the ring, as one of them was a probational judge. When we were out of the video screen, I had an urge to check out a sign before me. But, Mum's yell brought me back to what I was supposed to be doing, and in the end I got a qualifying score, 97 points! And on top of it I got a 2nd place!!

The next is my second round.

Again I couldn't help but sniffing the floor at first, but later I became more focused. However, I don't know why but it took me a second or two to recall what "Stand" meant, and after standing up, I couldn't stay still. Looking at what I was doing, Mum got upset and forgot to stop at the end of the exercise when she was supposed to do so! Fortunately she realised what she had missed before the next exercise, and she requested a repeat, but it cost a three-point loss and my total score of the round was 93 points when I needed to earn 95 points or more to qualify.

Well, Mum still looked happy because I got my third qualifying certificate in Rally-O Advanced A. If Mum is happy, I am happy too!

Was it a success or a failure?

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Sorry I had a long break from blogging again. I repeatedly asked Mum to help me post something but all she did was say "Yes, I will when I have time". But, finally she had some time to help me today.

Well, l meant to post a video of a new trick every month, but Mum was not cooperative enough, and neither of us learned any new cool tricks last month. So, today I will show you something we tried for the first time instead.

Have you heard of Rally Freestyle Elements (also called Rally FrEe)? If you know Rally Obedience (also called Rally-O) and Canine Freestyle (also called Paws n Music or Heelwork to Music), you could guess what it is like.

Rally-O

In Rally-O you need to do exercises described in signs placed around a course. In Canine Freestyle you dance (do tricks) to music. Rally FrEe is something like a fusion of both. You are required to do exercises described in signs at stations on a course, but the exercises are more like dance moves and you will do them to music. There are also Free Choice stations, where you can do any move of your choice. Also, in Rally-O you don't only need to do every exercise correctly but also finish the course as quickly as you can. But, in Rally FrEe your run is not timed, although you may want to finish it before your music finishes of course.

Mum was very interested in this new dog sport but didn't have a chance to do it until recently. In early March our dog dancing team ChoreDOGraphy Connection and a few other people and dogs did Rally FrEe for the first time in New Zealand as a demonstration at a Rally-O Championship held in Mangawhai. Because it was a demonstration, we had been given the course a few weeks in advance so that we could practise before demonstrating in front of an audience (Normally the course is given to competitors a week before the competition so that they can decide what moves they will do at Free Choice stations). However, Mum was very lazy as always and we didn't practise it to music at all until the demonstration. So, now you can guess how it went, can't you?

Well, Mum says that I was very naughty, but I think I did well, considering the lack of practise. At least I really enjoyed it!! Here is a video of it. (The music stopped in the middle of the run because of flat battery but never mind!)

I think you can see how much fun I was having doing it. What do you think? Was it a success or a failure?

How we have been doing in competitions recently

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

I just realised that I hadn't posted about how we have been doing in competitions this year. Sorry this post may be boring for many of you, but I wanted to post it as a record.

As you may know, we compete in Agility, Obedience, Rally Obedience, and Paws n Music. As for Paws n Music, last year there was no competition in or near Auckland, except for a video competition which Mint won (I didn't enter it), and this year there is no competition until National Dog Obedience Assembly (NDOA) in October. So, the last competition we went to is NDOA in 2011, where I got first and Mint second in Elementary Freestyle.

Early this year we had to withdraw from quite a few competitions because of Mint's frequent seizures. So, we haven't been to many competitions this year. We have been to three Agility competitions, three Obedience competitions, and one Rally Obedience competition. We haven't done any agility since mid-March after Mint had multiple seizures on the day after our last agility competition. Although we don't know what caused those seizures, we haven't done agility at all since the day just in case.

In the last Agility competition we went to, I won Novice. As I was doing really well in agility at that time, Mum wanted to continue to compete with me in Agility but decided to have a break because it was getting cold towards winter anyway.

Mint has competed in three Obedience competitions this year (I haven't competed in Obedience this year). In the first one Mint did really well in heelwork but broke his stay. In the second one, his heelwork was not as good as it usually is but he managed to get a 4th place because he didn't break his stays. And, in the third one last weekend, although his heelwork was better than the previous time, he broke his stays again.

In the only Rally Obedience competition we have been to this year, Mum made a lot of mistakes because she hadn't practised Rally-O for a long time. Because of her mistakes, I couldn't qualify in one of two rounds that I had. But, I got a 3rd place in the other round in Novice B. Mint qualified in both of two rounds he had, but he didn't get placed. Now that Mint has got three or more than Novice qualifying certificate, he is eligible for a RN (Rally Novice) title, which lazy Mum hasn't applied for.

Currently we train in Obedience and Paws n Music once a week on the same day. In Obedience Mint's biggest challenge is stays and mine is the dumbbell. (I can't sit close enough to Mum with my dumbbell in my mouth.) In Paws n Music both of us are just staring to work on our new routines.

Cinnamon got a Rally-O Novice title and Mint won an Agility Novice!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

In September both Mint and I achieved a sort of a milestone.


On Saturday the 15th we went to a Rally-O Championship and both of us got a qualifying certificate in the Novice A class. As it was my third certificate, I also became eligible to apply for a Rally-O Novice title.

Moreover, in the competition, I got a 1st place and Mint a 2nd place!!

On Saturday the 29th we went to an Agility Championship and, to everyone's surprise, Mint won the Novice (Mini)!! It was a very impressive achievement, as he won in his second run in the Novice class.

Look at this video! Only ten months ago he was running in his first ever agility competition like this!

Unfortunately we don't have a video of Mint's winning run this time. But, hopefully in the near future we can show you how much he has improved.

Rally Obedience seminar

Hi! Cinnamon here.

Mint and I attended a Rally Obedience seminar at NorWest Dog Training Club in Kumeu on Saturday.



When Mum told me we were going to the seminar, I wondered what she was talking about, as I had never heard of Rally Obedience, or Rally-O. But, Mum said that she had been looking for a place where we could to the dog sport in Auckland for more than a year and finally found information about the seminar on a New Zealand Rally Obedience Yahoo group.

Both Mum and Dad were very busy as the renovation of our house was still going on, but they felt sorry for having had to keep us in our crates for long hours every day while tradesmen were working in the house. So, they decided to have a special day off and took us to NorWest Dog Training Club to try out Rally-O.



It was so much fun!! We dogs don't have to stick to the handler as closely as we do in traditional obedience, and we can do a variety of exercises, such as sit in front, weaves, and spirals (For more information and resources about Rally Obedience, see here).




Although I couldn't keep my nose off the ground when I tried out a whole course, I think I did pretty well. You know, it is so hard to keep my nose off the ground, especially on the grass in an unfamiliar place. I usually practise dog dancing and obedience indoors at Ardmore New Zealand Kennel Club Exhibition Centre. But, on the grass I catch far more interesting smells than I do when I practise indoors!!

I think Mint did well too. As long as Mum held some food in her hand, Mint kept all his attention on her and did most exercises in a course without problem. But, with no food in Mum's hand, his concentration didn't last long and he started pulling the lead after several obstacles.




As there aren't many people and dogs doing Rally-O in New Zealand, the instructors of yesterday's seminar, President and Treasurer of New Zealand Association of Rally Obedience, are working hard to attract more people and dogs into the sport. At the moment they are looking for dog training clubs in and around Auckland that are interested in holding a Rally-O seminar in the upcoming holiday season when there aren't many obedience and agility trials. So, please contact them if your club might be interested in it!

In a lunch break we also had a great time playing with a ball with rope and a mini frisbee!!