Our first Obedience and Rally-O competitions this year

Hello. I am Mint!

As Cinnamon reported in her last post about our first ever camping, I finally won Elementary Freestyle in a live competition five years after my debut in the sport!

In this post I am going to report about our first Obedience and Rally-O competitions this year, which were held the day after the Paws'n'Music competition.

On the day I entered Obedience Novice and Rally-O Excellent A 1 and 2, while Cinnamon entered Rally-O Advanced B 1 and 2.

The first up was one of my Rally Excellent rounds. Well, I enjoyed the course, but I didn't respond to Mum's cues quickly enough at two stations, so I lost two points, meaning it was a fail, as you need to achieve a perfect score 100/100 in order to qualify in the Excellent class.

Next I did Obedience. In fact I didn't get as nervous as I often do in Obedience competitions. When I am nervous, I tend to lag at the start. But, this time I was kind of eager to start. However, I must admit that I forgot to move precisely. For example, at left turns I was supposed to flip my back side with my right shoulder touching Mum's left leg, but I was making loose left turns. In the recall and dumbbell retrieve I had a little crocked sit.

After some wait, I did the group stays in the Novice ring. As you may know, I used to break my stays all the time in Obedience competitions, and because of that I was unable to graduate from the Special Beginners class for five or six years. However, since I became a Novice dog, I have never broken my stays, even though handlers have to stand away from their dogs with their back toward the dog. This time again, at my third competition in the Novice class, I had no trouble doing my stays! Even when a dog next to me lied down in the sit stay, I kept sitting!

After that, Cinnamon had her first Rally Advanced round. Because I was waiting in the car, I didn't witness it, but, according to Mum, Cinnamon didn't enjoy working in the ring. At the start she ran away from the ring, although she did stay with Mum after coming back into the ring. Mum says that it was very hard to keep motivating Cinnamon.

Having a rest in the car between our rounds.

Then, I had my second Rally Excellent round and I did better than I did in the first one. When I was doing the stay in the Rally ring, I heard someone calling Mum's name. It was someone sent by the Obedience judge. She said they needed us for the prizegiving.

As soon as I finished the Rally stay, Mum and I went to the clubhouse for the prizegiving. Can you believe it? I got a 3rd place in Obedience Novice!

I am proud of myself!!

Shortly after that, Cinnamon had her second Rally Advanced round. However, according to Mum, Cinnamon didn't even stay with Mum in the ring, so Mum called it off after several stations.

Now that we had been in all competitions that we had entered, I thought that we were leaving for home soon. But, after packing up all our stuff, Mum once again walked us, as she hadn't given up her hope that I had qualified in my second Rally-O Excellent A round. In fact she was right! I didn't only get a qualifying score (100/100) but also a 2nd place!

I had a photoshoot with my three ribbons
after I had a shampoo at home.

Yay! I got three ribbons in three different sports! I am so happy because Mum looks really happy!

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!