Poodle Forum banner

Lily on the way to a RACh

21K views 312 replies 29 participants last post by  lily cd re 
#1 ·
After getting done in by bad weather last Saturday for an AM/PM pair of trials we did make it to New Jersey yesterday for another pair of trials. This was the first time we did triple Q entries for two trials in one day. I was interested to see how Lily would do with such a long day and so many times in and out of the ring (6 total runs).

It was really hard to get up so early as we did with the clocks having moved forward on Saturday night and it was unpleasantly rainy. Lily got up when I told her she had to and then slept for the roughly hour and 20 minutes it took to get to the site, so she was tired but not so much as I was. She did act a bit sleepy in the morning Master and Excellent courses, but she clearly woke up and got engaged by the time of the morning advanced run.

We did not get any Master points yesterday which is a bummer (got an 89 in the morning and an 87 in the afternoon) but we did get points from three of the excellent and advanced runs. In the morning excellent we had two IP (-10) for not taking the jump on a send to jump and for not doing a decent back up 3 steps back up 1 or two steps left, leaving us with a 79, but the other three runs had scores of 96, 96 and 98 so we got points from those.

In the afternoon trial the excellent and advanced courses both had the broad jump. On the first time through with it Lily ticked the last board. I probably should have said big over instead of just over, but we only lost one point on that. For anyone who does rally do make sure you practice the broad jump. Lots of dogs had much more trouble with it than Lily did including a top level agility dog who walked through it. It doesn't show up too often since it is slower to reset than a high or bar jump but you want your dog to sail over it when it is there.

All in all we had a nice girls' day out and now I will have to make plans for where to go next.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Sounds like quite an adventure. Getting up early is always a challenge for me, and with the time change, I would have been a zombie. Good on you for pulling through it. Noelle has never done a broad jump. I'll have to train her how to do those. Thank you for the warning that they may show up in a rally course.
 
#3 ·
I am looking forward to the time when we no longer have daylight savings. It just doesn’t make any sense to throw off the timing of routine activities twice a year with no benefit

Lily must have enjoyed her girls’ day out with mommy. Sounds like a fun adventure with the girls. Congratulations on a good rally trial.

It’s always funny but heartbreaking to see a dog walk on top of the broad jump instead of jumping over it. Funny, especially when it’s the dog’s first encounters a broad jump. But heartbreaking when it means important loss of points or disqualification. Lucky Lily just was slightly off in her timing if she ticked the last board. We rarely get to practice the broad jump.

I’m going to be struggling with the 6 runs in a day too. I don’t know how people do it.... both keep their own energy up and making sure their dog is prepared for it too. It’s a high bar to get excellent scores with three runs in a morning trial and to turn around and repeat it in the afternoon. Now that we have our level 3 title this is what people do in WCRL rally. Catherine do you know of any training to prepare for this or is it just a matter of doing it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: lily cd re
#4 ·
Thanks for the nice words Click and Skylar! I think Lily did really enjoy it once she woke up. She has always been a natural night owl more than a crack of dawn type. Therefore I have to give her kudos for bearing with the early alarm. I too will be happy to do away with changing the clocks back and forth. I sort of think I would like permanent daylight saving (the current clock setting, right?) since I like my light late in the day.


It is important to practice all three types of jumps for rally bar, high and broad. You can make or buy practice jumps (I actually have two sets) to use in your yard. Each jump presents a very different picture to the dog and any of them can show up on a rally course. The second jump in the excellent course with the broad jump was a bar and in the morning trial the excellent course had a bar and a high jump.


I have been practicing for the six run in a day scenario by going to matches where all levels of courses are available. Each "run" you pay for gives you time to do each course you enter twice. By taking entries in advanced, excellent and advanced I get the equivalent roughly of two trials in one afternoon. Also at my club on Fridays I get there early enough to practice particular exercises in isolation from other things and then most weeks after my novice class ends I set a course (these days usually advanced, excellent or master since the other people are in advanced for trials, practicing excellent and master works for them too). We each then take two runs through that course by turns. I usually start to make sure I laid it out right and to talk to the others about why certain things are as they are. On Saturdays when I rent at my trainer's facility I do work on isolated exercises and short sequences but without putting signs up.


As an aside I saw Bob Fullum and Zorro at the morning trial (they are the first RACh team). He was my marker dog for getting on deck so I was able to watch them out of the corner of my eye while waiting to go in. Everything I saw them do made it abundantly clear why they were the first to get the rally champion title. Bob treated himself to a vanity plate to celebrate. He will be the only person to ever claim that plate noting they they are the first RACh. Another nice aside is that two nice teams (Cardigan Welsh Corgi in the AM and standard Schnauzer in the PM) also finished RAChs. I spoke with the trial chairperson before leaving and thanked her for putting together a nice event. She told me they are planning another two trials one day event in July and they have a nice judge lined up for it so as long as it doesn't conflict with our usual trip to Binghamton we will put that on our campaign calendar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Streetcar
#5 ·
We took ring rental time yesterday and spent part of it building on some rally work we did yesterday. We did the send to jump again (high jump yesterday, bar today) and I worked on sending Lily from a little farther than needs to happen for the actual sign on a course to firm that up since she didn't do the send to jump last week. We also did the broad jump today with good results. We did spin and twist, side by side spin and lots of back up 3 steps which seems to have gotten soft. I also sent Lily to the cone a few times since I think that is another one that can never hurt to refresh. I also did some fronts and finishes throughout. I also threw in the moving down walk around and moving stand walk around to keep them nice and crisp. Lily does those very nicely always but I think that is because I throw them in randomly in all we do. She had a great time! I love how clearly happy Lily is doing rally.
 
#6 ·
I started our ring rental time this morning with rally work for Lily. We did all three jump types (high, bar and broad) and we did all major variations on jumping that we can encounter (dog jumps as handler passes next to jump beside them (AKC advanced sign 103); send dog to jump and have them return before handler crosses the plane of the jump (AKC excellent sign 210); and recall over jump/finish/forward in a new direction (AKC master signs 301, 302, 303). Lily did great with all of them. She clearly loves all of the variations of spin/twist and circling around each other. The only problem is that I spin a lot slower than she does. We also worked on various version of back up three steps with dog in position (heel). This continues to be a bit shaky after having it totally fallen apart in the process of getting spins installed. It will improve, but Lily needs to be patient and wait for an order instead of thinking she knows what do do. I am not worried. She is a clever girl and loves to do stuff like this with me. I didn't do video with her today but will next week.
 
#7 ·
That will be Javelin in the background barking to give distractions during this video. If she can ignore him she can ignore most anything. We had fun!


 
#13 ·
That will be Javelin in the background barking to give distractions during this video. If she can ignore him she can ignore most anything. We had fun!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZRdgUIvyx4
How wonderful! BOTH of you look like you are having fun. I really enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing. Best of luck in the upcoming competitions. It was so interesting to observe the unique chest thrust out and head back posture while sitting. It's my first standard poodle and I've never seen that pose in another dog.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
I’m so used to watching you work with Javelin. I can clearly see Lily is more petite and feminine. She is so pretty.

I’m going to have to practice that send the dog to jump and have it come back into heel before handler passes the plane of the jump. I hadn’t seen it done before so I’m glad you included it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lily cd re
#9 ·
Skylar since you have done agility work you shouldn't have any problem with that send to jump. I have been practicing it recently since Lily missed it at our last trial (the morning of changing the clocks). I think she missed it because of being a little sleepy and inattentive, but she missed it so we practice it. I also practice the broad jump more often now since she ticked it that day in the afternoon the first time we saw it.
 
#10 ·
Yes, I think she should pick this up quickly. We do something similar but she comes into heel past to the plane of the jump before the next sign. This is different because the dog jumps forward then has to turn and go back to you into heel. I do think agility helps in this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lily cd re
#11 ·
I love watching your videos. Thanks for posting them. Some of those Rally Master signs are hard to figure out, so I appreciate watching you and Lily doing them.
 
#12 ·
Thank you for those kind words about my videos. They don't have a lot of production bells and whistles, but I do always hope they provide useful information for people. If you ever have a particular sign you want demonstrated just let me know and I will try to capture it and post it. This assumes that the queen cooperates! I also posted a few new Javelin videos you might want to check out.
 
#14 ·
Alright everyone, wish us luck from the rally gods tomorrow and Sunday. We are in Rhode Island for three trials in two days. Tomorrow there are two trials and Sunday there is one. The master walk thrus are at 8:00 AM each day (a bit early for the queen). The entries are also pretty small with only three to five dogs in all classes so it is going to fly along. The 2nd master walk thru tomorrow is on the program for 10:45. I think it may be pretty intense, but we are going to aim high and hope for the three triple Qs and nice scores to rack up some points. I will update when we are finished tomorrow and after we get home on Sunday.
 
#15 ·
Wow, you’re in Rhode Island, I used to live there many years ago.

Good luck with the three trials.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lily cd re
#20 ·
Oh boy are we tired, but...


We got two triple Qs today! Unfortunately we did not get any master points, so we are temporarily lagging on that 150 points towards the 300 total needed for the RACh. However we did get three first places, a 2nd place, a 4th place, points from excellent and advanced along with the first trial exc/adv high combined.


This was a very hectic pair of trials. The entries we somewhat low so everything was very fast. We started at 8:00 (and I had only gotten one crate set up for Lils around 7:40 and had to leave Javelin in the car) with the first master run. We got an 82 which I was not surprised with since this was our first time at this venue and Lily didn't have a lot of time to settle into the surroundings. She collected her head well and got a 98 in excellent and 98 in advanced for the high combined. The second trial started at 10:50 and then we went flying through the three classes before noon. The second master run wasn't pretty (76), but the excellent and advanced classes went much better (89 and 99 respectively). I think the pace of things was a bit of a challenge, but she collected for the last course very beautifully.



Lily has been having a really good afternoon sleep since we got back to the hotel.


BTW I can't get over some of the nonsense from the conformation people. Several dogs urinated in one ring and in the main aisle between obedience/rally rings and the conformation rings and I saw a cocker spaniel defecate in the open floor area near the rally ring that was being used for warm up. The handler did pick up the poo, but seriously are you kidding me? That kind of stuff gets you NQd when it happens in obedience and rally if it happens in the ring, so obedience and rally handlers generally have potty on command and make sure their dogs are voided before they show up at the ring entrance.


Here are some pictures of my sweet partner.


Green Dog Canidae Dog breed Textile


Dog Dog breed Canidae Mammal Carnivore


Dog Canidae Dog breed Companion dog Carnivore
 
#23 ·
What a lovely haul of ribbons - congratulation. But it's too bad you didn't earn any points towards your RACh. It sounds like it was very stressful due to the pace and you not having time to crate Javelin when you first got there. Lily is wonderful for working so hard under those circumstances.

As for conformation - disappointing that so many are having potty accidents. Now some of them are still puppies and they are excited making it more difficult. But anyone who competes in dog sports know you potty your dog before going into the ring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lily cd re
#24 ·
What a lovely haul of ribbons - congratulation. But it's too bad you didn't earn any points towards your RACh. It sounds like it was very stressful due to the pace and you not having time to crate Javelin when you first got there. Lily is wonderful for working so hard under those circumstances.

As for conformation - disappointing that so many are having potty accidents. Now some of them are still puppies and they are excited making it more difficult. But anyone who competes in dog sports know you potty your dog before going into the ring.



We did earn 25 points, just not master points. You need 150 from master and 150 from advanced and excellent. We now have 83 points total, but only 16 from master. If by the time we get our 20 triple Qs we still need master points then we will go back to just doing master legs to collect what we need.


The cocker spaniel that pooped wasn't a puppy. I actually think it might have been a special and the handler clearly was expecting the dog to go since she had a wad of paper towels in her hand. It was very rainy most of the morning, but even Queen Lily pottied outside.
 
#25 ·
Lovely ribbons and a fantastic job. I have yet to try triple Q. It sounds hard on the handler, let alone the dog. High five and hugs!
 
#26 ·
We are home! It was another speed demon of a trial this morning! The entries were small especially for triple Qs (only 3 of us) and a couple of extra Master dogs. Today we got Master points with a score of 95 (which gives 6 points) and then a 95 (6 points) in excellent and to finish out a 97 (for 7 points) for advanced. We had placements of 4th, 2nd and 3rd.


Overall I am very pleased with how things went this weekend. Lily showed me she has the stamina and enjoyment to do this monumentous project with me. I lasted pretty well despite not even having a chair to sit on since the crating was very tight. Thankfully all of the sets of courses were well nested so after I got through the master course in each trial I didn't have to do more than one walk thru for the other classes.


One thing I wish I had been able to deal with differently was Javelin. I pulled his Beginner Novice entry and have no regrets on that since the afternoon conformation rings were going when we would have been in for our run and I think he would have been overwhelmed. He has made such great progress with so I didn't want to do anything to take any of that apart. Having decided that though, I never had a crate set up for him because by the time I had a chance to go get it the space next to Lily had been grabbed by conformation people. Sadly he spent most of the weekend in the car. Thankfully the weather was cool and with windows open a bit he was fine. I did take him out to do some training around the traffic of conformation dogs yesterday and while he started out pretty distracted he did collect his head nicely so that was time well spent.



Since we finished early we hit the road early and made it onto a 2:00 ferry (rather than the 5:00 I had reserved on). Thus we are really home three hours earlier than I had anticipated.
 
#27 ·
I'm impressed with both Lily and your stamina. Those are long days when you compete and not to have a chair to sit in due to tight crating space is really annoying. Your campaign is definitely working.

But poor Javelin, this couldn't have been a fun weekend for him. I'm glad you were able to get that earlier ferry so you can relax and prepare for work on Monday.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lily cd re
#28 ·
Glad you made it home safely and everything went well. Congrats on those Master points, and the rest, too. Not being able to repeat a sign makes Master really hard. I'm impressed that you both were able to do so many runs in a weekend and not get completely confused with all the different courses. Rest. You earned it. And then onward, onward, you'll get a RaCh and you'll hear me cheering all the way from here.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top