We did our first APDT Rally Trial today. It was a mixed bag of good and bad... bad, I totally missed a sign - which in APDT is an automatic NQ. OOPSIE DAISY!
Having said that... Squash was really engaged and "on" today... he gave me more attention and enthusiasm heeling than I think he ever has at a trial. He's usually very, very distracted and while his attention did wander here and there today he was really easy to get back. I'm super, super proud of him because distraction and "checking out" has been something we've really struggled with. I spoke to the judge afterwards and we would have scored 202 (out of 210) if I hadn't walked by the sign (and assuming we hadn't lost any points on it), and she had really nice things to say about our performance so I'm thrilled despite the NQ. (I think she was more disappointed by the NQ than I was, LOL).
Anyway, here's some video. At the end is where she's telling me how great we did except that I missed a sign. It's obvious which one I miss, I was just looking at my dog instead of my course. Live and learn.
[YOUTUBE]ZC_9rxBzOY4[/YOUTUBE]
Having said that... Squash was really engaged and "on" today... he gave me more attention and enthusiasm heeling than I think he ever has at a trial. He's usually very, very distracted and while his attention did wander here and there today he was really easy to get back. I'm super, super proud of him because distraction and "checking out" has been something we've really struggled with. I spoke to the judge afterwards and we would have scored 202 (out of 210) if I hadn't walked by the sign (and assuming we hadn't lost any points on it), and she had really nice things to say about our performance so I'm thrilled despite the NQ. (I think she was more disappointed by the NQ than I was, LOL).
Anyway, here's some video. At the end is where she's telling me how great we did except that I missed a sign. It's obvious which one I miss, I was just looking at my dog instead of my course. Live and learn.
[YOUTUBE]ZC_9rxBzOY4[/YOUTUBE]