Pixel, Kort, Bosley and Swift raced on Saturday night and did great!!! I am just so proud of how far these dogs have come. It is hard to put into words just how awful those first couple trials were. Our dogs acted as though they had never been trained. This weekend you could actually see it coming together. We were successful in nearly every race. (7 of them). Yay for Us!
We did things a little differently though- which helped to make us more successful I am sure.
First off we made sure that our dogs came first. To make a good impression on the other teams (which can be intimidating) we are ALWAYS volunteering. This time I told the team to make sure not to volunteer the race right before ours. We took our dogs out to watch (the ones who need the excitement anyway :) ) and let them see what we wanted. That alone made a big difference I think.
Also we practiced before-hand. Before the scenthurdle was even set up we found a quiet space and just sent our dogs to the box a few times- lots of rewarding and telling them how wonderful they were. And it worked!
Our dogs were focused 100% in the first three races. There was no looking in the other lane, just down and back to the box. Our times weren't great- but we were clean. And that was a great feeling.
When we switched lanes on the fourth race that's when it started to fall apart a bit. Swift lost her brain a bit and crossed over. She went up to meet two dogs, and after that I made the decision to run her last, and to hold her until the other team was done. This worked very, very well. We didn't win any races this way- BUT- the dogs were successful. Both Swift and the oppposing dogs. I think that we will continue to do this until Swift has more races under her belt. She is not an aggressive dog, but she is very excited by movement and often acts without thinking. I believe that with more experience and SUCCESS that she will continue to get better.
All in all I am just so proud of us. We really are the underdogs- Scenthurdle is a hard sport to break into. The teams, and the rules have been there forever and newcomers aren't welcomed by all. But slowly we are gaining fans. :) A few people have taken us under their wing so to speak and have been very helpful and nice. It is much appreciated that's for sure!
Also I need to thank Michelle (from the green team) for Box Loading almost every race!! She may be little but she is very awesome and did a great job. Thanks to Kim, and Christina who also stood in as a box loader for us. It was nice to know that things like this can be covered if neccesary.
We will be participating in a demo on Saturday at 1pm. Henderson Lake at that Kiwanis Picnic Shelter. If we can have people there by 12:30 at the latest to set up and get their dogs settled that would be awesome.
I also would like to do a practice on Sunday 7:30 at Henderson Lake. We will meet at the parking lot by the Japanese Gardens. (I think that's the Mayor Magrath side)
