# The Purina National Dog Show - aka Finnegan's latest accomplishment



## cavon

Finnegan and I participated in Rally Obedience trials this weekend at the Purina National Dog Show – the Canadian Kennel Club’s (CKC) big annual show.

We successfully completed our CKC Rally novice title with scores of 94/100, 98/100 & 90/100. In each trial we earned a class placement – 4th place each time. I am especially proud of this latest title because we competed in the class that includes breeders and professional trainers, so getting a class placement even once was a coup, let alone placing each day!!

I have attached a couple of photos and a link to our run that score 98/100


----------



## ArreauStandardPoodle

Very nice! Congrats to you both! Is it difficult to learn the signs? Q and I are going to begin classes in April. I am more worried about me than him...lol!


----------



## Countryboy

Way to go, Finnigan! 

I got two legs of Spud's RN while he was with me. 

Finnigan got some great scores! We were happy with anything above 70(?) tho.  lol


----------



## cavon

Most of the time it is handler error that causes people to lose points!

I think nerves play a big part when it comes time for the competition. I have seen longtime competitors miss signs on courses or do the wrong move. Also, you have to be very careful that your dog completes each station. That is, if it is a "sit" that the dog puts his bottom right down on the floor before you move on or you will lose big points in the CKC and have a non-qualifying run in the UKC, AKC and CARO.

It is not hard to learn the signs, but you have to practice regularly to reinforce the move for the dog. 

This run was from Saturday, when it was very crowded and noisy at the show. Finnegan loves the people and I was a bit concerned that he would be more intersted in looking at them than paying attention to my commands! LOL!! He put his game face on and was a trooper and I was extremely proud of him!


----------



## cavon

Frank, my goal was three scores of 71 considering who we were competing with!! 98 is the highest score we have ever received! that day, two people tied at 99 and two of us tied at 98, so it came down to a time comparison. Imagine scoring 98 and ending up in 4th place? A woman told me that once she scored a perfect score of 100 and ended up in 5th place!


----------



## Chagall's mom

*cavon*:_Congratulations _yet again!!:cheers2:You and your amazing Bijou boy are going to wear my hands out from clapping!!:clap2: I am continually wowed by your commitment and success in training and competing with your magnificent red spoo. Finnengan's eagerness to learn and perform is outstanding! His tail_ must_ be motorized--it's_ always_ wagging! It always astounds me that just two short years ago Finnegan came to live with you as a _pet_, and he's gone on to set records and achieve _so_ many titles!:highfive: That lovely red Bijou spoo and you are an inspiring and winning combination!! _Woohoo_ to you two!!:cheers: You know to give him a major hug from me, and a generous portion of his favorite eats, too, but I'll still remind you!!!:smile:


----------



## petitpie

Congratulations to you and Finnegan!


----------



## cavon

Thanks, Chagall's Mom! 

I couldn't have been more proud of how Finnegan performed over the weekend! The venue itself was daunting and noisy and then with the crowds added it was a tough task for all of the competitors, human and canine. 

A lot of the spectators wanted to pet the dogs and of course the children just love to see the dogs. Most of the competitors were very generous in giving time to people who were asking questions about their breed and encouraging children and instructing them on how to approach and pet a dog. It was really nice to see and meet either owners of your breed who wanted to chat, or people considering a pet, many for the first time who had questions. It really gave all participants to be ambassadors for their individual breeds, even though we all know that no other breed can compare to our beloved poodles!!!! ;-) 

I thought everyone did a stellar job, there were very few non-qualifying runs over the whole weekend.

I was also quite impressed with the camaraderie between the conformation people and the performance people. On both Friday and Saturday as I was leaving the venue, some handlers that I have met on occasion at different shows saw me carrying the rosette we won and asked to see it and also commented on how lovely Finnegan looked - he was freshly groomed for the event.

On Saturday, the handler who asked to see the ribbon turned to her helper and said, "Now getting a placement in that is real work. If you think grooming and taking a dog around a ring is hard, it is nothing compared to the amount of work that goes into earning a placement in a performance sport."

I think that is one of the nicest things that anyone has said since I hve been showing and competing with Finnegan!


----------



## Countryboy

cavon said:


> Most of the time it is handler error that causes people to lose points!


We used to take as fact that 'most of the time' was pretty much 100%!  lol



cavon said:


> He put his game face on and was a trooper and I was extremely proud of him!


Aww... he looked just great. Very steady . . and a trooper for sure!  Against pretty stiff competition!!


----------



## Rowan

*Congratulations to both Cavon and Finnegan!* Blue looks good on your lovely red boy.  

:cheers2: :clap2: :cheers2: :clap2: :cheers2: :clap2:

You keep raising the bar and he not only meets it but surpasses it. Finnegan is proof that poodles can achieve anything, and he's a superb example of our beloved breed! (Of course, having an _awesome_ human helps a lot!  )


----------



## Fluffyspoos

Very nice! And OMG! The ears on that boy! Can he teach Vienna how to grow ears like that without eating them?


----------



## pudel luv

_ WAY TO GO FINNEGAN and CAVON_

_You did it AGAIN !!! You make a GREAT TEAM !!!_


----------



## cavon

Thanks to everyone for all of your kind words! 

now we have to focus on practicing off leash so we will hopefully do as well at the advanced level as we have done at the novice level! 

Fluffyspoos, Finnegan's ears have just grown back after his niece, Blossom, spent a couple of weeks swinging off them when she visited with us for a few weeks last fall!! I guess I'm lucky because the only time he chews at them is if I try to wrap or band them, so I just brush them a lot and let them fly free! LOL!! 

Actually, he grows coat really quickly and his coat has become more coarse as he has matured. We ran into a groomer at the show that has known him since he was a pup and she commented on how beautiful his coat was.


----------



## PoodlePowerBC

Congrats to Finnegan and yourself!!! He is a beauty! With brains


----------



## schpeckie

WOW THAT IS AWESOME! CONGRATULATIONS TO FINNEGAN - BEAUTIFUL JOB! :cheers2:
Lots of kisses from the girls!


----------



## cavon

OOOh, Lacey & Sadie, Finnegan LOVES kisses from pretty girls!!!


----------



## cavon

I know how we all HATE inane post by OP's just to keep their threads current, but I am going to be guilty of it just this one!

Our judge photo from Purina arrived today and I have just uploaded our last video from the event as well!


----------



## Chagall's mom

The judge's photo came out _great!!_:camera: I got a kick out of the part in the video where Finnengan hears a baby babbling in the crowd and looks to see where it is, then goes back to work. What a happy performer he is, and such a crowd pleaser!:whoo:


----------



## petitpie

Always happy to see such a handsome boy!


----------



## papoodles

*Glory days!*

How wonderful that Finnegan continues his exciting adventures and does you so proud- your boy is on a roll and is just unstoppable... Accolade after accolade coming his way; way to go, Finnegan!
And I know exactly from whence he gets his brains, drive, stamina- you, Crystal!! Saw it first hand when we spent the day together at Westminster
You two make it all happen! What a team..


----------

