# One day's work in the AKC arena....



## kukukachoo

lol- um, we laid by the pool! 

I don't know what all those ribbons are for, but it looks impressive! Congrats!


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## cavon

LOL!! laying by the pool sounds like fun too!!


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## liljaker

I really think you and Finnegan need to organize your own kennel club, maybe the FKC, named after Finnegan himself!


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## cavon

LOL!!! FKC LOL!!

Well, I wish I could say that all of the ribbons and rosettes were Finnegan's but they are not, the other Bijou poodles did a lot of winning today too!

Finnegan's are only those on the green chair..still not too bad for one day, if I do say so myself!!


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## Marcoislandmom

Too bad Canada is so far away. I would have enjoyed joining the Bijou team with my Karat. Maybe at Premier next year.


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## cavon

Oh we'll meet up one day, MIM!! I would love to watch Karat strut her stuff in person!


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## Chagall's mom

Kudos to all the magnificent winning reds!! What a successful day! Over here the highlights of the poodle's day included playing catch, walking in the creek while it rained buckets, and a short stint on the grooming table for a nail trim. A very low key, lazy day compared to yours!:couch2:


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## cavon

That sounds good right about now, we were running from one end of the arena to the other all day!

Right now *Big Red* is flaked out on the bed and I am just about to join him, we have another big day tomorrow!


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## Marcoislandmom

Cavon, you asked what your poodle did today. Let me tell you. Karat didn't wake me this morning in time to get to Columbia SC for a "B" match because she somehow escaped her crate overnight and got into our bed .... so no crying to get out. After that, we went to Sky Dogs Dog Park and she had her first lure coursing experience, which, surprisingly, she seemed to like. Their course is not like the ones Finnegan runs. It is small, tight and has jumps. After that, she decided to explore the ponds and puddles on the property til she turned brown. I had to hose her off before she could get back in the car. Once home, she went into the shower and left (not exagerating) a 1/4 of dirt on the floor. I'm exhausted, however she is now throwing her toys into the air and then catching them before they hit the ground. I'm soooo ready to call it quits for the night...but one more walk first.


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## cavon

LOLOLOL!!!!! Sounds like you will be busy at competitions with that little one in short order, MIM!!!


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## Chagall's mom

* Marcoislandmom*: If you can find a way to transfer some of Karat's energy to me, I'm game to receive it!!:wink:

Good luck tomorrow,* Cavon*!:clover:


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## lily cd re

We did nothing much yesterday since the weather here was really weird and this is our last weekend to be couch potatoes until late October.

Here is our schedule for the next five weekends:
September 14-16, Cranberry Cluster, Cape Cod, open A and RAE legs all three days
September 21, Quinnipiac Poodle Club, open A and RAE (I better have the open title by the time we leave there)
September 22, 23, novice agility and novice jumpers both days on Long Island
September 28-30, Long Island Cluster, RAE for Lily all three days, open A (for an outside run) on Saturday and Rally novice for Peeves Friday and Sunday
October 6, 7, novice agility and novice jumpers both days on Long Island (with good luck maybe I will be able to move to open on Sunday that weekend
October 13, 14, cpe agility on Long Island

Then I have two weekends at home before picking up some other events (plans not final for those yet, have to see what happens in September/October).

Wish us focus and a little bit of luck. The AKC trials will be our first agility in this venue. 

We went to the Susque-Nango Kennel Club trials in Binghamton in July hoping to get CDX done there, but had one automatic NQ each day (something different each time, ugh!), so I still only have one leg. She worked really nicely all of those days and if we had qualified any of those three days we would have placed and been in the mid to high 180s. I asked her why she decided to do automatic NQ instead of points off things, but she wouldn't tell me.:wink:


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## Quossum

Love your set-up with all the matching blue crates! Oh, and all the lovely ribbons, too!

Lazy this weekend...Agility season starts up soon, though!

--Q


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## cavon

lily cd re - you need to rest up!!! Good luck!!! You never know, Finnegan and I might just turn up in your neck of the woods one day and then he and lily can compete together!!

Quossom - can't wait to hear about your agility trials!!

I LOVE performance events!! Finnegan and I are working on some new ones to add to his repertoire too!

lily, I hear you about the nq's.. Finnegan broke his long sit with about 5 seconds left in the exercise today. I asked him why and he told me that the Brittany spaniel beside him did it, so he thought that he should too! Even the judge was annoyed with him and said to me before we set them for the long down, "so close to the end of the exercise - argghh!" Five seconds longer and we would have earned our second leg!!! Oh well!!

Yesterday, just as we were about to begin off leash heeling, the judge said, ready, I said yes, he said forward, I said Finnegan heel and at that very second, in the ring right beside us, the handler tossed his dumbbell for his dog to retrieve and I guess Finnegan thought it was for him to retrieve because he broke and tore down to the corner and stood there!! At first I didn't even realize what had happened, but when I saw the dumbbell and the other dog retrieving it, I knew!!

Oh well, he did get one leg and earned a third place yesterday, so I'm happy with that! There were 7 dogs in the class and only three of us qualified!! Another Bijou pup took first, and Finnegan took third. Not bad for our first obedience outing!

Yesterday we took first place in Advanced rally and today we took third, with other Bijou pups taking first and fourth!!

We were working nine dogs in total over the weekend, four in obedience and 8 in rally and everyone did really well. The people at the show, some of whom are used to this size of poodle entry from us, were loving it! Our rings were at opposite ends of an indoor football arena and our set up was in the middle, so the handlers got our exercise running dogs back and forth for two days as well! 

Finnegan and I had an absolute ball and we are loading up the car for our next event in NJ next Saturday!! Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!


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## lily cd re

cavon, thanks for the empathy regarding nq's. Sorry to hear you had bad luck mixed in with your successes (congrats on those). 

I can beat your story about the dumbbell. Thankfully I only witnessed this as a steward. We had two obedience rings next to each other with a shared set of baby gates in between. One ring was getting ready for novice B sits and the other ring had someone doing open B. The open B person threw her dumbbell over the high jump. One of the novice dogs saw it fly, jumped over the ring gates, took the dumbbell and went back to the novice ring with it. The novice handler was mortified. The open handler was pretty unhappy but the judge gave her time to recollect her dog and they did qualify.

Wish us success. I will update as we go through all those trials. Maybe we will run together some time.:act-up:


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## Chagall's mom

I guess it's on all performance enthusiast’s agenda to have fun and give it their all, and to expect their poodles to do the same. I do adore the resiliency and sportsmanship of a good competitor; able to withstand the ups and downs of dumbbells flying through the air at just the wrong time, or a random dog leaping over the ring gates. You have to love what you're doing, and your poodle, to be able to laugh when you feel like crying. That's a real winner for you, making the best of things and getting ready for the next fun chance to excel. You folks are sensational!!:adore:


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## cavon

Loads and loads of good luck and focus from Finnegan and I!!!!!


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## lily cd re

Thanks cavon. 

Chagall's Mom, the saddest thing I ever saw at the first big cluster I went to was a woman who was angry with her dog for an nq. Even when we nq I always tell Lily I love her and that I know she tried hard and that I am proud of her. 

The best though is when we qualify with a placement and there is a dog toy prize. She gets wildly excited in the ring. She jumps for joy and takes it from me before the judge finishes giving the awards and that toy becomes her favorite. Right now she has two toys that she won that are among her constant high value toys. One of them is in her mouth right now.

Trialing together has added so much to our relationship.


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## cavon

I agree, Catherine. I hate to see people admonish their dogs when they fail. I give Finnegan a pat and a cuddle and tell him that we'll get it next time. I have been very fortunate, he has succeeded much more often than he has failed!

LOL!!! Finnegan loves those toy awards too! He looks at me like - okay you can have the ribbon, I have the good thing!!

Please keep us updated on your trials this fall!


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## lily cd re

I am working seriously on the utility exercises. The articles are very stressful so far for both of us. She hates the metal and isn't solid on the leather either. I am trying to remind myself that I am the one who picked this job for us, not her and to keep it as positive as I can. The great thing about poodles in obedience is watching the ones that enjoy it. I know a few people who have had other breeds with UD/UDX titles where you watched the dog and it acted like it was in the gulag or on the Bataan death march, very sad. Aren't we lucky to have poodles that think it is funny when they mess up?

I've made a number of unrequited donations to clubs recently, hoping that won't be the case in this round of activity. I will happily brag if appropriate and tell my tragic tales too when I have them. Thanks for all the good wishes all of you.:angel:


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## lily cd re

It has been hectic since I got back from Cape Cod. Here's the update I promised on how we did. We got RAE legs 3-5. Took first in rally excellent b class on Saturday. We actually got the back up 3 steps dog stays in position for the first time in a trial! Sadly, that is the extent of my good news.

We nq'd open A all three days. It was a really nice show, but the building was not a really finished building. It is an exhibit building for the county fair with large sliding barn doors on the ends. These were open for air circulation. Also the floor was asphalt with just the thin mats the show superintendents provide. I also had my mom traveling with us and Lily isn't used to having other people she loves around. Anyway I figured out a bunch of new things to proof against.

At least we had lots of company to get tea and sympathy with. No open A dogs q'd on Friday or Saturday and only one q'd on Sunday. Also if we were playing baseball getting hits on 6 out of 9 at bats would be pretty awesome.

Quinnipiac Poodle Club obedience (hopeless A again) and rally this Friday, then novice agility on Saturday and Sunday close to home. I don't really expect to q in agility, but need to go so that I can learn the ropes for timing my warms up and everything else.


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## Marcoislandmom

Try it a bit more before you decde Lily doesn't like it. Some babes just need to get accustomed to new activities. You know your girl...however giving her the abiliity to nix an activity is not necessarily in her best interests.


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## lily cd re

I think I was just asking her to cope with too many new variables in the whole scheme as far as the Open A entries were concerned this past weekend. She actually has been complimented as a nice working dog by a number of judges and I know she really likes to perform in the obedience ring. 

If I bring my mom with me in the future I will train with her around the ring beforehand, so that Lily doesn't get distracted by her presence. The judge on Sunday asked me who Lily had been looking for during the heeling (and normally she is a very nice heeler), so mom being there (usually we leave everybody else at home) was a distraction. Actually I think she was hoping that she could escape to my mom as a refuge from doing anything.

We will keep working. She is very smart and if I don't give her jobs, the ones she makes up for herself are truly ugly (stealing off the kitchen counters, out of the laundry, bossing Peeves around, etc.). I have every confidence that I can get her a UDX with time and patient persistence.


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## Marcoislandmom

Catherine, when my Karat was in the confirmation ring, for the first stage, she kept looking at me (she was with her handler). For winners, I hid out of sight so she would move more freely. Hopefully you mom nearly during training will work. If you see she is still distracted, you may have to ask your mom to do what I did while Karat was in winners, which is hide.


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## lily cd re

I actually had her leave the building while were in open on Friday and Saturday. She left before I got Lily out to warm up. I think she was better those days and Sunday I had her stay because things hadn't been great the first two days so I wanted to try a different picture. Lily stopped during the heel at one point and stood looking over her shoulder in my mom's direction. Hiding was better, but not great so i think training for the idea of her other people being around is the way to go. 

When I was in Binghamton in July she worked beautifully, but we just had one thing each day that happened to be an automatic nq. One of the judges there is someone who I know is tough in her scoring on heeling and we only lost 4.5 points for heel free/figure 8 that day. I just have to remember that open A is for green dogs. Lily only turned 4 this month so I know we have accomplished a lot to be in open already. It will happen.

Thanks for the encouraging words.:angel2:


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## cavon

BIG CONGRATULATIONS on your successes!!!!! You will get there in open, don't distress! I agree that the slightest change to the dog's routine is a HUGE distraction for them. My sister loves to watch Finnegan work, but he just loves her so much that I always make her hide out of sight when we go into the ring.

I just know you will get your open in no time at all! 

Finnegan and I were off to NJ last weekend and we did two lure coursing trials on Saturday. As always, he ran his heart out and now only needs two more runs to earn his CAA title in the AKC. I even managed to catch him and get him to release the lure really quickly at the end of each trial - which is really the big success of the weekend!!! LOL!!!

The trials were held on a beautiful polo field, there were about 75 dogs entered in each trial, it was a GORGEOUS comfortable, sunny September day, the club holding the trials was extremely organized and we had Chagall's Mom and Chagall there to cheer us on! I couldn't have asked for anything more! Watching my glorious red boy run a two minute course in 51 seconds with his ears flying and his fur glistening in the sun with wonderful friends and a BEAUTIFUL silver mini cheering him on - PRICELESS!!!!!


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## cavon

Just thought that I would share our show photo from the Rally/Obedience show in Amherst, NY. I figured that Finnegan earned the right to rest in his chair after all he accomplished that weekend!!! LOL!!!


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## lily cd re

Love it.


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## cavon

I just received some photos of Finnegan lure coursing in Colt's Neck , NJ on the weekend! I think you can sense just how much he loves doing this and how glorious he is in full stride from them!!

Nothing gives me more joy than to watch him running at full tilt, free, enjoying every second of it!


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## Chagall's mom

Oh yeah, Chagall and I were there to feel the wind when Finnengan zoomed by!!:canada: What a rush!! A real blaze of glory that big red blur, grinning from ear to ear, all decked out in his green vest and matching leg wraps. Chagall ignored the lure _completely,_ finding the crowd, and me, most of all, more alluring. (I _love _that about him!!:love2 As Crystal observed, he's more of a rally dog, so we may start down that road ourselves. Crystal left us with the rally notebook and some tips.:usa2:


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## liljaker

Great! You do rally with Chagall and by spring Sunny should be ready and Chagall can mentor Sunny! Of course, we have to come visit for that! Great you and Chagall were there to cheer Finnegan on, and enjoy the excitement! And, honestly, since Sunny has learned about bunnies and squirrels, I doubt he would be interested in luring either -- except, of course, if there was a live critter he was chasing. Then, look out!!!


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## cavon

LOL!!! liljaker, you might be surprised, I think Finnegan just loves the idea of running free and chasing whatever is attached! In the UKC a piece of rabbit fur is placed between two white plastic bags, but in the AKC only plastic bags are used.

I think the only way to see if your dog will engage is to take him to an event and watch his reaction. Finnegan was never trained for this, he has a high prey drive and the first time he saw it he was really amped up and took off!


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