Saccarappa Show and Go

Ella and I spent Sunday at the Show and Go in Westbrook. We had a great time hanging out with other dog people. The building was quiet, there was plenty of parking and there were not a lot of people.

What we did right:
Ella peed 3 times outside on cue.
She stayed in her crate without crying.
She only greeted dogs with permission (though this still needs work).
She did not act nervous.
She entered the building nicely, without trying to run away.
Ella stood in place for the Stand Walk Around!
Ella took the jump nicely.

What we need improvement on:
Entering the ring.
Removing the leash and holding the collar.
Off leash heeling.
Distractions on the floor (food, stains on the flooring, etc).
Not sniffing the signs.
Me knowing where she is while doing the course.
Not skipping signs.
Pressure from the judge (Why is this stranger following us around?!?)

What I wish didn’t happen:
Ella stealing Donna’s string cheese (sigh).
Me touching Ella in the ring (she thought I was correcting her and decided that she had had enough, but I was really just patting her and moving her closer to me).
Ella trying to leave the ring and being afraid of the judge when she did that.

I will admit that Sunday night, I was feeling very discouraged. I could not stop going over what we did wrong and I worried that we would be abysmal failures at our trial in April, which is only 3 weeks away. I had to think hard about what we did right and completely focus on that. If I don’t then I will be so nervous that we will be bound to fail in April. So, I have some goals for the remaining time we have before the Casco Bay trials and a few goals for the trial itself.

I want to point out that I deliberately did not choose “Qualifying” as one of my goals. This is because it really puts pressure on us. If Ella and I were able to attend more classes and more fun matches, then our goals might be different. We might have to use these trials this year just as training and getting used to the show atmosphere.

Next three weeks:
Practice heeling for 5 minutes each day.
Work on signs.
Run a few courses.
Work on leash removal and collar grabs.

Day of the trial:
Enter ring smoothly.
Take off leash without stress.
Do the first 3 signs well.