Sunday, August 1, 2010

ASCA Rally Debut

Yesterday was Dare's first official trial of any kind. Utah held it's first ASCA Rally Obedience trial and I thought it would be a great thing for Dare and I to try. We had a great time! There were about 17 dogs in our class, which is pretty big for ASCA in our area. Since this was the first Rally trial ASCA has held here, there were very experienced dogs mixed in with the total newbies. I figured it would be an accomplishment if we were even able to qualify, but if not it would be good experience anyway.

Well...Dare not only qualified, she tied for first place with a 199 out of 200! The tie is broken by the fastest time, so we ended up with second place. I'm still just walking around on cloud nine. What a nice way to debut! Here's the video:




I can see lots of footwork errors on my part and I think that our friend that we train with will still have lots of little hints to improve our heeling, but all in
all, Dare was awesome. :-) If you watch close you can see where just before the figure eight station, Dare hops up and gets her leash tangled between her legs. The judge let me fix that though, and apparently didn't deduct any points. So, that was nice.

One of our friends was nice enough to not only video, but also to take some still pictures for us too. Thanks Katie!!!



Oh, and I almost forgot. The really cool thing about ASCA's Rally program is that if you get a score of 195 or higher, you get what they call an "X" Q. If you get all three of you Q's that way, instead of the regular RN title, you get a RNX title. Isn't that fun! It's definitely something to work towards. :-)

8 comments:

  1. Wow! Great job! You had to be in the ring for a LONG time. Dare's attention span was incredible. I saw her leash get tangled, and was thinking, "oh no, that would drive me crazy!" So, I'm glad the judge let you fix it. When you walked around Dare, while she sat, I thought, "oh, relaxation protocol in a real life situation." LOL.

    Congratulations on your first & q! What a great debut!

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  2. Congratulations to you and Dare on her first trial and her first Q and second place too! Good job!! She did great! Love the photo of the two of you too!

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  3. wow, NICE JOB, that is sooo exciting. You guys look like such Pros out there, that is really neat you got video. That is TERRIFIC!!!! CONGRATS!!!! Kathy

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  4. You both did awesome! Dare is such a hard and happy worker! It was a joy to be there and see her in her first trial.
    :)
    Katie, Meeka and Maizey

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  5. Huge congrats, Marie! You did an awesome job with Dare and you both deserve it!!

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  6. Wow! I got a chance this morning to watch the video, very very nice! I did see the little hop and wondered, then saw you look back at the judge. I have the sound off, so as not to incite the barking machine I have here, the one I call Katie.

    You guys sure looked like you had done this before!

    Congratulations!!!!!!!!

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