Birthday Bliss

Up before the birds this morning for a road trip to Dunkirk, NY.  Imagine my excitement when I discovered that lure coursing was my birthday present!

After earning 2 more AKC CAA (Coursing Ability Advanced) Qs,
 I completed my AKC Rally Novice title.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my littermates!

Wednesday's Work

January 11, 2014

Nickel City Cluster

AKC
Beginner Novice

Obedience Title

The blizzard that hit parts of Buffalo ended on Tuesday and the roads were cleared on Wednesday (there had been a driving ban) so we headed out first thing Thursday morning. Wow, we crossed the border into a sea of white. Route 5 runs along Lake Erie and as far as the eye could see the lake was ice and snow! 

Shortly after we arrived at the Nickel City Cluster, I passed my very first attempt at Beginner Novice Obedience (BN) with a score of 187.5/200. Several hours later, I earned my second Rally-O leg with a score of 93/100 (my first and only other AKC Rally-O run was way back in April 2012).  

Since the weather was co-operative, we drove home Thursday night and returned Friday morning (a very slushy drive). Very shortly after arriving at the venue, I earned my second BN leg with a score of 187. After more than 6 hours of waiting around, it was Rally-O time. Or NOT! Yep, my Achilles heel got the better of me, again. Two-thirds through the run came the "Sit-Down" station and I gave into temptation BIG TIME!!! Although, I started to "down",  it was my tongue that hit the floor and not my elbows. Up until then, it was a passing run. From that station on, it was a dismal fail. Oh, well.

The Saturday morning drive was a bit slow with slippery conditions here and there. Once over the border, we encountered a road closure on Route 5 due to flooding and had to take a detour which nearly made us late for my BN run. In spite of our hurried entrance into the building, I earned my third BN leg with a score of 191 and my first AKC Obedience title.

Had we known it was going to be a 7 hour wait until our Rally-O run, we would have gone home at noon. As we entered the ring, it was apparent that my focus was more on the mats than on the work, so Mom made the decision to keep the leash short and taut so as to not allow me to reach the mats with my nose or tongue! This decision caused us to NQ. Oh, well. Better an NQ with my head in the air than an NQ due to a repeat performance of "lick the mats". 

It's safe to say that most, if not all, of the marks lost were due to the lure of the mats. That being said, in my defence, I have not been in a group class of any kind since last March, only managed to squeeze in a couple of private lessons in the summer and only one drop-in Rally-O class in December. So, all in all, I did a spectacular job of working in the midst of the distractions of the crowd, the other dogs outside the ring and the activities in the other ring. If only the mats had not been so intoxicatingly calling my name...

Not quite the "clean sweep" I had in the conformation ring at last year's Nickel City Cluster BUT a very successful outing nonetheless. Everyone is very proud of my earning my Beginner Novice title in 3 straight runs.

 

The snow was piled so high that I could almost see the
racehorses practicing on the other side of the high fence.

Thanks to Judges Ted Leslie and Catherine Thompson and all the volunteers of the Kennel Club of Niagara Falls and the Kennel Club of Buffalo.

Wednesday's Work

 Bionic Bodi, the Self-Employed Vizsla, takes a trip to Sarnia

CKC Rally Novice title!

Napping with my new toy on Sunday afternoon
We were inadvertently given an Obedience rosette (wishful thinking).

A great big thank you to the most patient of judges:
Diana MacKenzie  and  Del Lunn

Kudos to the judges and all of the Sarnia KC members who worked so hard

in sweltering humidity to keep things moving along at a brisk pace.

 

GIGANTIC SPOILER ALERT !

If you believe me to be perfect and infallible, please do not proceed FORWARD.

HALT

SIT

DOWN

WALK AROUND

(do anything but read further)

270 Right
away from your screen

  if you choose to
360 Left
be prepared to

take

3 STEPS BACKWARD,

SPIRAL
out of control
and
toss your rose-coloured glasses!


Thursday Morning

In the 15 minutes I spent in the man-cave while Mom went to fill up
the vehicle and pick up bags of ice for the cooler this happened!!!

Once again, I was framed by the most evil of evil Bowser beds!!!
You see, I had to go-go and in the name of self-preservation, the evil Bowser bed decided to distract me by unzipping and spilling its contents everywhere!!!



Thursday Evening - Monday

On Friday morning, we needed to be in 3 rings at the same time so the decision was made to scratch my first Rally and Pre-Novice runs. Although they would have held up the Rally and Obedience rings and waited for us to return from the conformation ring, based on Thursday night's correction match, it did not seem fair to make the other people and dogs wait in sweltering 100% humidity for half an hour just to witness a Vizsla hell-bent and determined to perform the best imitation of a Bloodhound in recorded history. (A video clip of such has been submitted to the Academy of Canine Theatrical Arts for consideration in the category of Best Imitation of the Hallmark of Another Breed.)

Evil Bowser bed aside, filthy floors are my arch nemesis!!! My 125 million (or more) turbinates were like magnets to the mats (judging by my stellar imitation, I may actually possess closer to the 500 million turbinates of an actual Bloodhound). For some odd reason, many people suggested that my pair of you-know-whats was to blame - this I do not understand as they are nowhere near my nose (well, most of the time, anyway)!!

You know your run is not going well when you lift your nose off the floor and you hear applause! SIGH! Mea culpa, mea culpa but dang that floor was intoxicating!

On Saturday afternoon, the lightbulb finally turned on and we earned the first Rally leg with a score of 81. I will take credit for losing 9 points and only 9 points. The other 10-point loss sits squarely on the human's shoulders for becoming discombobulated with shock and disbelief when my nose came off the floor at station 5 and she led me off-course toward station 13 (good thing she immediately returned us to station 5 and got us back on course)!

I did it!  I did it!

Many thanks to Michelle Ross for helping to turn on the lightbulb by sneaking up on me and pinching my butt!!!

Perhaps if my one Pre-Novice attempt had been on Monday instead of Sunday I would have passed. As it was, my heeling pattern looked more like tracking but I performed the figure-8 reasonably well, held my sit for exam and passed the group sit (only once did I glance longingly at the floor but my nose did not fall below the level of my belly button). The recall (the only off-leash exercise of the weekend) started off with my signature full-throttle bionic leap in the air but ended up with my nose planted on the ground instead of my butt!!!

Although I know all the Rally exercises through Excellent, it was deemed unwise to move up to Advance for our 2 runs on Monday. It wasn't worth the risk of practicing more bad behaviour as the freedom of being leash-free would have provided the opportunity to explore all the nooks and crannies that were out of reach on a 6' (now 9') leash.

To be fair, on Monday, I was in the conformation ring (outdoors) within 10 minutes of finishing a Rally run ("indoors") and showed beautifully. For a young (male) dog, this, in and of itself, was a stellar accomplishment. My second Rally run of the day (and last of the weekend) was about 2 hours later and I would have had High in Class (with a 91) had I chosen not to sniff the floor during the Halt-Down-Walk Around with my elbows in the air!!!!!  
 
On Sunday and Monday, the lightbulb flickered a little (okay, maybe a lot) but at least I finished the weekend way, way, way better than I started it (and way, way, way better than anyone would have predicted on Thursday evening...Friday...Saturday morning).

Lesson Learned

To overthrow my arch nemesis, I must start training in a barn!!!!!

Tricky Tuesday

"Do More with Your Dog"
Trick Dog Champion
Audition Videos

1.  Coordination

Push a Skateboard

 
2.  Mouth Target

2.1  Retrieve Object to Hand from 12' Away
(white tape on the floor measures 12' from the wall)

 
2.2  Pull a Rope

3.  Paw Target

Ground Target - Tap Light

 
4.  Nose Target

Hand Target

5.  Scent

Nose-Work Box Search

6.  Distance

6.1  Go to a Pedestal 20' Away

6.2  6 Cued Behaviours on a Pedestal from 12' Away
(sit, stand, drop)

(drop, head down, bark, drop, head down, sit, bark)

 (sit, wave)

7.  Signals

6 Silent Cues
(heel, about turn, sit, wait, front, swing finish, heel, spin counter-clockwise,
wrap around legs, spin c-c, bow)

8.  Behaviour Chain

Push a Truck 6' then Tip the Bin
(trick shown from 2 different angles) 

9.  Expert Tricks

9.1  ETD List:  Fishing

9.2  OTHER:  2 Jumps:  one cue - from a distance

9.3  ETD List:  Pick Pocket

9.4  OTHER:  Yawn

9.5  OTHER:  Brief Rally Routine
(heel, 360 L, U-turn R, sit-down-stand, heel, U-turn R,
send to jump, call to heel, sit)

Fingers and paws crossed, waiting to hear if we have qualified!

Stay Tuned!

Wednesday's Work

Practice Rally-O course with 15 stations way back when I was 10 months old.  We were still in the process of working out certain hand signals/verbal cues for some exercises (for example, the "moving down").

Sizzle in the Drizzle cont'd

"Action" shot of the day!

Soggy armband

Eliciting "animation" in the breed ring

Moving around the breed ring in the rain

Sun shining down on all the beauties
in Judge Joy Leiskau's Best in Show ring

Rainy Ribbon Ceremony in the Rally-O ring
"Hurry Up, Please!"

Like Mother, Like Son

Miska-Mom's 2nd High in Trial
with Judge Laurie Soutar

2 HITs for the weekend

Here's a video of part of Uncle Tyro's Rally-O run in the downpour. To go with the visual, turn up the volume and have a listen. In spite of the soaking, notice that Uncle T's tail is up and wagging!!

On Saturday, everyone was regularly running for cover.

On Sunday, everyone was seeking shade!

Sizzle in the Drizzle

June 9th

Oxford Dog Sports

United Kennel Club Show

Princeton, ON

Judge:  Joy Leiskau

BEST IN SHOW

First outdoor show

First day in the ring with Breeder/Co-owner Sylvia Dorosh

My UKC name is now:

BIS URO1 Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban

Thank you to Laurie Soutar of Oxford Dog Sports, all the judges, and all the great volunteers for a fabulous day of Conformation, Rally-O and Weight Pull in spite of the variable weather (intermittent drizzle and downpours with brief moments of sunshine).  

I was entered in Conformation and Miska-Mom and Uncle Tyro were entered in Rally-O.  For their first run they placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively.  For their second run, Tyro scored a 93 even though he had to work through a torrential downpour and Miska-Mom earned a perfect score of 100 and High in Trial (HIT)!

Miska-Mom with Sylvia and Judge Deb Beean

Sylvia, Miska-Mom and Uncle Tyro

4 Rally-O Qs + HIT + BIS

WOW

What a great day of fun and success for the Varazs pups!

My First AKC Rally Q

 Judge: Mrs. Catherine M. Thompson

Vizsla Club of America National Events
Eighth Annual Rally Trial
April 30th - Huron, OH

Here's a slideshow of a few of the exercises from our Rally run (Phyllis Ensley Photography).

The minimum passing score is 70 and a perfect score is 100 – we were right in the middle with an 85. Being the youngest participant in the Rally trial (the next youngest was 1½ yr old Ash – kudos to Alex & Ash on their 2^nd place finish in Novice A!), working in the biggest room I’d ever been in filled with dozens of people and Vizslas, I am very happy with my score even if I didn’t get bonus points for my occasional scenthound imitation! Mea culpa! Mea culpa! But, oh, that carpeting was a symphony of scent !!!

*Slow to upload highlights from our whirlwind of a week but we are both dawg-tired and there are a lot of pictures to sort through and process.

My First Rally Title

URO1

 (United Kennel Club Rally Obedience Level 1)

Saturday

with Judge Laurie Soutar
and the giant walking traffic cone

Celebrating my first 2 Qs

Sunday

with Judge Isobel Hutton

Celebrating my first performance title
"Hey, giant traffic cone, that's my rosette!"

Wow!  Mom thought it was time we assessed how our Rally training was coming along. No matter how well you do in class or how many classes you attend, a class setting is relatively quiet and becomes routine after awhile. Eventually, you have to set foot in a ring and see how well you do within the hectic environment of a trial. Both Conformation shows and Obedience/Rally-Obedience trials are environments filled with lots of new dogs, new people and commotion.  

At a Conformation show, the noise level is fairly uniform with occasional bursts of humans clapping and cheering. Once in the show ring, you are expected to move around the ring in the same way every time with the only real variable being the number of other dogs (and handlers) in the ring with you and your handler.  

At an Obedience & Rally-Obedience trial, the noise level constantly fluctuates from complete silence to clapping and cheering and the commotion includes:  multiple dogs practicing off-leash in close proximity, dumbbells flying through the air and sometimes banging into walls, dogs jumping over various jumps, dogs running through tunnels and weave poles, and loud voices echoing from the obedience ring. In contrast to the show ring, the rally ring is always different – you never know what the sequence of exercises will be until you start moving through the stations. The first level of UKC Rally requires proficiency in 29 exercises. Success in the Rally ring requires you to perform the exercises (15-17 of the 29) accurately (subject to minor or major point deductions which are mostly caused by human error) as you move around the ring all the while ignoring the commotion and noises outside of the ring. 

As fun matches are few and far between, we entered the Maple Leaf Kennel Club’s UKC Rally trial this weekend to gauge how well we can work as a team in the midst of so many distractions. Supported by classmates and friends, with no expectations and no pressure, we worked our way through 3 courses and earned scores of 84, 88 and 90 (finishing in 3^rd place) to complete my first performance title: URO1.  

A passing score is 70/100. Had the giant walking traffic cone not made so many errors, all of my scores would have been in the 90s. On Saturday, the majority of points lost were as a result of redoing stations that really didn’t need redoing thereby incurring otherwise unnecessary deductions. On Sunday, points were deducted mostly for “tight leash” occurrences caused by the human’s failure to take note of the distractions on the floor and pre-empt my exploration of such (namely, the “tumbleweeds” left behind by the numerous shelties and goldens (smoothcoats never leave behind tumbleweeds!)).   

A Great Big Thank You goes out to last semester's instructors at Swansea Dog Obedience Club: Jane McLaughlin, Monica Anthony & Karen Stewart and this semester's instructor at Campaign Dog Academy: Heidi Kadoke.

Rally-O: 360

My balance disc/perch work helps me perform all the left turns (especially: 360, 270, 180 & 90). Mom has trouble with turning left in really small circles but she's trying to improve.

 360 TURN LEFT (AKC#12)

2 weeks ago:

Yesterday's class:

360 TURN RIGHT (AKC#11)

Rally-O: Taking it Outside

We have been training Rally exercises indoors - off-leash at home and on-leash in class. Training outdoors presents many distractions (birds, squirrels, smells, noises, etc.) so it is a good thing to get outside for a little practice. Here are two snippets of an impromptu session from the other day.

Halt-Down-Sit

This was a very promising example of Halt-Down-Sit until my elbows were pulled up off the ground by a reward that was held too high! The correct placement of a reward for a drop/down is close to the ground. As they say, "handler error."  Shall we list the other handler errors: setting me up too far away, body/feet not facing same direction as mine, feeding from the wrong hand ... Must use video more often to help catch and correct such poor training habits.

This is a much better example of the exercise.

Oooops, another handler error! This is an Advanced/Excellent exercise - so no need to practice this for awhile.  Need only practice the SIT followed by the DOWN (AKC #4). Well, I did say it was an impromptu training session. Apparently, the challenges posed by the great outdoors affect both species!

Rally-O

Well, it doesn't look like I'll be participating in any winter sports this winter. In two days it's gone from 14 degrees below seasonal to 10 degrees above seasonal. Yep, it's currently a balmy 9c!

Today, I met "the cones" and experimented with the sport of Rally Obedience. Other than goofy moves on our walks, we haven't actually worked on the individual Rally exercises so I was just doing my best to follow along.

Here's my very first 360 Left (not too bad considering the awkwardly turning human).

This sequence contains:  a lovely start line set up; a very nice 360R; 1,2,3 forward; about L turn; fast forward from a sit; sit walk around; R turn; and 1,2,3 back finish L (performed by a very enthusiastic V and a human who apparently can't count to 3 correctly).

If this wonky weather (freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw) continues, I'll be up to my elbows in mud any day now. This is what happened when I took a sharp turn while running laps:

Did I do that?