What's Up Dock? cont'd

Many thanks to photographer Lisa DeGennaro

for these cool shots from Canal Days in Port Colborne
August 2-3

What's Up Dock?

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to the excitement that is Dock Diving!
Here are a few clips from my first lesson.

Learning to launch upward to grab the bumper which is suspended 4' above the water. In the "Fetch It" competition, the bumper starts out 10 feet from the dock and moves away from the dock in one foot increments.

Participated in my first Dock Diving weekend.  My best jump was 9'8".  Aside from having a great time, I went home with a ton of goodies, 2 lovely rosettes and my first Dock Diving Title: UKC UNJ (Novice Division).

The first rosette is for having the highest cumulative score (Novice).
The second rosette is for my second place finish (Novice) in the finals.

The Nose Knows

Well, the first month of my third year just sped by. The first weekend of June was spent lure coursing and the last weekend of June was spent at Nosework Trials.

I completed my Novice Interior search title (NNI) with an extra Q and qualified in one Vehicle search.  I also qualified in the four remaining scents (Anise, Clove, Myrrh, Vetiver) to complete Pre-Trial 5 (PT2, PT3, PT4, PT5).

Once again, Laurie Soutar of Oxford Dog Sports held a great weekend of trials with fabulous judges Cheryl Carlson and Linda Ringle.  Nosework officially becomes a UKC titling event next January.  Hopefully we will be able to receive some formal training before Nosework trials resume in 2015.

Our first ever experience with Nosework was in May .

Check back soon to see my latest source of excitement.

Nose & Toes

After an 8-month wait, I got to lure course this weekend.  I had a blast and earned 4 more Qs toward my UKC CAX (Coursing Ability Excellent) title. 

We also tried the new sport of UKC Nosework for the very first time. We had no formal training and no idea of what was expected but decided to give it a try and had a great learning experience in the process.  Thanks to Oxford Dog Sports for putting on another great weekend of events.  Thanks to Judge Nicholas King for patiently explaining this new event to the complete newbies and for holding a post-trial training demonstration.  With a steep learning curve ahead of us, we now have a great framework within in which to start our training.  

My first exposure to the first-level scent of Sweet Birch was on Thursday with a few games of hide and seek at home.  On Saturday, I earned my Pre-Trial Level 1 (PT1 - Sweet Birch) title.  On Sunday, I attempted my first "Interior" search and Qualified with 2nd place (Mom incurred a Handler fault and nearly failed us!).  I attempted 2 "Vehicle" searches (must find the scent on the correct part of one of 3 vehicles within 4 minutes).  On Saturday, I identified the correct vehicle but Mom alerted on the wrong side of it.  On Sunday, again, I identified the correct vehicle but Mom didn't wait for me to zero in on the exact spot and called Alert @ one foot away from the scent location. Oh well, you know what they say:

GREAT DOG!  SHAME ABOUT THE HANDLER!

Considering the exhilarating thrill of lure coursing, so proud that I was able to participate in two vastly different activities back-to-back with success. 

Put to Work on Labour Day!

Yup, the chauffeur was pressed into service on Sunday and Monday. Won't even begin to calculate the ratio of drive-time to coursing-time but getting to participate in the sport with the highest ratio of excitement per second made it all worthwhile!

    

Apparently, the camera took off the entire weekend...

2nd CAX leg of the weekend!

There was only one official Coursing run per day but we were also allowed to have a fun/practice run each day. 2 more Qs brings my "Coursing Ability Excellent" Qs to 4. Half-sis Diva earned 2 Qs to finish her CA title and my littermate brother Will (Mr. Turquoise) earned his first ever performance Q (this was his first ever exposure to the wonderful world of dog sports). 

By the way, Diva whispered in my ear that there had been a Coursing Meet on Saturday which the chauffeur some how forgot to mention!!! I will remember this at bonus time!! 

On Sunday, there was also a conformation show and I took a Group 2nd!  Candid photos from the ring to follow in a future post once they arrive in the mail.

Tally Ho!

GOTCHA!

 
 UKC  Luring Coursing Ability (CA) title!

Grandma Sylvia was standing with the judge and lure master so she had a good view of the course and caught these great shots of me in collection and extension:

 

You can see a video of one of my courses (or, is it coursings?) here

 
"A qualifying score is defined as: the dog shall run alone, and must complete the course With enthusiasm and without interruption."

My first lure coursing experience and first qualifying run was in August 2012. As soon as I saw the set up on Saturday, I could hardly contain my excitement. 2 courses later (only allowed 2 per day) and I had finished my CA title to become the first Varazs-bred Vizsla to earn a lure coursing title. Imagine how thrilled I was to get to course again on Sunday (and earn 2 legs toward Coursing Ability Excellent). Here I am "calmly" awaiting my turn:

(Translation: "Someone else is playing my game!!!")

It's Official!

#8 Vizsla

United Kennel Club

2012

Deja Vu

Stormy Weather

 

+

 

Conformation Show

=

NEW CHAMPION

   October 27th, 2012

Grand River Kennel Club

United Kennel Club Show

Judge: Mrs. Joanna Hurst

Handled by Breeder/co-owner Sylvia Dorosh

My UKC registered name is now:

URO1 BIS CH Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban
 

What a Weekend!

August 10th and 11th
Stormy weather at Kilbride CKC show in Milton

One of the perks of waiting to go in the ring

Becoming a Conformation Champion was
very exciting and we went to Paris to celebrate.

WOW!
That was the most exciting fun ever
 AND
I earned my first Lure Coursing Q!!

August 12th in Paris, United Greyhound Club, United Kennel Club
Judge: Lee Warden

Thinking of my wonderful long weekend ...

... makes me want to break dance ...

Dancing in the Drought

July 20^th

Maple Leaf Kennel Club

United Kennel Club Show

Erin, ON

Judge:   Pennie Jackson

Best of Breed

Group 4th

People regularly ask why Mom doesn't usually show me herself.  Well, the main reasons why other people have taken me in the ring for Mom are:

(a)  she is not very co-ordinated and has no prior conformation experience;

(b)  she is not able to stack me properly in a timely fashion;

(c)  I like to take off like a racehorse when it’s time to move around the ring

     (see (a) above); and

(d)  I have been known to try to play with the other dogs in the ring.

BUT,

on Friday, I was on my best behaviour and:

(a)  Mom was able to concentrate on her co-ordination;

(b)  I self-stacked really, really well (making Mom's job much easier);

(c)  I moved around the ring like a Vizsla and not a racehorse; and

(d)  I ignored the other dogs in the ring.

Thereby, making Mom really, really proud of me and my performance in the ring.

This is my second UKC "competition win" - I need one more "competition win" to become a UKC Champion.

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!

11 Months of Age

11 weeks

11 months

at 3 months (with same bumper)

Since there is a jump (12") in Rally Advanced, Mom set up the obedience jump at 8" the other day to introduce me to the concept of "jumping in heel position." In AKC, CKC and UKC, the team heels up to the jump and resumes heeling as soon as the dog lands the jump (in CARO, the jump is a distance exercise where the handler sends the dog ahead to the jump and cannot move past the line until the dog is in mid-air). After a few jumps while in heel position, it was decided that I should be introduced to the formal UKC Novice Recall exercise. So, here I am performing the UKC Novice Recall exercise for the very first time. As you can see, this exercise requires 3 distinct actions: wait in a sit + jump + sit in front position.

(In a trial setting, this exercise would end with a formal "finish." I get lots of opportunity to practice formal "finishes" while training for rally. In this video, I have been released from the exercise to retrieve a tossed treat rather than a formal finish as it is best to learn new exercises in discrete components. Eventually, a formal finish will be added to the exercise on a random basis.)

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.