Lenape Specialty & Trenton Kennel Club News

The Lenape Golden Retriever Club Specialty is held in Mercer County Park - about 15 minutes from home. I try to enter this show yearly because it is a Golden Specialty and because its CLOSE! This year, I entered Jesse in Rally Novice B in hopes of getting her second leg. And, on a total whim, I entered Cash in Rally Novice B - in hopes of him not totally embarrassing me and to support the club! If Cash's entry comes as a surprise to you, GOOD! I didn't tell anyone about Mr. Cash being entered in a show for the first time because I really didn't know what would happen!

So - its a lovely Friday in May, drizzle, cool, grey and blah. Not a fun day to be out and about with the dogs. I got to the show site and prepped the kids for the ring. They both seamed uninterested in the entire thing...JOY!

Cash was first to go. He was so happy and bright it was ODD. I'm not used to a dog that 'up' in obedience settings. It was very cool. He was not perfect and did a few silly things, but all in all, he held it together and we made it through. The judge even complemented us on our heeling - and I promptly informed her that he was just 1 year and 1 week old! She was impressed :)

A very few dogs later, Jesse got her shot. She also did very nicely and cooperated fully - even on the dreaded DOWN. She was as bright and happy as the J-dog can be.

At ribbon time, Jesse was awarded 3rd place with a score of 93. Cash scored a 90 - which was 5th place. I was very impressed with Jesse's score - I do not train this dog at all anymore and her idea of fun is the couch. Cash pulled off a nice score as well for a very young dog who has never been in a ring with Rally signs or done half the stuff you have to do in Rally! Add that to the fact that he is really just learning to heel and WOW - 90 is a great score for a baby-dog!

Jesse's picture from the show...

Mr. Cash's picture from the show...

Photographs by Asheby Photography of Gilbert, PA

On Sunday, Jesse and I returned to Mercer County Park in the torrential rain to compete in Rally once again. We entered the Trenton Kennel Club Show in hopes of completing the RN title in 3 shows. Jesse is a bit of a princess, like her Momma, and did not think much of the wet grass and disgusting weather. Despite Mother Nature's attempts to foil our plan, Jesse managed to qualify in Rally Novice B again, completing her RN! I am not too proud to admit that this was a miserable, slightly mortifying experience, as Jesse refused to do the majority of the exercises and earned a score of 70 (which is the minimum score you must obtain to qualify). Oh well, it's Jesse, the dog I don't train, the dog who doesn't like to 'work' and the dog who was never expected to compete in anything again - let alone earn a single ribbon - after the doctors at Penn sealed her fate with their reports on ALL her joints. She did more for me in earning those 3 Rally legs than I ever hoped for. Thank you Jesse for being my partner for those three entries! You don't have to ever leave the couch again!

Thank you Momma - I like the couch much better than I like competing :)

Pictures from the National by the wonderful Karen Hocker Photographers!!!

All pictures in this post were taken by the wonderful and amazing Karen Hocker Photography photographers :) We love them very much - partly because they take great pictures of dogs in action, but also because they (Karen) helped to make Cash a part of my world :) Karen is Cash's co-breeder and owner of his momma - Flyte.

The pictures were taken in Warwick, RI at the GRCA National in September.

First we have Sophie on the return from her Retrieve over the High in Open. Nice hold on the dumbbell!

And over the jump to get back to the momma! Nice work little girl!

This picture is from one of her Open Jumpers runs at the National. She looks so happy and determined to me here! And I love the fly-away ears!

Thanks Karen and Kris for taking such beautiful pictures of my girl :)

Jesse earns a Rally Novice Leg!

Photo by Jill B. Newman

Random! I entered Jesse in the Garden State Golden Retriever Club Specialty held today in North Branch, NJ. I wanted to support the club, so I figured, what the heck, put her in Rally Novice. I had no intentions of qualifying and haven't practiced ANYTHING with her in, um, years. Yes - I said YEARS.

Jesse was retired from all things "work" almost three years ago due to all her structural issues. She was never a fan of "working" and I saw no point in making her participate in things just because I wanted to. She has been happily warming the couch for us ever since.

But today, she came out of retirement and qualified in her first ever Rally Trial - earning her first ever green ribbon! Big, HUGE deal for my broken dog! And I think she might have even had fun...who knew?

Results of the National...

Well, no good news to report. Sophie went 0 for 4 in agility and 0 for 1 in Obedience. It just was not our show!
First agility course was all my fault - I was a head case so she wanted no parts of me.

Second course was a battle of wills - and her's won! Our table down took at good 10 seconds to achieve, and the weave poles were optional in Sophie's world.

Third course was a beautiful up until obstacle 9 and 10 - when a big ugly off course appeared - serious tunnel suckage for the Sofa dog :( As though that wasn't enough, we missed the entry into the poles.

Final course was a big disappointment cause we were very close to getting it right! She got her entry to the poles, but then forgot how to count to 12 - popping out at pole 10. Huge bummer, but the rest of the course was REALLY nice!

On Wednesday we showed in Obedience. I was hoping to bring home a ribbon here, but again, it was not our day! Heeling was poor to say the least - we had a broken sit again for some reason and missed all but two of the halts! Her drop was lovely! Then retrieve on the flat - she must have gone blonde for a moment cause I told her to "take it!" and she looked at me like she had never heard those words before in her life...so she went on my second command, thus NQ. Retrieve on the high was nice enough, but it was already over at this point. Broad jump was a bit odd - she came over, then front, but no sit, then no get back...that was a new one. On the stays, I think Sophie KNEW it was pointless to sit for that long, so she took the first opportunity to lay down - the moment I stepped away from her! She enjoyed her long down, and fell asleep!

Our National experience was not at all what I was expecting performance wise. The kids did behave very well while on the trip, and all three enjoyed the love they got from strangers as they passed :) It was great to see Cash's brother, Trey, and compare notes with Karen - Trey's owner and one of Cash's breeder's. And we enjoyed seeing our friends compete, especially Cash's older family members. Uncle Nikon was very impressive on Tuesday at the GRCA show!

Here we are - all tired out after two days of agility trialing.

Our one shining moment was the Rescue Parade, where Sophie was spot lighted with 50 other rescues. She received her big ribbon and a certificate for participating. It was a nice ending to the adventure of our first National :)

The elusive third leg...

The third leg of Sophie's CDX has been a bit elusive... We earned two legs fairly easily then ran into some trouble trialing outdoors. As summer approached, I backed off all together on obedience entries to get ready for and spend some time trialing in agility. It has been several months since we were even at an obedience trial - let alone entered!

To focus my thoughts, I put a magnetic blurb on the fridge about three weeks ago. Every time I went to get a drink or feed the dogs, I saw this:

So today was our first obedience trial in a very long time. We were entered at Morris Hills Dog Training Club's show - held at Top Dog Obedience School in Flanders, NJ. The alarm went off at 4:45 A.M. and we were out the door and on the road at 6 A.M. Sophie and I were the second team in the ring - about 8:15 A.M. Things started out well - she stayed with me on the first step of heeling - always a good sign! There was a missed sit and a bit of lagging, but all in all, the heeling was acceptable for me - 9 points off - whatever - its a huge improvement from the days in Novice when she wouldn't move a single step on the off lead heeling! Her "Drop On Recall" was drop-dead-gorgeous! ZERO points deducted! "Retrieve on the Flat" lost us 1.5 points - no sit on the return and a bit of mouthing on the dumbbell. "Retrieve over the High" was very nice - .5 point deduction. "Broad Jump" was also very nice - .5 point deduction. Going into the stays I was VERY nervous - everything relied on her little butt staying put for the long sit and the long down - with an active Utility ring VERY close to her! But she did it! She qualified and earned that elusive third leg to complete her title! Saving Sophie - Companion Dog Excellent!

Here are our three qualifying ribbons for Open Obedience. No placement today with a 188.5 final score - but don't care at all! Having completed this title means we can take a break from obedience trials for a long time while we teach Utility...which means more time for AGILITY!!!
Here's my little star enjoying a new toy for the win :)

Cash attends his first Obedience Match

Cash tagged along to today's match at Clever K9. Sophie was entered - getting ready for the last leg of her CDX in a few weeks - and i thought it would be fun to let Cash experience the 'show' environment. We only did the things he knows - some sits, downs and a little loose leash walking. The judge held him for recalls and he did his very first 'stand for exam'. Cash also played with his toys - staying focused on me - while people were watching him and dumbells were flying near by. He caught lots of eyes from the crowd and all were impressed with his big feet :)

photo by Barbara Lassinger

Cash's first Stand For Examination with match show judge Patti Nicholson

First night of 'Rising Star Puppy' Class

July 14th was our first night of Puppy Class.

Cash was a SUPER STAR!

photos by Rob Logan