vikingdobermans.com Blog

Bad News/Good News

The DPCA and UDC has cancelled the Working Dog Trial at the National… Naturally, I’m bummed… Charlie and I have been working hard to get ready for our first ever National level event and only our second trial… the first being our SchH 1 last November.  We wanted to show that a dog could work and look pretty and that owners were not crazy for trying to go to the National and show an AKC Champion in obed, the working trial and in Breed…  we will still do Obedience and Breed depends on whether we bother to stay for the entire week.  Without the Working Dog Trial, I’m inclined to go home early…  save the $ and and the vacation for another day.    So that is the bad news.

The good news is we now have until early December to try and get ready for our SchH II…

Tracking on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009

So few opportunities to track before the working dog trial on Oct 16th…  how to fit 100 more tracks in less than three weeks??? 

Charlie and I tracked on Sunday with Jurgen, Jennifer and Chris.  Jurgen took me to the spot where he wanted me to start, pointed to a tree in the distance and said,  “Lay your first leg to that tree, no article, turn left and go towards the high grass with an article half way there and turn right at the high grass and lay your last leg with an article at the end….  SchH1 track, ok?”  “Sure, I say…” and off I go laying my track, using food sporatically for motivation or where I thought Charlie would have an issue.

We aged the track approximately 45 minutes to an hour and when it was our turn, I suited the boy up and with Jurgen, Jennifer and Chris following, off Charlie went on the first leg…  not as deep a nose as I would have liked (one of our problems in general), but on course.  On we went, and on and finally, Jennifer asked me where I had laid the turn.  I pointed to a tree in the distance and everyone commented on how long the leg was… and as it turned out, so did Charlie…

I had misunderstood just which tree Jurgen was pointing to–the one that was 100 feet or so from the start or the one that was 250 or so feet from the start…. oops.  At 150 or so feet, Charlie seemed to think I had forgotten the turn and decided he should, perhaps, throw one in for me… One Big Sigh.  With a correction, he continued, found the turn and his nose actually got deeper.  He did fine on the second leg, indicated the article nicely, found the turn and got about 100-150 feet into the final leg, before he was “done”… he shook his body, I corrected him, he put his nose in a groundhog hole next to the track, I corrected him strongly and restarted him.  He gave up on the distractions and finished the track, indicated the final article (leg was another long one at 200-250 feet)…. what was I thinking???  Charlie did it… Jurgen didn’t say anything about my tracklaying–he didn’t have to, but he did say I should feel good that Charlie, with some help, finished the track, indicated the articles and showed me that he needed work with longer tracks to ensure he understands the track is not done, until it is done and I release him and reward his performance….  we will work on it.  His next track (tomorrow morning) will be shorter and easier and this weekend I will push him again with track legs that are not uniform, with one short leg, one long leg and one medium leg …. 

Time is slipping away…. I’m excited, but very, very nervous… 3 weeks to go!

September 11, 2001

Eight years.  So long ago and just yesterday.

RIP

 TO ALL THOSE WE LOST.

Getting ready to trial…

I’m goint to the Doberman Pinscher Club of America’s National in Kentucky from Oct 9th through Oct 17th and Charlie Brown will compete in AKC Obedience for his CDX; in the Working Dog Trial for his IPO I and he will compete for Best of Breed in the breed ring.

I don’t know how you go from having months and months to prepare for your next competition, to all of a sudden realizing you have less than a month and you KNOW you need 100 more tracks under your belt and the control issue in protection still needs more work and omg, but the fronts and finishes are still not straight….

So it goes.  I look at where Charlie is and where he needs to be and I wonder how I didn’t fix some of these issues before now.  I knew they needed fixed, didn’t I? 

We’ve worked on improving Charlie’s technique in the escape bite.  We’ve worked on his technique on the re-attack (he is one heavy dog when he decides to act like a Rottie and sit on his haunches).  But we are woefully behind on working on his control.  He will stay under control, but I am forced to give constant verbal and body language reminders for him to stay focused on the task at hand, rather than the next bite he wants… and then he barks his frustration and desire… which causes him to lose concentration on doing what he is being asked to do…. how hard is it to stay next to me, in good position, while we walk to the proper place on the field for the escape bite?  How hard to stay focused on me and what I am asking?  The sad, but true answer is almost impossible.  Like all boys, he wants, what he wants, when he wants it and he is willing to bark out his demanding request of, “Let’s rock Mom… move out… I can beat you there… just let me go…. hurry, hurry, hurry….” 

More work necessary and less than a month to get it….