I'm a little late posting this, sorry, we've been a little busy. =) Last Saturday we headed out to the Rosemont Convention Center for the annual Christmas Cluster. I entered Ruby in Rally but there was also a Conformation show going on there...uh...actually the main attraction.
Ruby and I got there a little late as when I read the Judging Program it said that walk throughs for Excellent B would be at 9:00am. Apparently the judge wasn't aware of this and didn't allow for an Excellent A walk through. She was ready to start judging us as soon as she was done with Excellent B but finally allowed us a VERY brief look at the course. It wasn't difficult by any means and it consisted of stuff that Ruby knows very well. She practiced the stations perfectly outside of the ring, however the second we stepped into the ring she became sniffy.
I snapped my fingers a couple of times and clapped my hands once earning some deductions but once I had her attention she decided to listen. She wasn't perfect however and I opted to re-do three of the stations as I knew she could perform much better and more precisely. If you choose to re-do a station it's a deduction of 3 points, much better than losing 10 points if the station is performed incorrectly. She also barked at me a few times, which I'm sure garnered another deduction of points. Brat! But she finished beautifully to pattering of applause and we headed to the last station, the Honor.
In the past she's performed the Honor perfectly. All the dog has to do is sit or down at the end of their leash and stay until the handler/dog team running the exercise is finished. The judge decides what position she wants the dogs in at the beginning of the trial. This time it was a sit and the Honor Judge started talking to me about Ruby because she has a vizsla too. All I did was take my attention from Ruby for a split second and she laid down. Prior to the new judging changes this would have NQ'd us, as it stands now it cost us 10 points. Strangely enough after signaling her back into a sit, the dog running the exercise charged right in her face and she didn't budge an inch. After all was said and done, she ended up passing and taking 4th place. I truly felt that we had a bad showing but it was enough to pass and place so I'm not going to argue! =) She now only needs one more leg for her Rally Excellent title. Yea!
Tammy and Lexi were entered too and they did very well. Lexi finished in 1st place in the Advanced A Class finishing her Rally Advanced title. Way to go girls!
Tammy and I did some shopping and watched some very gorgeous vizslas in the show ring! I think I've figured out where I'm getting my next pup! LOL!
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