Thursday 8 August 2013

ASCA trial

On August 5th, Piper and I drove down with her breeder and sister to the only ASCA show in Ontario, held every August. They were running conformation, rally, obedience, agility, and herding on ducks, sheep, and cows. There were tons of Aussie's around, from rangy-looking working herding dogs, to beautifully groomed show dogs. It was pretty neat!

Wendy decided to enter Piper in all three conformation trials that day, under altered. She didn't win anything, however Wendy was pleased with how quickly she picked up what was expected of her, and was happy that the judges spent as much time looking at her as they did. She may borrow Piper again in a few months to show her. 

I entered Piper in two rally trials. In each trial they started with the more advanced levels and worked down towards the novice level. It was an outdoor ring, bordered by the agility ring and the obedience ring, so there were TONS of distractions. One trial was in the morning, the other was in the afternoon.

The first trial had a very difficult run, I actually got lost and had to backtrack to figure out where I was. I thought it was going to be a non-qualifying run, to be honest. There was also one sign that is done differently in ASCA than in any CARO or CKC venue, so we had to learn it right before we went in. I was so nervous! However, we came out with a score of 189 (out of 200), which is pretty good. I was quite pleased. The other two people competing in novice had non-qualifying runs. We were told at the end of our run to watch out for tight leashes, and that we should be using a 6 foot lead (I was using a 3 footer).

Our second trial/run was late in the afternoon, around 4:00. We had been there since 7:30 am, so we were all pretty tired. This was a much easier run, the course flowed better in my opinion. We borrowed a longer leash from Wendy, and I made sure to give Piper more space. We were dinged for only a few tight leashes, and one handler error, and finished the run with a score of 197! Another novice competitor also scored 197, however Piper and I had the faster time.

Piper with her ribbons: High scoring Aussie (left) and High in Trial (right)
We earned High in Trial (HIT) scores in both runs! Meaning that out of all dogs competing in all levels of rally, we had the highest scores. I am so proud of my little girl to accomplish this at only 13 months, and having learned it just with me in our parking lot.

I am already looking forward to our next set of classes, and more trialing in the future!
Piper (left) and Party (right). Pooped after a busy day at the ASCA trial!


Tuesday 6 August 2013

aussie play

I will say this for the Aussies, they keep each other entertained nicely!