Clackamas Kennel Club Match

We got up this morning and headed to the Clackamas County Fairgrounds for a sanctioned obedience match hosted by the Clackamas Kennel Club. They were offering Beginner Novice classes and I knew it would be good to get another practice run under our belt before Thursday.

The heeling patter was very simple. We started from a sit, heeled to the corner, made a left turn, moved into a change of pace - slow, about turn, change of pace - fast, right turn, then halt. Leo was lagging. And afraid in the corner by the left turn. And he wasn't heeling close to me; he was easily two feet out. And he was slow. Definitely not "with" me. Of course the last of the conformation people were banging and clanging x-pens around as they packed up their crap. So frustrating!

His halts were slow, requiring multiple commands. His figure 8 was decent, but his halts were still only so so. He held his sit while I walked around the ring like a pro, though, when a rat terrier got loose from its owner and  ran through the ring. He didn't bat an eye - thank God. His recall was at a decent speed but I think that's cause something startled him. Then he didn't want to sit without being told multiple times. His sit for exam was solid. Ugg! After the previous two weekends being decent, this was pretty frustrating! He's capable of more.

And still we would have qualified according to the score-person/judge. Fourth out of four ("qualifers") in the class. Wow.