Obedieince run through last night

[ObedienceLabs4Me]

I hear ya Ann! I feel like Mic will never be ready for Novice! Another good option is if you can find a show that has wildcard Utility. You can throw away an exercise so that it is not scored but you have the option of still doing it though. Great actual ring time/training.

[Milesmom]

Betsy the run through I went to was at CABTC. The man, I forgot his name, he owns one of the only 2 swissies to get a UDX ever runs that ring. He is very nice and very helpful. Really put me at ease. I do plan to go to the big run thru on 10/24.
I will try to get to some at YABTC and Akron.

Now I have the premium for CABTC and I have figured out that I have to decide whether or not I am going to enter Utility by 10/15. It is funny, working on these exersizes is like playing with one of those puzzles where you move the tiles around. One day he's great at everything except gloves. Then the next day, he's great on the gloves and not so great on the articles. Then when he's great on both of those things, he sits when he is supposed to stand in signals (that one is definitely me not being clear on the command). But it keeps getting better. Funny, I was looking at the results from YABTC's spring trial. I saw that there was not a single qualifier in Utility A all weekend. That makes me feel a little braver about giving it a try in Oct/Nov. Not that I want to NQ, I think we are very close, and I think we can Q in utlity, but if we don't, it is a learning opportunity. It seems very unlikely I would be the only NQ.

[ObedienceLabs4Me]

Oh, you had Steve.

[2yellowlabs]

Ann - I might suggest two things. First - follow Susan's suggestion and show in Wildcard Utility. Will give you and Miles Utility ring experience and maybe show you what exercises need some additional work but it will be in a show atmosphere and that would help. Second - try Graduate Open. That's a titling class so you can earn a GO title. The exercises have Utility in them but at a lesser level than actual Utility. For example - I think only the two corner gloves are used. And there are fewer articles put out and I think you only retrieve one. I know the signals are different two but I can't remember exactly how. I have seen people that show in Utility A also show in Grd Open. If you have a newer AKC OB Rules Book GO info is there or you can pull it from the AKC web site. It is not unusual that no one Q's in Utility A. If its a bigger class, maybe only one or two Q's. Utility A is hard. I do think almost everyone really roots for the Utility A entrants so if spectator vibes help, the crowd is with you. Steve is a really nice guy and one of the few that seems to really want everyone to do well. He told me yesterday, Jethro is only the second Swissie to have earned a UDX. Are you showing in Agility this weekend coming up? I will there on the 9th only. Hope to see you then. B

[Milesmom]

I know Cleve All Breed is will have Graduate Open and Wildcard on Saturday (only). I do have the rules on PDF and I have reviewed that. It seems like "utility light". :-) Hmm. Maybe I will do them both. There is also a show in PA in Oct that has Graduate Open. Maybe I will do that too. I have to see how long the drive is. Would only be able to do one day because my granddaughter's birthday is that weekend.

I did take Miles to the park yesterday and worked on the Utility excersizes in a field. He did great. As luck would have it, the hiking hounds showed up so he had to work with all those dogs gathering and barking and chasing toys in the parking lot next to us. He looked a few times but stayed on task so I was pleased. The only bad thing was, I wasn't comfortable taking the leash off at times for certain things. There was a pair of shepherds barking and lunging in our direction and I couldn't be 100% sure Miles wouldn't respond to that. But other than that, I thought it was a very fruitful training session. I am seeing progress!

Yes, Betsy I will be at the trial this weekend. On Friday and Saturday only. I entered Sunday but it is the first day of Sunday school for my grand daughter and she wants me to go. I have a hard time saying no to such requests from her.